Commercial Law Books

Ben Bernankes Fed or Now What

2009-12-06T03:33:00.000-08:00

Ben Bernanke's Fed: The Federal Reserve After Greenspan

Author: Ethan S Harris

The Federal Reserve chairmanship is often described as the second most powerful job in America. When Ben Bernanke was confirmed in 2006, many traders and investors were skeptical. Could anyone really replace Alan Greenspan?

Even in the best of times, Bernanke would have faced a tough balancing act. On one hand, he wanted to demonstrate continuity with his legendary predecessor, and he could certainly learn from Greenspan as both an economist and a policy maker. Moreover, the public was not looking for change. Senator John McCain even joked on the campaign trail that, if Greenspan were to expire during a McCain presidency, McCain would put sunglasses on the corpse and prop it up in a chair, as in the movie Weekend at Bernie's. On the other hand, Bernanke needed to establish his own identity.

But he stepped into the legend's job during a challenging period. Central bankers want the economy to grow fast enough-but not too fast-to achieve high employment without sparking inflation, and the Fed was attempting as much when Bernanke took over. Central banking is a crude science, and managing such growth requires both luck and skill. Despite his maestro reputation, Greenspan had allowed both the overall economy and the housing market to run too hot in his last two years as chair. His slow, "measured" interest-rate hikes, designed to avoid shocking the economy, failed to impose enough restraint. Consequently, Bernanke inherited a bubble in the housing market and an inflation problem. The economy was overheating.

Furthermore, a year and a half into Bernanke's chairmanship, a Wall Street Journal poll pegged him with only a 12 percent approval rating-and a 7 percent disapproval rating. Howdoes that work? Remarkably, 67 percent of respondents did not know who Bernanke was-even though he was "the second most powerful" person in the country.

Acknowledgments     vii
It's All About the Benjamin: An Early Look at the New Fed Chairman     1
Bernanke's Backdrop: The Federal Reserve's Role in the Economy
How the World Works: A Brief Course in Macroeconomics     13
Secrets of the Temple: Demystifying the Fed     27
Declaration of Independence: The Political Economy of Central Banking     37
Blowing Smoke: The Fed's Evolving Communication Strategy     51
Bernanke's Benchmark: The Shadow of Alan Greenspan
Greenspan, an Enviable Record: Greenspan's Successes as Fed Chairman     61
Greenspan, to Err Is Human: The Downside of Greenspan's Chairmanship     73
Bernanke's Beliefs: How Bernanke's Life Work Shapes His Policies
Constrained Discretion: Bernanke's Quest for an Inflation Target     95
Depression Obsession: How the Great Depression Informs Bernanke's Thinking     113
Glasnost: Democracy Comes to the Fed     127
Zen and the Art of Monetary Maintenance: The Fed's New Communication Style     141
See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil: The Policy Response to an Asset Market Bubble     147
Radical Risk Management: A New Policy Focus for the Fed     159
Bernanke's Beginning: The Early Report Card
Murphy's Law: New Fed Chairmen Always Seem to Face a Tough Environment     167
Pressure Cooker: Bernanke'sPerformance in His First Two Years     181
Conclusion: Can He Walk the Walk?, The Outlook for the Bernanke Fed     203
Notes     211
Index     229
About the author     237

Book about: Foodservice Profitability or Choice Recipes

Now What?: The Young Person's Guide to Choosing the Perfect Career

Author: Nicholas Lor

The impolite truth nobody mentions in college commencement speeches: "Many of you have just spent four years and a small fortune studying something you will never use, and, if you do, you won't like all that much. Have a nice life." Up until now, you've had to rely on hit-and-miss methods of picking your career that lead to only 30 percent of college graduates reporting satisfaction with their careers.

That's because up until now there has never been a book that guides you through the difficult process of designing a career that gives you the best chance for both high-level success and satisfaction. But career guru Nicholas Lore has found a way to show you how to custom design a career where you will:

Look forward to going to work

Be extremely successful and productive

Use your natural talents fully in work that fits your personality

Be highly respected because you excel at your work

In Now What?, he helps you put all the pieces together to make wise decisions about what you will do with your life and how you can best go about setting and accomplishing your life and work goals. You'll also learn the skills you need to live an extraordinary life.

Filled with charts, worksheets, and quizzes, Now What? is the cutting-edge guide for choosing a career that fits you perfectly -- whether you're a college student, a twentysomething already out in the working world, or a high school student just getting started.

Waiting for Your Cat to Bark or Beyond Basketball

2009-12-05T01:53:00.000-08:00

Waiting for Your Cat to Bark?: Persuading Customers When They Ignore Marketing

Author: Bryan Eisenberg

and/or stickers showing their discounted price. More about bargain books

Book review: Scorpia or Junie B First Grader

Beyond Basketball: Coach K's Keywords for Success

Author: Mike Krzyzewski

For Mike Krzyzewski, head coach of the Duke University men's basketball team, certain words have special importance and force. Coach K uses them every day to energize, motivate, and teach his players how to be winners on the court and in every aspect of their lives. Now, in Beyond Basketball, he offers 40 short, hard-hitting essays -- each centered on an important keyword and illustrated with anecdotes from his personal experiences -- that educate and inspire.

From the four most important words in life -- "I believe in you" -- to coping with losing, relying on one's teammates, the importance of discipline, and the rewards of taking pride in one's work, let Coach K guide you to success the way he guides his team -- with the power of his words.

Caught in the Middle or The Family Budget Workbook

2009-12-04T00:12:00.000-08:00

Caught in the Middle: America's Heartland in the Age of Globalism

Author: Richard C Longworth

A sharp, brilliantly reported look at how globalization is changing America from the inside out.

The Midwest has always been the heart of America—both its economic bellwether and the repository of its national identity. Now, in a new, globalized age, the Midwest is challenged as never before. With an influx of immigrant workers and an outpouring of manufacturing jobs, the region that defines the American self— the Lake Wobegon image of solid, hardworking farmers and factory hands—is changing at breakneck speed. As factory farms and global forces displace old ways of life, the United States is being transformed literally from the inside out. In Caught in the Middle, longtime Chicago Tribune reporter Richard C. Longworth explores the new reality of life in today’s heartland and reveals what these changes mean for the region—and the country. Ranging from the manufacturing collapse that has crippled the Midwest to the biofuels revolution that may save it, and from the school districts struggling with new immigrants to the Iowa meatpacking town that can’t survive without them, Longworth addresses what’s right and what’s wrong in the region, and offers a prescription for how it must change—politically as well as economically—if it is to survive and prosper.

Publishers Weekly

Ex-Chicago Tribunecorrespondent Longworth (Global Squeeze) paints a bleak, evocative portrait of the Midwest's losing struggle with foreign competition and capitalist gigantism. It's a landscape of shuttered factories, desperate laid-off workers, family farms gobbled up by agribusiness, once great cities like Detroit and Cleveland now in ruins, small towns devolved into depopulated "rural slums" haunted by pensioners and meth-heads. But the harshest element of the book is Longworth's own pitiless ideology of globalism. In his telling, Midwesterners are sluggish, unskilled, risk-averse mediocrities, clinging to obsolete industrial-age dreams of job security, allergic to "change," indifferent to education and "totally unfit for the global age." They are doomed because global competition is unstoppable, says Longworth, who dismisses the idea of trade barriers as simplistic nonsense purveyed by conspiracy theorists. The silver linings Longworth floats-biotechnology, proposals for regional cooperation-are meager and iffy. The Midwest's real hope, he insists, lies in a massive influx of mostly low-wage immigrant workers and in enclaves of "the rich and brainy," like Chicago and Ann Arbor, where the "creative class" sells nebulous "information solutions" to "dropouts and Ph.D.s." It's not the Middle West that's under siege in Longworth's telling; it's the now apparently quaint notion of a middle class. (Jan.)

Kirkus Reviews

Nearly three years after Thomas L. Friedman famously declared the world "flat," a former Chicago Tribune foreign correspondent and native Iowan examines the Midwest's struggle with the new world economy. If the global age belongs to the spry and imaginative, then the American Heartland, sclerotic and dull, needs to beware. Once liberally dotted with neatly prosperous, iconic small towns-including Freeport, Minn., the model for much of Garrison Keillor's Lake Wobegon, and Eldon, Iowa, backdrop for Grant Wood's American Gothic-the region has suffered a four-decade decline from the shocks of the Japanese invasion of the 1980s, the deleterious effects of NAFTA and, now, the white-collar phase of globalization, where even service jobs evaporate. Urban centers like Detroit and Cleveland are all but dead, and St. Louis and Milwaukee are on life support. Relying on agricultural, industrial and census statistics, a variety of professional analyses and, most of all, on his lively reporting, Longworth (Global Squeeze: The Coming Crisis for First-World Nations, 1998) examines a region once dominant in manufacturing products and growing food, now grown tired and shabby, caught flat-footed in a flat world where money, jobs and ideas have no regard for borders. Having convincingly diagnosed the problem, even as much of the Midwest remains in denial, Longworth rejects "solutions" handed down from the national government (too clumsy) or up from city and state governments (too small). Instead, he argues that only the region itself, drawing on its acknowledged heritage and resources, can be both nimble and powerful enough to marshal the necessary financial and intellectual forces to compete successfully inthe global age. He calls for the creation of a Global Midwest Forum, the establishment of a high-speed train and a first-class digital-communication system, the founding of a regional journal with global coverage and the rethinking of the area's education system. He stresses the need for the Midwest to speak with one voice from its trade and investment offices and to open the door as widely as possible to immigration. A well-reported take on the Midwest's precarious economic, political and social condition, with a provocative prescription for its survival in the global world. Agent: Gary Morris/David Black Literary Agency

New interesting textbook: Julie Andrews Collection of Poems Songs and Lullabies or Gregor

The Family Budget Workbook: Gaining Control of Your Personal Finances

Author: Larry Burkett

Financial expert Larry Burkett introduces the ultimate family money management workbook. His sensible, realistic plan for getting and keeping your finances under control includes easy-to-use worksheets that make following the plan as easy as possible.

Presentations and Public Speaking or The Great Depression

2009-12-02T22:31:00.000-08:00

Presentations and Public Speaking (SparkCharts)

Author: SparkNotes Editors

SparkChartsTM—created by Harvard students for students everywhere—serve as study companions and reference tools that cover a wide range of college and graduate school subjects, including Business, Computer Programming, Medicine, Law, Foreign Language, Humanities, and Science. Titles like How to Study, Microsoft Word for Windows, Microsoft Powerpoint for Windows, and HTML give you what it takes to find success in school and beyond. Outlines and summaries cover key points, while diagrams and tables make difficult concepts easier to digest.

This two-page chart provides tips on:

Preparing your presentation
Organizational structure
Selecting and presenting content
Fourteen different types of presentation structures
Types of presentation aids
Delivery of the presentation
Dealing with audience questions
Common problems and solutions

Books about: Inside the Magic Kingdom or Does This Clutter Make My Butt Look Fat

The Great Depression: America 1929-1941

Author: Robert S McElvain

A perennial backlist performer.

The Breakthrough Company or The Inventors Guidebook

2009-12-01T20:51:00.000-08:00

The Breakthrough Company: How Everyday Companies Become Extraordinary Performers

Author: Keith R McFarland

The vast majority of small businesses stay small—and not by choice. Only the most savvy and persistent—a tiny one tenth of one percent—break through to annual sales above $250 million. In The Breakthrough Company, Keith McFarland pinpoints how everyday companies become extraordinary, showing that luck is a negligible factor. Rather, breakthrough success turns out to be associated with a clearly identifiable set of strategies and skills that anyone in any business can emulate—from small startup to industry leader.

Encouraged by experts such as business legend Peter Drucker and Good to Great author Jim Collins to identify the drivers that enable a company to push past the entrepreneurial phase, McFarland spent five years building and analyzing the world’s largest growth-company performance database and interviewing more than 1,500 growth-company executives on four continents. His goal was simple: to identify the secrets of breakthrough.

The Breakthrough Company is the result. Winnowing a study pool of more than 7,000 companies down to nine that have made the transition to major-player status, McFarland highlights real-world tools and myth-busting insights that can be used by anyone wanting his or her business to join this exclusive circle. Among the book’s takeaways:

• Common wisdom holds that the founders and core entrepreneurial leaders of a company must step aside for the business to reach the next level. Not true—as long as founders “crown the company” instead of themselves.
• It’s not reckless to make ever-escalating bets on your company’s future, even going nose tonose with competitors many times your size. In fact, it turns out that the only safety comes in constantly upping the ante in exactly this way.
• A Business Bermuda Triangle does exist, gobbling up companies on the verge of breakthrough. Presented here are three ways to navigate this potentially deadly hazard successfully.
• However good you are—or think you are—you can’t do it alone. Learn how to surround your company with networks of outside resources, aka “scaffolding,” and how to enlist the aid of “insultants”—people who are willing to question a firm’s existing assumptions and ways of doing business.

With powerful and specific action steps concluding each chapter—and invaluable advice on virtually every page from business leaders who’ve taken their companies to extraordinary levels of growth and profitability—The Breakthrough Company is one of the most provocative, inspiring, and instructive business books you’ll ever read.

Acknowledgments     ix
Introduction     1
Throwing the Dyno     9
Crowning the Company     27
Upping the Ante     55
Building Company Character     93
Navigating the Business Bermuda Triangle     121
Erecting Scaffolding     145
Enlisting Insultants     167
Graduating from Tough Times U     187
Building Breakthrough Capabilities     201
Afterword: Post-Breakthrough-Avoiding Breakdown     225
Research Note A     229
Research Note B     235
Research Note C     247
Endnotes     249
Index     262

Book review: The Smart Travelers Passport or Eiger Dreams

The Inventors Guidebook: Patent, Protect, Produce and Profit from Your Ideas and Inventions Yourself!

Author: Victor N Vic Vincent

Vic-Vincent wrote this book for you, the Inventor, with little or no knowledge about how to create an invention. He has been successful in creating businesses and products throughout his life. He and his products have been wrote about in: Success, INC., USA Today and hundreds of other magazines and newspapers. His products include: "Bankruptcy" the Boardgame. "Fizzies" men's and women's neckties. SlimPatch a transdermal weight-loss patch. "The Thirst-Aid Kit" a liquor first aid kit. "Hurricane Survivor" T-Shirts. "The Decision Maker!" an executive desk plaque. "The Sticky Ticky" a children's toy and many more. He managed R&B recording artists, wrote and produced songs and is the author of several books. He invented and created all of these products on his own without a degree in marketing. Learn from the school of hard knocks of what not to do and what to do when creating your idea. He offers free advice on his website: inventorsfreehelp.com to help the inventor avoid being scammed. Learn how to: File Patents-Trademarks-Copyrights- Learn how to: Get free publicity-publish your book or music-avoid being scammed-Internet marketing-protect and produce your idea or product and get it to market. "Your idea is no good if it is just an idea you must, act on it, believe in it and create it". This book is educational, inspirational and motivational. Get it today!

The Pixar Touch or The Last Fish Tale

2009-11-30T19:10:00.000-08:00

The Pixar Touch: The Making of a Company

Author: David A Pric

The roller-coaster rags-to-riches story behind the phenomenal success of Pixar Animation Studios, and the first in-depth look at the company that forever changed the film industry and the "fraternity of geeks" who shaped it.

Books about: Save Your Knees or The Perricone Promise

The Last Fish Tale: The Fate of the Atlantic and Survival in Gloucester, America's Oldest Fishing Port and Most Original Town

Author: Mark Kurlansky

The bestselling author of Cod, Salt, and The Big Oyster has enthralled readers with his incisive blend of culinary, cultural, and social history. Now, in his most colorful, personal, and important book to date, Mark Kurlansky turns his attention to a disappearing way of life: fishing–how it has thrived in and defined one particular town for centuries, and what its imperiled future means for the rest of the world.

The culture of fishing is vanishing, and consequently, coastal societies are changing in unprecedented ways. The once thriving fishing communities of Rockport, Nantucket, Newport, Mystic, and many other coastal towns from Newfoundland to Florida and along the West Coast have been forced to abandon their roots and become tourist destinations instead. Gloucester, Massachusetts, however, is a rare survivor. The livelihood of America’s oldest fishing port has always been rooted in the life and culture of commercial fishing.

The Gloucester story began in 1004 with the arrival of the Vikings. Six hundred years later, Captain John Smith championed the bountiful waters off the coast of Gloucester, convincing new settlers to come to the area and start a new way of life. Gloucester became the most productive fishery in New England, its people prospering from the seemingly endless supply of cod and halibut. With the introduction of a faster fishing boat–the schooner–the industry flourished. In the twentieth century, the arrival of Portuguese, Jews, and Sicilians turned the bustling center into a melting pot. Artists and writers such as Edward Hopper, Winslow Homer, and T. S. Eliot came to the fishing town and foundinspiration.

But the vital life of Gloucester was being threatened. Ominous signs were seen with the development of engine-powered net-dragging vessels in the first decade of the twentieth century. As early as 1911, Gloucester fishermen warned of the dire consequences of this new technology. Since then, these vessels have become even larger and more efficient, and today the resulting overfishing, along with climate change and pollution, portends the extinction of the very species that fishermen depend on to survive, and of a way of life special not only to Gloucester but to coastal cities all over the world. And yet, according to Kurlansky, it doesn’t have to be this way. Scientists, government regulators, and fishermen are trying to work out complex formulas to keep fishing alive.

Engagingly written and filled with rich history, delicious anecdotes, colorful characters, and local recipes, The Last Fish Tale is Kurlansky’s most urgent story, a heartfelt tribute to what he calls “socio-diversity” and a lament that “each culture, each way of life that vanishes, diminishes the richness of civilization.”

The Washington Post - H. Bruce Franklin

Bursting with ironies, Mark Kurlansky's epic history of Gloucester sweeps from the 17th century, when English colonists starved amid the world's greatest marine abundance, to the 21st century, when opulent resorts line the coast of a depleted ocean. As Kurlansky tells us at the outset, "A fish tale exaggerates to make things look bigger. It is triumphal." But he calls this book a "Gloucester story," which is "just the opposite"—"a story of miserable irony…with a sad ending."

Publishers Weekly

Bestselling author Kurlansky (Cod; The Big Oyster) provides a delightful, intimate history and contemporary portrait of the quintessential northeastern coastal fishing town: Gloucester, Mass., on Cape Anne. Illustrated with his own beautifully executed drawings, Kurlansky's book vividly depicts the contemporary tension between the traditional fishing trade and modern commerce, which in Gloucester means beach-going tourists. One year ago, a beach preservation group enraged fishermen by seeking to harvest 105 acres of prime fishing ground for sand to deposit on the shoreline. Wealthy yacht owners compete with fishermen for prime dockage, driving up prices. Fishermen also contend with federal limits on their catches in an effort to maintain sustainable fisheries. But while cod are protected from extinction, the fishermen are not. Some boats must go 100 or more miles out to sea-a danger for small boats with few crew members. Tragedies abound, while one, that of the swordfish boat Andrea Gail, documented by Sebastian Junger in A Perfect Storm, brought even more tourists to Gloucester. (June 3)

Margaret Rioux - Library Journal

Kurlansky's 1997 best seller, Cod, was subtitled A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World. His latest work can also be described as a biography, this time of the fishing town of Gloucester, MA. Although Gloucester is unique, its history serves as an exemplar of the changing nature of commercial fishing in the North Atlantic, especially regarding people, equipment, and target species. It also serves as a means of examining the problems of modern fishing towns as they try to find new ways of surviving in a world of collapsing fish populations without losing the best of their heritage. Kurlansky is a skillful writer, holding readers' interest and educating them at the same time with his mixture of facts, anecdotes, and even recipes. All of us, not just those living on the coast, should be aware of the issues he raises here. An excellent complement to the author's Cod and Big Oyster: History on the Half Shell as well as to Eric Jay Dolan's Leviathan: The History of Whaling in America; highly recommended for all public, high school, and college libraries. [See Prepub Alert, LJ2/1/08; library marketing campaign planned.-Ed.]

Kirkus Reviews

Kurlansky (Nonviolence: 25 Lessons from the History of a Dangerous Idea, 2006, etc.) brings his storytelling elan to the fishing town of Gloucester, Mass. Its fine harbor, abundance of fish and reasonable climate attracted one of the earliest European settlements in America to this sheltered spot on the Cape Ann peninsula. In 1623, employees of an English fish-trading company constructed a few huts, cured some cod and departed to sell it in Bilbao, leaving behind 14 farmers. Gloucester has been internationally known ever since, and Kurlansky fills in the background to explain how it evolved into "an Irish, Scandinavian, Portuguese, Sicilian town" dedicated to its fishery. Such a multicultural place suits this author perfectly; he can revel in the local color, peek into the corners and under the floorboards. Topical chapters sketch the town's tribal insularity and self-sufficiency, the tragedies wreaked by fierce storms at sea and the milky light that has drawn such artists as Fitz Hugh Lane, Winslow Homer, Marsden Hartley and Edward Hopper to Gloucester. Kurlansky offers a broad, intelligent examination into the decline of the fisheries. "If the fishermen are following the regulators and the regulators are listening to the scientists, and yet the fish stocks continue to be depleted," he asks, "who is getting it wrong?" The devouring maw of tourists and developers, attracted by the ambience they speedily kill, raises the specter of vanishing cultural diversity and economic egalitarianism. On a more cheerful note, Kurlansky celebrates the special requirements of Gloucester's famous greased-pole walk: "It is generally recognized that to be a successful pole walker a contestant must betremendously brave, extremely agile, and extraordinarily drunk."A lucent addition to Gloucester's town treasury, featuring a wealth of dramatic stories. Agent: Charlotte Sheedy/Charlotte Sheedy Literary Agency

Buying In or Against the Gods

2009-11-29T17:29:00.000-08:00

Buying In: The Secret Dialogue Between What We Buy and Who We Are

Author: Rob Walker

“Fascinating … A compelling blend of cultural anthropology and business journalism.” — Andrea Sachs, Time Magazine

“An often startling tour of new cultural terrain.” — Laura Miller, Salon

“Marked by meticulous research and careful conclusions, this superbly readable book confirms New York Times journalist Walker as an expert on consumerism. … [A] thoughtful and unhurried investigation into consumerism that pushes the analysis to the maximum…” — Publisher’s Weekly (starred review)

Brands are dead. Advertising no longer works. Weaned on TiVo, the Internet, and other emerging technologies, the short-attention-span generation has become immune to marketing. Consumers are “in control.” Or so we’re told.
In Buying In, New York Times Magazine “Consumed” columnist Rob Walker argues that this accepted wisdom misses a much more important and lasting cultural shift. As technology has created avenues for advertising anywhere and everywhere, people are embracing brands more than ever before–creating brands of their own and participating in marketing campaigns for their favorite brands in unprecedented ways. Increasingly, motivated consumers are pitching in to spread the gospel virally, whether by creating Internet video ads for Converse All Stars or becoming word-of-mouth “agents” touting products to friends and family on behalf of huge corporations. In the process, they–we–have begun to funnel cultural, political, and community activities through connections with brands.

Walker explores this changing cultural landscape–including a practice he calls “murketing,” blending the terms murky and marketing–by introducing us to the creative marketers, entrepreneurs, artists, and community organizers who have found a way to thrive within it. Using profiles of brands old and new, including Timberland, American Apparel, Pabst Blue Ribbon, Red Bull, iPod, and Livestrong, Walker demonstrates the ways in which buyers adopt products, not just as consumer choices, but as conscious expressions of their identities.

Part marketing primer, part work of cultural anthropology, Buying In reveals why now, more than ever, we are what we buy–and vice versa.

Praise for Buying In
“Walker … makes a startling claim: Far from being immune to advertising, as many people think, American consumers are increasingly active participants in the marketing process. … [He] leads readers through a series of lucid case studies to demonstrate that, in many cases, consumers actively participate in infusing a brand with meaning. … Convincing.” — Jay Dixit, The Washington Post

“Walker lays out his theory in well-written, entertaining detail.” — Seth Stevenson, Slate

“Buying In delves into the attitudes of the global consumer in the age of plenty, and, well, we aren’t too pretty. Walker carries the reader on a frenetically paced tour of senseless consumption spanning from Viking ranges to custom high-tops.” — Robert Blinn, Core77

“Rob Walker is one smart shopper.” — Jen Trolio, ReadyMade

“The most trenchant psychoanalyst of our consumer selves is Rob Walker. This is a fresh and fascinating exploration of the places where material culture and identity intersect.”
–Michael Pollan, author of In Defense of Food

“This book has vast social implications, far beyond the fields of marketing and branding. It obliterates our old paradigm of companies (the bad guys) corrupting our children (the innocents) via commercials. In this new world, media-literate young people freely and willingly co-opt the brands, and most companies are clueless bystanders desperate to keep up. I really don't know if this is good news or bad news, but I can say, with certainty, that this book is a must-read.”
–Po Bronson, author of What Should I Do with My Life?

“Rob Walker is a gift. He shows that in our shattered, scattered world, powerful brands are existential, insinuating themselves into the human questions ‘What am I about?’ and ‘How do I connect?’ His insight that brand influence is becoming both more pervasive and more hidden–that we are not so self-defined as we like to think–should make us disturbed, and vigilant.”
–Jim Collins, author of Good to Great

“Rob Walker is a terrific writer who understands both human nature and the business world. His book is highly entertaining, but it’s also a deeply thoughtful look at the ways in which marketing meets the modern psyche.”
–Bethany McLean, editor at large, Fortune, and co-author of The Smartest Guys in the Room

“Are we living in an era of YouTube-empowered, brand-rejecting consumers? Rob Walker has the surprising answers, and you won’t want to miss this joyride through the front lines of consumer culture. A marketing must-read.”
–Chip Heath and Dan Heath, authors of Made to Stick

“Rob Walker brilliantly deconstructs the religion of consumption. Love his column, couldn’t put his book down.”
–Paco Underhill, author of Why We Buy

The New York Times - Farhad Manjoo

Few observers have plumbed the subterranean poetry of marketing as thoroughly as Walker, who writes Consumed, a weekly shopping-culture column in The New York Times Magazine. In Buying In, Walker aims to lift the cloud of self-delusion that obscures our buying habits. Every indicator suggests we're the shoppingest society that's ever lived; every day, we purchase more stuff, produce more trash, descend deeper into debt and feel the press of commercial desire grow ever more intense. Walker, mining research from psychology and economics to explain the unlikely rise of several brands, argues that our susceptibility to marketing arises from our ignorance of its pervasiveness. Indeed, in recent years the ad industry has adopted an underground method of selling that depends on our complicit embrace of brands. Walker calls it "murketing," and once you understand it, you notice its footprint everywhere.

The Washington Post - Jay Dixit

Walker, who writes a consumer behavior column for the New York Times Magazine, makes a startling claim: Far from being immune to advertising, as many people think, American consumers are increasingly active participants in the marketing process…Walker leads readers through a series of lucid case studies to demonstrate that, in many cases, consumers actively participate in infusing a brand with meaning…his major argument is convincing

School Library Journal

Adult/High School

Walker takes a close look at past and present consumerism in the United States, positing that older forms of advertising are no longer successful. In their place, the trend has shifted to what the author calls "murketing," a mix of "murky" and "marketing." He argues that instead of being manipulated by marketing, consumers are using it to their advantage; and instead of being shaped by products, consumers are using them to express individual identity and social outlook. Told from the perspectives of both consumers and marketers, the book entwines historical fact, commentary from experts in the field, and pop-culture examples drawn from brand names such as Timberland, Sanrio, Apple, and Nike. It also incorporates conversations with CEOs of companies like American Apparel as well as start-up projects from the skateboarding and music industries. Walker examines all aspects of "murketing," including ethics, emerging technology, and commercialization versus underground movements. This book is both accessible and relevant to teens, with many of the examples being pulled from Generations Y and Z. It will be useful to those interested in business, advertising, or social trends.-Kelliann Bogan, Colby-Sawyer College, New London, NH

Against the Gods: The Remarkable Story of Risk

Author: Peter L Bernstein

A Business Week, New York Times Business, and USA Today Bestseller

"Ambitious and readable . . . an engaging introduction to the oddsmakers, whom Bernstein regards as true humanists helping to release mankind from the choke holds of superstition and fatalism." -The New York Times

"An extraordinarily entertaining and informative book." -The Wall Street Journal

"A lively panoramic book . . . Against the Gods sets up an ambitious premise and then delivers on it." -Business Week

"Deserves to be, and surely will be, widely read." -The Economist

"[A] challenging book, one that may change forever the way people think about the world." -Worth

"No one else could have written a book of such central importance with so much charm and excitement." -Robert Heilbroner author, The Worldly Philosophers

"With his wonderful knowledge of the history and current manifestations of risk, Peter Bernstein brings us Against the Gods. Nothing like it will come out of the financial world this year or ever. I speak carefully: no one should miss it." -John Kenneth Galbraith Professor of Economics Emeritus, Harvard University

In this unique exploration of the role of risk in our society, Peter Bernstein argues that the notion of bringing risk under control is one of the central ideas that distinguishes modern times from the distant past. Against the Gods chronicles the remarkable intellectual adventure that liberated humanity from oracles and soothsayers by means of the powerful tools of risk management that are available to us today.

"An extremely readable history of risk." -Barron's

"Fascinating . . .this challenging volume will help you understand the uncertainties that every investor must face." -Money

"A singular achievement." -Times Literary Supplement

"There's a growing market for savants who can render the recondite intelligibly-witness Stephen Jay Gould (natural history), Oliver Sacks (disease), Richard Dawkins (heredity), James Gleick (physics), Paul Krugman (economics)-and Bernstein would mingle well in their company." -The Australian

New York Times

Ambitious and readable. . .an engaging introduction to the oddsmakers.

Robert Ferguson

Peter Bernstein leads us effortlessly through the history of risk because he writes so beautifully. This is a book on a left brain subject that will have right brain readers lining up for more!.

William Kristol

A fascinating and unusual perspective on modern man's Promethean attempt to master risk. The book reads easily and provokes thought—a rare combination.

Wall Street Journal

An extraordinarily entertaining and informative book.

Marc Faber

In Against the Gods, Peter Bernstein, a scholar, historian, and successful investor gives us the history of great thinkers whose visions put the future at the service of the present..

John Kenneth Galbraith

With his wonderful knowledge of the history and current manifestations of risk, Peter Bernstein brings us Against the Gods. Nothing like it will come out of the financial world this year or ever. I speak carefully: no one should miss it..

Charles P. Kindleberger

It's a sizzler!.

Washington Post Book World

Against The Gods appeared in the "Washington Is Also Reading..." section of The Washington Post Book World. The book is described as, "A comprehensive history of man's efforts to understand risk and probability, from ancient gamblers in Greece to modern chaos theory.

Money Matters

I must say that I enjoyed the book, it was written in a light-hearted manner"

Barton M. Biggs

This looks like a new classic to me..

Robert Heilbronerc

No one else could have written a book of such central importance with so much charm and excitement.

Publishers Weekly

Risk management, which assumes that future risks can be understood, measured and to some extent predicted, is the focus of this solid, thoroughgoing history. Probability theory, pioneered by 17th-century French mathematicians Blaise Pascal and Pierre de Fermat, has made possible the design of great bridges, electric power utilities and insurance policies. The statistical sampling methods invented by dour Swiss scientist Jacob Bernoulli undergird diverse activities such as the testing of new drugs, stock-picking and wine tasting. Bernstein (Capital Ideas) animates his narrative with a colorful cast of risk-analyzers, including gambling addict Girolamo Cardano, 16th-century Italian physician to the Pope; and John Maynard Keynes, whose concerns over economic uncertainty compelled him to recommend an active, interventionist role for government. Bernstein also traces the development of business forecasting, game theory, insurance and derivatives, and surveys recent advances in risk forecasting made possible through chaos theory and by the development of neural networks.

Library Journal

For several centuries, mathematics has been the language of the exact sciences. Only in the 20th century has mathematics become predominant in other fields, particularly economics and finance. In this book, Bernstein (Capital Ideas: The Improbable Origins of Modern Wall Street), head of an economic consulting firm, traces the development of probability theory from its beginnings in analyzing games of chance, through its application to statistical theory and insurance, up to its present use in developing investment strategies to control risk. He includes excellent sections on portfolio analysis and on investments in derivatives. Bernstein clearly describes the people, their work, and the events that have revolutionized the thinking on Wall Street. -- Harold D. Shane, Baruch College, City University of New York

Library Journal

The New York Times

Ambitious and readable. . .an engaging introduction to the oddsmakers.

The Wall Street Journal

An extraordinarily entertaining and informative book.

What People Are Saying

John Kenneth Galbraith
"With his wonderful knowledge of the history and current manifestations of risk, Peter Bernstein brings us Against the Gods. Nothing like it will come out of the financial world this year or ever. I speak carefully: no one should miss it."—Professor of Economics Emeritus, Harvard University

Robert Ferguson
"Peter Bernstein leads us effortlessly through the history of risk because he writes so beautifully. This is a book on a left brain subject that will have right brain readers lining up for more!"—Managing Director, Bankers Trust Australia Limited

William Kristol
"A fascinating and unusual perspective on modern man's Promethean attempt to master risk. The book reads easily and provokes thought--a rare combination."—Editor and Publisher, The Weekly Standard

Marc Faber
"In Against the Gods, Peter Bernstein, a scholar, historian, and successful investor gives us the history of great thinkers whose visions put the future at the service of the present."—Managing Director, Marc Faber Limited, Hong Kong

Barton M. Biggs
This looks like a new classic to me."—Chairman Morgan Stanley Asset Management, Inc.

Charles P. Kindleberger
"It's a sizzler!"—author of Manias, Panics & Crashes

Blue Ocean Strategy or Leading Change

2009-11-28T15:49:00.000-08:00

Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make Competition Irrelevant

Author: W Chan Kim

Winning by Not Competing: A Fresh Approach to Strategy

Since the dawn of the industrial age, companies have engaged in head-to-head competition in search of sustained, profitable growth. They have fought for competitive advantage, battled over market share, and struggled for differentiation. Yet these hallmarks of competitive strategy are not the way to create profitable growth in the future.

In a book that challenges everything you thought you knew about the requirements for strategic success, W. Chan Kim and Renйe Mauborgne argue that cutthroat competition results in nothing but a bloody red ocean of rivals fighting over a shrinking profit pool. Based on a study of 150 strategic moves spanning more than a hundred years and thirty industries, the authors argue that lasting success comes not from battling competitors, but from creating "blue oceans": untapped new market spaces ripe for growth. Such strategic moves-which the authors call "value innovation"- create powerful leaps in value that often render rivals obsolete for more than a decade.

Blue Ocean Strategy presents a systematic approach to making the competition irrelevant and outlines principles and tools any company can use to create and capture blue oceans. A landmark work that upends traditional thinking about strategy, this book charts a bold new path to winning the future.

W. Chan Kim is the Boston Consulting Group Bruce D. Henderson Chair Professor of Strategy and International Management at INSEAD. Renйe Mauborgne is the INSEAD Distinguished Fellow and Professor of Strategy and Management.

Author Bio:

W. Chan Kim is the Boston Consulting Group Bruce D. Henderson Chair Professor of Strategy and International Management at INSEAD. Renйe Mauborgne is the INSEAD Distinguished Fellow and Professor of Strategy and Management.

1	Creating blue oceans	3
2	Analytical tools and frameworks	23
3	Reconstruct market boundaries	47
4	Focus on the big picture, not the numbers	81
5	Reach beyond existing demand	101
6	Get the strategic sequence right	117
7	Overcome key organizational hurdles	147
8	Build execution into strategy	171
9	Conclusion : the sustainability and renewal of blue ocean strategy	185

Book review: Running in Literature or Monochrome Days

Leading Change

Author: John P Kotter

John Kotter, the world's foremost expert on business leadership, distills twenty-five years of experience into Leading Change. A must-have for any organization, this visionary and very personal audiobook is at once inspiring, clear-headed, and filled with important implications for the future.

The pressures on organizations to change will only increase over the next decades. Yet the methods managers have used to strengthen their companies—total quality management, reengineering, right sizing, restructuring, cultural change, and turnarounds—routinely fall short. In Leading Change, Kotter identifies an eight-step process that every company must go through to achieve its goal, and shows where and how people—good people—often derail. Emphasizing again and again the critical need for leadership to make change happen, Leading Change provides unprecedented access to our generation's business master and a positive role model for leaders to emulate.

Cause/Effect Journal - Doug Gale

The book Leading Change, by John P. Kotter, is a "must read" for any CIO or senior manager contemplating institutional change.

Publishers Weekly

Harvard Business School professor Kotter (A Force for Change) breaks from the mold of M.B.A. jargon-filled texts to produce a truly accessible, clear and visionary guide to the business world's buzzword for the late '90schange. In this excellent business manual, Kotter emphasizes a comprehensive eight-step framework that can be followed by executives at all levels. Kotter advises those who would implement change to foster a sense of urgency within the organization. "A higher rate of urgency does not imply everpresent panic, anxiety, or fear. It means a state in which complacency is virtually absent." Twenty-first century business change must overcome overmanaged and underled cultures. "Because management deals mostly with the status quo and leadership deals mostly with change, in the next century we are going to have to try to become much more skilled at creating leaders." Kotter also identifies pitfalls to be avoided, like "big egos and snakes" or personalities that can undermine a successful change effort. Kotter convincingly argues for the promotion and recognition of teams rather than individuals. He aptly concludes with an emphasis on lifelong learning. "In an ever changing world, you never learn it all, even if you keep growing into your '90s." Leading Change is a useful tool for everyone from business students preparing to enter the work force to middle and senior executives faced with the widespread transformation in the corporate world. 60,000 first printing; $100,000 ad/promo; dual main selection of the Newbridge Book Club Executive Program; 20-city radio satellite tour. (Sept.)

Library Journal

After trying an endless array of quick fixes and other panaceas, executives struggling to stay in business in a rapidly changing world are finding it necessary to consider more fundamental reasons for their lack of success. Kotter (The New Rules: A Force for Change, Free Pr., 1995) now offers a practical approach to an organized means of leading, not managing, change. He presents an eight-stage process of change with highly useful examples that show how to go about implementing it. Based on experience with numerous companies, his sound advice gets directly at reasons that organizations fail to change, reasons that concern primarily the leader. This is a solid, substantive work that goes beyond the clichs and the consultant-of-the-month's express down yet another dead-end street. With its clear demonstration of the hard work necessary to lead change, this important work stands with Michael Hammer's latest, Beyond Reengineering (see review above). Highly recommended.Dale F. Farris, Groves, Tex.

What People Are Saying

William C. Finnie
The best work I have seen on strategy implementation.

Business to Business Marketing or Charismatic Leadership in Organizations

2009-02-17T13:54:00.000-08:00

Business-to-Business Marketing: A Strategic Approach

Author: Michael H Morris

Thoroughly updated, this much anticipated new edition provides students with a comprehensive, state-of-the-art view of industrial marketing. With a focus on strategic thinking and acting, the authors examine the distinct challenges of the business-to-business marketplace. These include: faster product and service development; shortened product life cycles;, new processes for selling, distribution, and customer service; increase in entrepreneurial firms; and the need to create and sustain long-term customer relationships. Separate chapters are devoted to buying decisions, market research and analysis, and purchasing practices, including treatment of the latest technological developments in just-in-time systems, Web-based procurement, and enterprise resource planning and manufacturing systems. Each chapter includes illustrations of real world marketing issues, key concepts, learning objectives, and discussion questions.

Booknews

The new edition of a textbook, intended for M.B.A. students, covering industrial marketing (marketing when the customer is a business or organization). The first half of the text focuses on understanding the industrial marketplace, while the other half concentrates on translating that understanding into marketing programs. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Charismatic Leadership in Organizations

Author: Rabindra N Kanungo

Charismatic leaders have proven to be remarkable change agentsùable to create or reinvent entire organizations. At the same time, these leaders provide us with lessons about the greatest dangers of leadership. For example, throughout history, certain charismatic leaders have demonstrated a shadow side as master manipulators and purveyors of evil. Charismatic Leadership in Organizations reflects the latest thinking on this seemingly elusive yet remarkable form of leadership. Written by two of the most important scholars on the subject, this volume not only integrates the growing body of research and theory on the subject, but also pushes the frontiers of our knowledge by introducing new theory and insights. It presents readers with a highly comprehensive model of the charismatic leadership process that is documented with extensive empirical research and richly illustrated with case examples of corporate leaders. The book also includes a questionnaire measure of charismatic leadership and suggests an agenda for future research in the field. Written in a highly accessible style, Charismatic Leadership in Organizations will be of interest to professionals, students, and scholars in management, public administration, psychology, political science, sociology, and religion.

PART ONE: THEORY DEVELOPMENT Evolution of the Field A Model of Charismatic Leadership Charismatic Leadership
Measurement and Empirical Validity PART TWO: COMPONENTS OF CHARISMATIC LEADERSHIP The Leader's Search for Opportunity Aligning The Organization through Vision Implementing the Vision PART THREE: REMAINING CHALLENGES The Shadow Side of Charisma Looking to the Future

Union and Collective Bargaining or Corporate Governance Economic Reforms and Development

2009-02-16T12:13:00.000-08:00

Union and Collective Bargaining: Economic Effects in a Global Environment

Author: Toke Aidt

Unions and Collective Bargaining: Economic Effects in a Global Environment offers an extensive survey and synthesis of the economic literature on trade unions and collective bargaining and their impact on micro- and macroeconomic outcomes. The authors demonstrate the effects of collective bargaining in different country settings and time periods. A comprehensive reference, this book will be of interest to students and scholars of labor policy as well as to policy makers and anyone with an interest in the economic consequences of unionism.

Book about: The Theoretical Evolution of International Political Economy or Western Times and Water Wars

Corporate Governance, Economic Reforms, and Development: The Indian Experience

Author: Darryl Reed

This volume comprehensively discusses the history of development efforts, the corporate economy of India, and the recent changes in global economoy highlighting the improvements in corporate governance.

	List of Tables and Figures
	Contributors
	Preface
	Introduction
1	Corporate Governance Reforms in Developing Countries	1
2	Corporate Governance in India Three Historical Models and Their Development Impact	25
3	Economic Reforms, Corporate Boards, and Governance	64
4	Economic Reforms, Corporate Philosophy, and Development	84
5	Corporate Financial Reporting	94
6	Institutional Investors and Nominee Directors	116
7	Corporate Governance and Development in India: A Survey	145
8	Corporate Governance Reforms and Corporate Sector Development in India	166
9	On Economic Reforms, Governance, and Development: Examining the Problematic Role of Corporate Profit Strategies	204
10	The Role of Business in Society: Business-NGOs Partnerships for Development	222
11	From Social Responsibility to Development-driven Business: The Ongoing Experience of the TATA Group	234
12	The Role of Governance in Promoting Development: Evaluating Governance Responsibilities and Models of Governance	249

You Say You Want a Revolution or A Guide to the Euro

2009-02-15T10:32:00.000-08:00

You Say You Want a Revolution

Author: Reed E Hundt

This book is a unique account of the way politics has shaped the information age in America. Reed E. Hundt, chairman from 1993 to 1997 of the Federal Communications Commission, the nation’s chief regulatory agency for media and communications industries, tells of the battles for political advantage that lie behind the enormous creation of wealth and social changes that are generally called the “New Economy.” The central theme of the narrative is the surprising passage and fascinating implementation of the 1996 Telecommunications Act, which authorized the Federal Communications Commission to replace monopoly with competition and to guarantee access to the Internet to all Americans, including every child in every classroom.

Depending on the leadership of his high school classmate Al Gore and finding unexpected allies in the ranks of free market ideologues, Hundt led the FCC to make the decisions that helped start a wave of entrepreneurship, which in turn has given the United States the world’s leading Internet economy. As the memoir shows, every decision involved prodigious political battles—between existing industries and start-ups, between Newt Gingrich and the Clinton-Gore White House, between inside-the-Beltway lobbyists and the new grassroots advocacy of e-mails, between the politics of money and the politics of ideas. In the same period, the often ignored and historically maligned FCC was the place where government decided whether to undertake the largest national initiative to reform K–12 education in the country’s history: the program to connect every classroom to the Internet by the year 2001.

Hundt’s reportfrom the political battlefield offers significant insight into the motives and personality not only of Al Gore but other prominent figures in political life, as well as many of the media moguls of our time. Told with great energy and wit, it is a tale that inspires both concern for and confidence in our democracy in the information age.

Publishers Weekly

The Wall Street Journal branded him a "French bureaucrat," and cable television magnate John Malone famously quipped that he should be shot. But it was all in a day's work for former FCC chairman Hundt, who served as chief regulator and de facto architect of the New Economy from 1993 to 1997. In this insightful and good-natured memoir of his experiences at the helm of the "deep-inside-the-Beltway" regulatory agency, Hundt recounts the savage battles he waged to help introduce competition and technological change into America's communications markets, all the while shielding consumers from profit-hungry cable and telephone lobbies. The former lawyer was propelled to center stage with the passage of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, which empowered the FCC to interpret the thousands of regulatory decisions required by the law. As vulturelike lobbyists swooped down to win concessions on everything from digital television to long-distance rates, Hundt kept to a high-minded mission to connect the Internet to every classroom in America and called for more public programming on broadcast media. While his consistent poise amid roiling market forces is commendable, Hundt's narrative occasionally gets waylaid when justifying a certain policy decision or waxing piously about Al Gore. Such digressions, however, are compensated for by a welcome sense of humor, evident in one anecdote about a trip to discuss communications policy in Ireland: after Hundt laid out his master plan for a globally networked society, one member of the Irish contingent shot back, "Can you pour Guinness by e-mail? Then there will always be an Ireland!" (May) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.|

The Standard

Early in Reed Hundt's tenure as chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Vice President Al Gore called him to the White House for a chat. From day one, the Clinton appointee, who had gone to law school with the president and high school with the vice president, had stepped on enough toes for it to get back to the White House.

Gore proceeded to tell him a story about a dog-food salesman who created the best product ever made. But the man went out of business. The problem? "The dogs don't like the dog food," Gore said. Gore's message: It doesn't matter how good your decisions are if the top dogs in power won't accept them.

So begins Hundt's tale of passing the 1996 Telecommunications Act. As FCC chairman through the first term of the Clinton presidency, Hundt weathered the 1994 Republican takeover of the House and Senate - a time when Newt Gingrich indirectly declared war on the FCC, among other branches of the government. He also weathered such descriptions of himself in the press as "The Curse of Yale Law School."

But by the time Hundt stepped down, he saw his vision come to fruition - auctions of the wireless communications spectrum, federal requirements for educational television and new rulings that encouraged competition among the telephone and cable industries, which helped in no small part to fuel the Internet boom.

From Hundt's description in his new book, You Say You Want a Revolution, he was in for a rude shock on his first day at work at the FCC. The refrigerator emitted noxious odors and the walls were covered in textiles that, according to Hundt, needed to be mowed. But the stories he tells from his days inside those walls are lively and instructional, especially for the high-tech community. If those who don't understand history are doomed to repeat it, then Hundt's book is a good read for those who want to ensure technology continues on an upward climb.

When Hundt writes about himself, he's a one-man band of self-depreciation. At first it's humorous to see him bumbling his way through lunches with Washington's power elite and making one bad political move after another. At one point he remarks during a lunch at the Washington Post that the cable industry should be "grateful" he demanded rate reductions.

But while he's clear on his own version of events, his grasp of technology is more muddled. He fawns over Bill Gates, crediting him with creating the Microsoft operating system - when Gates in fact bought the original MS-DOS from a Seattle programmer.

Other famous characters take center stage as well. We meet Ted Turner, who sarcastically praises Hundt for killing Turner's plans to donate part of his fortune to charity. And we cringe under Mike Ovitz's predatory stare. But eventually these meetings begin to sound cliche, such as when George Lucas - apparently startled at an awards show when Hundt asks him to lobby for wiring classrooms to the Internet - replies Yoda-like, "Help can I? Let me know."

The book also jumps around. Although organized as a diary, it can be difficult to follow. In some places, even Hundt appears confused, as he often repeats himself. While the chronological style may be true to the timing of events, for the layman it can make for glazed eyes. And it is the average reader who should read Hundt's book, not only the high-tech entrepreneur who might learn from whence his current opportunities sprang.

Toward the end of his job, Hundt learns a crucial lesson. A Republican governor gloats about his use of convicts in wiring classrooms. "But in my new nonglib era," writes Hundt, "I let the moment pass." In politics, he finally learns that while journalists may appreciate a razor-edge comment, it always comes back to bite you.

What People Are Saying

Andrew S. Grove
Hundt was a referee in the free-for-all that was the transformation of the US communications world. As often happens to referees, he was bustled and pummeled by all sides. Yet, he clearly enjoyed it all and lived to tell the tale - cheerfully and intelligently.

A Guide to the Euro

Author: Jay H Levin

In this concise and comprehensive introduction to Europe's currency, Levin explains both the historical and political background as well as the economic underpinnings of monetary integration in contemporary Europe.

Data Warehousing and Business Intelligence for E Commerce or New Venture Strategy

2009-02-14T08:51:00.000-08:00

Data Warehousing and Business Intelligence for E-Commerce

Author: Alan Simon

You go online to buy a digital camera. Soon, you realize you've bought a more expensive camera than intended, along with extra batteries, charger, and graphics software-all at the prompting of the retailer.

Happy with your purchases? The retailer certainly is, and if you are too, you both can be said to be the beneficiaries of "customer intimacy" achieved through the transformation of data collected during this visit or stored from previous visits into real business intelligence that can be exercised in real time.

Data Warehousing and Business Intelligence for e-Commerce is a practical exploration of the technological innovations through which traditional data warehousing is brought to bear on this and other less modest e-commerce applications, such as those at work in B2B, G2C, B2G, and B2E models. The authors examine the core technologies and commercial products in use today, providing a nuts-and-bolts understanding of how you can deploy customer and product data in ways that meet the unique requirements of the online marketplace-particularly if you are part of a brick-and-mortar company with specific online aspirations. In so doing, they build a powerful case for investment in and aggressive development of these approaches, which are likely to separate winners from losers as e-commerce grows and matures.

Features

Includes the latest from successful data warehousing consultants whose work has encouraged the field's new focus on e-commerce.
Presents information that is written for both consultants and practitioners in companies of all sizes.
Emphasizes the special needs and opportunities of traditionalbrick-and-mortar businesses that are going online or participating in B2B supply chains or e-marketplaces.
Explains how long-standing assumptions about data warehousing have to be rethought in light of emerging business models that depend on customer intimacy.
Provides advice on maintaining data quality and integrity in environments marked by extensive customer self-input.
Advocates careful planning that will help both old economy and new economy companies develop long-lived and successful e-commerce strategies.
Focuses on data warehousing for emerging e-commerce areas such as e-government and B2E environments.

Interesting textbook: Conquest in Cyberspace or Learning Red Hat Linux

New Venture Strategy: Timing, Environmental Uncertainty, and Performance

Author: Dean A Shepherd

If an opportunity exists, is it best to ensure that your product is first to the market or is performance enhanced through waiting and following? What factors should an entrepreneur consider in deciding when to take the lead in being the first to introduce a new product or service? What can be done to improve new venture performance? New Venture Strategy examines the process of introducing a new product or service and offers readers a framework for thinking through the issues involved in new venture performance. Examples include entry timing, market conditions facing the entrant, focus or breadth of entry scope, product or process mimicry, creation and development of entry barriers, and differences between independent and corporate ventures. New Venture Strategy will be useful as a core text in courses on entrepreneurship, corporate entrepreneurship, new product development, small business, and strategic planning. It will also be of interest to those developing business plans and others involved in new venture funding, marketing, and business development.

Booknews

To lead or follow? Presenting their assessment of the common wisdom on business venture pioneering, Shepherd (entrepreneurship and strategy, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute) and Shanley (management and strategy, Northwestern U.) warn of the dangers of an oversimplistic view of first-mover advantages using the concept of the liability of newness. Their analysis introduces other entry strategy variables that may affect the relationship between timing, profitability, and the probability of survival (e.g. uncertainty factors related to demand or technology, and conflicts over new organizational roles). Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

Human Relations In Organizations or Stimulating Innovation in Products and Services

2009-02-13T07:10:00.000-08:00

Human Relations In Organizations: Applications and Skill Building

Author: Robert N Lussier

Lussier's Human Relations in Organizations: Applications and Skill Building,5e,takes on an application/skill building approach. This approach suits professors,who want to incorporate more activities and exercises into the classroom,and students who want to be able to do more than just understand concepts,but actually apply and develop skills that they can use in their daily and professional life.

The book continues to have integration balanced by a three-pronged approach:

-clear concise understanding of human relations/ organizational behavior concepts;

-the application of HR/OB concepts for critical thinking in the business world; and

-the development of HR/OB skills.

This approach allows the student to learn the concept,apply it through various applications and situational activities,and ultimately apply it to his/her own life.

Book review: Boosting Immunity with Power Plants or Essential Readings on Stress and Coping Among Parents of Deaf and Hearing Impaired Children

Stimulating Innovation in Products and Services: With Function Analysis and Mapping

Author: J Jerry Kaufman

Practical techniques to help any organization innovate and succeed

In this groundbreaking book, internationally acclaimed authors demonstrate that innovation can be mastered via systematic and replicable methods. Following careful instructions and guidelines, readers discover how to foster the ingenuity that resides within all organizations and how it can be most efficiently and effectively used to create value.

At the core of this book is the Function Analysis Systems Technique (FAST). FAST is a powerful mapping technique that graphically models projects, products, and processes in function terms and identifies function dependencies. It is an organized structure ideally suited to exploring complex issues. Readers start with basic concepts and then move on to more advanced concepts using FAST to help their organizations survive and prosper in today's global economy. Topics include:
* Problem-solving techniques
* Function analysis
* Function Analysis Systems Technique (FAST)
* Dimensioning the FAST model
* Attributes and the FAST model
* Enabling innovation
* From competency to capability

Practical examples and case studies are provided throughout the book to assist the reader in applying the principles of FAST to their own organizations.

Stimulating Innovation in Products and Services is based on the authors' many years of experience advising clients in a variety of industries, including oil and gas, aerospace, health care, and man-ufacturing. Its practical focus assists all engineers, scientists, and managers who want to foster innovation within their organizations. Extensive use of case studies makes this an idealcoursebook for MBA students.

FOREWORD.

PREFACE.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.

1. INTRODUCTION.

The Meaning of Function.

Reading FAST.

FAST Logic.

Some Observations.

What Have We Learned?

Applying FAST to Hardware Products.

Reading a FAST Model.

Analyzing a FAST Model.

Some Unique Ways That a FAST Model Has Been Used.

How It All Began.

Toward an Innovation Process.

Who Models Functions?

Why an Interdisciplinary Team?

Team Makeup.

Unlocking Practical Ingenuity.

When Should We Use FAST?

Fundamental Questions.

Distinguishing Between Problem and Opportunity.

Difference Between FAST Diagrams and FAST Models.

Validating Function Models.

Outline of This Book.

2. PROBLEM-SOLVING TECHNIQUES.

Verb–Noun Function Technique.

Fuzzy Problem Technique.

Setting Up the Problem in the Fuzzy Problem Technique.

Hierarchical Technique.

Verb–Noun and Fuzzy Problem Techniques Within the Hierarchical Technique.

Closing Remarks.

3. FUNCTION ANALYSIS.

Function Analysis Syntax.

Active Verbs.

Measurable Nouns.

Using Two Words to Describe Functions.

Defining and Classifying Functions.

Types of Functions.

Extrinsic Functions.

Intrinsic Functions.

Basic Functions.

Secondary Functions.

Practical Definitions.

Rules GoverningBasic Functions.

Function Identification Example.

Random Function Determination.

Levels of Abstraction.

Function and Component Selection.

Function Cost Matrix.

Simplifying the Process.

Closing Remarks.

4. FUNCTION ANALYSIS SYSTEM TECHNIQUE.

Process Overview.

Some Misconceptions.

“As Is” Versus “Should Be” Models.

Syntax Used to Create and Read a FAST Model.

Reading How–Why and Our Intentions.

How–Why Versus Why–How Orientation.

Reading When to Consider Causality and Consequential Functioning.

Key Elements of a FAST Model.

Scope Lines.

Highest-Order Function(s).

Lowest-Order Function(s).

Basic Function(s).

Content.

Requirements or Specifications.

Dependent Functions.

Independent (Support) Functions.

Logic Path Functions.

Articulating Theories in FAST.

Variations of How–Why Questions.

Considering And–Or Along the Logic Path.

Considering And in the When Direction.

Considering Or in the When Direction.

FAST Model-Building Process: Product Example.

Expanding the Number of Functions.

Case for Using Active Verbs.

Purpose of Expanding Functions.

Avoiding Duplicate Functions.

Starter Kit Functions.

Preparations for Building a FAST Model.

Build How and Test Why.

Relationship of the Left Scope Line to the Basic Function.

Right Scope Line.

Left Scope Line.

What’s the Problem?

Defining the Problem.

Three Questions Before Starting the FAST Process.

How the Strategic Questions Are Asked in a Workshop.

Symbols and Notations Used in FAST Modeling.

Taking Exception to the FAST Rules.

Independent Functions Above the Logic Path, Activities Below the Logic Path.

No Activities in the Major Logic Path.

Only Two Words Used to Describe Functions.

Loop-Back Modeling.

Validating the Logic Flow.

Exploration Drilling Model.

Closing Remarks.

5. DIMENSIONING THE FAST MODEL.

Pre-event Stage.

FAST Dimensioning Themes.

Business Process and Soft Issues.

Sensitivity Matrix.

Facility Management Case Study.

Determining Responsibility, Move to Action.

Incorporating Other Dimensions in FAST Models.

RACI/RASI Dimensioning.

FAST and Organizational Effectiveness.

Organizational Effectiveness Case Study.

Model the Future or the Present?

Incorporating Additional Dimensions.

Product- and Equipment-Based FAST Models (Artifacts).

Sensitivity Matrix in Product (Artifact) Analysis.

Staple Remover Case Study Using FAST With the Sensitivity Matrix.

Determining Component Function–Cost Details.

Proposed Solution.

Pipeline Case Study Using the Sensitivity Matrix.

Other Case-Specific Dimensions.

Budgeting Operating Expenses and the Sensitivity Matrix.

Clustering Functions.

Example Using Clustering.

Closing Remarks.

6. ATTRIBUTES AND THE FAST MODEL.

Defining an Attribute’s Range of Acceptance.

Ranking Attributes.

Incorporating Attributes Into a FAST model.

Linking Issues of Concern to a FAST model.

Construction Management Case Study.

Influence of Attributes and Incentives on FAST Modeling.

Software Acquisition Case Study.

Validity of a FAST Model.

Pre-event’s Role in FAST Modeling.

Areas Defined by a Scope Line.

Resolving the Incentive Issue.

Determining the Incentive Earned Points Score.

Closing Remarks.

7. ENABLING INNOVATION.

Analyzing FAST Models.

Distinguishing Outcomes and Ideas.

Starting to Generate Ideas.

Handling Negative Functions.

Examples of Negative Functions.

TRIZ and Negative Functions: Path to Creativity.

Defining Problems: Prerequisite to Seeking Solutions.

Problem Set Matrix.

Identifying Critical Innovation Points.

Realizing Innovation Through FAST Models.

Toward Innovation That Makes a Difference.

Importance of the Pre-event Phase.

XYZ-3 Case Study.

Defining XYZ-3’s Problems.

Setting Project Goals.

Selecting Attributes.

Selecting Random Functions.

Constructing the FAST Model.

Selecting Functions to Be Brainstormed.

Using FAST for Brainstorming.

Concluding the XYZ-3 Value Study.

Closing Remarks.

8. FROM COMPETENCY TO CAPABILITY.

Moving Toward Know-How and FAST models.

Beyond Intuition.

Discovering New Knowledge.

Management of Functionality.

Using FAST Modeling to Improve the Supply Chain.

Using FAST Modeling to Enable Shared Understanding.

Managing Intangible Value to Advantage.

Automotive Parts Case Study.

How Can We Unify?

Functional Enquiry.

Closing Remarks.

END NOTES.

REFERENCES.

APPENDIX: FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS.

INDEX.

Practical Business Statistics or Labor Markets and Firm Benefit Policies in Japan and the United States

2009-02-12T05:29:00.000-08:00

Practical Business Statistics

Author: Andrew F Siegel

Practical Business Statistics, 5/e was written in response to instructors not wanting a formula driven, mathematically encyclopedic book. The use of computer applications means some topics no longer require coverage in detail. This allows future managers to know how to use and understand statistics. The text does this by using examples with real data that relate to the functional areas of business such as finance, accounting, and marketing. It de-emphasizes the theoretical, and presents the material in a well-written, easy style designed to motivate students. The emphasis is on understanding and applications as opposed to mathematical precision and formula detail.

1. Introduction Defining the Role of Statistics in Business
2. Data Structures Classifying the Various Types of Data Sets
3. Histograms Looking at the Distribution of the Data
4. Landmark Summaries Interpreting Typical Values and Percentiles
5. Variability Dealing with Diversity
6. Probability Understanding Random Situations
7. Random Variables Working with Uncertain Numbers
8. Random Sampling Planning Ahead for Data Gathering
9. Confidence Intervals Admitting that Estimates Are Not Exact
10. Hypothesis Testing Deciding between Reality and Coincidence
11. Correlation and Regression Measuring and Predicting Relationships
12. Multiple Regression Predicting One Factor from Several Others
13. Report Writing Communicating the Results of a Multiple Regression
14. Time Series Understanding Changes over Time
15. ANOVA Testing for Differences among Many Samples, and Much More
16. Nonparametrics Testing with Ordinal Data or Nonnormal Distributions
17. Chi-Squared Analysis Testing for Patterns in Qualitative Data
18. Quality Control Recognizing and Managing Variation
Appendix A: Employee Database
Appendix B: Self Test: Solutions to Selected Problems and Database Exercises
Appendix C: Statistical Tables
Appendix D: StatPad--Quick Reference Guide

Look this: Sports Nutrition or Carbohydrate Addicts Program for Success

Labor Markets and Firm Benefit Policies in Japan and the United States

Author: Dennis F Thompson

This volume, the fourth to result from a remarkably productive collaboration between the National Bureau of Economic Research and the Japan Center for Economic Research, presents a selection of thirteen high-caliber papers addressing issues in the employment practices, labor markets, and health, benefit, and pension policies of the United States and Japan.
After an opening chapter assessing the recent ascendance of the U.S. economy, papers diverge to tackle a range of specific issues. Focusing less on international comparison than on the assembly of high-quality research, contributors hone in on a variety of individual topics. Chapters delve into issues of youth employment, participatory employment, information sharing, fringe benefits, and drug coverage in Japan, as well as the dynamics of medical savings accounts, private insurance coverage, and benefit options in the U.S.
Like previous volumes stemming from NBER/JCER collaboration, this book represents a valuable mass of empirical data on some of the most notable employment and benefits issues in each nation, information that will both anchor and provoke scholarly analysis of these topics well into the future.

Case Studies in Modern Corporate Finance or The Six Silent Killers

2009-02-11T03:48:00.000-08:00

Case Studies in Modern Corporate Finance

Author: Robert W Whit

This book contains current cases that focus on the major financial decisions made in a corporation, including such current issues as: globalization; corporate governance; ethics; privatization; securitization; risk management; option pricing; pricing of complex securities; structured financing; value-added taxes; and so on.

Go to: Fatigue as a Window to the Brain or Neurogenic Bladder a Medical Dictionary Bibliography and Annotated Research Guide to Internet References

The Six Silent Killers: Management's Newest and Greatest Challenge

Author: James R R Fisher

Times have changed. Downsizing, rightsizing, and corporate restructuring have drastically altered the face of the American workplace. Yet most managers are still using the same old methods of dealing with employees - with predictably disastrous results. Six Silent Killers: Management's Greatest Challenge shows how to conquer the dissatisfaction, apathy, and resentment so prevalent in the American workplace - and how to bring your management style in line with the needs of the 21st century. What can you do to lower employee turnover? How can you attract and retain quality workers? Why are your employees dissatisfied - and what can they achieve with the proper training and guidance? Six Silent Killers identifies the challenges facing today's managers and explains how to overcome these common problems in the workplace. Written by an expert in the field, it provides you with the tools to effectively motivate your employees and achieve that all-important competitive edge. Six Silent Killers is an ideal guide for team leaders, supervisors, managers, consultants, and anyone interested in breaking through the barriers to successful management. You'll discover how to boost productivity, enhance performance, and reward quality workers - the first steps on the fast track to success.

	Foreword
	Preface
	About the Author
1	Introduction	1
2	The Dominant Cultures of the Workplace, or Why We Can't Get There from Here	7
3	The Need for a New Set of Organizational Paradigms	23
4	Incipient Catastrophe	45
5	Echoing Footsteps	65
6	Six Silent Killers: The Manic Monarchs of the Merry Madhouse	83
7	The Culture of Comfort	143
8	The Culture of Complacency	169
9	The Culture of Contribution	197
10	The Difficult Agenda Ahead, or When the Simple Is Complex	221
11	Afterword	265
	Index	273

The Other Mirror or Payment Law

2009-02-10T02:07:00.000-08:00

The Other Mirror: Grand Theory through the Lens of Latin America

Author: Miguel Angel Centeno

If social science's "cultural turn" has taught us anything, it is that knowledge is constrained by the time and place in which it is produced. In response, scholars have begun to reassess social theory from the standpoints of groups and places outside of the European context upon which most grand theory is based. Here a distinguished group of scholars reevaluates widely accepted theories of state, property, race, and economics against Latin American experiences with a two-fold purpose. They seek to deepen our understanding of Latin America and the problems it faces. And, by testing social science paradigms against a broader variety of cases, they pursue a better and truly generalizable map of the social world.

Bringing universal theory into dialogue with specific history, the contributors consider what forms Latin American variations of classical themes might take and which theories are most useful in describing Latin America. For example, the Argentinian experience reveals the limitations of neoclassical descriptions of economic development, but Charles Tilly's emphasis on the importance of war and collective action to statemaking holds up well when thoughtfully adapted to Latin American situations. Marxist structural analysis is problematic in a region where political divisions do not fully expresses class cleavages, but aspects of Karl Polanyi's socioeconomic theory cross borders with relative ease.

This fresh theoretical discussion expands the scope of Latin American studies and social theory, bringing the two into an unprecedented conversation that will benefit both. Contributors are, in addition to the editors, Jeremy Adelman, Jorge I. Domínguez, Paul Gootenberg, Alan Knight, Robert M. Levine, Claudio Lomnitz, John Markoff, Verónica Montecinos, Steven C. Topik, and J. Samuel Valenzuela.

What People Are Saying

Charles Tilly
No previous review of theory comes close to this book's range and daring. Its audience should include not only Latin Americanists,but students of social theory and of development in general.

Mauricio A. Font
"The Other Mirror succeeds in providing a highly stimulating account of the dialectics between general theory and history. It will have a much-needed positive impact on Latin American studies and its place in general social theory."

Mauricio A. Font
The Other Mirror succeeds in providing a highly stimulating account of the dialectics between general theory and history. It will have a much-needed positive impact on Latin American studies and its place in general social theory.

Payment Law

Author: Douglas J J Whaley

This new edition from Douglas Whaley, the recognized master of the problem method, concentrates on helping students understand the exact statutory language in the UCC, Electronic Funds Transfer Act, and the Expedited Funds Availability Act.

Praised for its straightforward, accessible writing, PROBLEMS ON MATERIALS ON PAYMENT SYSTEMS, Fifth Edition, builds on its strengths which include:

An in—depth focus on the basics in a compact and concise casebook

Clear and lucid style

Exercises that help students test their understanding of the language of the law

Whaley's new edition offers:

new material throughout the book moving from negotiability and negotation through holders in due course and the nature of liability; to banks and their customers; wrongdoing and error; electronic banking; and investment securities

updated case law

new problems

coverage of revisions to Article 8 (Investment Securities) of the UCC

A helpful Teacher's Manual makes the book as accessbile to instructors as it is to students.

Managing Knowledge or Designing and Delivering Superior Customer Value

2009-02-09T00:27:00.000-08:00

Managing Knowledge: Experts, Agencies and Organisations

Author: Steven Albert

This book explores the growing phenomenon of atypical work manifested in workforce flexibility, mobility, the feminization of professional employment, and technological changes. Albert and Bradley focus on an influential group of knowledge-based employees--experts--and show the way in which they are ushering in changes in the work environment by resorting to atypical employment arrangements that are enhanced by an agency system. Case studies are developed from companies including AT&T, the Hollywood film industry, London accounting firms, and specialized agencies such as Labforce and Knowledge Net.

	List of figures
	List of tables
	Introduction: the supply-side in context	1
Pt. 1	Expert employees and their new organization
1	Trends in the labour market	17
2	Adaptations in the labour market and the expert employee	36
3	From the firm to the agency	49
4	Expert agency employment as a facilitator of intellectual capital	64
5	The temporal advantages of agency work for the expert employee	82
6	Taking stock	98
Pt. 2	The labour market and the expert employee
7	AT&T's special employment policies for expert employees	107
8	An external temporary agency and expert employees	120
9	The Hollywood agency system	132
10	The Internet as an agent	144
11	Labour market segments re-examined	152
12	Agents and intellectual capital	160
App. A	Formal exposition of Winston model	169
App. B	Agency employment and search costs	173
	Notes	183
	References	197
	Index	209

Interesting book: The Nurturing Touch at Birth or Reflexology Massage

Designing and Delivering Superior Customer Value: Concepts, Cases and Applications

Author: Art Weinstein

Great companies don't just satisfy their customers, they strive todelight and amaze them. Designing and Delivering Superior Customer Value explains how to continually create customer experiences that exceed expectations. This turns buyers (try-ers) into lifetime customers
The emerging value paradigm is not only a new way to think about marketing, but a new business imperative in the 21st century. It is the strategic driver that differentiates great companies from the pack. Value connotes many meanings - yet, it is always defined by the customer
This book stresses the service aspects of an organization - especially customer service, marketing, and organizational responsiveness, and how to create and provide outstanding customer value to the target market(s). With the integrated management perspective used by the authors, you will understand how to blend the delivery of service and quality, together with pricing strategies to maximize the value proposition
Those companies that embrace customer-driven value-creating methods will gain a competitive edge in the 21st century, those that do not will experience declines. This exciting new book is a guide to retaining your existing customers and to gaining loyal new customers
Features

Booknews

Provides marketing practitioners, managers and executives, and scholars with a guide to designing, implementing, and evaluating a customer value strategy in service organizations. A foundation section examines critical business issues such a creating value, customer orientation, and relationship marketing. Each chapter provides discussion questions. A second section offers 19 detailed examples of how successful organizations create value for their customers, plus case questions. Three more sections consist of condensed articles, exercises, and a customer value audit. The authors are professors of marketing at Nova Southeastern University. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Software Engineering Project Management or Fundamentals of Financial Management Concise 4E with Xtra CD ROM and InfoTrac Access Card

2009-02-07T22:46:00.000-08:00

Software Engineering Project Management

Author: Edward Yourdon

Newly revised for 2001, this second edition of Richard Thayer's popular, bestselling book presents a top-down, practical view of managing a successful software engineering project. The book builds a framework for project management activities based on the planning, organizing, staffing, directing, and controlling model. Thayer provides information designed to help you understand and successfully perform the unique role of a project manager.

This book is a must for all project managers in the software field. The text focuses on the five functions of general management by first describing each function and then detailing the project management activities that support each function. This second edition shows you how to manage a software development project, discusses current software engineering management methodologies and techniques, and presents general descriptions and project management problems. The book serves as a guide for your future project management activities. The text also offers students sufficient background and instructional material to serve as a main or supplementary text for a course in software engineering project management.

Note: The 2001 revision includes a new Chapter 4 Introduction and a new paper that replaces an older paper.

Booknews

Reprints and five new papers present a "top-down view" of the subject. Covers software engineering and SE project management--planning, organizing, staffing, directing, and controlling a SE project. No index. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

	Contributors of Original Papers	v
	Foreword
	Edward Yourdon	vii
	W.W. Royce	ix
	Preface	xi
Chapter 1	Introduction to Management	1
	Management Science, Theory, and Practice	4
	The Management Process in 3-D Harvard Business Review, November-December 1969	14
Chapter 2	Software Engineering Process	17
	Software's Chronic Crisis Scientific American, Vol. 271, No. 3, September 1994	20
	System Development Woes Communications of the ACM, October 1993	29
	Software Engineering Software Engineering, M. Dorfman and R.H. Thayer, eds., 1997	30
	Cabability Maturity Model for Software Software Engineering, M. Dorfman and R.H. Thayer, eds., 1997	48
Chapter 3	Software Engineering Project Management	61
	The Mythical Man-Month Datamation, December 1974	64
	Software Engineering Project Management	72
	Software Life Cycle Models	105
Chapter 4	Planning a Software Engineering Project	115
	Software Requirements: A Tutorial Software Engineering, M. Dorfman and R.H. Thayer, eds., 1997	119
	Fundamentals of Project Management Journal of Systems Management, November 1978	141
	Applying Corporate Software Development Policies TRW, Defense and Space Systems Group, December 1977	149
	Inserting New Technologies into a Software Project	167
	Fundamentals of Master Scheduling for the Project Manager Project Management Journal, June 1985	171
	Work Breakdown Structures	183
	Software Risk Management	195
	Standard Software Project Management Plans	203
Chapter 5	Software Cost, Schedule, and Size	213
	Software Estimating Technology: A Survey	218
	Synopsis of COCOMO	230
	How to Estimate Software System Size Adapted from Chapter 7 of The Software Measurement Guidebook, SPC-91060-CMC	246
	How to Estimate Software Project Schedules	257
	By Popular Demand: Software Estimating Rules of Thumb Computer, March 1996	267
	Cost Models for Future Software Life Cycle Processes: COCOMO 2.0 Annals of Software Engineering, Volume 1, 1995	270
Chapter 6	Organizing a Software Engineering Project	309
	Organization Alternatives for Project Managers Project Management Quarterly, March 1977	312
	The Matrix Organization A Decade of Project Management, 1981	320
	The Effect of Programming Team Structures on Programming Tasks Communications of the ACM, March 1981	333
Chapter 7	Staffing a Software Engineering Project	341
	How to Pick Eagles Datamation, September 15, 1985	344
	Not All Programmers Are Created Equal University of California at Irvine, Irvine CA, Ucirv-95-PROC-CSS-006	346
	Managing the Consequences of DP Turnover: A Human Resources Planning Perspective Proceedings of the 20th ACM Computer Personnel Research Conference, 1983	356
	I'm OK--and You're Not Savvy, April 1984	364
	Trial by Firing: Saga of a Rookie Manager IEEE Software, September 1994	366
Chapter 8	Directing a Software Engineering Project	369
	Leadership: The Effective Use of Power Management of Personal Quarterly, 1971	372
	Delegate Your Way to Success Computer Decisions, March 1981	376
	Excitement and Commitment: Keys to Project Success Project Management Journal, December 1984	380
	Motivating and Keeping Software Developers Computer, January 1997	388
	Who is the DP Professional? Datamation, September 1978	391
	Conflict Management for Project Managers Extracted from Conflict Management for Project Managers, 1982	395
Chapter 9	Controlling a Software Engineering Project	407
	Software Project Management: Threads of Control	410
	Making Software Development Estimates "Good" Datamation, September 1981	423
	Criteria for Controlling Projects According to Plan Project Management Journal, June 1986	426
	Software Quality Assurance: A Management Perspective	433
	Elements of Software Configuration Management IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering, January 1984	441
Chapter 10	Software Metrics and Visiblity of Progress	451
	Software Peer Reviews	454
	Software Project Management Audits Journal of Systems and Software, Volume 2, 1981	470
	The Unit Development Folder (UDF): A Ten Year Perspective Software Engineering Project Management, 1st ed., R.H. Thayer, editor, 1988	477
	Software Management Metrics	488
Chapter 11	Epilogue: The Silver Bullets	503
	Software Engineering Project Management: The Silver Bullets of Software Engineering	504
	Appendix
	Glossary	506
	Author Biography	531

Go to: Le fait de Pratiquer le Développement d'Organisation :un Guide pour les Conseillers

Fundamentals of Financial Management, Concise 4E with Xtra! CD-ROM and InfoTrac Access Card

Author: Eugene F Brigham

The market leader, Brigham/Houston, continues to grow in reputation as the most effective approach for learning the basic finance principles, tools, and applications. The Concise version of the extremely successful Fundamentals of Financial Management text offers an briefer alternative containing the same level of rigor concerning the topics covered. It is also updated to reflect the latest in theory, research, real-world examples, and use of technology. The seamless, integrated ancillary package - done by the authors - is a hallmark of this package that makes the subject more accessible for learners.

Information Systems or The Advantage Series

2009-02-06T21:05:00.000-08:00

Information Systems: Success in the 21st Century

Author: Uma G Gupta

This introductory information systems book helps readers overcome the challenges of sorting through IS issues, concepts, and terms to maintain a current and relevant knowledge base in the midst of an information revolution. Chapter topics include IS use in business, computer hardware and software, databases for business applications, telecommunications, the internet, electronic commerce, client/server computing, managerial decision making, designing and developing IS systems, and computer security. For individuals with varying degrees of technical experience, interested in exploring the changes in the field of IS that are transforming society, business, and our personal lives.

Books about: Supervisão na Indústria de Hospitalidade:Recursos Humanos Aplicados

The Advantage Series: Integrating and Extending Microsoft Office XP- Brief

Author: Sarah Hutchinson Clifford

The Advantage Series presents the Feature-Method-Practice approach to computer software applications to today's technology and business students. This series implements an efficient and effective learning model, which enhances critical thinking skills and provides students and faculty with complete application coverage.

CHAPTER 1: INTEGRATING WORD AND EXCEL

1.1 Using the Office Clipboard

1.2 Pasting, Linking, and Embedding

1.3 Manipulating Shared Objects

1.4 Inserting New Worksheets and Charts in Word

CHAPTER 2: PERFORMING MORE INTEGRATION TASKS

2.1 Creating a Presentation from a Word Document

2.2 Integrating PowerPoint with Word and Excel

2.3 Integrating Access with Word and Excel

CHAPTER 3: EXTENDING MICROSOFT OFFICE TO THE WEB

3.1 Using Hyperlinks

3.2 Saving Existing Documents to HTML

3.3 Preparing Web Pages Using Office

End of Chapter Materials

Chapter Summary

Command Summary

Key Terms

Chapter Quiz

Short Answer

True/False

Multiple Choice

Hands-On Exercises

Case Projects

The Software Edge

On Your Own

Case Problems

Module 8 or Public Speaking

2009-02-05T19:25:00.000-08:00

Module 8: Writing and Presenting a Business Plan

Author: James ORourk

This text, written by Carolyn A. Boulger, reviews the entire process of writing and presenting a business plan. From idea generation to feasibility analysis, and from writing the plan to presenting it to various audience groups, this text covers all steps necessary to develop and start a business. It also offers guidance on meeting with investors and getting funding for the new venture, and provides numerous samples of effective plans and presentations.

Public Speaking: An Audience-Centered Approach

Author: Steven A Beeb

Public Speaking: An Audience-Centered Approach, 7/E

Steven A. Beebe, Texas State University - San Marcos
Susan J. Beebe, Texas State University - San Marcos

The uniqueaudience-centered approach of this top-selling text emphasizes that your success in public speaking depends on how listeners interpret the message. Its distinctive and popular approach emphasizes the importance of analyzing and considering the audience at every point in your speechmaking process. This model of public speaking is the foundation of the text, guiding you through the step-by-step process of public speaking, focusing your attention on the dynamics of diverse audiences, and narrowing the gap between the classroom and the real world.

NEW FEATURES OF THE SEVENTH EDITION:
•

The Confidently Connecting with Your Audience margin feature appears in every chapter and provides tips and strategies for managing communication apprehension effectively—from building confidence with a well-organized speech (Ch. 9) to focusing on the information you have to share rather than on your fears (Ch. 15).
•

Expanded and improved Learning From Great Speakers box identifies lessons you can learn from great speakers.
•

Speech Workshop, an end-of-chapter feature, provides a wealth of activities, worksheets, strategies, and suggestions for helping you develop and deliver speeches.
•

The popular and effective Developing Your Speech Step by Step box offers a new model that allows you to follow the steps of a successful student speaker as she works through the speechmaking process.

MySpeechLab is a fun, interactive online resource that gives you everything you need to succeed in your Public Speaking course — all in one easy-to-use website. Log on to www.myspeechlab.com and find a wealth of videos, practice exams and tests, interactive activities, an outline tool, research help, and much more! (Access code required.)

Quality Management Systems a Practical Guide for Improvement or Power and Influence in Organizations

2009-02-04T17:44:00.000-08:00

Quality Management Systems a Practical Guide for Improvement

Author: Howard S Gitlow

Do you remember the first time you drove a car? To prepare for this you probably read the drivers manual, watched movies, practiced in your driveway, and endlessly discussed the impending event with your friends. The result - you knew a lot about the theory of driving, you just didn't know how to translate that theory into practice. Quality Management poses a similar problem to many organizations. The time has come to put Quality Management theory to use. Since the early 1980s, you may have read books and journals, attended seminars and training sessions, or watched films and videos about Quality Management. Once again you must make the jump from theory to application. Quality Management Systems: A Practical Guide for Improvement makes it possible. This book presents a model of Quality Management that combines the theoretical base of Dr. W. Edwards Deming and the practical techniques of the Japanese into a useful application. The fork shaped model includes: oThe Handle - Management's Commitment to Transformation oThe Neck - Management's Education oProng One - Daily Management oProng Two - Cross-Functional Management oProng Three - Policy Management Quality Management Systems: A Practical Guide for Improvement supplies an integrated approach that explains the theory and how to put it into practice using a step-by-step method.

Booknews

Augmenting the many books on the theory of quality management, Gitlow (business administration, U. of Miami-Coral Gables) integrates the theory with a step-by-step method for putting it into practice. He combines the theoretical base of Deming with the practical techniques of the Japanese to show how to get started and actually do quality management. He does not provide a bibliography. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

1	A Quality Management System	1
2	The Handle: Management's Commitment to Transformation	29
3	The Neck: Management's Education	51
4	Prong One: Daily Management	79
5	Prong Two: Cross-Functional Management	131
6	Prong Three: Policy Management	163
App. 6A	The Voice of the Customer	245
App. 6B	The Voice of the Business	253
App. 6C	Table of Tables	255
App. 6D	The Evolution of Quality at Florida Power & Light	261
7	Resource Requirements of the Fork Model	267
	Index	277

New interesting textbook: Systems Architecture or Web 101

Power and Influence in Organizations

Author: Roderick Kramer

This volume is a readily accessible compilation of current, original research in the area of power and influence in organizations. Power and Influence in Organizations offers a rich exploration of emerging trends and new perspectives. Contributors include leading scholars in organizational behavior and theory and major contemporary intellectual pioneers in research on power and influence, including Samuel B. Bacharach, Robert Cialdini, Edward J. Lawler, and Jeffrey Pfeffer. Each contributor provides insight into his or her own research, an overview of general trends, and thoughts about the direction of future research. Topics examined include manipulation of employee perceptions and values; the links between power and accountability; sharing power; the effects of gender on power and influence; illusions of influence; and impression management. Advanced students and scholars in organizational behavior, social influence, power and politics, conflict management, and institutional politics will find Power and Influence in Organizations stimulating and a useful roadmap to present and future research.

Booknews

A compilation of current research, emerging trends, and new perspectives in the area of power and influence in organizations that is the end product of a conference by the same name held at Stanford University, May 1996. Fifteen contributions provide insight into each author's own research, an overview of general trends, and thoughts about the direction of future research. Topics examined include manipulation of employee perceptions and values; the links between power and accountability; sharing power; the effects of gender on power and influence; illusions of influence; and impression management. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

Financial Reporting and Statement Analysis or International Marketing

2009-02-03T16:03:00.000-08:00

Financial Reporting and Statement Analysis: A Strategic Approach

Author: Clyde P Stickney

The premise of the text is that students learn financial statement analysis most effectively by performing the analysis on actual companies. Students learn to integrate concepts from economics, business strategy, accounting, and other business disciplines. The text is designed for courses on financial statement analysis and financial reporting found in accounting, finance, and economics departments.

New interesting textbook: Gestion :une Approche basée sur la Compétence (avec InfoTrac ?Liez-vous - dans la Carte et BizF

International Marketing: Analysis and Strategy

Author: Sak Onkvisit

The main aim of International Marketing, is to provide solid foundations that are useful for explanation, prediction and control of international business activities. The authors have developed a strong conceptual and theoretical framework to help to understand international marketing problems and guide marketing decisions. The book combines both marketing applications and theoretical foundations, thus providing a good balance between theory and practice. Rather than just merely descriptive the approach is analytical and managerial.

1	Nature of international marketing : challenges and opportunities	1
2	Trade theories and economic development	22
3	Trade distortions and marketing barriers	52
4	Political environment	84
5	Legal environment	121
6	Culture	153
7	Consumer behavior in the international context : psychological and social dimensions	187
8	Marketing research and information system	213
9	Foreign market entry strategies	243
10	Product strategies : basic decisions and product planning	272
11	Product strategies : branding and packaging decisions	308
12	Channels of distribution	344
13	Physical distribution and documentation	386
14	Promotion strategies : personal selling, publicity, and sales promotion	413
15	Promotion strategies : advertising	440
16	Pricing strategies : basic decisions	472
17	Pricing strategies : countertrade and terms of sale/payment	495
18	Sources of financing and international money markets	522
19	Currencies and foreign exchange	549

Managing Strategic Change or Spaces of Globalization

2009-02-02T14:22:00.000-08:00

Managing Strategic Change: Technical, Political, and Cultural Dynamics

Author: Noel M Tichy

Shows how managers can use the conceptual framework of TPC theory (technical, political, and cultural dynamics) to cope with major strategic reorientation. Raises such fundamental questions about the nature of organizations. What business(es) should we be in? Who should reap what benefits from the organization? What are the values and norms of organizational members? Provides concepts and workable technologies for dealing with these questions and preparing for future change. Includes extensive examples.

Partial table of contents:
A FRAMEWORK FOR STRATEGIC CHANGE.
Strategic Change Management.
Organizational Models.
STRATEGIC ISSUES: DIAGNOSIS AND STRATEGY DEVELOPMENT.
Diagnosis for Change.
Application of Diagnostic Strategy.
Change Strategy.
Technical Change Strategies.
Political Change Strategies.
Cultural Change Strategies.
IMPLEMENTING STRATEGIC CHANGES.
Change Technologies.
Transition Management.
MONITORING CHANGE AND THE FUTURE OF STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT.
Monitoring and Evaluating Strategic Change.
Strategic Change in the Future.
References.
Author Index.
Subject Index.

Book about: Cooking with Country Music Stars or Selling em by the Sack

Spaces of Globalization

Author: Kevin R Cox

Arguments about the globalization of economic relations have become commonplace; part of the everyday diet of social science and public affairs alike. Citing the growth of multinational and transnational corporations, and the enhanced mobility of goods, services and money, proponents of the globalization hypothesis claim that capital now creates new forms of competition beyond the reach of state agencies and nationally organized forms of worker representation. Defined in this manner, globalization becomes a threat to the welfare state, to policies of full employment, and to national living standards. Taking a radically different tack, this timely and far-reaching volume reexamines the underlying assumptions of globalization arguments from a critical perspective. Alongside globalization, authors show, there persist tendencies towards the territorialization and re-territorialization of economic life, as well as the development of new organizing strategies by labor. Probing the complex relationship between the global and the local and investigating the changing dynamics of contemporary firms, labor, capital, and communities, the book also addresses the broader question of the difference that space makes in understanding society.

Getting Work or Our Continent Our Future

2009-02-01T12:41:00.000-08:00

Getting Work: Philadelphia, 1840-1950

Author: Walter Licht

How did working people find jobs in the past? How has the process changed over time for various groups of job seekers? Are outcomes influenced more by general economic circumstances, by discriminatory practices in the labor market, or by personal initiative and competence? Walter Licht uses intensive primary-source research on a major industrial city for a period of over one hundred years to tackle these questions. He looks at when and how young people secured first jobs, the influence of agencies on the hiring process, schools and work, apprenticeship programs, unions, the role of firms in structuring work opportunities, the state as employer and as shaper of employment conditions, and the problem of losing work--the job search as a seemingly perpetual activity. Licht's findings enliven and sometimes revise specific scholarly and social policy debates. School programs, for example, are shown to have been unsystematic because of various social clashes; working-class children had only loose ties to schools. Men and women, blacks and whites, older-stock Americans and newcomers had disparate labor market experiences. Experience in the labor market varied not only by group and across time, but also during different stages of the individual's life. Getting Work is important reading for policymakers, social historians, economists, and students of management and industrial relations.

Our Continent, Our Future: African Perspectives on Structural Adjustment

Author: Thandika Mkandawir

For decades now, many African countries have implemented the structural adjustment programs of the Bretton Woods Institutions. The results, however, have been less than sterling. Extreme poverty and underdevelopment continue to plague what is becoming the world's "forgotten continent," and it is now generally agreed that a new approach is urgently required. Our Continent, Our Future presents the emerging African perspective on this complex issue. The authors use as background their own extensive experience and a collection of 30 individual studies, 25 of which were from African economists, to summarize this African perspective and articulate a path for the future. They underscore the need to be sensitive to each country's unique history and current condition. They argue for a broader policy agenda and for a much more active role for the state within what is largely a market economy.

Times Literary Supplement - Michael Chege

A refreshing work from two of Africa's most eminent economists, which employs the research efforts of twenty-five of their colleagues across Africa.

Professional Practice for Interior Designers or Creating Groups

2009-01-31T11:00:00.000-08:00

Professional Practice for Interior Designers

Author: Christine M M Piotrowski

The text of choice for professional interior design practice -- now with companion CD-ROM!

Since publication of the first edition in 1990, Professional Practice for Interior Designers has remained the leading choice for educators for teaching interior design business practice as well as for professionals seeking to advance in their own practices. This ASID/Polsky Prize winner is recommended by the NCIDQ for exam preparation and covers the gamut of legal, financial, management, marketing, administrative, and ethical issues. You gain all the essential skills needed for planning and maintaining a thriving interior design business, presented in the clear, easy-to-follow style that is the hallmark of this text.

This edition is completely current with the latest business practices and features a host of new practice aids:

• Companion CD-ROM includes a trial version of professional practice software, business forms, numerous short articles, plus additional information and resources.

• New examples help you manage the latest challenges and implement the latest business practices.

• A new chapter devoted to strategic planning explains this important business concept in easy-to-understand language for students and professionals.

• Brief "what would you do" case studies in each chapter challenge you to respond to ethical issues faced by today's interior designers.

From creating a business plan to launching a promotional campaign to setting up a computerized accounting system, everything you need to launch and sustain a successful interior design practice is here.

	Preface
	Acknowledgments
Pt. I	An Introduction to the Profession of Interior Design	3
1	The Profession	5
2	Ethics	31
3	Personal Goal Setting	43
Pt. II	How to Establish an Interior Design Practice	51
4	Planning a New Interior Design Practice	53
5	Advice and Counsel	71
6	Business Formations	83
7	Legal Filings	97
8	On Your Own	111
Pt. III	The Business of Interior Design	123
9	Business Organization and Management	125
10	The Planning Function	135
11	Personnel Management	147
12	Legal Issues of Employment	169
13	Legal Responsibilities	185
14	Warranties and Product Liability	197
Pt. IV	Managing the Business's Finances	207
15	Financial Accounting	209
16	Financial Management	231
17	Determining Design Fees	243
18	Preparing Design Contracts	265
19	Product Pricing Considerations	303
20	The Sale of Goods and the Uniform Commercial Code	323
Pt. V	Marketing and Business Development	339
21	Marketing Interior Design Services	341
22	Promoting the Interior Design Practice	353
23	Advanced Promotional Tools	371
24	Selling Your Services	395
25	Design Presentations	409
26	Personal Power	429
Pt. VI	Project Management	447
27	Project Management Techniques	449
28	Working with Trade Sources	477
29	Contract Documents and Specifications	489
30	Contract Administration	519
31	Contract Administration: Delivery and Project Closeout	543
Pt. VII	Careers	557
32	Career Options	559
33	Getting the Next - or First - Job	577
	Glossary	617
	Appendix	637
	Index	643

New interesting textbook: Le fait de programmer avec Suretrak

Creating Groups, Vol. 2

Author: Harvey J Bertcher

Considers the issue of group effectiveness from the standpoint of group composition. The authors assert that the effectiveness of any group is at least partially determined by the particular attributes which each individual brings to it. Drawing from studies in small group theory as well as from research pertaining to group psychotherapy, the programme outlined in this convenient sourcebook should help individuals to better understand and influence the composition of groups involved in all types of community work.

Booknews

Myrick (communication, Auburn U.) critically analyzes institutional processes embedded in the proliferation of information about HIV/AIDS, and how the messages that the public receives serve to further stigmatize the gay population. The cultural study uses Michel Foucault's theories of sexuality and identity as a basis for understanding the historical dimensions of gay politics, and the current medicalization of the community's identity. The author applies his theoretical analysis to a review of national public service announcements about AIDS and community based education programs. Includes an appendix of PSA transcripts. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Intellectual Property Damages or Issues in Cost Accounting for Health Care Organizations

2009-01-30T09:20:00.000-08:00

Intellectual Property Damages: Guidelines and Analysis

Author: Mark A Glick

A comprehensive resource for anyone involved in intellectual property litigation

With Intellectual Property Damages you'll get the basics of the intellectual property litigation process, the essential "rules" in postulating damages theories, the basics of IP law, the economic policies that are the foundation for much of IP litigation, the skills necessary to correctly calculate damages in IP cases--and more!

Order your copy today!

What People Are Saying

Robert D. Tollison
This book is a wonderful application of heightened academic rigor and modern economic and financial theory to the work done by experts and attorneys in intellectual property litigation. This book walks the reader through increasingly complex analysis, without forgetting that few, if any, of its readers will be well-versed in economics, finance, accounting, and litigation skills. I recommend the book to anyone interested in increasing their understanding of this complicated area.
—Robert D. Tollison, Robert M. Hearin Professor of Economics, University of Mississippi

Duncan Cameron
Intellectual Property Damages is a virtuoso performance. Because it explains not only the usual practice of Intellectual Property damages analysis, but the underlying reasoning in an accessible and understandable way, this book is a must have for anybody who wants to be a serious practitioner in the field of Intellectual Property damage estimation.
—Duncan Cameron, Managing Director, LECG's Antitrust Practice

Parnell Black
As one of the cofounders of the National Association of Certified Valuation Analysts (NACVA) and President/CEO for the past ten years, I have had a wide involvement in the valuation field, including: teaching and publishing, as well as performing valuations of all kinds. The clarity, accuracy and comprehensive nature of this book is a refreshing and welcomed addition to the area of intellectual property valuation, which is an area of limited publications. The authors explain valuation in a way that is neither simplistic nor overly academic, and show how valuation principles can be used in intellectual property cases. I enthusiastically recommend this book as a vital addition to any valuation professional's library of literature on calculating intellectual property damages.
—Parnell Black, MBA, CPA, CVA, CEO-NACVA

New interesting textbook: Microsoft Visual C 2008 Express Edition or Agile Web Development with Rails

Issues in Cost Accounting for Health Care Organizations

Author: Steven A Finkler

This new second edition is based on a thorough literature review of all cost accounting articles published in the last five years. It is an excellent resource for readings on the topic of health care cost measurement and analysis, this text provides the insights of leading authorities in the area of health care costs. Each article is linked with the conceptual discussion in the companion volume, Essentials of Cost Accounting for Health Care Organizations.

Features:

A combination of classic articles and the most recent published applications of cost accounting to the health care setting (it is the most complete compilation of articles on the topic of health care cost accounting)
Has a new focus on not only hospitals, but also other types of health care providers including managed care, nursing homes, home health, clinics, and physician practices
Each article provides insight about a specific potential problem area in the management of health care organizations.

Booknews

Offers a collection of articles focusing on critical issues in health care cost accounting. Each article provides insight about a specific potential problem area in the management of health care organizations. Many articles incorporate the latest costing techniques, such as the application of Activity Based Costing to health care. Some articles are classics that lay the foundations for health care costing. Material is presented in four sections to parallel the text, . Finkler is a professor at New York University's Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service. Ward is an assistant professor at the Medical University of South Carolina. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

	Preface
Pt. I	Cost Accounting Foundations	1
Ch. 1	Introduction to Cost Accounting	5
Reading 1-1	Reader's Forum: The Value of a Cost Accounting System	5
Reading 1-2	Understanding the Hospital Cost Accounting Process	8
Reading 1-3	The Human Element in Cost Accounting	14
Ch. 2	Cost Definitions	19
Reading 2-1	The Identification of Surgical Services Costs	19
Reading 2-2	Cost Finding for High-Technology, High-Cost Services: Current Practice and a Possible Alternative	24
Reading 2-3	Horizontal Accounting Considered for the Hospital Setting	37
Reading 2-4	Costing Out Nursing Services	44
Reading 2-5	Cost Accounting for Emergency Services	49
Ch. 3	Product Costing	56
Reading 3-1	Job-Order Costing in Physician Practice	56
Reading 3-2	Product Cost Analysis in the Clinical Laboratory	62
Reading 3-3	Product Costing for Health Care Firms	71
Reading 3-4	A Microcosting Approach	81
Ch. 4	Cost Allocation	85
Reading 4-1	The Distinction between Cost and Charges	85
Reading 4-2	Using Reciprocal Allocation of Service Department Costs for Decision Making	98
Reading 4-3	RVUs: Relative Value Units or Really Very Useful?	104
Reading 4-4	Alternative Costing Methods in Health Care	111
Reading 4-5	Accounting for the Move to Ambulatory Patient Groups	116
Reading 4-6	Cost Allocation in the Emergency Department	128
Ch. 5	Costing for Nonroutine Decisions	134
Reading 5-1	HMO Negotiations and Hospital Costs	134
Reading 5-2	Capitated Hospital Contracts: The Empty Beds versus Filled Beds Controversy	138
Reading 5-3	Privatization in Health Care Institutions	142
Reading 5-4	Considering Cost Effectiveness in the Hospital Setting	152
Reading 5-5	Cost-Effectiveness Analysis in Health Care	156
Ch. 6	Cost-Volume-Profit Analysis	165
Reading 6-1	Breakeven Analysis for Capitated Arrangements	165
Reading 6-2	Managed Care and Breakeven Analysis: A Clarification	167
Reading 6-3	Using Breakeven Analysis with Step-Fixed Costs	171
Reading 6-4	Alternative Contribution Margin Measures	176
Pt. II	Cost Accounting Information for Planning and Control	181
Ch. 7	Predicting Future Costs	183
Reading 7-1	Regression-Based Cost Estimation and Variance Analysis: Resolving the Impact of Outliers	183
Reading 7-2	The Learning Curve and the Health Care Industry	189
Ch. 8	Budgeting	197
Reading 8-1	The Financial Evolution of Hospitals and the Zero-Base Budget Approach	197
Reading 8-2	Zero-Based Budgeting for a Radiology Service: A Case Study in Outsourcing	205
Reading 8-3	Developing and Using a Budget Manual	211
Reading 8-4	Outcome Budgeting Shifts Focus to Meeting Objectives	215
Reading 8-5	Flexible Budgeting Allows for Better Management of Resources As Needs Change	224
Ch. 9	Flexible Budgeting and Variance Analysis	229
Reading 9-1	Physician Cost Variance Analysis under DRGs	229
Reading 9-2	A Contemporary Approach to Budget Variance Analysis: A Pharmacy Application	233
Reading 9-3	Rolling Budgets and Variance Reports	241
Reading 9-4	Statistical Cost Control: A Tool for Financial Managers	245
Ch. 10	Management Control	250
Reading 10-1	Developing a Planning and Control System for a Responsibility Unit	250
Reading 10-2	Cost Control Systems	253
Reading 10-3	Competitive Pricing Models for Intra-Hospital Services	259
Reading 10-4	Transfer Pricing in the Hospital-HMO Corporation	262
Pt. III	Additional Cost Accounting Tools to Aid in Decision Making	267
Ch. 11	Cost Accounting Ratios	269
Reading 11-1	Ratio Analysis: Use with Caution	269
Reading 11-2	Hospital Industry Cash Flow Ratio Analysis: A Sufficiency and Efficiency Perspective	278
Reading 11-3	Ratio Analysis for the Development Office of Health Care Institutions	283
Ch. 12	Measuring Productivity	289
Reading 12-1	Productivity Management: A Model for Participative Management in Health Care Organizations	289
Ch. 13	Inventory	300
Reading 13-1	Inventory Management System Reaps Savings for Department	300
Ch. 14	Dealing with Uncertainty	307
Reading 14-1	Decision Analysis and Capital Budgeting: Application to the Delivery of Critical Care Services	307
Reading 14-2	Expected Value Technique Useful in HMO Negotiations: Tool Helps Managers Consider Potential Outcomes of Bidding Process	315
Reading 14-3	Decision Making under Uncertainty: A Linear Programming Approach	324
Ch. 15	Information Systems for Costing	329
Reading 15-1	Saving Money throughout the Cost Accounting Installation Cycle	329
Reading 15-2	Cost Accounting Software Design	337
Reading 15-3	An Integrated Planning and Management Control System for Hospitals	342
Ch. 16	Performance Evaluation and Incentive Compensation	347
Reading 16-1	Measuring Segment Performance: New Ventures of Today's Innovative Hospital System Pose Evaluation Challenges	347
Reading 16-2	The Impact of Motivation and Incentive Programs on Financial Budgets	354
Pt. IV	Cost Accounting for the Year 2000 and Beyond	363
Ch. 17	New Approaches to Cost Accounting	365
Reading 17-1	Activity-Based Costing in the Operating Room at Valley View Hospital	365
Reading 17-2	Activity-Based Costing for Hospitals	371
Reading 17-3	ABC Estimation of Unit Costs for Emergency Department Services	385
Ch. 18	Total Cost Management: Measuring the Costs of Quality	393
Reading 18-1	Measuring the Costs of Quality	393
Reading 18-2	Total Quality Management: An Application in a Biomedical Laboratory	399
	Index	405
	About the Authors	421

Organizational Behavior or Managing Selection in Changing Organizations

2009-01-29T07:29:00.000-08:00

Organizational Behavior: Foundations, Realities, and Challenges with CD-ROM and InfoTrac

Author: Debra L Nelson

Organizational Behavior clearly illustrates how a sound understanding of organizational behavior can help students successfully navigate the complexities of today's organizations. The text itself is grounded in the theory of the field, cultivating an understanding of the scientific foundation of organization behavior. That foundation is then applied to the contemporary realities of today's business environment through in depth and insightful explorations of some of today's most compelling organizations. Throughout the text students are challenged to think critically about the material at hand and their own attitudes, refining the organization behavior tools that they will continually develop and employ throughout their careers. The prevailing theme of the text is change and the demands it places on people and organizations to grow and adjust while maintaining well being in an environment of constant and rapid change. Expertly written with a vibrant illustrations and design, Organizational Behavior, Fourth Edition is sure to engage your students.

	Preface
Pt. I	Introduction	1
Ch. 1	Organizational Behavior	2
Ch. 2	Organizations 2001 and Managerial Challenges	34
Pt. II	Individual Processes and Behavior	75
Ch. 3	Personality, Perception, and Atribution	76
Ch. 4	Attitudes, Values, and Ethics	110
Ch. 5	Motivation in Organizations	140
Ch. 6	Learning and Performance Management	170
Ch. 7	Stress and Well-Being at Work	200
Pt. III	Interpersonal Processes and Behavior	231
Ch. 8	Communication	232
Ch. 9	Work Groups and Teams	264
Ch. 10	Decision Making by Individuals and Groups	294
Ch. 11	Power and Political Behavior	328
Ch. 12	Leadership and Followership	356
Ch. 13	Conflict at Work	388
Pt. IV	Organizational Processes and Structure	423
Ch. 14	Jobs and the Design of Work	424
Ch. 15	Organizational Design and Structure	454
Ch. 16	Organizational Culture	486
Ch. 17	Career Management	518
Ch. 18	Managing Change	548
	Appendix How Do We Know What We Know about Organizational Behavior?	A-1
	Glossary	G-1
	Name Index	I-1
	Company Index	I-5
	Subject Index	I-9

New interesting book: Cardiovascular Disease or Depression

Managing Selection in Changing Organizations: Human Resource Strategies

Author: Jerard F Keho

In this volume, the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology provides managers with the practical guidance they need to make decisions about the crucial process of employee selection in today's changing business environment. An outstanding group of contributors--each with direct experience creating effective selection programs for contemporary organizations--makes applicable proven strategies for the design and management of the selection process. They examine selection management in its organizational, social, and legal contexts and help human resource professionals forge links between selection and other critical HR functions such as training, development, recruitment, and resourcing.

SIOP PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE SERIES

New Emerging Japanese Economy or Business Communication

2009-01-28T05:48:00.000-08:00

New Emerging Japanese Economy: Opportunity and Strategy for World Business

Author: Panos Mourdoukoutas

The book is in three parts. The first part is a discussion of Japan's Old Economy, the institutions and policies that contributed to the country's phenomenal success, the frictions they caused with her citizens and trade partners; and the contribution of these frictions to the rise of the New Economy. The second part is a discussion of how Japan's New Economy has benefited world business; and the current trends and opportunities. The third part is a discussion of a strategy that assists foreign companies to take advantage of Japan's New Economy.

1. Introduction
I. THE FADING OLD ECONOMY
2. Economic Dualism
3. Government Activism
4. Economic Frictions
5. The Bubble and its Burst
II. THE EMERGING NEW ECONOMY
6. Competition and Deregulation
7. Corporate Restructuring
8. Opportunities for Foreign Business
III. STRATEGIES FOR FOREIGN BUSINESS
9. Adapt to the Japanese Business Conditions
10. Develop New Products
11. Promote Products Aggressively
12. Summary and Conclusions

Book review: International Dictionary of Food and Nutrition or Noncommercial Institutional and Contract Foodservice Management

Business Communication: Process and Product

Author: Mary Ellen Guffey

Business Communication: Process and Product, 4e takes readers through a well-developed, consistently applied process approach to communication that is combined with integrated, hands-on application of current and emerging business technologies. Readers learn a process for solving future communication problems, and how to use Internet and electronic media to deliver their message, resulting in a tangible communication strategy they can use throughout their careers.

World Regional Geography or Corporate Bankruptcy

2009-01-27T04:08:00.000-08:00

World Regional Geography: A Development Approach

Author: Merrill L Johnson

Developed around the theme of economic development, this up-to-date book is authoritatively written by experts (with personal, first-hand familiarity) on each region of the world. The development perspective is used to create a substantive volume on world regional geography that takes readers beyond the customary rote overview of facts and figures to an understanding of the character of the world's peoples—as seen from their historical, cultural, and environmental attributes. Four introductory chapters set the stage for discussions of economic development within the context of geographic principles. Other chapter topics include the European Union, Sub-Saharan Africa, Monsoon Asia, the Middle East, North Africa, the U.S., and Canada. For government foreign area specialists, and corporate employees doing business abroad in a global economy.

Booknews

A very basic introduction to the geographical foundations of development and underdevelopment, for undergraduate majors and non- majors with no background in geography. After introductory chapters on geography as a discipline, physical and cultural elements of the environment, and the world condition as it relates to development, sections organized by region introduce geographical and developmental concepts. Includes color photos and maps, boxed readings, and key terms. The bibliography of this sixth edition is updated. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

Pt. 1	Basic Concepts and Ideas	1
1	Geography: An Exciting Discipline	2
2	People and Resources	17
3	Physical and Cultural Components of the Human Environment	33
4	More Developed and Less Developed Countries: An Overview	60
Pt. 2	Anglo America	91
5	Anglo America: The Bases for Development	92
6	Anglo America: Economic Growth and Transformation	120
7	Anglo America: Problems in a Developed Realm	140
Pt. 3	Western Europe	157
8	Western Europe: A Varied Home for Humanity	158
9	Western Europe: Landscapes of Development	171
10	Western Europe: Old Nations Meeting Modern Challenges	192
Pt. 4	Eastern Europe, Russia, and the Eurasian States of the Former Soviet Union	219
11	Eastern Europe: The Land Between	220
12	Russia and the Eurasian States of the Former Soviet Union: Land and People	243
13	Russia and the Eurasian States of the Former Soviet Union: Economic Activity	265
Pt. 5	Australia/New Zealand and Japan	289
14	Australia and New Zealand: Isolation and Space	290
15	Japan: The Economic Giant	304
Pt. 6	Monsoon Asia	331
16	Monsoon Asia: An Introduction	332
17	China and its Pacific Rim Neighbors	345
18	Southeast Asia: Unity in Diversity	375
19	South Asia: The Past in the Present	396
Pt. 7	The Middle East and North Africa	431
20	The Middle East and North Africa: Physical and Cultural Environments	432
21	The Mediterranean Crescent	451
22	The Gulf States	473
Pt. 8	Africa South of the Sahara	493
23	Africa South of the Sahara: Legacy of Continuity and Change	494
24	West, Central, and East Africa: Diversity in Development	523
25	Southern Africa: Development in Transition	546
Pt. 9	Latin America	567
26	Latin America's Heritage: Foundations and Processes of Change	568
27	Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean: Lands of Contrasts	588
28	South America: Regions of Uneven Development	608

Interesting book: Le Comportement D'organisation et la Direction dans le Maintien de l'ordre

Corporate Bankruptcy

Author: Jagdeep S Bhandari

This collection is the first comprehensive selection of readings focusing on corporate bankruptcy. Its main purpose is to explore the nature and efficiency of corporate reorganization using interdisciplinary approaches drawn from law, economics, business, and finance. Substantive areas covered include the role of credit, creditors' implicit bargains, nonbargaining features of bankruptcy, workouts of agreements, alternatives to bankruptcy, and proceedings in countries including the United States, United Kingdom, Europe, and Japan. The Honorable Richard A. Posner, Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, offers a foreword to the collection.

Human Resource Management or Why They Dont Hate Us

2009-01-26T02:27:00.000-08:00

Human Resource Management: A Managerial Tool for Competitive Advantage

Author: Lawrence Kleiman

Rather than focusing on detailed theoretical coverage geared to the Human Resource Professional, this book focuses each chapter on developing a clear understanding of the various HR functions and on the working relationship between the HR department and other organizational departments. It is targeted to inform the general manager of what she or he needs to know about Human Resource Management.

Booknews

Introduces undergraduate, MBA, and executive MBA level management students to the principles and practices of human resource management, focusing on the idea that the effective management of human resources, like the effective management of other organizational resources, leads to competitive advantage. This edition places increased emphasis on legal issues, integrates abundant case studies, and revisits chapter objectives and key terms at chapter's end. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

	Introduction
1	Human Resource Management and Competitive Advantage	1
2	Understanding the Legal and Environmental Context of HRM	22
Pt. I	Human Resource Management Pre-Selection Practices
3	Planning for Human Resources	51
4	Analyzing Jobs	75
Pt. II	Human Resource Management Selection Practices
5	Recruiting Applicants	100
6	Selecting Applicants	130
Pt. III	Human Resource Management Post-Selection Practices
7	Training and Developing Employees	175
8	Appraising Employee Job Performance	208
9	Determining Pay and Benefits	240
10	Implementing Productivity Improvement Programs	277
Pt. IV	HRM Practices Affected by External Factors
11	Complying with Workplace Justice Laws	312
12	Understanding Unions and Their Impact on HRM	346
13	Meeting Employee Safety and Health Needs	380
14	Establishing HRM Practices Overseas	409
	Conclusion
15	Working in the HRM Field	434
	Manager's Guide to the Internet	451
	Glossary	473
	Index	477

Interesting book: Cura integrante del comportamento: Trattamenti che funzionano nella regolazione di pronto intervento

Why They Don't Hate Us: Lifting the Veil on the Axis of Evil

Author: Mark Levin

Mark LeVine wrote Why They Don't Hate Us because he was scared. Scared of the implications of an American foreign policy: policy founded on misinformation about both the historical and present-day Middle East and the people who live there. And angry because he has spent over fifteen years living in and researching the Middle East: a Middle East where the distinction between 'them' and 'us' has little basis in reality. Writing against the backdrop of the war on terror and the Bush administration's axis of evil, Why They Don't Hate Us uncovers a world behind the mask of the suicide bomber, where the battle against religious zealotry and the worst excesses of globalization might one day be fought by people on both sides, under the banner of an axis of empathy.

E Business Strategy Sourcing and Governance or Calling Home

2009-01-25T00:37:00.000-08:00

E-Business Strategy, Sourcing and Governance

Author: Gottschalk

E-Business Strategy, Sourcing and Governance is based on the premise that it is difficult, if not impossible, to manage a modern business or public organization without at least some knowledge of the planning, use, control and benefits of information technology. Managers need to have an understanding of strategy development for IS/IT that covers e-business strategy, sourcing of service, and governance of IS/IT decision rights. E-Business Strategy, Sourcing and Governance presents emerging perspectives that influence IS/IT strategy work, such as new e-business models, the growing number of sourcing options and revised models for governance of IS/IT.

"From the humble beginnings of a decade ago, e-business, sourcing and governance have today become critical issues in strategic IT management in both private and public organizations all over the world. This book answers the entire range of questions concerning critical issues. It covers both opportunities and threats. Towards the end, it makes a very interesting contribution of showing how IT governance has to change as a result of IT outsourcing."

- Dr. Binshan Lin, BellSouth Corporation Professorship in Business Administration, Louisiana State University in Shreveport, USA

About the Author:
Dr. Petter Gottschalk is professor of information management at the Norwegian School of Management. He received his education degrees from Berlin, Boston and Henley. He teaches e-business strategy, sourcing, governance and knowledge management in Oslo, Alexandria, Shanghai and Singapore. His executive experience includes positions as CIO and CEO at ABB companies. Dr. Gottschalk is a popular speaker at conferences and seminars.

New interesting textbook: Cancer Prevention and Management through Exercise and Weight Control or Dr Atkins 4 Book Package

Calling Home: Working Class Women's Writings

Author: Janet Zandy

'A powerful and uncompromising collection of essays, stories, poems, and oral histories, and more, reflecting the history and personal experiences of workingclass women in America.'--Booklist

Buying In or Selling Out or Uncertainty Production Choice and Agency

2009-01-23T22:56:00.000-08:00

Buying In or Selling Out?: The Commercialization of the American Research Industry

Author: Donald G Stein

Universities were once ivory towers where scholarship and teaching were unbiased and free from commercial pressure and special interests -- or so we tell ourselves. Whether they were ever as pure as we think, it is certain that they are pure no longer. Administrators benefit from patents by commercializing faculty discoveries; they pour money into sports with the expectation that these spectacles will somehow bring in revenue; they sign contracts with soda and fast-food companies, legitimizing the dominance of a single brand on campus; and they charge for distance learning courses that they market widely. In this volume, edited by Donald G. Stein, university presidents and other leaders in higher education comment on the many connections between business and scholarship when intellectual property and learning are treated as marketable commodities. Some contributrs write about the benefits of these connections in providing much needed resources. Others emphasize that the thirst for profits may bias the type and quality of research. They fear for the future of basic research when faculty are in search of immediate payoffs. The majority of the contributors acknowledge that commercialization is the current reality and has progressed too far to turn back. They propose guidelines for students and professors to govern commercial activities. Such guidelines can increase the likelihood that quality, openness, and collegiality will remain core academic values.

	Acknowledgments
Ch. 1	A Personal Perspective on the Selling of Academia	1
Ch. 2	College Sports, Inc.: How Big-Time Athletic Departments Run Interference for College, Inc.	17
Ch. 3	The Benefits and Cost of Commercialization of the Academy	32
Ch. 4	Increased Commercialization of the Academy Following the Bayh-Dole Act of 1980	48
Ch. 5	Delicate Balance: Market Forces versus the Public Interest	56
Ch. 6	Pushing the Envelope in University Involvement with Commercialization	75
Ch. 7	Conflicting Goals and Values: When Commercialization Enters into Tenure and Promotion Decisions	89
Ch. 8	Buyer and Seller Views of University-Industry Licensing	103
Ch. 9	The Increasingly Proprietary Nature of Publicly Funded Biomedical Research: Benefits and Threats	117
Ch. 10	The Clinical Trials Business: Who Gains?	127
Ch. 11	Reforming Research Ethics in an Age of Multivested Science	133
Ch. 12	The Academy and Industry: A View across the Divide	153
Ch. 13	Responsible Innovation in the Commercialized University	161
	Contributors	175
	Index	179

Interesting textbook: Turismo:o Negócio de Viagem

Uncertainty, Production, Choice, and Agency: The State-Contingent Approach

Author: Robert G Chambers

This book demonstrates that the state-contingent approach provides the best way to think about all problems in the economics of uncertainty, including problems of consumer choice, the theory of the firm, and principal agent relationships. The authors demonstrate that dual methods apply under uncertainty and that the dual representations can be developed for stochastic technologies. Moreover, proper exploitation of the properties of alternative primal and dual representations of preferences allows analysts to generalize and extend the results of the existing literature on preferences under uncertainty, thus making expected utility theory largely superfluous for many decisions.

Japans Unequal Trade or Evaluating Sustainable Development

2009-01-22T21:15:00.000-08:00

Japan's Unequal Trade

Author: Edward J Lincoln

Lincoln focuses on the question of access to Japanese markets, Japan's pattern of trade on imports, and the consequences of large trade and current-account imbalances.

Booknews

Lincoln focuses on the question of access to Japanese markets, arguing against US abandonment of its free trade ideal and suggesting ways to apply pressure to encourage Japanese change. Paper edition (unseen), $9.95. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Books about: Beyond the Bedroom or Instant Emotional Healing

Evaluating Sustainable Development: Giving People a Voice in Their Destiny

Author: Chris Maser

This book presents the principles and the tools for participatory evaluation of sustainable development—growth that does not compromise the ability of future generations to meet their needs. It is intended for any citizen or group that may be concerned with protecting or recovering a cultural heritage, assessing the impact of a project or of plans that impact an environment or ecosystem.

The authors describe participatory evaluation processes that will empower all interested "stakeholders"—anyone impacted by a proposed venture—to determine and control what is to be evaluated and how it is evaluated, to articulate and define their communityвЂ™s vision, and to ensure that development plans meet their communityвЂ™s needs sustainably.

Acknowledging that the specific concepts, challenges, opportunities, and circumstances surrounding sustainable development differ significantly from one place or group to another, the authors provide an adaptable framework for developing an evaluation plan, as well as the tools for collecting, analyzing, interpreting and presenting data. They explain how to use and communicate findings to ensure a full and appropriate debate about the issues, and finally how to implement the evaluation plan.

An important and practical book for anyone concerned with the impact of planning and development issues and who wants to ensure that all sectors of their community are given a voice in decisions that affect them.

Working Shirking and Sabotage or The Legal and Regulatory Environment of E Business

2009-01-21T19:34:00.000-08:00

Working, Shirking, and Sabotage: Bureaucratic Response to a Democratic Public

Author: John O Brehm

Bureaucrats perform most of the tasks of government, profoundly influencing the daily lives of Americans. But who, or what, controls what bureaucrats do?

John Brehm and Scott Gates examine who influences whether federal, state, and local bureaucrats work, shirk, or sabotage policy. The authors combine deductive models and computer simulations of bureaucratic behavior with statistical analysis in order to assess the competing influences over how bureaucrats expend their efforts. Drawing upon surveys, observational studies, and administrative records of the performance of public employees in a variety of settings, Brehm and Gates demonstrate that the reasons bureaucrats work as hard as they do include the nature of the jobs they are recruited to perform and the influence of both their fellow employees and their clients in the public. In contrast to the conclusions of principal-agency models, the authors show that the reasons bureaucrats work so hard have little to do with the coercive capacities of supervisors.

This book is aimed at students of bureaucracy and organizations and will be of interest to researchers in political science, economics, public policy, and sociology.

"This book is breathtaking in its use of models and techniques. . . . The approach developed by Brehm and Gates allows us to re-open empirical questions that have lain dormant for years." --Bryan D. Jones, University of Washington

John Brehm is Associate Professor of Political Science, Duke University. Scott Gates is Associate Professor of Political Science, Michigan State University.

	Preface
1	Bureaucracy and the Politics of Everyday Life	1
2	Why Supervision Fails to Induce Compliance	25
3	Foundations of Organizational Compliance	47
4	The Preferences of Federal Bureaucrats	75
5	Working and Shirking in the Federal Bureaucracy	93
6	Working, Shirking, and Sabotage in Social Work	109
7	Donut Shops and Speed Traps	131
8	Policing Police Brutality	149
9	Smoke Detectors or Fire Alarms	173
10	Routes to Democratic Control of Bureaucracy	191
App. A	Models	205
App. B	Distributions	217
App. C	Estimates	227
	References	247
	Index	263

Interesting book: Secular Conscience or Utopia

The Legal and Regulatory Environment of E-Business: Law for the Converging Economy

Author: John W Bagby

This new hybrid book integrates both e-commerce and traditional legal environment issues, serving as a bridge between the two by covering the legal environment of business and its extensions into e-commerce. The text fulfills the need for greater understanding of the role of law, regulation, and public policy. A major focus is on how existing laws will accommodate the transition and on what issues new perspectives are needed from legislation, regulation, judicial interpretation, private contracting, industry self-regulation and public policy.

Booknews

Integrating traditional legal environment topics with in-depth coverage of e-commerce issues, this text looks at how existing laws accommodate the transition to e-business, what new perspectives are needed in legislation, judicial interpretation, and public policy, and the historical, social, political, and economic context of legal issues. Each chapter contains several excerpted real cases highlighting traditional legal and e-commerce concerns. Chapters are in sections on the legal system, private law, e-commerce, intellectual property, and regulation. Bagby is affiliated with Pennsylvania State University. McCarty is affiliated with Western Michigan University. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

The World of Consumption or Enterprise Networking

2009-01-20T17:54:00.000-08:00

The World of Consumption (Economics as Social Theory Series): The Material and Cultural Revisited

Author: Ben Fin

Consumption has become one of the leading topics across the social sciences and vocational disciplines such as marketing and business studies. In this comprehensively updated and revised new edition, traditional approaches as well as the most recent literature are fully addressed and incorporated, with wide reference to theoretical and empirical work. Fine's refreshing and authoritative text includes a critical examination of such themes as:
*economic imperialism and globalization
*the world of commodities
*systems of provision and culture
*the consumer society
*public consumption.
This book presents an updated analysis of the cluttered landscape of studies of consumption that will make it required reading for students from a wide range of backgrounds including political economy, history and social science courses generally.

Books about: Trade Plunder and Settlement or Understanding Industrial and Corporate Change

Enterprise Networking

Author: James Martin

This book looks at enterprise networking from the perspective of network users and application developers, describing the application services the network provides and the technologies employed to implement end-to-end communication between users. Covers networking technologies such as TCP/IP, Novell Netware, NetBIOS, AppleTalk, SNA, and DECnet. For information systems managers, communications managers, technical staff members who support networking hardware and software, and users of network services.

Booknews

Provides a thorough discussion of networking technology in six parts, covering the fundamentals; enterprise network services; the transport network; data link subnetworks; network interconnection; and appendices including standards organizations, the OSI reference model, the IEEE/ISO/ANSI LAN architecture, and a glossary. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

	Preface
	List of Acronyms
1	Enterprise Networks	1
2	Network Architectures	13
3	An Enterprise Network Model	25
4	Application Services	33
5	Directory Services	63
6	Network Management Services	91
7	OSF Distributed Computing Environment	117
8	The Transport Network	141
9	TCP/IP Transport	155
10	NetWare IPX/SPX Transport	179
11	NetBIOS Transport	195
12	AppleTalk Transport	203
13	SNA Subarea Network Transport	239
14	SNA APPN Transport	273
15	DECnet Transport	285
16	Transport Interfaces	315
17	Data Link Subnetworks	341
18	Network Driver Software	349
19	Network Interconnection Strategies	363
20	Bridges	373
21	Routers, Gateways, and Tunnels	385
22	Multiple-Protocol Networking Strategies	399
	App. A Standards Organizations	423
	App. B The OSI Reference Model	433
	App. C The IEEE/ISO/ANSI LAN Architecture	445
	App. D Glossary	451
	Index	479

A Host of Opportunities or European Industrial Policy

2009-01-14T19:10:00.000-08:00

A Host of Opportunities: An Introduction to Hospitality Management

Author: Hubert B Van Hoof

Appropriate for Introduction to Hospitality courses within Hospitality Management & some Culinary Arts departments.

A brief and inexpensive introductory text organized around typical hospitality management curricula. A Host of Opportunities provides an introduction to future Hospitality Management courses. Every chapter integrates of cross-departmental viewpoints and functions, along with ethics to prepare a learner with management training.

	Introduction to the essence and scope of hospitality	1 11
Ch. 1	The essence and scope of hospitality	3 11
Pt. I	Introduction to lodging management	45 11
Ch. 2	History and economics of the lodging industry	47 11
Ch. 3	Rooms division : front of the house operations	105 11
Ch. 4	Back of the house operations : housekeeping, maintenance, and engineering	140 11
Pt. II	Introduction to the food and beverage industry	201 11
Ch. 5	Overview of the food service industry	205 11
Ch. 6	Food service management	230 11
Pt. III	Introduction to components of the travel and tourism industry	275 11
Ch. 7	Linking hospitality to travel and tourism	277 11
Ch. 8	The hospitality spectrum : resorts, clubs, cruises, events, and attractions	309 11
Ch. 9	Gaming and casino management	341 11
Pt. IV	Introduction to hospitality management functions and skills	383 11
Ch. 10	Human resource management	385 11
Ch. 11	Hospitality marketing	411 11
Ch. 12	Leadership, ethics, and management for the hospitality industry	439 11
Ch. 13	Career exploration for the hospitality industry	481

Interesting book: Cadburys Purple Reign or La Cucina Siciliana Di Gangivecchio

European Industrial Policy: The Twentieth-Century Experience

Author: James Foreman Peck

This study aims to contribute to an understanding of European industrial policy by introducing an historical perspective. Leading European scholars examine the evolution of industrial policy over the course of the twentieth century within their respective countries. The authors take a broad view of industrial policy and include those policies that establish the 'framework', such as competition law, as well as sector- and firm-specific policies.

The French Revolution or Dont Jump to Solutions

2009-01-14T10:29:00.000-08:00

The French Revolution: An Economic Interpretation

Author: Florin Aftalion

The economic history of revolutionary France is still a neglected area in studies of the revolution of
1789. While some attention has been given to the condition of the peasants, the urban working classes and the financial crisis of the Ancien Régime, there has been a general tendency to regard economic factors as external and somewhat peripheral to the truly political nature of the Revolution. This book is designed to redress the balance, providing a clear, accessible and thought-provoking guide to the economic background to the French Revolution.Professor Aftalion analyzes the policies followed by successive Revolutionary assemblies, examining in detail taxation, the confiscation of church property, the assignats, and the siege economy of the Terror. He shows how decisions taken in 1789 by the Constituent Assembly inevitably led to a deepening financial and economic crisis, and to increasingly radical and disastrous policies. The study is important also for its exposure of many of the economic fallacies propounded both by many Frenchmen at the time, and later by many modern historians.

1. The fiscal crisis;
2. The French economy at the end of the 'Ancien Régime';
3. 1789;
4. The 'assignats';
5. The finances of the Constituent Assembly;
6. The rising cost of living, anarchy and war;
7. The seizure of power by the Mountain;
8. Economic dictatorship;
9. 'Dirigisme' in retreat;
10. The French Revolution: economic considerations; Appendices; Notes; Index.

New interesting textbook: Safe Liposuction and Fat Transfer or Skinny Mexican Cooking

Don't Jump to Solutions: Thirteen Delusions That Undermine Strategic Thinking

Author: William B Rous

Strategic planning expert William Rouse cuts to the heart of the most common causes of failed business plans and strategies and shows how to overcome them. He encourages strategic thinkers and planners to spend much more time analyzing a situation instead of jumping to ready solutions. The tone is tongue-in-cheek, but the keen observations and sage advice Rouse offers aptly address a serious subject. It's a fast-track primer in critical thinking and evaluation planners and managers at every level can use to approach their work more effectively.

Project Management or Industrial and Organizational Psychology

2009-01-14T03:48:00.000-08:00

Project Management: Techniques in Planning and Controlling Construction Projects

Author: Hira N Ahuja

Using a systems perspective, this updated version concentrates on the planning, scheduling and control factors of a project needed to bring it in on time and on or under cost. This edition contains expanded coverage of computer simulation and applications, information management and expert systems in project management. Includes a new chapter on Total Quality Management.

Book review: Los Orígenes de la Crisis Urbana:Raza y Desigualdad en Detroit de la Posguerra

Industrial and Organizational Psychology: Research and Practice

Author: Paul E Spector

Creating a more productive and healthier workforce is a balancing act.

In a field as rapidly expanding and diverse as I/O psychology, it's not easy finding a book with just the right balance. Fortunately, Paul Spector's Fourth Edition of Industrial and Organizational Psychology: Research and Practice is up to the job.

A balance between cutting-edge topics and core material

This Fourth Edition covers both the core material as well as newly emerging topics and cutting-edge findings. Inside, you'll find 125 new references, as well as the latest thinking on team job analysis, drug testing, group problem solving, group diversity, cross-cultural issues in leadership, and more.

A balance between research and practice

The text's balanced presentation of research and practice equips you with an understanding of the whole field. This balanced approach helps you see the relationship between the science and application of I/O psychology. You'll find detailed summaries of current research, including international studies. In addition, cases introduce you to the wide array of settings and applied work that involve I/O psychologists.

A balance between employee performance and well-being

I/O psychology isn't just about how the organization can use psychology to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of its workforce; it's also about improving the health of the workforce. This Fourth Edition provides more balance between these two over-arching areas of the field.

Connect to online resources from the author's classroom.

The author's website features class notes from his I/O psychology course, practice exams, internet exercises, I/Ocareer information, and links to I/O instructor and student resources. Go to wiley.com/college/spector for help presenting and studying the material in your textbook, and use these resources to go beyond the text.

Booknews

A textbook for an introductory course in industrial and organizational psychology, providing an overview of the range of topics the field considers, the methods used, and some of the findings. Covers the assessment of jobs, performance, and people; selecting the training employees; the individual and the organization; and the social context of work. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Ch. 1	Introduction	3
Ch. 2	Research methods in I/O psychology	23
Ch. 3	Job analysis	51
Ch. 4	Performance appraisal	76
Ch. 5	Assessment methods for selection and placement	104
Ch. 6	Selecting employees	135
Ch. 7	Training	167
Ch. 8	Theories of employee motivation	193
Ch. 9	Feelings about work : job attitudes and emotions	216
Ch. 10	Productive and counterproductive employee behavior	245
Ch. 11	Occupational health psychology	271
Ch. 12	Work groups and work teams	301
Ch. 13	Leadership and power in organizations	323
Ch. 14	Organizational development and theory	351
App	Guide to graduate school admission	373

A Stitch in Time or Free Expression in the Age of the Internet

2009-01-13T18:08:00.000-08:00

A Stitch in Time: Lean Retailing and the Transformation of Manufacturing

Author: Frederick Abernathy

Lean retailing has reshaped the way that products are ordered, virtually eliminating delays from distribution center to sales rack by drawing on sales data captured electronically at the checkout counter. Armed with up-to-the-minute data about colors, sizes, styles, and geographic sales, apparel and textile companies now are able to respond rapidly to real-time orders. They have developed new approaches to distribution, including forecasting, planning and organizing production, and managing supplier relations. A Stitch in Time shows that even in the face of product proliferation, companies that successfully adapt to the world of lean retailing can reduce inventory risk, reduce costs, and increase profitability while improving their responsiveness to the ever-changing tastes of customers. Based on the success of these practices in the apparel industry, lean retailing practices are propagating through a growing number of consumer product industries.

What People Are Saying

Tom Cole
A Stitch In Time does a great job of capturing the truly revolutionary changes in our industry over the past ten years. There is no question that "lean retailers" have a significant competitive advantage as we head into the new millennium. This book is well worth reading for anyone with an interest in the general merchandise `pipeline. -- (Tom Cole, Chairman and CEO, Federated Logistics & Operations, Federated Department Stores)

Walter Salmon
A Stitch in Time is an excellent, comprehensive exposition of the transformation that is taking place in the apparel business-from design through the sale of the end product to the ultimate consumer. It chronicles not only the business implications of the transformation but also its impact on the economy and labor markets nationally and internationally. It is essential reading for insights into future related developments in the apparel industry, and comparable changes in other sectors of business. -- (Walter Salmon, Stanley Roth Senior Professor of Retailing, Emeritus, Harvard Business School)

Alfred Chandler
A Stitch in Time has a broader significance than its title suggests. By focusing on the flow of materials and processes involved in the "retail-apparel-textiles channel," it documents, and analyzes the transformation of the institutions and practices of production and mass distribution of the Industrial Age made possible by the railroad and telegraph over a century ago into those of today's Information Age made possible since the 1960s by the new electronic technologies. This pioneering study is one of the very first to enhance our understanding of the multi-faceted implications of the evolution of industry worldwide from the Industrial Age to the Information Age." -- (Alfred Chandler, Isidor Straus Professor of Business History, Emeritus, Harvard Business School)

Jack Sheinkman
Highlights the Retail Revolution in Apparel Textile industries and demonstrates how informative technology not only benefits the retailer, but also the apparel and textile manufacturers. It provides all the parties with a response in meeting the short time frame in partnership, from ordering a product to its delivery for sale, and how to handle the completed product in their facility....The book is most informative with regard to how the apparel and textile industries operated one hundred percent of the time before, and what needs to be accomplished and what is being done now with the retail revolution for certain products by retailers, apparel and textile manufacturers which assists all of the parties and enhances domestic manufacturing and employment. It also serves as a basis for other industries to deal with the retail revolution (Jack Sheinkman, Vice Chair, Amalgamated Bank of New York and President Emeritus, Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union)

Bernard A. Leventhal
A Stitch in Time is excellent reading for those in the Apparel Industry, whether they are in the retail, garment manufacturing or textile segments, who are interested in improving profitability through lower inventories, shorter lead times, less close-outs, and in general making better decisions on fashion merchandise." -- (Bernard A. Leventhal, Chairman and CEO, Textile/Clothing Technology Corporation and former Vice Chairman, Burlington Industries, Inc.)

	Preface
1	The New Competitive Advantage in Apparel	1
2	The Past as Prologue: Historical Background on the U.S. Retail, Apparel, and Textile Industries	21
3	The Retail Revolution: Traditional Versus Lean Retailing	39
4	The Building Blocks of Lean Retailing	55
5	The Impact of Lean Retailing	71
6	Inventory Management for the Retailer: Demand Forecasting and Stocking Decisions	87
7	Inventory Management for the Manufacturer: Production Planning and Optimal Sourcing Decisions	107
8	Apparel Operations: Getting Ready to Sew	129
9	Apparel Operations: Assembly and the Sewing Room	151
10	Human Resources in Apparel	165
11	Textile Operations: Spinning, Weaving, and Finishing Cloth	185
12	The Economic Viability of Textiles: A Tale of Multiple Channels	203
13	The Global Marketplace	221
14	Suppliers in a Lean World: Firm and Industry Performance in an Integrated Channel	243
15	Information-Integrated Channels: Public Policy Implications and Future Directions	263
	App. A: List of Acronyms	281
App. B	The HCTAR Survey	283
	App. C: Data Sources	289
App. D	Companies Visited or Interviewed by HCTAR	295
	Notes	299
	Subject Index	347
	Name Index	365
	Business Index	367

Free Expression in the Age of the Internet: Social and Legal Boundaries

Author: Jeremy Harris Lipschultz

In Free Expression in the Age of the Internet, Jeremy Lipschultz investigates the Internet and its potential for profound change, analyzing the use of its technology from social, political, and economic perspectives. Lipschultz provides new insights on traditional legal concepts such as marketplace of ideas, social responsibility, and public interest, arguing that from a communication theory perspective, free expression is constrained by social norms and conformity.Lipschultz explores social limits on free expression by first examining history of print and electronic media law and regulation. He utilizes the gatekeeping metaphor, the spiral of silence, and diffusion theory to explore current data on the Internet. He uses Reno v. ACLU (1997) as a case study of current First Amendment thinking. This book includes recent evidence, including samples of content from Internet gossip columnist Matt Drudge, and the investigation of President Clinton as it unfolded on the World Wide Web.The analysis is related to broader issues about Internet content, including commercial and other communication. The new technologies raise new questions about legal and social definitions of concepts such as privacy. Free expression is explored in this book under the umbrella of a global, commercial economy that places importance on legal rights such as copyright, even where those rights limit free flow of ideas.The Internet places free expression on two tracks. On the one hand, corporate players are developing cyberspace as a new mass media. On the other hand, the Internet is virtual space where individuals have the power to connect and communicate with others in ways never before seen. Thisgroundbreaking text advancing new media scholarship uses the most current case studies from the Internet to show free expression in practice today. Lipshultz presents a relevant and efficacious social communication theory of free expression which critically examines the necessary factors involved in comprehensive policy analysis and enactment.

Chinas Motor or Economics

2009-01-13T11:27:00.000-08:00

China's Motor: A Thousand Years of Petty Capitalism

Author: Hill Gates

This monumental work reveals the continuities that underlie the changing surface of Chinese life from late imperial days to modern times. With a perspective that encompasses a thousand years of Chinese history, China's Motor provides a view of the social, economic, and political principles that have prompted people in widely varying circumstances to act, believe, and behave in ways that are labeled as Chinese. Hill Gates identifies two modes of organization in Chinese society: the petty capitalist mode, through which small producers structure economic activities, and the tributary mode of state-centered initiatives. Applying these analytic categories, Gates renders transparent some of the contradictions in Chinese life. Important among these are an adeptness at simultaneously creating hierarchies of distribution and rough-and-tumble competition; an extraordinarily strong kinship system that nonetheless permits infanticide and the sale of family members; popular religious beliefs that deify bureaucratic power while revering egalitarian transactions between gods and humans; and gender relations that both emphasize and undermine female power. In each instance, Gates reveals the workings of the dialectic between tributary and petty capitalist action, drawing evidence from the history of urbanization and the gendered division of labor, from kinship studies, from folk ideologies, and from economic development in Taiwan and the People's Republic of China.

Library Journal

Gates (senior research associate at the Center for Far East Asian Studies, Stanford Univ., and the author of Chinese Working Class Lives: Getting By in Taiwan, Cornell Univ., 1987) deals here with the continuities that underlie the changing surface of Chinese life from the late imperial period to modern times. The book attempts to provide a view of the social, economic, and political principles that identify a people as Chinese. Gates identifies two modes of organization in Chinese society. The first is the petty capitalist, characterized by a set of attitudes developed by family businesspeople and carried over into Chinese firms that were run on the principle "the buyer should buy as cheap, and the seller sell as dear, as possible," with the gain going into the pockets of both parties. The second is the tributary mode of state-centered initiatives. Using these categories, Gates explores some of the contradictions in Chinese life, such as a strong kinship system that nonetheless permits infanticide. This book is recommended only for academic libraries with strong Chinese collections.-Dennis L. Noble, Sequim, Wash.

	Acknowledgments
	Chinese Dynasties of the Late Empire
Ch. 1	Introduction	1
Ch. 2	The Tributary and Petty-Capitalist Modes of Production	13
Ch. 3	Motion in the System	42
Ch. 4	Cities and Space	62
Ch. 5	Patricorporations: The State and the Household	84
Ch. 6	Patricorporations: The Lineage	103
Ch. 7	Dowry and Brideprice	121
Ch. 8	Folk Ideologies: Rulers and Commoners	148
Ch. 9	Folk Ideologies: Women and Men	177
Ch. 10	Petty Capitalism in Taiwan	204
Ch. 11	Re-creating the Tributary in China	243
Ch. 12	Conclusions	270
	Appendix: Dowry to Wedding-Cost Ratios	281
	Sources	287
	General Index	321
	Index of Place Names	325

Books about: Drawn to Extremes or Business of Writing and Speaking

Economics

Author: Stephen L Slavin

Steve Slavin's lively and comprehensive Economics student-friendly, step-by-step approach, coupled with its low price and built-in Workbook/Study Guide is very attractive to adopters. Instructors and students like the author's humorous anecdotes, direct language, and easy conversational style. The text encourages active rather than passive reading.

Readings in Urban Economics or Debating Globalization

2009-01-13T02:46:00.000-08:00

Readings in Urban Economics

Author: Robert W Wassmer

Readings in Urban Economics: Issues and Public Policy gathers popular press articles, reviews of applied economics literature, and regression-based empirical studies to examine pressing public policy issues in urban areas.

	Notes on Editor and Authors
	Acknowledgments
1	Introduction	3
Pt. I	Urban Growth	19
2	The Draw of Downtown: Big Growth Predicted for Many U.S. Cities	21
3	The State of the Cities: Downtown is Up	22
4	Urban Diversity and Economic Growth	24
5	Projecting Growth of Metropolitan Areas	36
Pt. II	Location, Land Use, and Urban Sprawl	57
6	Dreams of Fields: The New Politics of Urban Sprawl	59
7	Al Gore Has a New Worry: "Smart Growth" to cure "suburban sprawl" is the newest rationale for government growth	62
8	Urban Spatial Structure	65
9	How America's Cities are Growing: The Big Picture	107
10	Prove It: The Costs and Benefits of Sprawl	114
11	Comment on Carl Abbott's "The Portland Region: Where Cities and Suburbs Talk to Each Other - and Often Agree"	118
12	Do Suburbs Need Cities?	125
Pt. III	Local Economic Development Incentives	149
13	Ohio Looks Hard at What's Lost Through Business Subsidies	151
14	Jobs, Productivity, and Local Economic Development: What Implications Does Economic Research Have for the Role of Government	153
15	Sports, Jobs, and Taxes: Are New Stadiums Worth the Cost?	169
16	Can Local Incentives Alter a Metropolitan City's Economic Development?	176
Pt. IV	Race, Employment, and Poverty in Urban Areas	213
17	Big U.S. Cities Carry Welfare Burden: Deep Poverty, Isolation from Suburbs Keep Many from Independence	215
18	Race Panel Divided Over Poverty: Experts Disagree on Causes, Cures of Urban Problems	217
19	No Easy Way Out: Study Finds Urban Poverty Digs Heels In	219
20	Inner Cities	221
21	Information on the Spatial Distribution of Job Opportunities within Metropolitan Areas	252
Pt. V	Urban Public Education	279
22	Why I'm Reluctantly Backing Vouchers	281
23	Current Issues in Public Urban Education	283
24	Why is it So Hard to Help Central City Schools?	295
Pt. VI	Urban Public Housing	327
25	Miracle in New Orleans: What Do a Bunch of College Professors Know About Fixing Public-housing Projects? A Lot, it Turns Out	329
26	Urban Housing Policy in the 1990s	331
27	The Dynamics of Housing Assistance Spells	346
Pt. VII	Urban Crime	363
28	The Mystery of the Falling Crime Rate	365
29	Bright Lights, Big City, and Safe Streets: Urban Dwellers Bask in Greater Sense of Security, as Crime Rates Drop Even Further	367
30	Urban Crime: Issues and Policies	369
31	Estimating the Economic Model of Crime with Panel Data	382
Pt. VIII	Urban Transportation	397
32	Or, Why Motorists Always Outsmart Planners, Economists, and Traffic Engineers: The Unbridgeable Gap	399
33	You Ride, I'll Pay: Social Benefits and Transit Subsidies	403
34	Urban Traffic Congestion: A New Approach to the Gordian Knot	409
35	Infrastructure Services and the Productivity of Public Capital: The Case of Streets and Highways	417
Pt. IX	Local Government	441
36	Why I Love the Suburbs	443
37	Metropolitan Fiscal Disparities	445
38	Economic Influences on the Structure of Local Government in U.S. Metropolitan Areas	458
App	Academic Journals in applied and Policy Orientated Urban Economics	484
	Index	490

New interesting textbook: Information Systems Programming with Java or Survey of Accounting

Debating Globalization

Author: Anthony Barnett

Debating Globalization is a short, accessible introduction to the debate about globalization written by many of the most prominent figures in the field. The book is notable not just for focusing on the pressing difficulties facing our world, but also on solutions. Rich and positive suggestions are made for reshaping globalization into a force that will work for humans everywhere. In an extended analysis, David Held provides a robust critique of the present order and sets out his alternative vision. Building on arguments he made in Global Covenant, he calls for a new global political agenda, informed by social democratic political values. His analysis has been criticized by leading figures and their responses follow in this book. There are chapters by, among others, Martin Wolf, Roger Scruton, Grahame Thompson, David Mepham, Meghnad Desai, Maria Livanos Cattaui, Patrick Bond, Benjamin Barber, John Elkington, Takashi Inoguchi, Narcнs Serra, and Anne-Marie Slaughter and Thomas N. Hale. The volume ends with David Held's reply to his critics. The book provides a fascinating introduction to the debate about globalization today.

Estimating and Bidding for Heavy Construction or Whos Afraid of the WTO

2009-01-12T19:05:00.000-08:00

Estimating and Bidding for Heavy Construction

Author: S H Bartholomew

Reflecting the author's 50 years of experience in the heavy construction industry, this is the only book of its kind. It is comprehensive enough to integrate the basic principles of cost estimating and bidding in one convenient volume, and it identifies the organizational and analytical processes involved in implementing these principles. Focuses throughout on developing a competitive bid for acquiring a major heavy construction contract, performed under fixed price and time-commercial terms in today's competitive business environment. Explains and illustrates all key procedural steps essential to "setting up the estimate" that are specific to heavy construction projects. Explains in detail the various kinds of costs incurred by heavy construction contractors, along with the manner in which costs are typically displayed horizontally in the estimate. Discusses the vertical format of a bid estimate totaling to the final intended bid figure. Perfect for contractors who want to brush up on estimation skills, or for anyone who wants to learn more about the costs incurred in heavy construction projects.

Ch. 1	Preliminary Considerations	1
Ch. 2	Horizontal Format: The Method of Cost Expression	13
Ch. 3	The Vertical Estimate Format	38
Ch. 4	The Quantity Takeoff	60
Ch. 5	Setting up the Estimate	94
Ch. 6	Pricing Out the Direct Cost Estimate	114
Ch. 7	Drill-and-Blast Operations	132
Ch. 8	Mass Diagrams	171
Ch. 9	Load-and-Haul, Spread, and Compact Operations	188
Ch. 10	Concrete Operations	241
Ch. 11	The Indirect Cost	301
Ch. 12	Equipment Adjustment and Determination of Equipment Mobilization and Demobilization Costs	348
Ch. 13	Pricing the Bid Form for Schedule-of-Bid-Item Bids	366
	Appendix	382
	Bibliography	398
	Index	399

New interesting book: Contabilit� in un contesto economico, guida di studio

Who's Afraid of the WTO?

Author: Kent Albert Jones

Who is afraid of the WTO, the World Trade Organization? The list is long and varied. Many workers--and the unions that represent them--claim that WTO agreements increase import competition and threaten their jobs. Environmentalists accuse the WTO of encouraging pollution and preventing governments from defending national environmental standards. Human rights advocates block efforts to impose trade sanctions in defense of human rights. While anti-capitalist protesters regard the WTO as a tool of big business--particularly of multinational corporations--other critics charge the WTO with damaging the interests of developing countries by imposing free-market trade policies on them before they are ready. In sum, the WTO is considered exploitative, undemocratic, unbalanced, corrupt, or illegitimate.
This book is in response to the many misinformed, often exaggerated arguments leveled against the WTO. Kent Jones explains in persuasive and engaging detail the compelling reasons for the WTO's existence and why it is a force for progress toward economic and non-economic goals worldwide. Although protests against globalization and the WTO have raised public awareness of the world trading system, they have not, Jones demonstrates, raised public understanding. Clarifying the often-muddled terms of the debate, Jones debunks some of the most outrageous allegations against the WTO and argues that global standards for environmental protection and human rights belong in separate agreements, not the WTO. Developing countries need more trade, not less, and even more importantly, they need a system of rules that gives them--the smaller, weaker, and more vulnerable players in world trade--the bestpossible chance of pursuing their trade interests among the larger and more powerful developed countries.
Timely and important, Who's Afraid of the WTO? provides an overview of the most important aspects of the world trading system and the WTO's role in it while tackling the most popular anti-WTO arguments. While Jones does not dismiss the threat that recent political protests pose for the world trading system, he reveals the fallacies in their arguments and presents a strong case in favor of the WTO.

Media and Sovereignty or Mathematics for Business Decisions Part 1

2009-01-12T12:24:00.000-08:00

Media and Sovereignty: The Global Information Revolution and Its Challenge to State Power

Author: Monroe E Pric

Honorable Mention for the 2002 Communication Policy Research Award presented by The Donald McGannon Communication Research Center

Media have been central to government efforts to reinforce sovereignty and define national identity, but globalization is fundamentally altering media practices, institutions, and content. More than the activities of large conglomerates, globalization entails competition among states as well as private entities to dominate the world's consciousness. Changes in formal and informal rules, in addition to technological innovation, affect the growth and survival or decline of governments.

In Media and Sovereignty, Monroe Price focuses on emerging foreign policies that govern media in a world where war has information as well as military fronts. Price asks how the state, in the face of institutional and technological change, controls the forms of information reaching its citizens. He also provides a framework for analyzing the techniques used by states to influence populations in other states. Price draws on an international array of examples of regulation of media for political ends, including "self-regulation," media regulation in conflict zones, the control of harmful and illegal content, and the use of foreign aid to alter media in target societies.

	Acknowledgments
I	Remapping of Media Space	1
1	New Role of the State	3
2	Stability, Transitions, and the Market for Loyalties	31
II	Tropes of Restructuring	55
3	Metaphor and Model in Media Restructuring	57
4	Technologies and the Vocabulary of Change	89
5	Illegal and Harmful Content	117
6	Newness of New Technology	145
III	Negotiating the Changed Media Terrain	169
7	Toward a Foreign Policy of Information Space	171
8	Public Diplomacy and the Transformation of International Broadcasting	199
9	Media Globalization: A Framework for Analysis	227
	Notes	251
	Index	301

Books about: Besserung der Leistung: Wie man Den Unbedruckten Seitenbereich auf dem Organisationsplan (2. HRSG.) führt

Mathematics for Business Decisions Part 1: Probability and Simulation Release 1.5 and 1.5a

Author: Richard B Thompson

This CD contains two, separate, complete editions of a self-contained electronic text. Both editions present the same mathematical and computer topics. The versions are distinguished by the different business decision projects to which they apply the tools. The program, consisting of PowerPoint, Excel and Word files, is designed for freshmen or sophomores, majoring in business and public administration.

The prerequisites are algebra and basic familiarly with Microsoft Windows and Office software. Mathematical topics are presented in PowerPoint illustrated with Excel simulations, and then applied to business projects.

Focus on the Project sections show students how to apply what they have learned to business decisions.
The 1997 Nobel Prize in Economics was awarded for pricing stock options. In Mathematics for Business Decisions mathematics comes alive when students download real stock data and price call options.

System Requirements:
Mathematics for Business Decisions will run on PC's with Windows 98 or higher, and Excel, PowerPoint and Word form Microsoft Office Suite 2000 or higher. A CD-ROM drive is required. This material is not designed to run on the Macintosh platform.

Empirical Labor Economics or Introduction to Industrial Organizational Psychology

2009-01-12T02:43:00.000-08:00

Empirical Labor Economics: The Search Approach

Author: Theresa J Devin

Presenting a complete survey of labor economics from the search point of view, this is the first book to coordinate a vast and scattered literature, making an increasingly important and sophisticated area in modern applied economics readily accessible. Completely comprehensive, Empirical Labor Economics covers not only sequential and random search, but all stochastic models of the labor market, and treats underlying economic theory and econometric methods as needed. It examines structural search models, studies directed at particular policy questions--such as the effect of unemployment benefits on unemployment durations--and simple descriptive studies, considering data from all over the world. With valuable summaries and trenchant assessments of the strengths and weaknesses of the search approach, Empirical Labor Economics is essential for those embarking on labor market research.

New interesting textbook: Sociology Matters or Chester Alan Arthur

Introduction to Industrial/Organizational Psychology

Author: Ronald E Riggio

Courses in Industrial/Organizational Psychology and Organizational Psychology

From its first edition, two important themes have been the foundation of Ronald E. Riggio's Introduction to Industrial / Organizational Psychology. First, because I/O psychology is a field with both a strong scientific base and an applied orientation, the book demonstrates the connection between psychological theory and application: theoretical concepts are shown to lead to useful interventions. Second, this book was designed and written with the student in mind. Whenever possible, the text draws on examples and illustrations from the world of work that students understand - making for an introductory text that appeals to a wide range of students with varying academic backgrounds.

This student-centered, real-world driven text demonstrates the connection between psychological theory and application in the field of Industrial / Organizational Psychology.

Supervision or Beyond Sweatshops

2009-01-11T19:02:00.000-08:00

Supervision: Concepts and Skill Building

Author: Samuel C Certo

Certo's SUPERVISION prepares students to be supervisors. It is based on the premise that organizational variables like the nature of the workforce, computer and communication technology, and the design of organization structures are changing perhaps more rapidly than at any other time in history. All of these factors have a direct influence on supervisors' roles.

PART ONE: What is a Supervisor?
Chapter 1: The Role of the Supervisor
PART TWO: Modern Supervision Challenges
Chapter 2: Ensuring High Quality
Chapter 3: Working with Teams
Chapter 4: Meeting High Ethical Standards
Chapter 5: Using Modern Technology: Focus on the Internet
Chapter 6: Managing Diversity
PART THREE: Functions of the Supervisor
Chapter 7: Reaching Goals and Objectives
Chapter 8: Organizing and Authority
Chapter 9: The Supervisor as Leader
Chapter 10: Problem Solving and Decision Making
PART FOUR: Skills of the Supervisor
Chapter 11: Communication
Chapter 12: Motivating Employees
Chapter 13: Improving Productivity
Chapter 14: Supervising "Problem" Employees
Chapter 15: Managing Time and Stress
Chapter 16: Managing Conflict and Change
PART FIVE: Supervision and Human Resources
Chapter 17: Selecting Employees
Chapter 18: Providing Orientation and Training
Chapter 19: Appraising Performance
Chapter 20: The Impact of the Law

Books about: Managing Active Directory With Windows Powershell or Pro Silverlight 2 in VB 2008

Beyond Sweatshops: Foreign Direct Investment and Globalization in Developing Nations

Author: Theodore H Moran

The expansion of foreign direct investment (FDI) in manufacturing and assembly has raised concerns that workers may be exploited in developing economies while jobs are drained from developed economies at home. In Beyond Sweatshops. Theodore Moran shows how the dangers associated with FDI can be avoided and the globalization process turned into a win-win outcome for workers and communities in both developed and developing countries. The effects of trade liberalization have been widely studied, yet the impact of FDI is less well known. By filling in gaps in evidence and analysis, Moran provides a foundation for understanding the effects of globalization of industry on workers, firms, and communities in home and host countries.

Foreign Affairs

Critics often charge Western firms with exploiting workers in poor countries through low pay and dire conditions. Here Moran evaluates these claims and appraises the arguments for an international agreement on minimum labor standards and on the mechanisms that would enforce them. He is pessimistic about the prospects for reaching agreement with developing countries beyond the International Labor Organization's four core labor standards, and he doubts formal mechanisms could help the workers they targeted even if they were agreed upon. He argues that foreign direct investment (FDI), in contrast, is highly beneficial to host countries, especially if it is closely integrated with parent firms. He also finds that FDI generally improves conditions of local workers, especially skilled workers. Although instances of harsh labor conditions can be found, senior management officials will correct them once they (and the public) become aware of them. The author concludes that the best approach to improving labor conditions in foreign firms in poor countries is a voluntary one, in which firms publicly state their policies and are held to them through transparency and public accountability.

Systems Development or New Futures for Student Affairs

2009-01-11T10:21:00.000-08:00

Systems Development: A Project Management Approach

Author: Raymond McLeod Jr

SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT: A PROJECT MANAGEMENT APPROACH by Mcleod and Jordan, provides thorough coverage of the entire system development life cycle. This text is intended to provide student teams with the methodologies and tools necessary to create a system for a real organization, or for a case problem based on a real development challenge.

FEATURES A balanced coverage of each phase of the system development life cycle—covering construction and installation as thoroughly as analysis and design.

	Preface
Pt. I	Systems Fundamentals	1
Ch. 1	Introduction to Systems Development	28
Ch. 2	Systems Concepts	140
Ch. 3	Systems Development Methodologies	168
Pt. II	Systems Development	229
Ch. 4	Preliminary Investigation	230
Ch. 5	Systems Analysis	294
Ch. 6	Systems Design	354
Ch. 7	Preliminary Construction	422
Ch. 8	Final Construction	450
Ch. 9	System Test and Installation	482
	Glossary	511
	Index	519

New Futures for Student Affairs: Building a Vision for Professional Leadership and Practice

Author: Margaret J J Barr

This book brings together sixteen student affairs experts to identify how student affairs professionals can shape and direct their field to meet the future challenges and needs of students, society, and higher education.

Writing Reports to Get Results or East Asian Dynamism

2009-01-11T03:40:00.000-08:00

Writing Reports to Get Results: Quick,Effective Results Using the Pyramid Method,3rd Edition

Author: Ron S Blicq

The professional's quick-reference handbook for writing business and technical reports
Professionals in business, government, and technical fields often need help in organizing and writing reports for associates, clients, and managers. This simple tutorial handbook offers expert tips and useful ideas for organizing ideas, structuring reports, and adding spice to technical papers.
Writing Reports to Get Results offers in-depth guidance for writing:
* short, informal reports, such as job progress reports and inspection reports
* semiformal reports, such as laboratory and medium-length investigation and evaluation reports
* formal reports, such as analytical and feasibility studies and major investigations
* technical and business proposals of varying complexity
The authors use a simple pyramid method to help writers organize their information into the most convenient and simplest structure for any type of document-from single-page proposals to full-length presentations. Rounding out this easy, instructional handbook are helpful tips on a number of other topics, such as: constructing reference lists and bibliographies; the use of numbers, abbreviations, and metric symbols; preparing illustrations for insertion into a report; and working collaboratively as a member of a writing team.

	Preface	xi
Part 1	A Practical Approach to Report Writing	1
1	How to Use These Guidelines	2
2	The Report Writer's Pyramid	4
	Getting Started	4
	Identifying the Reader	5
	Identifying the Message	6
	Using the Pyramid Method	7
	Focusing the Message	8
	Developing the Details	10
	Expanding the Details Section	13
Part 2	Informal Reports	17
3	Incident, Field Trip, and Inspection Reports	18
	Incident Reports	18
	Incident Report: Reporting a Project Delay	20
	Field Trip Reports	22
Trip Report No. 1	Reporting an Installation	24
Trip Report No. 2	Reporting a Site Evaluation	26
	Reporting Conference Attendance	26
	Inspection Reports	28
Inspection Report No. 1	Inspecting a Contractor's Work	32
Inspection Report No. 2	Inspecting Electronic Equipment	34
4	Progress Reports, Project Completion Reports, and Short Investigation Reports	38
	Progress Reports	38
	Occasional Progress Report	40
Progress Report No. 1	Occasional Progress Report	42
	Periodic Progress Report	44
Progress Report No. 2	Periodic Progress Report	45
	Headings and Paragraph Numbering	49
	Project Completion Report	49
	Project Completion Report: Reporting a Project Is Finished	50
	Short Investigation Reports	52
	Short Investigation Report: Correcting an Electrical Problem	53
Part 3	Semiformal Reports and Proposals	55
5	Test and Laboratory Reports	56
	Industrial Laboratory Reports	56
	Industrial Laboratory Report: Testing a Water Stage Manometer and Digital Recorder	58
	Academic Laboratory Reports	67
6	Investigation and Evaluation Reports	69
	Semiformal Investigation Report: Study of High Gas Consumption	70
	Comparison between Semiformal and Letter-Form Investigation Reports	80
7	Suggestions and Proposals	84
	Informal Suggestions	85
	Informal Suggestion: Proposal for a Study	86
	Semiformal Proposals	86
	Proposals That Present an Idea	88
Semiformal Proposal No. 1	Proposal to Install Videoconference Facilities in Three Capilano Group Divisions	90
	Proposals That Offer a Service	105
Semiformal Proposal No. 2	Offering to Provide a Service	106
	The Formal Proposal	117
	Letter of Transmittal	119
	Summary	119
	Introduction	119
	Description of Work, Problem, and Situation	119
	Approach to Doing Work, Resolving Problem, or Improving Situation	119
	Organization and Planning	119
	Exceptions	120
	Price Proposal	120
	Experience	120
	Appendixes	120
	Proposal Appearance	120
Part 4	Formal Reports	121
8	The Formal Report	122
	Traditional Arrangement of Report Parts	122
	Alternative Arrangement of Report Parts	124
	Analysis of a Formal Report	125
	Cover Letter	125
	Title Page	128
	Summary	130
	Table of Contents	132
	Introduction	134
	Discussion	136
	Conclusions	146
	Recommendations	148
	References/Bibliography	148
	Appendix	150
	Dan Rogerson's Report Writing Sequence	154
Part 5	Report Writing Techniques and Methods	155
9	Appearance and Format of Memorandum, Letter, and Semiformal Reports	156
	Sample Reports	158
	Notes about Figures 9-2 and 9-3	158
	Notes about Figure 9-4	161
	Improving the Body of the Report	162
	Redesigning the Page	162
	Choosing a Font	162
	Justifying Text Only on the Left	164
	Avoiding All Caps	164
	Using Tables to Display Information	164
10	Developing a Writing Style	166
	Get the Focus Right	166
	Identify the Reader	167
	Identify the Purpose	167
	Write to Inform	168
	Write to Persuade	168
	Be Direct	168
	Use the Pyramid Structure	169
	Write in the First Person	170
	Use the Active Voice	172
	Avoid "Clutter"	174
	Use Simple Words	174
	Remove Words of Low Information Content	175
	Eliminate Overworked Expressions	177
	Avoiding Gender-specific Language	178
	Be Consistent When Referring to Men and Women	178
11	Writing a List of References or a Bibliography	180
	How to Write References	181
	Bibliographies	186
	Footnotes	187
	Planning for Reference/Bibliography Entries	189
12	Inserting Illustrations into Reports	190
	Some General Guidelines	191
	Using Computer Software to Produce Graphics	191
	Tables	192
	Graphs	193
	Bar Charts	197
	Histograms	199
	Surface Charts	200
	Pie Charts	201
	Flowcharts, Site Plans, and Line Diagrams	202
	Photographs	204
	The Size and Position of Illustrations	204
13	Guidelines for Spelling and Handling Abbreviations and Numbers	206
	Spelling	206
	Abbreviations	207
	Numbers	208
	Metric (SI) Units	209
	References	209
14	The Report Writing Process	210
	Preparing to Write	210
	Organizing the Information	212
	Writing the Words (Draft)	214
	Editing the Information	216
	Initial Proofreading	216
	Detailed Editing	217
	Revising the Text	220
	Doing a Second (or Subsequent) Edit	220
	Obtaining an Objective Opinion	220
15	Guidelines for Working with a Report Production Team	222
	Working with Management	223
	Working with Other Writers	223
	Using Email to Communicate with Others	225
	Working with Illustrators, Draftspersons, and Graphic Artists	226
	Working with a Printer	227
	Index	229

Read also Core Concepts in Health or Bloom

East Asian Dynamism: Growth, Order and Security in the Pacific Region, Vol. 2

Author: Steve Chan

East Asian Dynamism continues to offer a succinct account of Pacific regional political economy from the dawn of the modern world system to projections of alternative futures. Steve Chan is a master at demystifying the geography, history, and culture of the region while bringing to life the current policy choices and dilemmas facing its people and leaders. In this new edition, he broadens the geographical scope of the book to encompass more of Southeast Asia and Australia, with specific coverage of Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Burma, Indonesia, and Singapore highlighted along the way. And now that peace has “broken out all over,” the focus shifts strongly to issues of growth, trade, and cultural interface as Pacific regional security becomes more and more a function of economic strength, regional cooperation, and global outreach.

Central Banking Crises and Global Economy or Ruling the Root

2009-01-10T18:00:00.000-08:00

Central Banking, Crises, and Global Economy

Author: William J Johnson Frazer

Bridging a gap between economic theory and observed reality, this book examines the most visible central banks, the move to monetary union in Europe, the IMF's new role, the rise of managed market economies, and the elevated importance of central banks. In central banking, attention has often turned to the management of liquidity crises and the attainment of economic stability. In the global economy, the respective market economies are more interconnected, and information regarding crises in one part of the industrialized world is rapidly communicated to other nations, giving the crises themselves a more immediate impact. The information emanating from central banks at a policy level is crucial. This book aims to depict an ideal central bank for a globally connected country.

	Preface
Pt. I	An Analytical/Institutional Base
	Introduction	5
	Fractional Reserves and Selected Causal Linkages	17
	Liquidity and Nominal and Real Rates of Interest	39
Pt. II	Policy Experiments, Causal Linkages, and the Deutsche Bundesbank en Route to Monetary Union
	U.S. Policy Experiments and the Big U-Turn	63
	Open Market Operations, Friedman-System Linkages, and a Money-Policy Surrogate	85
	Bundesbank History, Linkages, and Inflation-Rate Targeting	109
Pt. III	International Dimensions and Crises with Global Impacts
	The Managed Financial System: The International Side	137
	The Asian Crises: Asia and Elsewhere	163
	Asia, Elsewhere, and the IMF	195
Pt. IV	The Golden Straightjacket
	The Exchange-Rate and Reserve- and Capital-Flows Mechanisms	235
	Growth and Inflation Rates Across Borders and Time	261
Pt. V	Central Banking, European, and Other Experiences
	The Big U-Turn and Monetary Union	269
	Some Money and Banking Lessons	287
Pt. VI	The Global Economy
	The Great Transformation, the Big U-Turn, and Russia	323
	Long-Term Capital Management and the Russian Crises	343
	The Global Economy and Development Economics	349
	Global Economy	365
	References	371
	Index	383

Book review: Mac OS X Leopard Pocket Guide or Unix

Ruling the Root: Internet Governance and the Taming of Cyberspace

Author: Milton L Mueller

In Ruling the Root, Milton Mueller uses the theoretical framework of institutional economics to analyze the global policy and governance problems created by the assignment of Internet domain names and addresses. "The root" is the top of the domain name hierarchy and the Internet address space. It is the only point of centralized control in what is otherwise a distributed and voluntaristic network of networks. Both domain names and IP numbers are valuable resources, and their assignment on a coordinated basis is essential to the technical operation of the Internet. Mueller explains how control of the root is being leveraged to control the Internet itself in such key areas as trademark and copyright protection, surveillance of users, content regulation, and regulation of the domain name supply industry.

Control of the root originally resided in an informally organized technical elite comprised mostly of American computer scientists. As the Internet became commercialized and domain name registration became a profitable business, a six-year struggle over property rights and the control of the root broke out among Internet technologists, business and intellectual property interests, international organizations, national governments, and advocates of individual rights. By the late 1990s, it was apparent that only a new international institution could resolve conflicts among the factions in the domain name wars. Mueller recounts the fascinating process that led to the formation of a new international regime around ICANN, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. In the process, he shows how the vaunted freedom and openness of the Internet is beingdiminished by the institutionalization of the root.

Quality Improvement Projects in Health Care or Reconcilable Differences

2009-01-10T11:18:00.000-08:00

Quality Improvement Projects in Health Care: Problem Solving in the Workplace

Author: Eleanor Gilpatrick

In the current atmosphere of closer scrutiny of healthcare practices and procedures, front-line managers and health care providers must investigate potential problems in their work environment, whether at the behest of upper management, in order to meet Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Care Organizations (JCAHO) standards, or through their own sense that "we're doing something wrong." For the investigator with limited previous experience in evaluation or research, the prospect of undertaking this kind of investigation can appear daunting, to say the least. Quality Improvement Projects in Health Care was written just for this individual. Author Eleanor Gilpatrick, a seasoned investigator and professor of health services administration, provides a review of the basic terminology and guidelines for carrying out "nuts-and-bolts" quality improvement research. She then demonstrates how such a research project can be implemented through 14 case studies involving actual health care situations. Altogether, the cases speak to a broad array of issues and potential pitfalls for the unwary investigatorùand they show that progress can be made in even the most difficult circumstances. Quality Improvement Projects in Health Care will be of interest to students and professionals in health sciences administration, nursing, allied health, and public health.

Charles Runge

This is a manual of quality improvement for healthcare managers. It is presented in two parts: ""Basic Concepts & Manual,"" and ""Cases."" The purpose is to provide a specific, concrete how-to manual for quality improvement. This objective is somewhat worthy. As the author suggests, there is little how-to information in the current literature. However, most of the tools the author describes are presented in the quality improvement training sessions offered by many health services organizations. Nonetheless, the book definitely meets the author's objectives. According to the author, this book is for ""problem solvers and quality improvers in health services organizations and for students preparing to join them."" The author's target audience is appropriate. The book is most valuable for department managers, service chiefs, and front line supervisors, and somewhat valuable for the senior administrators who oversee them. The author is a credible authority, based on her academic credentials, experience collaborating with health services organizations, and the book's content. All of the common quality improvement tools for each phase of the quality improvement process, including problem identification, cause analysis, solution identification, implementation, and monitoring are described. The author makes extensive use of examples (charts, graphs, tables). The case examples are appropriate and instructive. This book represents a significant contribution to the literature in exactly the manner in which the author intends -- a detailed how-to manual for front-line problem solvers. The content is accurate, well organized, and very clearly presented. While much of the content is already coveredelsewhere, this book can serve as a useful reference when the details of training fade, as they inevitably do.

Doody Review Services

Reviewer: Charles Runge (Froedtert Memorial Lutheran Hospital)
Description: This is a manual of quality improvement for healthcare managers. It is presented in two parts: "Basic Concepts & Manual," and "Cases."
Purpose: The purpose is to provide a specific, concrete how-to manual for quality improvement. This objective is somewhat worthy. As the author suggests, there is little how-to information in the current literature. However, most of the tools the author describes are presented in the quality improvement training sessions offered by many health services organizations. Nonetheless, the book definitely meets the author's objectives.
Audience: According to the author, this book is for "problem solvers and quality improvers in health services organizations and for students preparing to join them." The author's target audience is appropriate. The book is most valuable for department managers, service chiefs, and front line supervisors, and somewhat valuable for the senior administrators who oversee them. The author is a credible authority, based on her academic credentials, experience collaborating with health services organizations, and the book's content.
Features: All of the common quality improvement tools for each phase of the quality improvement process, including problem identification, cause analysis, solution identification, implementation, and monitoring are described. The author makes extensive use of examples (charts, graphs, tables). The case examples are appropriate and instructive.
Assessment: This book represents a significant contribution to the literature in exactly the manner in which the author intends:a detailed how-to manual for front-line problem solvers. The content is accurate, well organized, and very clearly presented. While much of the content is already covered elsewhere, this book can serve as a useful reference when the details of training fade, as they inevitably do.

Booknews

Gilpatrick (health services, City U. of New York) provides the basic terminology and guidelines for carrying out nuts-and-bolts quality improvement research, and demonstrates how to do it on 14 case studies from real life. For middle-level managers and administrators who need to conduct chronic or acute research at the department or service level, she explains data collection design and analysis related to organizational processes and outcomes. She does not consider the clinical evaluation of treatments. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

Rating

4 Stars! from Doody

Interesting book: Comptabilité Financière Avancée

Reconcilable Differences?: Congress, the Budget Process, and the Deficit

Author: John B Gilmour

Gilmour traces the development of the congressional budget process from its origin through the emergence of reconcilliation and Gramm-Rudman-Hollings. He shows how changes in process have brought about far-reaching shifts in congressional power, and explains why they have failed to control the explosion of budget deficits.
Throughout the last decade budgetary issues have dominated the national political agenda as the deficit has skyrocketed to previously unimaginable levels. In this important book, John Gilmour traces the continuing quest of Congress over the last fifteen years to reform its budgeting system in the hope of producing better policy. He shows that the enactment of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 and the introduction of the reconciliation procedure in 1980 have produced a budgetary system in which congressional majorities can get what they want, provided only that they can agree on a comprehensive budget policy. From his thorough analysis, Gilmour concludes that, while the reforms have not produced balanced budgets, they have eliminated procedural obstructions to the adoption of a coherent budget.
New budget procedures have transformed the way Congress works. Before the reforms of 1974 and 1980, Congress had an extremely fragmented, disintegrated budgetary system in which the budget emerged almost haphazardly from the independent actions of numerous committees. Gilmour shows that reconciliation procedures in the budget process makes total revenue, total expenditures, and the size of the deficit matters of deliberate choice, consolidating decisionmaking to an extent unprecedented in the history of the modern Congress.
Yet, despite the striking structural andprocedural changes, and despite its highly majoritarian features, the budget process has failed to reduce dissatisfaction with congressional handling of money. Deficits have been larger, not smaller, and overall spending has gone up. Gilmour deftly shows that the massive budget deficits of the Reagan years were due primarily to the failure of the House, the Senate, and the President to agree on how to reduce spending or increase taxes enough to eliminate the deficit. Responsibility for budgetary failure, he argues, must rest with Congress and its inability to reach consensus, not on the new budget process, which, given what we can expect from procedural change, has been quite successful.

Europe or Rethinking Organization

2009-01-10T02:38:00.000-08:00

Europe: Privilege and Protest, 1730-1789

Author: Olwen Hufton

This book is an updated and revised edition of a classic introduction to one of the key periods in modern European history. Olwen Hufton not only illuminates the complex and significant events of the first era in which modernity is recognisable but provides the essential background to the revolutionary period that followed.

Author's Note.
Introduction.
Part I: Traditional Structures and the Forces of Change.
1. Social and Economic Development.
2. The World of Privilege.
3. The World of Ideas.
4. Armies, Interests and Conflicts.
Part II: Central and Eastern Europe.
5. The Holy Roman Empire.
6. The Habsburg Lands.
7. Prussia.
8. Russia.
Part III: The Western World.
9. Vanished Supremacies: The Iberian Peninsula.
10. The United Provinces.
11. France of the Old Regime.
12. The Old Order Changeth.
Conclusion.
Select Bibliography.
Index.

Rethinking Organization: New Directions in Organization Theory and Analysis

Author: Michael D Hughes

Over the past two decades, organization studies has become increasingly pluralistic with a series of highly charged debates across intellectual "divides." It is these debates and their consequences for the current position and future development of organization studies that Rethinking Organization addresses. The first section reviews and evaluates the most significant theoretical developments of the last two decades, focusing in particular on the various ways in which "organization" has been conceptualized as the basis for organizational analyses. The second section examines a range of issues dealing with the major transformations in organizational forms currently occurring throughout advanced industrial societies. Final contributions outline a range of emergent new perspectives which present challenges both to the old and new orthodoxies of the field. This stimulating volume is provocative reading for students and academics in management, organization studies, sociology, and social psychology. "The chapters provide a useful examination of both 'hard' and 'soft' development theories and issues. . . . There is a wealth of material. . . . It will provide an invaluable teaching and learning resource for students following final year courses and Master's programmes and as such should be warmly received. . . . The book is obviously an important contribution to an under-researched area and readers will have much with which to argue." --Sociology "All [the chapters] are interesting and all add something unique to the various debates that the book deals with. . . . The book achieves its objectives of indicating new directions well. . ." --The Occupational Psychologist

Cases in Consumer Behaviour or Education and the Rise of the Global Economy

2009-01-09T18:57:00.000-08:00

Cases in Consumer Behaviour

Author: Antonides

for lecturers using the casebook.

More Reviews and Recommendations

Biography

Gerrit Antonides is Associate Professor of Economic Psychology in the Faculty of Economics and a Fellow of the Tinbergen Institute at Erasmus University Rotterdam. W. Fred van Raaij is Professor of Marketing and Marketing Communication and Director of the research institute ERASM at the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University Rotterdam.

	About the editors
	The authors
	Introduction	1
1	Hold me, thrill me, taste me, love me	7
2	Yarner Water	17
3	The Body Shop: societal values in the store	23
4	Attitudes towards recycling of household waste	31
5	The case of the model railway purchase	39
6	But marriage means sharing - doesn't it ...?	49
7	'No one buys no name trainers ...'	55
8	I'm in control	59
9	Product placement	67
10	Advertising with power or suspicion?	73
11	Food shopping styles in Hungary	81
12	Hurry - only whilst stocks last ...?	93
13	Consumer borrowing decisions	101
14	A single currency for Europe - the euro	105
15	Age-lite	113
16	Dissatisfied with doing the dishes	117
17	The behaviour of the young towards luxury products	123
18	Pasta in Europe	133
19	Andrex comes out of the closet	141
20	Consumers' evaluations of products labelled 'Made in Europe'	157

Books about: Participation Programs in Work Organizations or Contemporary Strategic Management

Education and the Rise of the Global Economy

Author: Joel H Spring

Joel Spring investigates the role of educational policy in the evolving global economy, and the consequences of school systems around the world adapting to meet the needs of international corporations. The new global model for education addresses problems of technological change, the quick exchange of capital, and free markets; policies to resolve these problems include "lifelong learning," "learning societies," international and national accreditation of work skills; international and national standards and tests; school choice; multiculturalism; and economic nationalism.

The distinctive contribution Spring makes is to offer an original interpretive framework for examining and understanding the interconnections among education, imperialism and colonialism, and the rise of the global economy. He offers a unique comparison of the educational policies of the World Bank, the United Nations, the European Union, and the Organization for Economic Development and Cooperation.

Additionally, he provides and weaves together important historical and current information on education in the context of the expansion of international capitalism; much of this information, gathered from many diverse sources, is otherwise not easily available to readers of this book. In the concluding chapters of the volume, Spring presents a thoughtful analysis and a powerful argument emphasizing the importance of human rights education in a global economy.

This volume is a sequel to Spring's earlier book, Education and the Rise of the Corporate State (1972), continuing the work he has been engaged in since the 1970s to describe and analyze the relationship between political,economic, and historical forces and educational policy.

What People Are Saying

Peter McLaren
A powerful critique of globalization and neo-liberal education initiatives....Both an analysis of and a warning against the kind of tycoon, casino-style finance capitalism that is masquerading today as the spearhead of democracy.

David Berliner
Spring worries that our educational systems are increasingly devoted to the promotion of economic well being. After reading this book you will worry with him!

Robert Phillipson
An inspired synthesis that should trigger a reconsideration of how education should serve humans rather than humans serving economic purposes in an increasingly harsh and inhuman world.

America and the Pacific Rim or Essentials of Business Law Student Edition

2009-01-09T12:16:00.000-08:00

America and the Pacific Rim: Coming to Terms with New Realities

Author: Gerald L L Houseman

Recognizing the dawning of the Pacific century and its implications for the United States, this textbook explores the economic, political, and social development of the countries of the Asia Pacific and analyzes past, present, and future U.S. policy responses. Houseman compares and contrasts various levels of development within the region, emphasizing especially trade, security, and human rights issues. He concludes with recommendations for U.S. policymaking acknowledging the realities of shrinking political and economic influence in the post-Cold War era.

Author Biography: Gerald L. Houseman is professor of political science at Indiana University and was a Fulbright scholar in Indonesia for 1993-94.

	Preface
1	Awakening to the New Realities of Asia	1
2	Issues of Asian Economic Development and Trade	25
3	Security and Human Rights Issues	47
4	Japan: Powerhouse of Asia - and of the World	65
5	China and India: The Giants of Asia	99
6	The Asian "Tigers" - The Strong New Economies of Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, and Malaysia - and the Hopefuls Who Want to Join Them	129
7	The Less-Developed Asia-Pacific Nations	169
8	ASEAN: A Future Asian Community of Nations?	199
9	Coming to Terms with the New Realities of Asia	217
	Index	223
	About the Author	229

Book review: Spirit of Reiki or Get with the Program

Essentials of Business Law Student Edition

Author: Joesph G Bonnic

The fifth edition of this popular textbook presents a broad, practical approach to the study of business law principles and practices. The material has been extensively revised and updated to reflect recent developments in the legal field, and every chapter includes an abundance of real-world examples that illustrate the law at work. In- depth coverage of the latest issues in business law, including new coverage of technology, environmental, and international law, is also provided. Photos and a new, engaging design make the book easy to teach and understand, and the new and expanded pedagogy, with an emphasis on teachability and assessment, offers teachers and students a wealth of opportunities for enriching the learning experience. Students will come away with a clear understanding of business law topics and be able to identify, explain, and apply the principles of business law in the world around them.

Macroeconomics For Today or Measuring and Managing Ambulatory Care Outcomes

2009-01-09T02:35:00.000-08:00

Macroeconomics For Today: Alternate Edition

Author: Irvin B Tucker

A concise text focusing on core concepts, Macroeconomics for Today, Alternate Edition, 4e includes a wealth of useful pedagogical features to provide opportunities for critical thinking, interactive reading, and built-in self-assessment. The text focuses on the self-correcting aggregate demand and supply model and excludes the Keynesian aggregate expenditures model. It also aids the visual learner by giving special attention to figures and graphs.

	Preface	xvi
Part 1	Introduction to Economics	1
Chapter 1	Introducing the Economic Way of Thinking	2
	Appendix to Chapter 1 Applying Graphs to Economics	20
Chapter 2	Production Possibilities, Opportunity Cost, and Economic Growth	32
Chapter 3	Market Demand and Supply	50
Chapter 4	Markets in Action	78
	Appendix to Chapter 4 Applying Supply and Demand Analysis to Health Care	100
Part 2	Macroeconomic Fundamentals	105
Chapter 5	Gross Domestic Product	106
	Appendix to Chapter 5 A Four-Sector Circular Flow Model	131
Chapter 6	Business Cycles and Unemployment	133
Chapter 7	Inflation	157
Part 3	Macroeconomic Theory and Policy	177
Chapter 8	Aggregate Demand and Supply	178
	Appendix to Chapter 8 The Self-Correcting Aggregate Demand and Supply Model	205
Chapter 9	Fiscal Policy	218
Chapter 10	The Public Sector	240
Chapter 11	Federal Deficits, Surpluses, and the National Debt	264
Part 4	Money, Banking, and Monetary Policy	285
Chapter 12	Money and the Federal Reserve System	286
Chapter 13	Money Creation	307
Chapter 14	Monetary Policy	328
	Appendix to Chapter 14 Policy Disputes Using the Self-Correcting Aggregate Demand and Supply Model	352
Chapter 15	The Phillips Curve and Expectations Theory	357
Part 5	The International Economy	381
Chapter 16	International Trade and Finance	382
Chapter 17	Economies in Transition	414
Chapter 18	Growth and the Less-Developed Countries	437
Appendix A	Answers to Odd-Numbered Study Questions and Problems	461
Appendix B	Practice Quiz Answers	472
	Glossary	474
	Index	481

New interesting book: Das Gewinnen von Bewilligungen: Nach und nach

Measuring and Managing Ambulatory Care Outcomes

Author: Jean Gayton Carroll

This manual is packed with models and guidelines covering 68 diagnoses and procedures. Each model is organized by treatment from the patient's perspective. Providers will have the tools needed to monitor the quality of their own performance on a multidiciplinary basis, and identify areas that need improvement.

Venture Capital Contracting and the Valuation of High Technology Firms or Competition and Growth

2009-01-08T18:54:00.000-08:00

Venture Capital Contracting and the Valuation of High-Technology Firms

Author: Joseph McCahery

This collection of state-of-the-art essays explores the important role of venture capital finance used to invest mainly in small and medium size firms with good growth prospects. It shows that important features of contract and organizational law have substantially contributed to the competitiveness of the US venture capital industry.

	List of Figures
	List of Tables
	List of Abbreviations
	List of Contributors
1	Venture Capital Financing of Innovative Firms: An Introduction	1
2	Venture Capital and the Structure of Capital Markets: Banks versus Stock Markets	29
3	Going Public and the Option Value of Convertible Securities in Venture Capital	60
4	Evidence on the Venture Capitalist Investment Process: Coritracting, Screening, and Monitoring	73
5	The Value of Benchmarking	83
6	Venture Capital on the Downside: Preferred Stock and Corporate Control	108
7	Law, Innovation, and Finance	133
8	Business Organization Law and Venture Capital	162
9	Venture Capital and Innovation: Clues to a Puzzle	188
10	Real Options: Principles of Valuation and Strategy	227
11	The Market Valuation of Biotechnology Firms and Biotechnology R&D	251
12	Internet Portals as Portfolios of Entry Options	281
13	The Dotcom Premium: Rational Valuation or Irrational Exuberance?	297
14	The Liquidation Preference in Venture Capital Investment Contracts: A Real Option Approach	318
15	The Extent of Venture Capital Exits: Evidence from Canada and the USA	339
16	Greenhorns, Yankees, and Cosmopolitans: Venture Capital, IPOs, Foreign Firms, and US Markets	371
17	Lock-in Agreements in Venture Capital-backed UK IPOs	396
18	The Effect of Market Conditions on Initial Public Offerings	437
19	The Rise and Fall of the European New Markets: On the Short- and Long-run Performance of High-tech Initial Public Offerings	464
	Author Index	493
	Subject Index	499

New interesting textbook: Credit to the Community or Sustaining Environmental Management Success

Competition and Growth: Reconciling Theory and Evidence

Author: Philippe Aghion

Winner of the 2006 Schumpeter Prize Competition.

Though competition occupies a prominent place in the history of economic thought, among economists today there is still a limited, and sometimes contradictory, understanding of its impact. In Competition and Growth, Philippe Aghion and Rachel Griffith offer the first serious attempt to provide a unified and coherent account of the effect competition policy and deregulated entry has on economic growth.

The book takes the form of a dialogue between an applied theorist calling on "Schumpeterian growth" models and a microeconometrician employing new techniques to gauge competition and entry. In each chapter, theoretical models are systematically confronted with empirical data, which either invalidates the models or suggests changes in the modeling strategy. Aghion and Griffith note a fundamental divorce between theorists and empiricists who previously worked on these questions. On one hand, existing models in industrial organization or new growth economics all predict a negative effect of competition on innovation and growth: namely, that competition is bad for growth because it reduces the monopoly rents that reward successful innovators. On the other hand, common wisdom and recent empirical studies point to a positive effect of competition on productivity growth. To reconcile theory and evidence, the authors distinguish between pre- and post-innovation rents, and propose that innovation may be a way to escape competition, an idea that they confront with microeconomic data. The book's detailed analysis should aid scholars and policy makers in understanding how the benefits of tougher competitioncan be achieved while at the same time mitigating the negative effects competition and imitation may have on some sectors or industries.

Institutions and Economic Development or Principles of Macroeconomics

2009-01-08T10:14:00.000-08:00

Institutions and Economic Development: Growth and Governance in Less-Developed and Post-Socialist Countries

Author: Christopher K Clagu

The puzzles of economic development and post-communist transitions, according to Christopher Clague and his colleagues, can be illuminated by a serious economic analysis of institutions. Economic performance is strongly dependent on the economic policies selected and on the manner in which these policies are implemented by government agencies. Performance is also affected by property rights and contract enforcement mechanisms in the business community and by patterns of participation in community organizations. These and other institutional arrangements are analyzed in this book under the rubric of the New Institutional Economics. Christopher Clague brings together a distinguished group of economists and political scientists to address the determinants and consequences of international differences in economic and political institutions.

After reviewing the intellectual landscape of the New Institutional Economics and other contributions, the authors present new evidence that international differences in property rights and contract enforcement help to explain differences in income, investment, and growth. Additional topics include the effects of democratic political institutions on economic performance, the determinants of success or failure in community organization, the institutional challenges facing formerly communist societies, and the use of the economics of information to improve government administrative performance. The book will be of interest to both scholars and development practitioners.

Contributors include economists Christopher Clague, Robert Klitgaard, Peter Murrell, Mancur Olson, Vernon Ruttan, and Vito Tanzi, and political scientists Stephan Haggard,Margaret Levi, and Elinor Ostrom.

Read also Back Pain or A Change of Heart

Principles of Macroeconomics

Author: Joseph E Stiglitz

For the Third Edition, 2001 Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz joins forces with new co-author Carl Walsh, who brings both economic expertise and teaching savvy to the project. Together, Stiglitz and Walsh thoroughly integrate contemporary economics into the traditional curriculum. Recognizing the limitations of the traditional AS/AD model, the authors offer an improved framework for the analysis of macroeconomic fluctuations. This approach emphasizes the role of the Fed and the federal funds market in the determination of short-term interest rates. The result is an analysis of fluctuations in inflation/output space and a model reflecting the real world of macroeconomics that students encounter in the business press and other media.

Author Biography: Joseph E. Stiglitz is professor of economics, business, and international and public affairs at Columbia University. Known throughout the world for his groundbreaking research, Joseph Stiglitz received the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences in 2001. Carl E. Walsh is professor of economics at the University of California at Santa Cruz. He is widely known for his research in monetary economics and is the author of a leading graduate text, Monetary Theory and Policy (MIT Press).

Booknews

Designed for a one-semester course, this introductory textbook presents the basic concepts of macroeconomics, describes the full- employment model, considers macroeconomic fluctuations, outlines the financial system, and addresses controversies concerning government policy. The skills needed for understanding economic analysis and policy debates are emphasized. A glossary defines key terms. Stiglitz teaches at Columbia University. Walsh teaches at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Mathematics of Financial Obligations or Economics and the Environment

2009-01-08T03:33:00.000-08:00

Mathematics of Financial Obligations

Author: AV V Melnikov

The book is geared toward specialists in finance and actuarial mathematics, practitioners in the financial and insurance business, students, and post-docs in corresponding areas of study. Readers should have a foundation in probability theory, random processes, and mathematical statistics.

Booknews

Provides a current, detailed methodology for financial pricing and modeling, covering such topics as innovations and the risk calculus in financial systems, random processes and the stochastic calculus, hedging and incomplete markets, markets with structural constraints and transaction costs, imperfect forms of hedging, dynamic contingent claims and American options, analysis of bond contingent claims, and the economics of insurance and finance. Intended for specialists in finance and actuarial mathematics, practitioners in the financial and insurance business, and students, the volume requires a foundation in probability theory, random processes, and mathematical statistics. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Interesting textbook: Body Art Book or Triathloning for Ordinary Mortals

Economics and the Environment

Author: Eban J Goodstein

The second edition of Economics and the Environment centers around four focused questions: How much pollution is too much? Is government up to the job? How can we do better? How can we resolve global issues? Using these questions as guidelines, Goodstein develops the economic tools students need to explore solutions to environmental problems. In the process, the book covers a wealth of current examples, from global warming, to population growth, to urban air pollution and energy policy, to chemical regulation and landfill siting.

Booknews

This textbook introduces the issues related to environmental policy debates and explains the economist's tools for analyzing them. It pairs the standard economic analysis with ethical and ecological concerns. The book considers the determination of acceptable levels of pollution, the government's abilities and limitations, the possibilities for improvement, and the resolution of global issues. Goodstein teaches at Lewis and Clark College. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

	Preface
	Introduction	1
Ch. 1	Four Economic Questions about Global Warming	3
Pt. I	How Much Pollution is Too Much?	21
Ch. 2	Ethics and Economics	23
Ch. 3	Pollution and Resource Degradation as Externalities	32
Ch. 4	The Efficiency Standard	49
Ch. 5	The Safety Standard	66
Ch. 6	Sustainability: A Neoclassical View	83
Ch. 7	Sustainability: An Ecological View	112
Ch. 8	Measuring the Benefits of Environmental Protection	137
Ch. 9	Measuring the Costs of Environmental Protection	164
Ch. 10	Benefit - Cost in Practice: Implementing the Efficiency Standard	189
Ch. 11	Is More Really Better? Consumption and Welfare	210
Pt. II	Is Government up to the Job?	227
Ch. 12	The Political Economy of Environmental Regulation	229
Ch. 13	An Overview of Environmental Legislation	250
Ch. 14	The Regulatory Record: Achievements and Obstacles	270
Ch. 15	Monitoring and Enforcement	284
Pt. III	How Can we do Better?	303
Ch. 16	Incentive-Based Regulation: Theory	305
Ch. 17	Incentive-Based Regulation: Practice	334
Ch. 18	Promoting Clean Technology: Theory	356
Ch. 19	Promoting Clean Technology: Practice	379
Ch. 20	Energy Policy and the Environment	413
Pt. IV	Can We Resolve Global Issues?	443
Ch. 21	Poverty, Population, and the Environment	445
Ch. 22	Environmental Policy in Poor Countries	476
Ch. 23	The Economics of Global Agreements	510
	Selected Web Sites for Environmental and Natural Resource Economists	529
	Author Index	531
	Subject Index	536

Principles of Professional Fundraising or The Sex of Things

2009-01-07T17:51:00.000-08:00

Principles of Professional Fundraising: Useful Foundations for Successful Practice

Author: Joseph R R Mixer

Builds a framework that enhances the effectiveness of fund-raising. Offers practical models for soliciting donations from individuals and organizations alike.

Books about: Microeconomia

The Sex of Things: Ger and Consumption in Historical Perspective

Author: Victoria de Grazia

This volume brings together the most innovative historical work on the conjoined themes of gender and consumption. In thirteen pioneering essays, some of the most important voices in the field consider how Western societies think about and use goods, how goods shape female, as well as male, identities, how labor in the family came to be divided between a male breadwinner and a female consumer, and how fashion and cosmetics shape women's notions of themselves and the society in which they live. Together these essays represent the state of the art in research and writing about the development of modern consumption practices, gender roles, and the sexual division of labor in both the United States and Europe.
Covering a period of two centuries, the essays range from Marie Antoinette's Paris to the burgeoning cosmetics culture of mid-century America. They deal with topics such as blue-collar workers' survival strategies in the interwar years, the anxieties of working-class consumers, and the efforts of the state to define women's--especially wives' and mothers'--consumer identity. Generously illustrated, this volume also includes extensive introductions and a comprehensive annotated bibliography. Drawing on social, economic, and art history as well as cultural studies, it provides a rich context for the current discourse around consumption, particularly in relation to feminist discussions of gender.

	List of Illustrations
	Acknowledgments
	Introduction	1
1	Coquettes and Grisettes: Women Buying and Selling in Ancien Regime Paris	25
2	The Making of the Self-Made Man: Class, Clothing, and English Masculinity, 1688-1832	54
3	The Gendering of Consumer Practices in Nineteenth-Century France	79
4	The Other Side of Venus: The Visual Economy of Feminine Display	113
5	"A Husband and His Wife's Dresses": Consumer Credit and the Debtor Family in England, 1861-1914	163
6	Male Providerhood and the Public Purse: Anti-Desertion Reform in the Progressive Era	188
7	Living on the Margin: Working-Class Marriages and Family Survival Strategies in the United States, 1919-1941	212
8	The Technological Revolution That Never Was: Gender, Class, and the Diffusion of Household Appliances in Interwar England	244
9	Food Scarcity and the Empowerment of the Female Consumer in World War I Berlin	287
10	Making Up, Making Over: Cosmetics, Consumer Culture, and Women's Identity	311
11	Nationalizing Women: The Competition between Fascist and Commercial Cultural Models in Mussolini's Italy	337
12	Deviant Pleasures? Women, Melodrama, and Consumer Nationalism in West Germany	359
13	Soft Sell: Marketing Rhetoric in Feminist Criticism	381
	Gender and Consumption in Historical Perspective: A Selected Bibliography	389
	Notes on Contributors	411
	Art Credits	413
	Index	417

Unfair Trade Practices and Intellectual Property with Disk or Experiencing Organizations

2009-01-07T11:10:00.000-08:00

Unfair Trade Practices and Intellectual Property with Disk (Black Letter Series)

Author: Roger E Schechter

Privilege to Compete; Obtaining Trademark Rights; Types of Trademarks; Shape, Color and Trade Dress; Trademark Infringement; Dilution; Permissible Uses of Another's Mark; Copyrightable Subject Matter; Publication; Copyright Formalities; Joint Works and Works Made for Hire; Rights of Copyright Owners; Copyright Infringement; Fair Use; Misappropriation Doctrine; Right of Publicity; Preemption of State Law; Types of Patents; Patent-Eligible Subject Matter; Novelty; Statutory Bar; Non-Obviousness; Utility; Patent Application Procedure; Patent Infringement; Trade Secret Law; State False Advertising and Disparagement Law; Lanham Act Claims for False Advertising and Disparagement; F.T.C. Unfairness Doctrine; F.T.C. Deception Doctrine; Advertising Substantiation; F.T.C. Remedies; F.T.C. Rule-making; Consumer Remedies; Price Discrimination Under the Robinson-Patman Act; Harm to Primary-Line Competition; Harm to Secondary-Line Competition; Cost Justification and Meeting Competition Defenses; Advertising Allowances; Buyer Liability for Price Discrimination.

Interesting book: Dreadnought or Waiting for an Ordinary Day

Experiencing Organizations

Author: Yiannis Gabriel

An ideal companion to more conventional case studies and textbooks, Experiencing Organizations brings together a fascinating collection of real-life stories about individual work experiences in industrialized societies at this turn of the millennium. Told through the fresh eyes of new organizational recruits, these sometimes comic, often traumatic, but always revealing accounts have much to say to new learners and older hands alike. Grouped in sections on images, winning and losing, and surviving, the narratives encompass a wide range of themes and issues, including power and politics in organizations, organizational cultures and change, gender and discrimination, and appearances and realities. The cold features of business are detailed in which processes such as restructuring, rationalization, and downsizing are increasingly complex. Full of the kind of detail that is often unreported, Experiencing Organizations is recounted with passion and authenticity. This volume is an outstanding resource for students of organizational behavior and theory, organizational and occupational psychology, and general management studies.

	Acknowledgements
	Introduction	1
1	Images and Mirages	11
2	Performance and Impressions	23
3	Red Tape	34
4	Functions and Ceremonies	48
5	The Gods	60
6	Winners and Losers	75
7	Compliance and Resistance	87
8	Games	101
9	Who gets the Blame?	110
10	Networks and Empires	123
11	In at the Deep End	137
12	Behind Closed Doors	147
13	Injuries and Insults	156
14	Sexual Harassment	167
15	Surviving	177
	Final Thoughts	188
	Index	190

Management or Valuing Technology

2009-01-07T02:29:00.000-08:00

Management

Author: Robert Kreitner

Now in its tenth edition, Management continues to offer a practical, student-oriented approach to four central themes: change, diversity, ethics, and globalization. Author Robert Kreitner relies on more than 30 years of research and teaching experience to ensure that students gain a solid understanding of management principles. In addition to coverage of timely and relevant issues such as corporate responsibility, the text promotes skill development through hands-on exercises and team-building activities.

With all data and examples updated to reflect current trends, the Tenth Edition integrates issues from popular culture and media, putting topics in context and engaging students. A range of pedagogical features—including in-text and video cases, Internet activities, and interactive annotations—support students as they prepare for the rigors of contemporary management.

New! The Tenth Edition includes coverage of emerging research and hot-button topics, including Wilson's managerial skills profile; the implications of "cultural intelligence"; new research on how people rationalize unethical conduct; and the role of Web logs ("blogs").
New! Test Prepper self-quizzes at the end of each chapter include true/false and multiple-choice questions (with answers at the end of the book).
New! The Eduspace online learning tool pairs the widely recognized resources of Blackboard with quality, text-specific content from Houghton Mifflin. Eduspace makes it easy for instructors to create all or part of a course online. Classroom Response System ("clicker") content, homework exercises, tests,tutorials, and supplemental study materials all come ready-to-use. Instructors can choose to use the content as is, modify it, or even add their own.
New! Part-ending Managers-in-Action video cases focus on high-profile managers and the challenges they face concerning project management, training, and other issues. New cases examine global diversity at Hewlett-Packard, planning and decision making at Percy Inn, and the management of human capital at Accenture.
New! All chapter-opening cases, 16 chapter-closing cases, and 14 boxed features are new to this edition. Other popular features have been retained and completely updated, including How-to-Do-It instructions, summaries, terms, Hands-On Exercises, and Internet Exercises.
Updated! Managing Diversity features highlight the importance of diversity in the workplace. New coverage includes religion in the workplace, biased decision making, and a Native American's vision for a better future.
Updated! Management Ethics boxes, which focus on the importance of ethical decision making, cover issues such as the "two faces" of Wal-Mart, keeping blogs in check, and hardball organizational politics.
Updated! The Global Manager boxes examine the role managers play in a world that is shrinking rapidly. Several new examples aid in preparing students to meet this role by introducing them to current issues and strategies, such as a global supply-chain crisis at Dell, culture and the perception of planning and control, and risk management at BMW.
Updated! Interactive Annotations take students from the text to the Web for a dynamic learning experience. These contemporary anecdotes, quotations, self-assessment tools, and thought-provoking questions allow students to hone their conceptual, self-management/teamwork, and administrative skills. The instructor web site provides answers, comments, and interpretations for the annotations.

Books about: PERL by Example or Beginning SharePoint 2007 Administration

Valuing Technology: Organisations Culture and Change

Author: David Skinner

Valuing Technologyopens up new directions in the analysis of socio-technical change within organizations. Based on a major study of the introduction of management information systems in health, higher education and retailing, it explores the active role of end-users in the innovation process. Subjects covered include:

the valuing of technology via the on-going construction of needs, uses and utilities
the interplay of organizational and technological cultures
occupational identities, organizational inequalities and technological change
the gendering of technological and organizational change
interpretative flexibility and the 'stabilization' of technological systems.

Booknews

A product of a research project called Technology Acquisition as a Process of Consumption: Negotiation Needs and Negotiating Uses. Sociologists draw on social studies of technology, gender studies, and the sociology of consumption to analyze sociotechnical change within organizations. They look at the introduction of management information systems in health, higher education, and retailing and explore the role of end-users in innovation. There is no subject index. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

	List of illustrations
	Acknowledgements
	Introduction	1
Pt. I	Theorising techno-organisational change	15
1	The technology-organisation relation: settings and contexts	17
2	The construction and consumption of sociotechnology	40
Pt. II	Case studies in techno-organisational change	71
3	Closing and reopening the black box	73
4	Professional identity in techno-organisational change	100
5	Organisational culture and technological change	126
6	Gendering technological change: femininity and the construction of skill	147
Pt. III	Comparative analyses of techno-organisational change	169
7	Developing value: constructions of usability and utility	171
8	Ending the acquisition process: stabilisation and incorporation	197
	Conclusion	219
	App.: methodology	230
	Bibliography	244
	Index	255

Modern Iran or Essays on Nursing Leadership

2009-01-06T18:48:00.000-08:00

Modern Iran: A Volume in the Comparative Societies Series

Author: Grant Farr

One in a series of short books devoted to different countries that offers much-needed cross-cultural and global material to instructors. Used alongside an introductory sociology text, in courses on the Middle East or Iran, or as a supplement in courses on comparative societies, comparative politics, comparative economics, or social stratification, this book brings a rich global perspective into the undergraduate classroom. The opening chapter establishes historical and cultural context, while subsequent chapters focus on the basic institutions, social stratification, social problems and social change. The chapter organization is typical of a standard introductory sociology text, making it easy to use in any class. In Modern Iran, the author examines such important topics as the treatment of women, the problems of civil rights abuse, and the role of Iran as a terrorist state, while also portraying the richness of Iranian history and culture, the major Iranian institutions and how they work, and the nature of Iranian social structure, including stratification.

Chapter 1: Iranian Society and Its Environment

Introduction: The Story

The Location

The Place

Population

The People

Language

Religions

Moslems

Christians

Jews

Zoroastrians

Bahais

Chapter 2: The Historical Context

Introduction: The Historical Legacy

The Origins: The Coming of the Aryans

Pre-Islamic Iran: The Creation of an Iranian Society 559 BC to 650 AD

The Coming of Islam: 650 to 150

The Return of Iranian Rule: 1501 to 1850

The Coming of the West: 1850 to 1900

The Constitutional Revolution: 1900 to 1921

Reza Shah Pahlavi 1921 to 1941

Mohammed Reza Shah Pahlavi: 1941 to 1979

The Islamic Revolution: 1979 and After

Iran Now

Chapter 3: Family, Marriage, and Kinship

Introduction: Family and Kin in Iranian Society

The Traditional Iranian Family

Households, Compounds, and Extended Families

Marriage

Chapter 4: Religion in Everyday Life

Introduction

Islam in Iran: The line of the Imams

Religious Obligations: The Five Pillars of Islam

The Islamic Hierarchy: Mujtahids, Sayyids, and Mullahs

Religious Institutions: Mosques, Schools, Shrines and Endowment

Mosques

Madrasehs and Maktabs

Shrines

Islamic Endowments

Islam in Iranian Life: Two Irans

Chapter 5: The Iranian Political System

Introduction

Politics Before 1979

Personal Power

The Lack of Constitutional Restraint

Prohibition of Political Dissent

Lack of Human Rights

The Islamic Iranian Government

Controlling the Revolutionary Turmoil

Human Rights under the Islamic Republic

ForeignPolicy: Exporting the Revolution

Chapter 6:The Iranian Economy

Introduction

Economic Overview

Oil

The United States Trade Embargo

Agriculture

Income Inequality

The Economy and Islam

Conclusion

Chapter 7: Social Stratification in Modern Iran

Introduction

Social Class in Iran: The Urban Setting

The Middle Class: Bureaucrats, Professionals and the Bazaar

The Bazaar

The New Middle Class

The Working Class: Class Insurgency

The Lower Class

Rural Society

Nomadic Pastoralist: Tribal Society

Conclusion

Chapter 8 Gender In Iran

Introduction

Traditional Gender Roles

Gender Socialization

The Changing Roles of Women

Women and the Islamic Government

Women in Modern Iran

Conclusion

Chapter 9: Population and Urbanization

Introduction: The Population and the Cities

Population

Fertility: Having children

Family Planning and Islam

Mortality: Why do people die?

The Age Structure: Too many kids?

Migration: Who is arriving and who is leaving?

Urbanization

Traditional Iranian Cities

The New Iranian City

Conclusion

Chapter 10: Social Change in Iran

Introduction

Urban Crowding

The Population Explosion

Human Rights

Women

Foreign Policy

Conclusion
New interesting textbook: Portuguese Cooking or Nancy Silvertons Sandwich Book

Essays on Nursing Leadership

Author: Claire M Fagin

"This collection of works will lend valuable insights into...current challenges..from one of the masters....I personally want to thank Clare for making this collection available so that many more will be inspired by her, as I and many others have been."--from the foreword by Pamela J. Maraldo, PhD, RN, FAAN

These selections represent the best of Claire M. Fagin's writings over a 30-year period. In her direct and vivid style, she shares many of the skills necessary to become a nurse leader, and passionately discusses many of the issues facing health care in which nurses can play a leadership role.

Sharon K. Holmberg

This book is a collection of essays reflecting both the great diversity in a nursing career and an emphasis on strong, effective nursing leaders in a variety of healthcare settings. The author's goal is to nurture the enormous leadership potential of nurses through analysis of past and present developments in healthcare, and by providing descriptions of professional leadership. Having held leadership roles in clinical settings and significant leadership roles in nursing education and higher education administration, this credible authority on leadership has assembled selected publications demonstrating leadership for students, practicing nurses, and nursing leaders as well as people interested in understanding the scope and nature of nursing. Leadership roles in professional practice, education, and research are examined, with a focus on improving healthcare, enhancing professional practice, and developing care systems that are responsive to patient needs. Because the selected essays encompass a time frame from 1964 to 1996, an historical perspective can be contrasted with current practices. Descriptions of the development of nursing practice and associated nursing education and administration practices are particularly interesting. Current healthcare trends such as for-profit, corporate managed care are critically examined, with rationale for why competitive market theories cannot be applied to the care of the sick, vulnerable, elderly, and dying if we are to continue to survive as a civil society. This is a fine collection of essays on nursing leadership by an outstanding nursing leader. The essayists give a clear, descriptive picture of the evolutionary developments in Americannursing practice and education, but also address current healthcare themes and values held by nurses that are considered extremely relevant factors in the overall healthcare agenda. The role of nursing leaders is described as taking an active position on values of putting patients first, maintaining efforts to achieve universal healthcare, and facilitating the development of quality standards. This will require strong, vocal, active nursing leaders.

Doody Review Services

Reviewer: Sharon K. Holmberg, PhD, RN (Indiana University School of Nursing)
Description: This book is a collection of essays reflecting both the great diversity in a nursing career and an emphasis on strong, effective nursing leaders in a variety of healthcare settings.
Purpose: The author's goal is to nurture the enormous leadership potential of nurses through analysis of past and present developments in healthcare, and by providing descriptions of professional leadership.
Audience: Having held leadership roles in clinical settings and significant leadership roles in nursing education and higher education administration, this credible authority on leadership has assembled selected publications demonstrating leadership for students, practicing nurses, and nursing leaders as well as people interested in understanding the scope and nature of nursing.
Features: Leadership roles in professional practice, education, and research are examined, with a focus on improving healthcare, enhancing professional practice, and developing care systems that are responsive to patient needs. Because the selected essays encompass a time frame from 1964 to 1996, an historical perspective can be contrasted with current practices. Descriptions of the development of nursing practice and associated nursing education and administration practices are particularly interesting. Current healthcare trends such as for-profit, corporate managed care are critically examined, with rationale for why competitive market theories cannot be applied to the care of the sick, vulnerable, elderly, and dying if we are to continue to survive as a civil society.
Assessment: This is a fine collection of essays on nursing leadership by an outstanding nursing leader. The essayists give a clear, descriptive picture of the evolutionary developments in American nursing practice and education, but also address current healthcare themes and values held by nurses that are considered extremely relevant factors in the overall healthcare agenda. The role of nursing leaders is described as taking an active position on values of putting patients first, maintaining efforts to achieve universal healthcare, and facilitating the development of quality standards. This will require strong, vocal, active nursing leaders.

Rating

4 Stars! from Doody

Police Work or Chinese Legal Reform

2009-01-06T12:07:00.000-08:00

Police Work: A Career Survival Guide

Author: Neil Trautman

Virtually every officer and deputy in America feels more stress from their own agency than from merely doing their job! Police Work: A Career Survival Guide, Second Edition, is a book that can help virtually anyone have a meaningful law enforcement career. From physical fitness, to emotional wellness, Police Work is the essential guide to a successful career in law enforcement. More importantly, it makes sure officers never forget why they first applied to wear a badge and serve their communities well.

1	Cops then and now	1
2	Integrity versus corruption	43
3	Character of great cops	119
4	Cops and the judicial system	142
5	Surviving the street	181
6	Emotionally surviving	220
7	Staying physically fit	256
App. A	Federal law enforcement agencies	305
App. B	Law enforcement training organizations	317
App. C	Law enforcement-related associations	321
App. D	State training councils and police standards commissions	342

Book about: Government Contracts in a Nutshell or John Douglass Guide to Landing a Career in Law Enforcement

Chinese Legal Reform

Author: Yan Wang

This work assesses the legal reforms which have taken place over the past two decades in China. It discusses China's achievements in building a new legal system and identifies the theoretical and institutional limitations of China's legal reform.

	List of Tables	viii
	Preface	ix
1.	Particularities	1
2.	Entering the World of Work	17
3.	Schools and Work	57
4.	Agencies	98
5.	Firms	141
6.	The State	174
7.	Losing Work and Coping	220
	Conclusion	256
	Primary Sources	265
	Notes	267
	Index	313

Commercial Law Books

Ben Bernankes Fed or Now What

Ben Bernanke's Fed: The Federal Reserve After Greenspan

Table of Contents:

Now What?: The Young Person's Guide to Choosing the Perfect Career

Waiting for Your Cat to Bark or Beyond Basketball

Waiting for Your Cat to Bark?: Persuading Customers When They Ignore Marketing

Beyond Basketball: Coach K's Keywords for Success

Caught in the Middle or The Family Budget Workbook

Caught in the Middle: America's Heartland in the Age of Globalism

Publishers Weekly

Kirkus Reviews

The Family Budget Workbook: Gaining Control of Your Personal Finances

Presentations and Public Speaking or The Great Depression

Presentations and Public Speaking (SparkCharts)

The Great Depression: America 1929-1941

The Breakthrough Company or The Inventors Guidebook

The Breakthrough Company: How Everyday Companies Become Extraordinary Performers

Table of Contents:

The Inventors Guidebook: Patent, Protect, Produce and Profit from Your Ideas and Inventions Yourself!

The Pixar Touch or The Last Fish Tale

The Pixar Touch: The Making of a Company

The Last Fish Tale: The Fate of the Atlantic and Survival in Gloucester, America's Oldest Fishing Port and Most Original Town

The Washington Post - H. Bruce Franklin

Publishers Weekly

Margaret Rioux - Library Journal

Kirkus Reviews

Table of Contents:

Buying In or Against the Gods

Buying In: The Secret Dialogue Between What We Buy and Who We Are

The New York Times - Farhad Manjoo

The Washington Post - Jay Dixit

School Library Journal

Table of Contents:

Against the Gods: The Remarkable Story of Risk

New York Times

Robert Ferguson

William Kristol

Wall Street Journal

Marc Faber

John Kenneth Galbraith

Charles P. Kindleberger

Washington Post Book World

Money Matters

Barton M. Biggs

Robert Heilbronerc

Publishers Weekly

Library Journal

Library Journal

The New York Times

The Wall Street Journal

What People Are Saying

Blue Ocean Strategy or Leading Change

Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make Competition Irrelevant

Table of Contents:

Leading Change

Cause/Effect Journal - Doug Gale

Publishers Weekly

Library Journal

What People Are Saying

Business to Business Marketing or Charismatic Leadership in Organizations

Business-to-Business Marketing: A Strategic Approach

Booknews

Charismatic Leadership in Organizations

Table of Contents:

Union and Collective Bargaining or Corporate Governance Economic Reforms and Development

Union and Collective Bargaining: Economic Effects in a Global Environment

Corporate Governance, Economic Reforms, and Development: The Indian Experience

Table of Contents:

You Say You Want a Revolution or A Guide to the Euro

You Say You Want a Revolution

Publishers Weekly

The Standard

What People Are Saying

Table of Contents:

A Guide to the Euro

Data Warehousing and Business Intelligence for E Commerce or New Venture Strategy

Data Warehousing and Business Intelligence for E-Commerce

New Venture Strategy: Timing, Environmental Uncertainty, and Performance

Booknews