Business Reference

Made to Stick or Business by the Book

noreply@blogger.com (To Read or not To Read) — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 10:43:00 +0000

Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die

Author: Chip Heath

Mark Twain once observed, “A lie can get halfway around the world before the truth can even get its boots on.” His observation rings true: Urban legends, conspiracy theories, and bogus public-health scares circulate effortlessly. Meanwhile, people with important ideas–business people, teachers, politicians, journalists, and others–struggle to make their ideas “stick.”

Why do some ideas thrive while others die? And how do we improve the chances of worthy ideas? In Made to Stick, accomplished educators and idea collectors Chip and Dan Heath tackle head-on these vexing questions. Inside, the brothers Heath reveal the anatomy of ideas that stick and explain ways to make ideas stickier, such as applying the “human scale principle,” using the “Velcro Theory of Memory,” and creating “curiosity gaps.”

In this indispensable guide, we discover that sticky messages of all kinds–from the infamous “kidney theft ring” hoax to a coach’s lessons on sportsmanship to a vision for a new product at Sony–draw their power from the same six traits.

Made to Stick is a book that will transform the way you communicate ideas. It’s a fast-paced tour of success stories (and failures)–the Nobel Prize-winning scientist who drank a glass of bacteria to prove a point about stomach ulcers; the charities who make use of “the Mother Teresa Effect”; the elementary-school teacher whose simulation actually prevented racial prejudice. Provocative, eye-opening, and often surprisingly funny, Made to Stick shows us the vital principles of winningideas–and tells us how we can apply these rules to making our own messages stick.

The Washington Post - Barry Schwartz

… [the authors] have written a fine, "sticky" book -- one that lays out the determinants of stickiness; illustrates them with vivid examples from disparate settings (e.g., business, education and effective social movements); warns us of obstacles that must be negotiated if ideas are to be sticky; and provides a set of "idea clinics," examples of good ideas presented in not so good ways, along with steps to make them better.

Publishers Weekly

Unabashedly inspired by Malcolm Gladwell's bestselling The Tipping Point, the brothers Heath Chip a professor at Stanford's business school, Dan a teacher and textbook publisher offer an entertaining, practical guide to effective communication. Drawing extensively on psychosocial studies on memory, emotion and motivation, their study is couched in terms of "stickiness" that is, the art of making ideas unforgettable. They start by relating the gruesome urban legend about a man who succumbs to a barroom flirtation only to wake up in a tub of ice, victim of an organ-harvesting ring. What makes such stories memorable and ensures their spread around the globe? The authors credit six key principles: simplicity, unexpectedness, concreteness, credibility, emotions and stories. (The initial letters spell out "success" well, almost.) They illustrate these principles with a host of stories, some familiar (Kennedy's stirring call to "land a man on the moon and return him safely to the earth" within a decade) and others very funny (Nora Ephron's anecdote of how her high school journalism teacher used a simple, embarrassing trick to teach her how not to "bury the lead"). Throughout the book, sidebars show how bland messages can be made intriguing. Fun to read and solidly researched, this book deserves a wide readership. (Jan. 16) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Carol J. Elsen Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information - Library Journal

Chip Heath (organizational behavior, Graduate Sch. of Business, Stanford Univ.; Rumor Mills) and brother Dan (consultant, Duke Corporate Education; cofounder, Thinkwell) team up on a tacky topic. They borrow the "stickiness" metaphor from Malcolm Gladwell's The Tipping Point, which examined the social forces causing ideas to make the leap ("tip") from small to large groups. The Heaths focus on the traits that contribute to an idea's ability to catch on, or "stick." Urban legends—like the one about the traveling businessman who is drugged and wakes up minus a kidney—are prime examples of such stickiness. While totally untrue, these tales make for great retelling, and we seem primed to fall for them. Using engaging examples from around the world, the authors illustrate the six principles of stickiness: Simplicity, Unexpectedness, Concreteness, Credibility, Emotions, and Stories (SUCCES!). Their fun-to-read book will appeal to communicators in every field who want their messages to be more effective. Highly recommended for public and academic library business or psychology collections.

Heidi DolamoreCopyright 2006 Reed Business Information. - School Library Journal

Adult/High School
While at first glance this volume might resemble the latest in a series of trendy business advice books, ultimately it is about storytelling, and it is a how-to for crafting a compelling narrative. Employing a lighthearted tone, the Heaths apply those selfsame techniques to create an enjoyable read. They analyze such narratives as urban legends and advertisements to discover what makes them memorable. The authors provide a simple mnemonic to remember their stickiness formula, and the basic principles may be applied in any situation where persuasiveness is an asset. The book is a fast read peppered with exercises to test the techniques proposed. Some examples act as pop quizzes and engage readers in moments of self-reflection. The book draws on examples from teachers, scientists, and soldiers who have been successful at crafting memorable ideas, from the well-known blue eye/brown eye exercise conducted by an Iowa elementary school teacher as an experiential lesson in prejudice following the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., to conversations among Xerox repairmen. Readers who enjoyed Malcolm Gladwell's Blink (2005) and The Tipping Point (2000, both Little, Brown) will appreciate this clever take on contemporary culture.

Interesting textbook: How Nations Grow Rich or South Western Accounting with Peachtree Complete 2005

Business by the Book: The Complete Guide of Biblical Principles for the WorkPlace

Author: Larry Burkett

Now readers can approach the new millennium by incorporating Burkett's tried and true advice into their business world with this updated edition of the best-selling classic containing some of the actual study material used in Burkett's worldwide seminars.

Career Match or Wall Street Journal Personal Finance Workbook

noreply@blogger.com (To Read or not To Read) — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 09:02:00 +0000

Career Match: Connecting Who You Are with What You'll Love to Do

Author: Shoya Zichy

For some, a job is just a way to pay the bills. For others -- those whose careers fit their passions and personalities -- it is a source of great satisfaction and success. Career Match is designed to help people discover their ideal work. Using the author's revealing ten-minute self-assessment, the book helps readers determine their personality style, then walks them through the range of career choices best for them. This indispensable guide will enable anyone to:

* identify the type of work that will inspire and exhilarate them * recognize the type of boss and work environment they need to thrive * confirm the rightness of the path they are on -- or help them find a better one * speed up their job search

The book includes in-depth chapters for each personality type, detailed explanations of career options, and inspiring real-life stories of people who have found fulfillment in work that suits their personality. This invaluable resource will help anyone in need of direction match who they are with what they should do -- for a lifetime of gratifying work and greater success.

Author Biography: Shoya Zichy (New York, NY) is a career coach with a Master's in Education and Counseling, and is past president of the Myers-Briggs Association of New York. Her proprietary personality model has been featured in Fortune, Barron's, and on CNN.

Interesting book: Choice Recipes by Moscow Women or Cocktail Aficionado

Wall Street Journal Personal Finance Workbook

Author: Jeff D Opdyk

A hands-on, interactive guide to managing your money and building your financial future

Many of the worksheets in this book are available online and can be saved, printed, and recalculated at any time.

Understanding your money, and getting it to work for you, is more important today than it ever was, because you alone are responsible for every aspect of your financial life, from managing your day-to-day living expenses to planning a college savings fund and, ultimately, retirement. The sooner you start taking control of your financial life the better, and there’s no greater authority on financial matters than The Wall Street Journal. This workbook takes the mystery out of personal finance and addresses every topic you’ll need to master, from building a solid financial base to growing your financial assets. Worksheets, charts, and step-by-step instructions throughout help you do the math and work through the basics, making it quick and easy to organize your cash and eventually build wealth. Learn how to:

• Create a spending plan and budget

• Balance a checkbook

• Make decisions about what types of— and how much—insurance you need

• Manage credit and debt

• Finance big expenses like real estate and education

• Understand and properly assess your own appetite for risk

• Formulate the right asset allocation

• Start building an investment portfolio

• Make real estate decisions like purchasing vs. renting

• Refinance a mortgage

• Manage your 401(k)

• Deal with taxes

• Plan for college expenses

Also available—the companion to thisworkbook:The Wall Street Journal Complete Personal Finance Guidebook, by Jeff D. Opdyke

Get your financial life in order with help from The Wall Street Journal. Look for:

• The Wall Street Journal Complete Money and Investing Guidebook

• The Wall Street Journal Complete Identity Theft Guidebook

• The Wall Street Journal Complete Real Estate Investing Guidebook

Secrets of Power Negotiating or The World is Flat

noreply@blogger.com (To Read or not To Read) — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 07:22:00 +0000

Secrets of Power Negotiating: Inside Secrets from a Master Negotiator

Author: Roger Dawson

Secrets of Power Negotiating covers every aspect of the negotiating process with practical, proven advice: from beginning steps to critical final moves, how to recognize unethical tactics, key principles to the Power Negotiating strategy, why money is not as important as everyone thinks, negotiating pressure points, understanding the other party and gaining the upper hand, and analyses of different negotiating styles.

And Power Negotiating can be applied to any situation:

• Business owners will learn how to dramatically improve profits.
• Managers will learn how to become dynamic leaders.
• Parents will discover how to shape their child's future.
• Salespeople will learn how to build-and protect-their bottom line.
• All readers will find how to develop power and control over their ability to get what they want-in all areas of their lives.

New interesting textbook: Fighting Words or The Celling of America

The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century (Further Updated and Expanded)

Author: Thomas L Friedman

"One mark of a great book is that it makes you see things in a new way, and Mr. Friedman certainly succeeds in that goal," the Nobel laureate Joseph E. Stiglitz wrote in The New York Times reviewing The World Is Flat in 2005.

In this new edition, Thomas L. Friedman includes fresh stories and insights to help us understand the flattening of the world. Weaving new information into his overall thesis, and answering the questions he has been most frequently asked by parents across the country, this third edition also includes two new chapters--on how to be a political activist and social entrepreneur in a flat world; and on the more troubling question of how to manage our reputations and privacy in a world where we are all becoming publishers and public figures.

The World Is Flat 3.0 is an essential update on globalization, its opportunities for individual empowerment, its achievements at lifting millions out of poverty, and its drawbacks--environmental, social, and political, powerfully illuminated by the Pulitzer Prize--winning author of The Lexus and the Olive Tree.

Options as a Strategic Investment or High Altitude Leadership

noreply@blogger.com (To Read or not To Read) — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 05:41:00 +0000

Options as a Strategic Investment

Author: Lawrence G McMillan

The market in listed options and non-equity option products provides investors and traders with a wealth of new, strategic opportunities for managing their investments. This updated and revised Third Edition of the bestselling options book of all time gives you the latest market-tested tools for maximizing the earnings potential of your portfolio while reducing downside risk - no matter how the market is performing. Inside this expanded edition are scores of proven techniques and business-tested tactics for investing in many of the innovative new options products available. For example, you'll find buy and sell strategies for Long Term Equity Anticipation Securities (LEAPS); a thorough analysis of neutral trading, how it works, and various ways it can improve your overall profit picture; detailed guidance for investing in Preferred Equity Redemption Cumulative Stocks (PERCS> and how to hedge them with common and regular options; an extensive overview of futures and futures options; and much more. Written especially for investors who have some familiarity with the option market, this comprehensive reference also shows you the concepts and applications of various option strategies - how they work, in which situations, and why ... techniques for using index options and futures to protect your portfolio and improve your return ... and the implications of the tax laws for option writers, including allowable long-term gains and losses. In addition, detailed examples, exhibits, and checklists show you the power of each strategy under carefully described market conditions.

booknews.com

The new edition is revised to represent the latest trading vehicles and applications, including coverage of long-term equity anticipation securities LEAPs, preferred equity redemption cumulative stocks PERCs, neutral trading, futures options, warrants, and standard portfolio analysis of risk SPAN. The idea, of course, is to maximize earnings and reduce risk—no matter how the market is performing. Strategy techniques and examples show how to do it.

Reference & Research Book News

Booknews

The new edition is revised to represent the latest trading vehicles and applications, including coverage of long-term equity anticipation securities (LEAPs), preferred equity redemption cumulative stocks (PERCs), neutral trading, futures options, warrants, and standard portfolio analysis of risk (SPAN). The idea, of course, is to maximize earnings and reduce risk--no matter how the market is performing. Strategy techniques and examples show how to do it. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Book review: The Dream or Resume Handbook

High Altitude Leadership: What the World's Most Forbidding Peaks Teach Us About Success

Author: Chris Warner

Praise for High Altitude Leadership

"A totally original and breathtaking (literally!) journey into the unexplored terrain of fearless leadership."

—Warren Bennis, Distinguished Professor of Business at the University of Southern California and coauthor of Transparency and Judgment

"Chris Warner and Don Schmincke transport us to the highest peaks in the world for a fresh eye on what too often goes wrong at sea level, whether it's corporate cowardice, personal selfishness, or just plain fear.?Drawing on gripping accounts of both conquest and survival in the Himalayas, High Altitude Leadership offers compelling lessons on the art of bravery, selfless leadership, and high performance under the most daunting outdoor—and business—conditions." ????

—Michael Useem, professor of management and director of the Leadership Center at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, and author, The Go Point: When It's Time to Decide and The Leadership Moment

"Using harrowing first person accounts of life and death on the mountaintop, Chris Warner and Don Schmincke pinpoint eight lessons leaders need to learn to reach the highest peak of success in business. Dare to be a high altitude leader. Read this book!"

—Ken Blanchard, coauthor of The One Minute Manager® and The One Minute Entrepreneur®

Publishers Weekly

Starred Review.

Warner is a mountaineer and entrepreneur (founder of mountaineering outfitter Earth Treks); Schmincke is an author (The Code of the Executive) and leadership consultant, though he's an MIT-trained scientist and engineer at heart. Having met on a charity climb in the Andes, they discovered similar opinions on human nature and management techniques, from which they developed the concept of "high altitude leadership." Warner and Schminke identify eight psychological mindsets that paralyze organizations and individuals, undermining productivity: Fear, Selfishness, Tool Seduction, Arrogance, Lone Heroism, Cowardice, Comfort and Gravity. Each is discussed in its own chapter, beginning with an often tragic example from Warner's mountaineering life that shows pointedly how similar behavior can lead to workplace catastrophe. Schmincke prides himself on being a "mad scientist" rather than a management guru, focused on practical observation and common-sense application; he employs a deliciously sarcastic tone when discussing typical, ineffective managerial "magic cures" like Mission Statements and Codes of Values. The final chapter is devoted to caring, highlighting the importance of courage, moral code, efficacy, social responsibility, honor, patriotism, virtue, valor and sense of group identity. As much a life guide as a business primer, this book sports a helpful, engaging and positive plan for working together effectively and honestly.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Valuation or Buying Selling on eBay

noreply@blogger.com (To Read or not To Read) — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 04:00:00 +0000

Valuation: Measuring and Managing the Value of Companies

Author: McKinsey Company Inc

The #1 guide to corporate valuation is now better than ever!

Hailed by financial professionals worldwide as the single best guide of its kind, Valuation provides crucial insights into how to measure, manage, and maximize a company's value. This long-awaited Third Edition has been updated and expanded to reflect business conditions in today's volatile global economy. In addition to all new case studies, it now includes in-depth coverage of real options and insurance companies, along with detailed instructions on how to drive value creation, and expert advice on how to manage difficult situations.

Describes techniques for multibusiness valuations, valuation within an international context, and valuation for restructurings and mergers and acquisitions
Includes a companion Web site featuring an interactive valuation-modeling application

Tom Copeland leads Monitor, Inc.'s corporate finance division. Previously, he was a partner at McKinsey & Company and a professor of finance at UCLA's Anderson School of Management. Tim Koller is a partner at McKinsey & Company specializing in restructuring, mergers and acquisitions, and corporate strategy. Jack Murrin is Senior Vice President of Travelers, Inc.

New York Times Book Review

THE #1 GUIDE TO CORPORATE VALUATION IS NOW BETTER THAN EVER! A 'how-to' guide for corporate executives who want to get at the unrealized shareholder values trapped in public companies.

What People Are Saying

J. Fred Weston
J. Fred Weston, Cordner Professor of Money and Financial Markets, Graduate School of Management, UCLA
This book on valuation represents fresh new thinking. The writing is clear and direct, combining the best academic principles with actual experience to arrive at value-increasing solutions.This book on valuation represents fresh new thinking. The writing is clear and direct, combining the best academic principles with actual experience to arrive at value-increasing solutions.

Pt. 1	Foundations of value
1	Why maximize value?	3
2	The value manager	23
3	Fundamental principles of value creation	47
4	Do fundamentals really drive the stock market?	69
Pt. 2	Core valuation techniques
5	Frameworks for valuation	101
6	Thinking about return on invested capital and growth	133
7	Analyzing historical performance	159
8	Forecasting performance	229
9	Estimating continuing value	271
10	Estimating the cost of capital	291
11	Calculating and interpreting results	331
12	Using multiples for valuation	361
Pt. 3	Making value happen
13	Performance measurement	383
14	Performance management	405
15	Creating value through mergers and acquisitions	427
16	Creating value through divestitures	453
17	Capital structure	475
18	Investor communications	509
Pt. 4	Advanced valuation issues
19	Valuing multibusiness companies	531
20	Valuing flexibility	543
21	Cross-border valuation	575
22	Valuation in emerging markets	605
23	Valuing high-growth companies	637
24	Valuing cyclical companies	653
25	Valuing financial institutions	663
App. A	Economic profit and the key value driver formula	693
App. B	Discounted economic profit equals discounted free cash flow	697
App. C	Adjusted present value equals discounted free cash flow	701
App. D	Levering and unlevering the cost of equity	707
App. E	Leverage and the price-earnings multiple	715

Interesting book: The Six SIGMA Handbook Revised and Expanded or Reach for the Summit

Buying & Selling on eBay (Quamut)

Author: Quamut

Quamut is the fastest, most convenient way to learn how to do almost anything. From tasting wine to managing your retirement accounts, Quamut gives you reliable information in a concise chart format that you can take anywhere. Quamut charts are:

Authoritative: Written by experts in their field so you have the most reliable information available.
Clear: Our explanations take you step-by-step through everything from performing CPR to threading a needle.
Concise: You’ll learn just what you need to know—no more, no less.
Precise: Quamut charts include detailed text, photos, and illustrations to show you exactly how to do just about anything.
Portable: Your know-how goes with you wherever your projects lead.

New to the auction block?

200 million users can’t be wrong: whether you’re buying stamps from dealers in Budapest or selling figurines to collectors in Baton Rouge, eBay makes it a snap. Before the bidding starts, teach yourself to:

Understand the online auction process and eBay’s feedback system
Search for, bid on, and win items at bargain-basement prices
Create effective eBay listings to sell your own items quickly and at a profit

Rich Dads Guide to Investing or George Washington on Leadership

noreply@blogger.com (To Read or not To Read) — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 02:20:00 +0000

Rich Dad's Guide to Investing: What the Rich Invest In, That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not!

Author: Robert T Kiyosaki

The rich get richer. The poor get poorer.

Robert Kiyosaki reveals the secrets of how the wealthiest Americans become even wealthier, and how ALL Americans can learn how to benefit from some simple investing secrets -- merely by knowing where and how to invest their money.

We've all heard that plaint many times before. But finally, that long standing monetary tradition has been shattered, as Kiyosaki explains how even the smallest investor can start benefitting from the investing patterns of the richest folks.

Robert Kiyosaki knows all this first hand. There was a time in the 1980s when he and his wife, Kim, were so cash poor that they were forced to sleep in their car. Today, however, the Kiyosakis are multi-millionaires, and are considered highly sophisticated investors.

Based upon the four tenets of Rich Dad, Poor Dad (are you an employee, self-employed, business owner, or an investor?) the Investing Guide explains the nuts-and-bolts approach to understanding the real earning power of money, and how you can start cashing today. Along the way, Kiyosaki explains how he's invested his monies as his own wealth has grown over the years.

Phase One Are You Mentally Prepared to Be an Investor? 13
What Should I Invest In? 15
Pouring a Foundation of Wealth 29
Investor Lesson #1 The Choice 37
Investor Lesson #2 What Kind of World Do You See? 41
Investor Lesson #3 Why Investing Is Confusing 47
Investor Lesson #4 Investing Is a Plan, Not a Product or Procedure 53
Investor Lesson #5 Are You Planning to Be Rich or Are You Planning to Be Poor? 59
Investor Lesson #6 Getting Rich Is Automatic...If You Have a Good Plan and Stick to It 65
Investor Lesson #7 How Can You find the Plan That Is Right for You? 73
Investor Lesson #8 Decide Now What You Want to Be When You Grow Up 79
Investor Lesson #9 Each Plan Has a Price 85
Investor Lesson #10 Why Investing Isn't Risky 91
Investor Lesson #11 On Which Side of the Table Do You Want To Sit? 95
Investor Lesson #12 The Basic Rules of Investing 103
Investor Lesson #13 Reduce Risk Through Financial Literacy 117
Investor Lesson #14 Financial Literacy Made Simple 133
Investor Lesson #15 The Magic of Mistakes 151
Investor Lesson #16 What Is the Price of Becoming Rich? 159
The 90/10 Riddle 167

Phase Two What Type of Investor Do You Want to Become? 177
Solving the 90/10 Riddle 179
Rich Dad's Categories of Investors 183
The Accredited Investor 189
The Qualified Investor 193
The Sophisticated Investor 207
The Inside Investor

Book review: Take Four or New Frontiers in Western Cooking

George Washington on Leadership

Author: Richard Brookhiser

George Washington on Leadership is a textbook look at Washington's three spectacularly successful careers as an executive: general, president, and tycoon.

Kirkus Reviews

From a journalist and historian specializing in the lives of the Founders, lessons in leadership drawn from the plantation, military and political career of George Washington. Washington's colorful contemporary, Gouverneur Morris, disparaged books on leadership, dismissing them as merely "utopian," a skepticism National Review senior editor Brookhiser (What Would the Founders Do?: Our Questions, Their Answers, 2006, etc.) appears to share. But the author forges ahead, addressing his theme in topical fashion, distilling a series of maxims from a variety of problems and situations Washington handled. The vignettes are always interesting: Washington insisting on the importance of proper latrines and inoculations to ensure the army's health, diversifying crops at Mount Vernon, finessing the Continental Congress, putting down mutiny within the army and later rebellion within the young country, keeping the peace between Hamilton and Jefferson, dealing with the betrayal of Benedict Arnold. At the same time the "lessons" drawn from these and many other slices of Washington's life are problematic, if only because they are so often contradictory. Washington observed lines of authority (deferring to the advice and consent of the Senate), except when he circumvented them (seeking funding for the army). He was patient (settling on a strategy for the war), except when he was bold (seizing the moment at Yorktown). He was a hands-on manager (of his plantation), unless he was wisely delegating (speeches to Madison, artillery chores to Knox or matters of high finance to Hamilton). He made use of friends (Lafayette) until he broke with them (Knox). By the end of Brookhiser's colloquial, good-humoredanalysis, we're persuaded that, while no leader in American history may be more worthy of emulation, the mature Washington's signal virtue was his consistently sound, often spectacularly wise judgment, a faculty honed throughout a lifetime presiding over highly important matters and one not easily imitated. Apparently Gouverneur Morris was correct. Unexceptional wisdom breezily packaged. Agent: Michael Carlisle/InkWell Management

What People Are Saying

Steve Forbes
George Washington on Leadership - by Richard Brookhiser. This is one book on leadership that's well worth the read. A respected historian, Brookhiser examines the extraordinary events that marked George Washington's life to discover what it takes to become an effective leader. One would be hard put to find a better model. Washington often faced situations fraught with novel and immense difficulties. He made mistakes—some big—but he never became despondent and quickly learned from them.

Washington was highly effective, whether it was in covering such essential details as making sure that army latrines were dug and properly maintained, devising grand strategies for keeping his inadequately funded ragtag army in the field against the world's most formidable empire or stopping a potential mutiny. He had an inspired sense of how to deal with and manage people. He put together a first-rate team of officers and knew when to praise and when to berate (rarely). And he profoundly understood the importance of leading by example. He was a superb diplomat, especially when dealing with the often unresponsive Congress during the Revolutionary War. Washington was also an innovator and entrepreneur, which is how he became his time's richest American.

People sensed Washington's innate honesty and strength of character, as well as his enormous ability—the reason men would follow him in battle, through thick and thin, as well as why political peers, who were often smarter than he, would defer to his leadership. Washington effectively presided over the Constitutional Convention and was, perhaps, the only man who could have kept that body together as it ground out its historic work amidthe constantly contentious debates instigated by the 50-plus strong-willed individuals, each with his own independent power base. As President, "everything Washington did was, in a sense, being done for the first time."

But what was perhaps most amazing for a man holding such power was that Washington also had a deep sense of humility and modesty. After the Revolution, when he could easily have become a military dictator, Washington resigned his commission and returned home. As President, he could have remained in office for life; instead he voluntarily stepped down after two terms.

All too often—before and since—we have witnessed examples of leaders in politics, business and other endeavors who, achieving supreme power, could never voluntarily let it go.

eBay For Dummies or The Screenwriters Bible

noreply@blogger.com (To Read or not To Read) — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 00:39:00 +0000

eBay For Dummies

Author: Marsha Collier

eBay is the world's #1 online shopping destination and can be a bit intimidating for first-time users. Thankfully, though, the latest edition of eBay For Dummies addresses all the issues a first-time or inexperienced eBay user will confront. Readers will be up to date in no time on the latest changes in the eBay interface, fee structure, and methods for buying and selling. Readers will quickly be on the path that makes bidding, buying, and selling the fun it should be!

A Reference for the Rest of Us!

• Author Marsha Collier is a recognized eBay expert, thanks to her bestselling books, appearances as an instructor at eBay University events, and appearances on NBC's Today Show, ABC's The View, and numerous print and radio interviews

• Topics include: getting a user name, making first bids, completing transactions, selling items, and what to do if anything goes wrong

• An ideal resource for everyone from corporate customers to mom & pop retailers, as well as individuals who are cleaning out their closets and garages

Introduction.
PART I: Forget the Mall: Getting a Feel for eBay.
Chapter 1: Why eBay Is Better Than Your Local Antique Shop.
Chapter 2: The Bucks Start Here: Signing Up at eBay.
Chapter 3: There's No Place Like the Home Page.
Chapter 4: My Own Private eBay.
PART II: Are You Buying What They're Selling?
Chapter 5: Seek and You Shall Find: Research.
Chapter 6: Bidding: The Basics.
Chapter 7: Power Bidding Strategies.
Chapter 8: After You Win the Auction.
PART III: Are You Selling What They're Buying?
Chapter 9: Selling in Your Bedroom Slippers for Fun and Profit.
Chapter 10: Filling in the Blanks: Cyber Paperwork for the Savvy Seller.
Chapter 11: Going, Going, Gone: Closing the Deal.
Chapter 12: Troubleshooting Your Auction.
Chapter 13: Using Pictures and Strategies to Increase Your Profits.
PART IV: Oy Vay, More eBay!: Special Features.
Chapter 14: Privacy: To Protect and Serve.
Chapter 15: eBay's Rules & Safety Program.
Chapter 16: The eBay Community: Playing Nice with Other eBay Members.
Chapter 17: Charities and Special Features.
PART V: The Part of Tens.
Chapter 18: Ten (Or So) Golden Rules for eBay Buyers and Sellers.
Chapter 19: Ten (Or So) Programs and Services to Ease Your Way on eBay.
Appendix A: Computers: How High-Tech Do I Go?
Appendix B: Answers for the Fanatic: Finding More Stuff to Sell.
Index.
Book Registration Information.

Book review: The Retirement Savings Time Bomb and How to Defuse It or Economics in One Lesson

The Screenwriter's Bible: A Complete Guide to Writing, Formatting, and Selling Your Script

Author: David Trottier

The Screenwriter's Bible is six books in one.

Book 1 -- A screenwriting primer that provides a concise presentation of screenwriting basics.

Book 2 -- A workbook that walks the writer through the writing process, from nascent ideas through revisions.

Book 3 -- A formatting guide that presents correct formats for both screenplays and TV scripts.

Book 4 -- A spec writing guide that demonstrates today's spec style through sample scenes and analysis.

Book 5 -- A sales and marketing guide that presents proven strategies to help you create a laser-sharp marketing plan.

Book 6 -- A resource guide that provides addresses and contacts for industry organizations, schools, publications, support groups, services, contests, etc. Among its wealth of practical information are sample query letters, useful worksheets and checklists, hundreds of examples, sample scenes, and straightforward explanations of screenwriting fundamentals. The "Bible" was a featured selection of The Writer's Digest Book Club.

Melissa Jones

The formatter alone is worth the price of the book. [Melissa Jones, Hollywood Story Analyst]

William Kelley

Whether you are a rank beginner who needs instruction, or an old pro who needs reminding, you could not do better than David Trottier's book. A brilliant effort by a first-class, dedicated teacher." [William Kelley, Academy Award-winning writer, Witness]

New York Screenwriter

For the writer searching for the one book that has it all, The Screenwriter's Bible is an essential reference. [New York Screenwriter]

Candace Monteiro

Good common sense. Sets up practical guidelines without encroaching on the writer's creativity. Easy to follow--feels like a workbook that will be used and not just read. [Candace Monteiro, Monteiro Rose Agency]

Booknews

Presents the fundamentals of screenwriting, an overview of the entire writing process, script formatting, speculative writing style, sales and marketing strategies, and a resource guide of addresses and contacts. The new edition is expanded by nearly 120 pages. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

Fish A Remarkable Way to Boost Morale and Improve Results or Leadership 101

noreply@blogger.com (To Read or not To Read) — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 22:58:00 +0000

Fish! A Remarkable Way to Boost Morale and Improve Results

Author: Stephen C Lundin

Imagine a workplace where everyone chooses to bring energy, passion, and a positive attitude to the job everyday. Imagine an environment in which people are truly connected to their work, to their colleagues, and to their customers. This engrossing parable applies ingeniously simple lessons learned from the actual Pike Place fishmongers and addresses today's most pressing work issues with an appealing message that applies to anyone in any sector in any organization.

Look this: What Remains or El regreso del perfecto idiota latinoamericano

Leadership 101: What Every Leader Needs to Know

Author: John C Maxwell

Drawing from John Maxwell's bestsellers Developing the Leader Within You, The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader, and Becoming a Person of Influence, Leadership 101 explores the timeless principles that have become Dr. Maxwell's trademark style. In a concise, straightforward style, Maxwell focuses on essential and time-tested qualities necessary for true leadership -influence, integrity, attitude, vision, problem-solving, and self-discipline -and guides readers through practical steps to develop true leadership in their lives and the lives of others.

Publishers Weekly

This diminutive tome is a particularly sketchy treatise on the already vague subject of leadership, stitched together with excerpts from The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership and other Maxwell books and featuring an ad at the back directing readers to a Web site where they can buy one of the author's longer works. Maxwell's themes-don't just pull rank, don't sweat the small stuff, establish rapport with co-workers, "empower" underlings-are commonplaces of leadership lore, couched in aphorisms ("The boss says 'I'; the leader, 'we'"), pseudo-statistics ("Twenty percent of your priorities will give you 80 percent of your production") and bromides ("If you lack vision, look inside yourself"). But in distilling this wisdom, the nitty-gritty that might make it useful has been boiled off, leaving readers to grapple unaided with bullet-pointed truisms like "Deal wisely with difficult people." Perfunctory leadership profiles of usual suspect Theodore Roosevelt, Princess Di, executives and football notables scarcely flesh out the meager intellectual content of this book, which seems, more than anything, like a $10 congrats card for the recently promoted.(Sept. 10) Copyright 2003 Cahners Business Information.

Make up Your Mind or Political Advertising in Western Democracies

noreply@blogger.com (To Read or not To Read) — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 21:03:00 +0000

Make up Your Mind: Entrepreneurs Talk about Decision Making

Author: Ann G Graham Ehringer

Offers readers practical tools for improving their decision-making skills. In-depth interviews with entrepreneurs and businesspeople break down the decision-making process into a few basic models that everyone can use in their own decision-making. Includes flowcharts and templates. 300 pp.

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Political Advertising in Western Democracies

Author: Lynda Lee Kaid

"An interesting study about political advertising on TV.... The material in the book can work as a good guide for both the Ministry of information and Broadcasting (including Doordarshan bosses) and major political parties while preparing to use TV as an effective medium for the next election campaign." --The Hindustan Times "This invaluable work significantly advances the cross-national, comparative study of political advertising broadly defined. In pellucid prose, the editors and contributors identify commonalities and differences among media systems, regulations, contents, and styles and point to their likely impact and effects. It is essential reading." --David L. Paletz, Duke University In recent years, political campaigns in Western democracies have increasingly relied on television advertising to promote candidates and/or political parties. Although North America was the first to channel political messages in this way and many European campaigns have been based on the U.S. model, Political Advertising in Western Democracies highlights the differences as well as the similarities of campaigns in Western democracies. The various campaign styles, their methods, and approaches reflect the unique political and cultural traditions of each country. Viewed individually and comparatively, they formulate the first comprehensive study to date on the role that television plays in the electoral process. The chapters, written by well-known contributors, are all based on original research of the most recent campaigns in England, France, Germany, Italy, Israel, Denmark, the Netherlands, Finland, and the United States. An invaluable resource for anyone interested in this topic, PoliticalAdvertising in Western Democracies is also an ideal supplement for courses such as Survey of Political Communication, Mass Communication and Politics, International Communication, Political Advertising, Comparative Political Communication, and Political Campaigning.

	List of Tables and Figures
	Acknowledgments
1	An Introduction to Parties and Candidates on Television	1
2	A Comparative Perspective on Political Advertising: Media and Political System Characteristics	8
3	Political Advertising on Television: The British Experience	19
4	The Role of Television Broadcasts in Promoting French Presidential Candidates	44
5	Television Spots in German National Elections: Content and Effects	61
6	The Presentation of Italian Candidates and Parties in Television Advertising	89
7	Overcoming Adversity and Diversity: The Utility of Television Political Advertising in Israel	109
8	Political Advertising in Denmark	124
9	The Blank Spot: Political Advertising in the Netherlands	143
10	The North European Exception: Political Advertising on TV in Finland	161
11	Political Commercials in American Presidential Elections	186
12	Political Advertising Across Cultures: Comparing Content, Styles, and Effects	206
	Index	228
	About the Contributors	233

SPC Simplified for Services or Cases in Strategic Management

noreply@blogger.com (To Read or not To Read) — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 19:22:00 +0000

SPC Simplified for Services: Practical Tools for Continuous Quality Improvement

Author: Davida M Amsden

Service organizations can increase their competitive advantage through the application of statistical process control (SPC) techniques. Using the same hands-on approach as their SPC Simplified, the authors have developed a prime source for service personnel.

SPC Simplified for Services thoroughly illustrates the application of the tools and techniques of statistical process control. Each module contains practice problems with the solutions provided at the end of the book.

With SPC Simplified for Services, you will learn:

Problem-solving tools, such as flow charts and brainstorming.
Frequency histograms and checksheets.
Variable and attribute control charts.
Sampling plans.
Systems capability.

Booknews

This quality training text is designed to teach the basics of statistical process control to service personnel, so that they can use statistical methods to verify that their system is stable, capable, and on target with customer requirements. Published by Quality Resources, One Water Street, White Plains, NY 10601. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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Cases in Strategic Management

Author: David W Grigsby

Cases in Strategic Management is designed to provide students with the best means for developing their decision-making skills. It contains 25 comprehensive, up-to-date cases featuring a wide range of organizations that are undergoing, or have undergone, strategic change. All the cases feature actual organizations, ranging in size from small businesses to Fortune "Global 500" industry giants. The emphasis of this casebook is on strategic decisions, particularly those involving quality issues and global competition. It may be used with the companion text, Strategic Management by Michael J. Stahl and David W. Grigsby, or with other texts or books of readings.

	Preface
	Introduction: Preparing and Presenting Effective Case Analyses	1
1	Harley-Davidson, Inc.	15
2	The Swatch in 1993	39
3	Hoechst-Roussel Pharmaceuticals, Inc.: RU 486	63
4	The Rise and Fall of Yugo America, Inc.	79
5	GM Allison Japan Ltd	91
6	Kenhar Products, Inc.	107
7	Calox Machinery Corporation	126
8	American Airlines International Strategy	136
9	Korean Air: Challenges and Opportunities in the Growth of a Korean Firm	157
10	The Metamorphosis of Whirlpool Corporation	186
11	Cosmetics and Activism: Anita Roddick and The Body Shop	218
12	IKEA (Canada) Ltd	239
13	Toys 'R' Us, 1993	249
14	Wal-Mart, 1992	267
15	Cadbury Schweppes plc	283
16	Kentucky Fried Chicken in China	293
17	Labatt Breweries of Europe (with industry note: Italy and Its Beer Industry)	304
18	Dibrell Brothers, Inc.	321
19	Liz Claiborne, Inc., 1994	346
20	Nike, Inc.	365
21	Lee Jing Textile Company Ltd	381
22	Amtrak: Is This Any Way to Run a Railroad?	395
23	UNICRESA and the Credit Card Industry in Portugal	412
24	Transvit of Novgorod, Russia	437
	Index	449

Petroleum Economics or Strategies for Asia Pacific

noreply@blogger.com (To Read or not To Read) — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 17:41:00 +0000

Petroleum Economics: Issues and Strategies of Oil and Natural Gas Production

Author: Rognvaldur Hannesson

The petroleum industry is arguably the most influential and important industry in the world. This book offers a comprehensive introduction to the economics of oil and natural gas extraction and production along with a detailed discussion of pricing, taxing, and markets of these most valuable commodities.

Booknews

Provides a perspective on questions such as whether or not the world is running out of resources, what is the maximum rate of extraction, what should be done with the oil money, and what are the structural problems associated with a vital and growing petroleum industry. With an emphasis on economics and the upstream activities of the gas and oil industry, eight chapters discuss oil and oil prices; markets for energy; natural gas; principles of petroleum production; theories of price formation; taxation of oil extraction; managament of petroleum wealth; and discoveries and structural changes. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

	Preface
1	Oil and Oil Prices	1
2	The Markets for Energy	15
3	Natural Gas	37
4	Some Principles of Petroleum Production	61
5	Theories of Price Formation for Petroleum - Petroleum Rents	83
6	The Taxation of Oil Extraction	109
7	The Management of Petroleum Wealth	123
8	Petroleum Discoveries and Structural Changes	141
	Bibliography	155
	Index	159

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Strategies for Asia Pacific

Author: Philippe Lasserr

"This informative and comprehensive book will be of value to business practitioners and students wanting to know how Asian Pacific business networks operate."
--Choice

Despite the growing economic importance of the Asia Pacific region, Western firms remain underrepresented. To remedy this situation, Western firms must approach their operations in Asia strategically, by questioning many of the traditional assumptions of Western business. While Japan has been the subject of much Western scrutiny, the other nations in the region--South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, the Philippines, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, China, and Thailand--have been virtually overlooked.

Strategies for Asia Pacific, the culmination of two decades of research and direct professional experience, is written to provide Western companies with a hands-on approach to doing business in Asia Pacific. The authors first define the region's key characteristics, its role in the world economy, and key features of market and consumer behavior. The book then turns to an overview of the competitive market for developing business there, outlining what is required to design and manage joint-ventures. The final chapters examine the prospective pitfalls in managing Asia Pacific operations and the human resource issues associated with such operations before concluding with projections for future trends in the development of the region.

Booknews

Stresses the importance of the Asia Pacific region in the context of international strategies of the firm, applying selected concepts and theoretical frameworks of international business strategy to the Asia Pacific region. Case histories of Western business successes and failures in the region illustrate chapters on Asia as a market, Asian business logic, and country-based and global partnerships. Of interest to Western managers doing business in Asia. Can also be used as a text for business courses on Asia at undergraduate and MBA levels. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Choice

This informative and comprehensive book will be of value to business practitioners and students wanting to know how Asian Pacific business networks operate.

Grounds for Agreement or Essentials of Economics

noreply@blogger.com (To Read or not To Read) — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 16:00:00 +0000

Grounds for Agreement: The Political Economy of the Coffee Commodity Chain

Author: John M Talbot

As the popularity of coffee and coffee shops has grown worldwide in recent years, so has another trend--globalization--which has greatly affected growers and distributors. This book analyzes changes in the structure of the coffee commodity chain over the

1	Theoretical and methodological grounds for the analysis	5
2	Material and historical ground for the analysis	31
3	The coffee commodity chain under U.S. hegemony, 1945-1972	51
4	Struggles over regulation of the chain, 1973-1989	67
5	Globalization and coffee crises, 1990-?	101
6	The struggle for control of the instant coffee commodity chain	135
7	Outcomes of the struggles : where does your coffee dollar go?	163
8	Solutions? Specialty, organic, and fair-trade coffees	197
	Conclusion : toward a reregulated market	213

Essentials of Economics (with Infotrac )

Author: Robert L Sexton

Learn economics the easy way with ESSENTIALS OF ECONOMICS! Designed to take the intimidation out of economics, this economics text will help you master and retain the principles of economics. Short learning units, a built-in study guide, graphs, photos, and numerous study aids found throughout the text make learning easy by saving you valuable time. Xtra! provides you with the additional content practice and exam review materials you need to be successful in the course.

The Career Mystique or Bearing Witness

noreply@blogger.com (To Read or not To Read) — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 14:19:00 +0000

The Career Mystique: Cracks in the American Dream

Author: Phyllis Moen

The Career Mystique examines taken-for-granted rules of the career game--that continuous, full-time, hard work pays off--deeply embedded in the American Dream. Possibilities of fulfilling the career mystique are dwindling, given insecurities and risks of a global economy, strains and double demands on the job and at home, uncertainties and ambiguities around retirement. This outdated myth stands in the way of fashioning innovative policies more in keeping with life in 21st century America.

1	The career mystique	1
2	Learning the career mystique : where do values and expectations come from?	26
3	Do young adults still believe in the career mystique?	41
4	If real work is paid work, can new parents follow the career mystique?	60
5	Living the career mystique : making it, giving up, or slipping behind?	94
6	Life midcourse : are retirement or second acts inevitable, desirable, or even possible?	129
7	Policies and practices : maintaining the status quo or challenging the career mystique?	158
8	Beyond the career mystique : recasting the lockstep life course	187

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Bearing Witness: Gay Men's Health Crisis and the Politics of AIDS

Author: Philip M Kayal

The untold story in the AIDS crisis is that of the mobilization of the gay community. Bearing Witness is a study of how a community-based initiative - Gay Men's Health Crisis in New York - overcame the formidable obstacles of homophobia and fear of AIDS, and the resulting lack of an adequate response from political and health organizations. Philip Kayal shows how volunteers at Gay Men's Health Crisis (GMHC) confront their deepest fears about being homosexual. Rather than shun People with AIDS, they identify with them and neutralize the immobilizing power of homophobia. The volunteers have the courage to bear witness to the suffering of People with AIDS, suffering that in many ways is their own. Kayal explores the why and how of the gay community response to AIDS from his perspective as both a sociologist and GMHC volunteer. The author's own experience allows him to illuminate the social and political meanings of volunteerism by showing how gay/AIDS volunteerism is radical political and religious work. Through collective altruism, GMHC helps to integrate the gay community and establish new concepts of what is sacred. In Bearing Witness, Kayal explores the relationship between personal motives for volunteering and the broader political, social, and religious contexts in which People with AIDS have been largely abandoned. He shows how the mixing of morals, medicine, and American volunteer ideology sets both the tone of the politics of AIDS and influences the evolution of volunteer organizations such as GMHC. AIDS brings that which is deeply private into the public domain, and Kayal offers a compelling analysis of this intersection in his new study of gay/AIDS volunteerism.

Publishers Weekly

Kayal, professor of sociology at Seton Hall University (N.J.), volunteered from 1983 to 1986 at Gay Men's Health Crisis in New York City, and his experience in this pioneer mobilization against AIDS informs his disorganized but sometimes insightful book about volunteerism and cultural transformation. While Kayal offers a first-person account, his analysis is primarily sociological, and his history of GMHC is rather sketchy. He praises gay volunteerism because it is a means of self-affirmation, just as the term ``People with AIDS'' is more humanizing than the term ``AIDS victims.'' However, his castigation of the mainstream media for ignoring the ``remarkable contribution of the gay community to the care of People with AIDS'' seems dated. Kayal warns that ``Gays need to claim AIDS again'' because democratization of the disease will result in a diminution of gay identity that has arisen in response to the epidemic, and that community-based agencies like GMHC may lose their autonomy. Criticizing activists like playwright Larry Kramer for ``fighting hate with hate,'' Kayal argues for recognition that gay volunteerism is a way to join ``the sacred, the political and the personal.'' (May)

Library Journal

In the summer of 1981, gay playwright Larry Kramer met in New York City with a group of friends to discuss a frightening new illness that was killing friends and loved ones. Angered by the inaction of mainstream medical and government health agencies, this group formed what became known as the Gay Men's Health Crisis, now one of the largest and most influential independent agencies committed to AIDS education, research, and assistance. Kayal tells the story of this struggle and of the thousands of volunteers who comfort and care for those living and dying with AIDS. He concentrates on the work of these volunteers--their motivations and rewards--and also discusses the difficulties facing health workers battling the disease when confronted with barriers of racism, homophobia, and the marginalization of the poor and disenfranchised, i.e., those presently most at risk. Recommended primarily for academic collections or larger public libraries with informed lay readers.-- Jeffery Ingram, Newport P.L., Ore.

Financial Information Analysis or Business and Professional Communication

noreply@blogger.com (To Read or not To Read) — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 12:38:00 +0000

Financial Information Analysis

Author: Philip ORegan

Accounting information is one of the most potent sources of influence and power in any society. This is especially so in those environments where accounting is recognized as a primary means of communication and control. In a world in which more and more people have to deal with complex financial information and an increasingly sizeable proportion of the population acquires shares, this importance can only increase.

Financial Information Analysis 2ed reflects these developments by seeking to address the nature and role of accounting information in modern society, with specific reference to the UK and Europe. In particular, it focuses on the one of the primary accounting documents, the Annual Report. A primary aim is to equip readers with the skills needed to appreciate the information content of this and other accounting documents.

• Focuses on the company Annual Report and equips the reader with the skills needed to appreciate the information content of this document.

• Chapters on creative accounting, corporate governance and regulatory structures have been rewritten to incorporate new information, insights and emphases.

• The changed regulatory environment, particularly in relation to IFRSs (International Financial Reporting Standards) now forms a core stream of the text.

• An additional section dealing with the basic elements of bookkeeping and preparation of final accounts has been added.

• The web site for the book has been enhanced to include a much greater amount of data and reports (including Annual Reports from one UK, one Irish and two continental European countries). The web site willalso contain a considerable number of computational questions and answers.

• Includes numerous extracts from newspapers, journals and websites in order to elaborate on points made within the text

	Acknowledgements
	Preface
	Introduction
Sect. I	Contexts
Ch. 1	Regulatory and Legislative Contexts	3
Ch. 2	Conceptual Context	29
Ch. 3	Theoretical Context	61
Ch. 4	Governance Context	87
Sect. II	Contents
Ch. 5	Narrative Reports	113
Ch. 6	Financial Statements	139
Sect. III	Analysis
Ch. 7	Fundamental Analysis	187
Ch. 8	Activity and Liquidity	205
Ch. 9	Financing	227
Ch. 10	Profitability and Return on Investment	249
Sect. IV	Issues
Ch. 11	Business Combinations	273
Ch. 12	Taxation, Pensions, Leases and Foreign Currency	305
Ch. 13	Creative Accounting	335
Ch. 14	Corporate Social Reporting (CSR)	355
Ch. 15	International Accounting and Harmonisation	375
Sect. V	Interpretation
Ch. 16	Tesco plc 2000	401
Sect. VI	Challenges and Opportunities
Ch. 17	Alternative Approaches	417
Ch. 18	Technology and Future Reports	437
	Bibliography	459
App	Tesco plc 2000 Annual Report	461
	Index	503

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Business and Professional Communication

Author: Carley Dodd

Backcover Copy: Baldwin Dodd (0205348068 0205335268 / 4806L3526L) Business and Professional Communication provides students with the strategies they need to effectively manage communication challenges in the workplace. Tailoring communication theory to the unique demands of the business environment, this book goes beyond the traditional business communication text's coverage to also include coverage of conflict styles, negotiation, managing organizational culture, helping with cultural diversity, dealing with difficult people, and managing communication style differences. The book prepares students for presentations in the workplace as well as for sales communication, customer-service communication, communication audits, briefing/report communication, and other previously overlooked areas that are vital for success in the modern workplace.
Communication Theories for Everyday Life introduces readers to the complexities of theories in communication studies, mass communication, and public relations, emphasizing their connection to everyday life. Instead of utilizing a "theory-a-day" approach, this text cuts across content areas and clusters related theories, making them easier for readers to process and apply to real-life situations. Communication Theories for Everyday Life also addresses theories in emerging areas and growing fields, such as media research, organizational communication, and computer-mediated communication, while still featuring the traditional theories that always have defined the field. Features:

Puts theory into action with real-world cases and critical incidents, providing opportunities for application, problemsolving, and insight into the everyday workplace.
Prepares students for most entry-level and mid-management positions with sections on customer relations communication and sales and marketing presentations.
Examines the importance of cultural diversity awareness in business, providing a framework to better understand one's co-workers, increasing satisfaction and productivity in the workplace.Emphasizes the application of some theories across many subject areas through headings in the form of questions that encourage students to process material and explore for themselves how theories and content apply to their lives.
Includes strong coverage of conflict in the workplace and conflict management opportunities, offering insight and skills to help students heighten performance and problem solving on the job.
Updates the traditional coverage of resume writing by showing students how to create professional looking electronic and scannable resumes.

Global IT Management a Practical Approach or Democracys Dilemma

noreply@blogger.com (To Read or not To Read) — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 10:58:00 +0000

Global IT Management - a Practical Approach

Author: Robert Barton

Global IT Management presents a practical approach for initiating and reinforcing global IT, focusing on the mechanisms that need to be put in place to effectively manage IT architecture, strategy, standards, and control across sites in a multinational firm. Key considerations are explained for each domain together with concrete recommendations for core organisation, processes and deliverables. The approach fits cleanly into established best practices for IT such as the CobiT® framework for IT management.

This book:

· Integrates all major elements of global IT management in one book

· Covers key issues and presents straightforward guidelines for implementation

· Provides context throughout by using examples from leading firms including Philips, Nestlé, Novartis, Toyota and UBS

Global IT Management will be vital reading for CIOs and IT Heads in multinational or global firms, their planning departments, and companies providing consultancy services to them. It will also be a valuable resource for students studying IT management on MBA and Executive MBA courses.

	Foreword
	Table of Exhibits
	Table of Figures
	Table of Tables
	Acknowledgements
1	Why globalize IT management?	1
2	Organization	5
3	Architecture	29
4	Strategy	49
5	Standards	81
6	Control	115
7	Value of Global IT Management - Tested	149
App	Positioning with established best practices	153
	Glossary and acronyms	163
	References	167
	Index	169

See also: Économie de Développement

Democracy's Dilemma: Environment, Social Equity, and the Global Economy

Author: Robert C Paehlk

The realities of global economic integration are far more complex than many of its supporters or detractors acknowledge. One consequence of simplistic thinking about globalization, claims Robert Paehlke, is that we tend to focus on economic prosperity to the neglect of such other important considerations as environmental and social well-being. A first step toward righting this imbalance is the recognition that economic gains do not guarantee better lives or better communities and societies.

Democratic societies face a dilemma. Global economic integration produces a need for global political integration. Without it, national, state, and local governments are under pressure to forego environmental protection and social programs in order to be competitive. At the same time, global governance presents problems because of its scale and its inaccessibility to citizens. This book describes the consequences of this dilemma -- such as political cynicism and lack of democratic participation -- and proposes ways of dealing with it.

Paehlke seeks a middle ground between those who reject globalization and those who claim that it will create the best of all possible worlds. Because there is no returning to a world that is less economically, culturally, and politically integrated, he argues, we should make every effort to advance global cooperation and equity. He suggests specific interventions that could be built into international trade agreements, including global minimum wages and provisos that natural commodities from developing economies such as energy and forest cuttings not be allowed to decline in price relative to the manufactured goods of more advanced economies. He alsosuggests ways to improve domestic democratic effectiveness.

Study Guide to Accompany Fund of Corp Fin or Scenario Driven Planning

noreply@blogger.com (To Read or not To Read) — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 09:17:00 +0000

Study Guide to Accompany Fund of Corp Fin

Author: Richard A Brealey

For introductory courses in Corporate Finance,this text balances core coverage of the fundamental topics in the course with an emphasis on modern business decision-making. The authors envision the typical student using the text to have little or no business background. Therefore,the key principles and mechanics of the time value of money,a central concept,are carefully detailed and richly illustrated; a full complement of pedagogical tools are included throughout every chapter to help students focus on and organize information; and the writing style is relaxed and informal.

Booknews

A text for a first course in corporate finance, concentrating on how companies invest in real assets and how they raise the money to pay for these investments, for students with little or no background in business or finance. After background material, Parts II-V cover valuation, cost of capital, financing, and capital structure and dividend policy. Parts VI and VII look at financial planning and short-term financial decisions, and Part VIII covers special topics such as mergers and risk management. Pedagogical features include self-test questions and worked answers, chapter problems, mini-cases, calculator exercises, and readings on finance in practice. Contains color photos and color design elements. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

Pt. 1	Introduction	1
Ch. 1	The Firm and the Financial Manager	3
Ch. 2	Accounting and Finance	29
Pt. 2	Value	51
Ch. 3	The Time Value of Money	53
Ch. 4	Valuing Bonds and Stocks	103
Ch. 5	Net Present Value and Other Investment Criteria	147
Ch. 6	Using Discounted Cash-Flow Analysis to Make Investment Decisions	183
Ch. 7	Project Analysis	207
Pt. 3	Risk	235
Ch. 8	Introduction to Risk, Return, and the Opportunity Cost of Capital	237
Ch. 9	Risk, Return, and Capital Budgeting	267
Ch. 10	The Cost of Capital	293
Pt. 4	Financing	319
Ch. 11	Corporate Financing and the Lessons of Market Efficiency	321
Ch. 12	An Overview of Corporate Financing	341
Ch. 13	How Corporations Issue Securities	367
Pt. 5	Capital Structure and Dividend Policy	393
Ch. 14	Debt Policy	395
Ch. 15	Dividend Policy	427
Pt. 6	Financial Planning	451
Ch. 16	Financial Statement Analysis	453
Ch. 17	Financial Planning	483
Ch. 18	Working Capital Management and Short-Term Planning	509
Pt. 7	Short-Term Financial Decisions	541
Ch. 19	Cash and Inventory Management	543
Ch. 20	Credit Management and Bankruptcy	567
Pt. 8	Special Topics	593
Ch. 21	Mergers, Acquisitions, and Corporate Control	595
Ch. 22	International Financial Management	623
Ch. 23	Options	651
Ch. 24	Risk Management	677
Pt. 9	Conclusion	697
Ch. 25	What We Do and Do Not Know about Finance	699
App. A	Present Value Tables	713
	App. B: Answers to Selected End-of-Chapter Problems	723
	Glossary	737
	Index	742

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Scenario-Driven Planning: Learning to Manage Strategic Uncertainty

Author: Nicholas C Georgantzas

Scenario-driven planning is a new management technology for strategy design that employs computed or "strategic" scenarios to improve the quality of managerial thinking. Strategic scenarios--the outcomes of modeling strategic situations--produce insight much richer than that expected from environmental scenarios alone. They bring to the consulting and upper-level management audiences a better way of handling strategic uncertainty, providing the tools managers and strategy students need for thinking and dialoguing about complex strategic issues.

Microeconomics or Consuming the Caribbean

noreply@blogger.com (To Read or not To Read) — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 07:36:00 +0000

Microeconomics: A Modern Approach

Author: Andrew Schotter

Economics is a living science--and you can make a contribution. Dr. Schotter's new MICROECONOMICS: A MODERN APPROACH shows you how to go beyond studying theory and effectively apply what you learn to your future studies, career, and life. Professor Schotter believes the future of teaching microeconomics will be heavily connected with the use of experimental tools. As a result, MICROECONOMICS is built on an experimental economics framework that emphasizes game theory, strategic analysis, and organization of the firm, without skimping on traditional topics like consumer choice, production and markets. Each chapter and section builds upon a unifying theme of how economic institutions develop to solve problems that arise in a society. Concepts are presented within the context of a society that starts out in a primitive state of nature and gradually develops the characteristics and institutions of a modern economy. Illustrating various points of view, the text also helps you sharpen your critical thinking skills as it presents theories as well as their deficiencies. Applying intermediate economics to everyday life, MICROECONOMICS: A MODERN APPROACH is a text that will further your core foundation for studying economics.

	Detailed Contents
	List of Examples and Consulting Reports
	Preface
Ch. 1	Economics and Institutions: A Shift of Emphasis	1
Ch. 2	Consumers and Their Preferences	18
Ch. 3	Demand and Behavior In Markets	59
Ch. 4	The Problem of Exchange	112
Ch. 5	The Discovery of Production and Its Technology	142
Ch. 6	Cost and Choice	169
Ch. 7	Game Theory and the Tools of Strategic Business Analysis	204
Ch. 8	The Internal Organization of the Firm	248
Ch. 9	The Age of Entrepreneurship: Monopoly	267
Ch. 10	Natural Monopoly and the Economics of Regulation	292
Ch. 11	The World of Oligopoly: Preliminaries to Successful Entry	326
Ch. 12	Market Entry and the Emergence of Perfect Competition	362
Ch. 13	Perfectly Competitive Markets	390
Ch. 14	Uncertainty and the Emergence of Insurance	430
Ch. 15	General Equilibrium and the Origins of the Free-Market and Interventionist Ideologies	462
Ch. 16	Moral Hazard and Adverse Selection: Informational Market Failures	484
Ch. 17	Externalities: The Free Market-Interventionist Battle Continues	507
Ch. 18	Public Goods, the Consequences of Strategic Voting Behavior, and the Role of Government	531
Ch. 19	Input Markets and the Origins of Class Conflict	566
	Answers to Selected Exercises and Problems	599
	Index	623

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Consuming the Caribbean: From Arwaks to Zombies

Author: Mimi Sheller

From sugar to indentured laborers, tobacco to reggae music, Europe and North America have been relentlessly consuming the Caribbean and its assets for the past five hundred years. In this fascinating book, Mimi Sheller explores this troublesome history, investigating the complex mobilities of producers and consumers as well as material and cultural commodities consumed by tourists and outside settlers everything from sugar and coffee to slave labor and domestic servers to native music and natural resources.
Consuming the Caribbean demonstrates how colonial exploitation of the Caribbean led directly to contemporary forms of consumption of the region and its products, aiming to trouble innocent indulgence in the pleasures of thoughtless consumption. This book is sure to change anyone's opinion of this tropical paradise.

Capitalism Culture and Decline in Britain or Intertemporal Macroeconomics

noreply@blogger.com (To Read or not To Read) — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 05:56:00 +0000

Capitalism, Culture and Decline in Britain: 1750-1990

Author: W D Rubinstein

Capitalism, Culture and Decline in Britain is an original and controversial analysis of the thesis, made familiar in recent years by Martin J. Wiener, Anthony Sampson, Correlli Barnett, and others, which states that Britain's alleged economic decline since 1870 was the result of deep-seated anti-industrial factors in Britain's culture. Rubinstein argues, from a novel perspective, that Britain was never an industrial, but always a commercial/financial economy whose comparative advantage lay within that area.

Rubinstein illustrates that the much-criticized features of Britain's class system, such as the public schools, were actually efficient instruments to enhance this competitive advantage. He closely examines Britain's cultural values and elite structures to demonstrate that these were both rational and modern, arguing that Britain's standard of living has been virtually identical to all countries whose economies have been considered more "successful." Emphasizing the centralimportance of London-based finance and addressing socialism, Keynesianism, and Thatcherism, Capitalism, Culture, and Decline in Britain presents an original and challenging contribution to this debate.

Intertemporal Macroeconomics

Author: Costas Azariadis

Intertemporal Macroeconomics is the first text to offer a unified and systematic exposition of the key issues, both traditional and new, in dynamic macroeconomics. Based on neoclassical growth theory, the book is designed for graduate and advanced undergraduate students in macroeconomics and finance.

Career Development or Economic Sociology

noreply@blogger.com (To Read or not To Read) — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 04:15:00 +0000

Career Development: Life and Career Strategies and Technologies

Author: Monica E Breidenbach

In today's fast-paced, ever changing economy, knowledge of current technologies and their impact on the job search is more crucial than ever. Not only must job seekers be focused in their search, but they must also be able to adapt new methods of exploration and communication. Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, job searchers must be visible in the marketplace in order to locate those jobs that afford them the best opportunities and are best suited to their interests. Then, they must have the most competitive tools to land the desired jobs. In Career Development: Strategies and Technologies for Career and Life Balance, Fourth Edition, Dr. Breidenbach has revised and expanded the job search process to include information that will ultimately help every job seeker achieve success in their career and life pursuits:

CD-ROM Business Cards
Interactive Interviewing
Negotiations
Enrepreneurship
Politics
Money and Taxes
401(k) and 403(b) Options
Investments
Retirement Planning

Economic Sociology: State, Market, and Society in Modern Capitalism

Author: Carlo Trigilia

This book systematically reconstructs the origins and new advances in economic sociology. By presenting both classical and contemporary theory and research, the volume identifies and describes the continuity between past and present, and the move from economics to economic sociology.

• Most comprehensive and up-to-date overview available by an internationally renowned, award-winning economic sociologist

• Systematically reconstructs the origins and new advances in economic sociology

• Organizes the perspectives and methods of economic sociologists of the classical and contemporary eras, including coverage of modernization, globalization, and the welfare state

• Provides insights into the social consequences of capitalism in the past and present for students of economic sociology.

Management Information Systems or Applications to Wind up Companies

noreply@blogger.com (To Read or not To Read) — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 02:34:00 +0000

Management Information Systems: Managing Information Technology in the Business Enterprise

Author: James A OBrien

The new Sixth Edition is designed for business students who are or who will soon become business professionals in the fast changing business world of today. The goal of this text is to help business students learn how to use and manage information technologies to revitalize business processes, improve business decision making, and gain competitive advantage. Thus it places a major emphasis on up-to-date coverage of the essential role of Internet technologies in providing a platform for business, commerce, and collaboration processes among all business stakeholders in today's networked enterprises and global markets.

Interesting book: Open Target or Heideggerian Marxism

Applications to Wind up Companies

Author: Derek French

The second edition of Applications to Wind Up Companies provides practitioners with an up to date and in-depth treatment of the law relating to applications to wind up companies. As such it is the only work to focus specifically on this aspect of corporate and insolvency law.

This long-awaited new edition deals with the procedure for obtaining a winding-up order chronologically from presentation of a petition through to making the order. It also looks at the application process as it applies to various classes of petitioner, such as creditors, contributories
(shareholders) and public officials.

The book covers companies registered under the Companies Acts and all other entities, including insolvent partnerships and foreign companies, which may be wound up under the Insolvency Act 1986. It also deals with administration applications. Though focused on the procedure in the courts of England and Wales, the work also considers the jurisprudence of the many Commonwealth jurisdictions which have adopted the English procedure. A particular feature of the book is its analysis of the matters which are taken into account in the exercise of discretion, an aspect of the equitable jurisdiction applied to winding-up applications.

Strategies for Ecommerce Success or International Management

noreply@blogger.com (To Read or not To Read) — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 00:53:00 +0000

Strategies for Ecommerce Success

Author: Fazlollahi

With electronic commerce growing so rapidly, businesses need to examine critical elements that could influence users' perceptions of business-to-business and business-to-consumer electronic commerce. This book presents a study of key components and concepts of e-commerce, evaluates the critical success factors for global e-commerce, the economics of e-commerce, and the practical issues involved with e-commerce in various applications. Also included are discussions of the impact of e-commerce on small businesses and entrepreneurships in the United States, consequences of information technology for customer loyalty, internal e-mail messaging systems within organizations, and e-commerce comparisons of the United States and the United Kingdom.

Bijan Fazlollahi is an associate professor in the Institute of International Business, J. Mack Robinson College of Business at Georgia State University. He currently serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Database Administration and has published articles in journals such as Interfaces, Information and Management, and Information Systems Research. He was a Fulbright Scholar to the former U.S.S.R, 1992–1993, and is an honorary professor at Azerbaijan State Oil University. He lives in Atlanta, Georgia.

New interesting book: A Practical Guide to Developing Resistance Training Programs or A Guide to Child Health

International Management

Author: McFarlin

Clear, direct writing characterizes this practical introduction to successful international management. McFarlin and Sweeney provide an accessible, application-oriented approach to key challenges including how to motivate, lead, and communicate with people across different countries and cultures. In addition, International Management provides students with a global perspective on the process of hiring, training, and developing employees, as well as strategic decision making in relation to foreign markets.

Each chapter opens and closes with activities that require students to practice applying what they learn: International Challenge sections appear at the beginning and pose specific problems for students to resolve, and Up to the Challenge? features at the end present analytical exercises related to the chapter's case. The authors' strong emphasis on action-based learning continues with International Development exercises that promote self-assessment so that students can draw personal insights and develop pertinent skills. Likewise, From Theory to Practice exercises outline projects often completed outside of class asking students to either practice implementing chapter concepts or assess international firms in the real world.

International Insight boxed features appear in every chapter, providing detailed and up-to-date examples of how specific companies or governments address key issues under review.
Reality Check boxed features profile real-world managers who work in multinational firms.
Cases at the end of the text provide students with additional opportunities for making day-to-day decisions based on newknowledge and skills.
A full-color insert with maps and data from the World Bank Atlas reinforces the textbook's direct relevance to current international management.

Green Gold or Effective Environmental Health and Safety Management Using the Team Approach

noreply@blogger.com (To Read or not To Read) — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 23:13:00 +0000

Green Gold: Japan, Germany, the United States and the Race for Environmental Technology

Author: Curtis Moor

Environmental imperatives are forcing companies - and governments - across the globe to change the way they think about business and investment. The conventional wisdom in the United States is that environmental constraints are bad for business; Green Gold shows how misguided the common view is. Curtis Moore and Alan Miller go behind the scenes in Germany, Japan and elsewhere to show how nations are staking their economic futures on the proposition that world competitive success will depend on developing technologies aimed at protecting the environment. Marshaling newly available evidence, Green Gold outlines a radical rethinking of America's industrial future. Environmental technologies - cleaner energy sources, more efficient industrial processes, environmentally superior products of every kind, from light bulbs to automobiles - offer more than remarkable economic opportunities; as these become necessities, not luxuries, the ability to produce cleaner, more competitive technology may determine America's economic viability in a global marketplace. The foreign success stories are stunning. German and Japanese companies, working closely with governments, now dominate the new huge and growing world markets for environmental technology in everything from solar power to clean steel mills. The United States, often the original source of ideas and innovation, continues to fall behind, held back in part by powerful domestic energy lobbies. The authors tell previously untold stories in settings from German power plants to Japanese government agencies. They uncover the reasons for American losses and show how California has been the key U.S. exception in challenging the lead of Germany and Japan. They analyze the major industries and profile innovative business leaders. Highly readable, filled with dramatic evidence, Green Gold is the business book environmentalists have wanted for years and the environmental book businesses have needed - a wake-up call to American busi

Publishers Weekly

Twelve years of political and business leadership hostile to environmental protection has dissipated the U.S.'s once dominant position in a wide range of crucial technologies, according to this important study. Examining the technologies and policies of other nations, Moore, a lawyer and journalist, and Miller, director of the Center for Global Change at the University of Maryland, cite remarkable environmental and economic successes in Germany and Japan. While the U.S. has been unable to move technology from basic research to the marketplace, those two countries bridged that gap using technologies developed by U.S. taxpayer money. Moore and Miller delineate ways in which the U.S.'s declining share of global markets in cars, power-generating equipment and solar-cell production is related to our inferior environmental standards. They look at California's innovative policies and the failure of national policies, and tender their own recommendations. (Aug.)

Library Journal

In eight chapters, Moore and Miller describe the U.S. indifference toward environmental technologies often developed with taxpayer funding through the Department of Defense, Environmental Protection Agency, or Department of Energy. They succinctly catalog these missed opportunities-breakthroughs in fuel cells, electric power generation, car design/efficiency-that could have an enormous environmental and economic impact. By contrast, Germany and Japan, the authors believe, have foreseen the environment and their economies as mutually dependent, not antagonistic, partners. Two concluding chapters provide recom- mendations for change. The discussion is lively, timely, and clear. Recommended for all collections.-Michael D. Cramer, Virginia Polytechnic & State Univ. Lib., Blacksburg

Booknews

Curtis, a former counsel to the US Senate Committee on the Environment and Public Works, and Miller (director, Center for Global Change, U. of Md.) go behind the scenes in Germany, Japan, and elsewhere to show how nations are staking their economic futures on developing new technologies aimed at protecting the environment. The authors uncover the reasons behind the US' failure to keep up with Germany and Japan's innovations in environmental technology, and discuss new technologies such as cleaner energy sources and more efficient industrial processes. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

	Preface to the Paperback Edition
	Acknowledgments
	Introduction	1
Pt. I	New Realities - and Realists	17
Ch. 1	Germany's Miracle	19
Ch. 2	Japanese Opportunism	39
Ch. 3	The World Market and American Decline	59
Pt. II	Losses and Possibilities	77
Ch. 4	U.S. Policy Failures	79
Ch. 5	California Sunshine	105
Pt. III	The New Industries	125
Ch. 6	Wheels	127
Ch. 7	Clean Power Technologies and Cleaner Fuels	141
Ch. 8	The Inevitable Solution: Zero-Polluting Energy Sources	154
Pt. IV	The Future	177
Ch. 9	Green Prophets	179
Ch. 10	Facing the Future: Policy Recommendations	194
	Epilogue	213
	Notes	223
	Index	265

Go to: 100 Questions and Answers about Plastic Surgery or Conquering Childhood Obesity For Dummies

Effective Environmental, Health, and Safety Management Using the Team Approach

Author: Bill Taylor

An important and highly actionable blueprint for optimum workplace safety

Health and safety management is an ongoing concern in today's workplace. Effective Environmental, Health, and Safety Management Using the Team Approach provides today's safety professionals with an excellent resource for protecting their organizations' most important resource-their employees. The author, a seasoned health and safety professional, provides a blueprint for installing a system that's been proven to reduce illness and injury on any job, in any industry, with a simple, logical approach that compares safety management to production and quality control-issues today's managers readily understand.

The system uses a team approach to get every level of an organization involved in the process of managing safety issues, with the ultimate goal being the development of a safety culture in which every employee has a personal interest in protecting their lives, their property, and their environment.

An ideal resource for industry managers as well as graduate-level courses in workplace safety and health, this text offers such special features as:
* Important checklists, including OSHA-required training, OSHA-required inspections, and OSHA-required postings and labeling
* Numerous health and safety resources, Web site addresses, and contact information for related organizations
* Real-world examples that illustrate important health and safety issues
* Helpful charts and forms to facilitate implementation of the team approach
* Frequently asked questions and answers for users of the system

French Worker or Case Studies in Estate Planning

noreply@blogger.com (To Read or not To Read) — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 21:32:00 +0000

French Worker: Autobiographies from the Early Industrial Era

Author: Mark Traugott

This anthology, drawn from the autobiographies of seven men and women whose lives span the nineteenth century, provides a rare glimpse of the everyday lives of workers in the age of early industrialization in France. Appearing for the first time in English, these stories vividly convey the ambitions, hardships, and reversals of ordinary people struggling to gain a measure of respectability.
The workers' livelihoods are diverse: chair-maker, embroiderer, joiner, mason, silk weaver, machinist, seamstress. Their stories of daily activities, work life, and popular politics are filled with lively, often poignant moments. We learn of dismal, unsanitary housing; of disease; workplace accidents; and terrible hardship, especially for the children of the poor. We read of exploitation and injustice, of courtship and marriage, and of the sociability of the wine-merchant's shop and the boardinghouse.
Traugott's analytic introduction discusses the many shifts in French society during the nineteenth century. Used in combination with other sources, these autobiographies illuminate the relationship between changes in working conditions and in the forms of political participation and protest occurring as the century came to a close.

Books about: Film and Video Marketing or Still a Mans World

Case Studies in Estate Planning: With Abridged Student Forms

Author: Wayne M Gazur

Case Studies in Estate Planning with Abridged Student Forms gives students hands-on experience that will prepare them for practice. The authors introduce the principles of estate planning by working on the kind of problems clients actually present.

	Important Information About This Book	xxi
	Preface and Acknowledgments	xxiii
Chapter 1	Dealing with Clients	1
A.	The Faces of Estate Planning	1
B.	The Stages of Life and Estate Planning	2
C.	Developing Clients	3
D.	Identifying the Client	5
E.	The Engagement Letter	5
F.	The Non-Engagement Letter	8
G.	Preparing for the Client Interview	9
H.	Conducting the Client Interview	10
I.	The Client Balance Sheet and Document Summary	20
J.	Client Competence	24
K.	Conflicts of Interest	24
L.	Execution and the Completion/Termination Letter	28
M.	Reference Materials	35
Chapter 2	A Review of the Fundamentals of Drafting Wills	41
A.	Describing the Recipients of Property	41
B.	Describing the Property	47
C.	The Division of Property	49
D.	Will Substitutes	52
E.	Execution Formalities	53
F.	Drafting Style	54
G.	Case Study 2-1		The Last Will and Testament of Alice Goodwin Smith	55
H.	Reference Materials	60
Chapter 3	The Young Adult	63
A.	Why Plan?	63
B.	Intestate Succession	64
C.	Nonprobate Transfers	64
D.	Small Estate Proceedings	67
E.	Selection of Fiduciaries	68
F.	Planning for Youthful Incapacity	68
G.	Using Form Documents (Part I)	72
H.	Case Study 3-1	76
I.	Reference Materials	78
Chapter 4	The Wealthy Young Adult Contemplating Marriage	83
A.	Preserving Family Wealth	83
B.	Marital Agreements	86
C.	Irrevocable Trusts	87
D.	Conditional Bequests	88
E.	The Impact of Dissolution of Marriage on Estate Planning Documents	88
F.	Using Form Documents (Part II)	89
G.	Case Study 4-1	91
H.	Reference Materials	93
Chapter 5	The Young Married Couple (Without Children)	101
A.	Why Plan?	101
B.	Intestate Succession	101
C.	Nonprobate Transfers	102
D.	Spousal Protections	105
E.	Federal Wealth Transfer Tax Considerations (Part I)	106
F.	Using Form Documents (Part III)	108
G.	Case Study 5-1	109
H.	Reference Materials	111
Chapter 6	Unmarried Couples	115
A.	Lifestyle Considerations	115
B.	The State and Federal Law Implications of Marriage	116
C.	Substitute Measures	117
D.	Gay and Lesbian Couples	122
E.	Conflicts of Interest	124
F.	Case Study 6-1	124
G.	Reference Materials	125
Chapter 7	The Married Couple (with Young Children)	129
A.	Another Stage of Life	129
B.	The Selection and Nomination of Protectors	129
C.	Dealing with Life Insurance and Retirement Plans	136
D.	The Contingent Trust	137
E.	Case Study 7-1	140
F.	Reference Materials	142
Chapter 8	Gifts from Grandparents	145
A.	The Transferor's Concerns in Intergenerational Wealth Transfers	145
B.	Selecting the Form of the Gift	146
C.	Federal Wealth Transfer Tax Considerations (Part II)	159
D.	Specialized Tax Planning Structures	164
E.	Using Form Documents (Part IV)	165
F.	Case Study 8-1	170
G.	Reference Materials	172
Chapter 9	Remarriage (with Children)	179
A.	Common Scenarios	179
B.	Pitfalls of the Unplanned Estate	179
C.	Planning Measures	182
D.	Case Study 9-1	185
E.	Reference Materials	186
Chapter 10	Migratory Married Couples	189
A.	State Law Considerations	189
B.	International Wills	193
C.	Foreign Property Holdings	194
D.	The Alien Spouse	195
E.	Case Study 10-1	196
F.	Reference Materials	197
Chapter 11	The Married Small Business Owner or Investor	199
A.	The Taxation Factor	199
B.	The Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001	200
C.	Form of Marital Gift, Formula Clauses, and Funding Alternatives	201
D.	The Vision for Succession or Cashing Out	222
E.	Buy-Sell Agreements	223
F.	Grantor-Retained Annuity Trusts and Grantor-Retained Unitrusts	225
G.	Recapitalizations and Valuation Freezes	225
H.	Valuation Discounts	225
I.	Life Insurance	227
J.	Special Considerations for Agriculture	230
K.	Deduction for Family-Owned Business Interests (IRC [section]2057)	231
L.	Case Study 11-1	231
M.	Reference Materials	233
Chapter 12	Asset Protection and Retirement Planning	241
A.	Planning for Wealth Accumulations from Services	241
B.	Basic Asset Protection	241
C.	More Advanced Asset Protection Options	244
D.	Other Advanced Asset Protection Options	246
E.	Tax Planning for Retirement Plan Assets	248
F.	Case Study 12-1	250
G.	Reference Materials	252
Chapter 13	The Generation-Skipping Trust	255
A.	The Rule Against Perpetuities	255
B.	The Generation-Skipping Transfer Tax	258
C.	Beneficiary Conduct	263
D.	Drafting for the Unpredictable	266
E.	Case Study 13-1	268
F.	Reference Materials	269
Chapter 14	Charitable Gifts	275
A.	Weighing Client Objectives	275
B.	Outright Testamentary Bequests	276
C.	Outright Lifetime Gifts	278
D.	Lifetime Split-Interest Gifts	280
E.	Testamentary Split-Interest Gifts	284
F.	Conservation Contributions	285
G.	Private Foundations	286
H.	Donor-Advised Funds	286
I.	Case Study 14-1	287
J.	Reference Materials	288
Chapter 15	Planning for Incapacity	293
A.	Alternatives	293
B.	The Revocable Trust	294
C.	Long-Term Care Alternatives	300
D.	Financing Long-Term Care	302
E.	Public Assistance Issues	304
F.	Case Study 15-1	309
G.	Reference Materials	310
Chapter 16	Probate, Taxes, Planning, and an Estate Tax Return	315
A.	The Estate Administration Process	315
B.	An Overview of the Federal Wealth Transfer Taxes	329
C.	Planning Strategies and Techniques	341
D.	Case Study 16-1	360
E.	Case Study 16-2	366
F.	Reference Materials	366
	Index	369
	Forms Supplement
1.1	Sample Engagement Letter
1.2	Sample Non-Engagement Letter
1.3	Sample Estate Planning Questionnaire (Basic: Unmarried Individual)
1.4	Sample Client Balance Sheet
1.5	Sample Client Document Summary
1.6	Sample Joint Representation Letter
1.7	Sample Disengagement Letter
1.8	Sample Will Execution Checklist
B	Sample Simple Will
C	Sample Tangible Personal Property Memorandum
D-1	Sample Statutory Durable Power of Attorney
D-2	Sample General Durable Power of Attorney
E-1	Sample Anatomical Gifts Form
E-2	Sample Final Arrangements Instructions
E-3	Sample Client Letter of Instruction
F	Sample Comprehensive Advance Health-Care Directive (Health-Care Power of Attorney, Living Will, and Anatomical Gifts)
G	Sample Will with Contingent Trust
H	Sample Complex Will (with Marital and Family Trusts)
I	Sample Pourover Will
J	Sample Revocable Trust
K	Sample Marital Agreement
L	Sample Irrevocable Trust
M	Sample Qualified Domestic Trust Provisions
N	IRS Forms 706 & 709 (with Instructions)

There Is a Better Way or Gendering Organizational Analysis

noreply@blogger.com (To Read or not To Read) — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 19:51:00 +0000

There Is a Better Way: A New Economic Agenda

Author: John Grieve Smith

In this comprehensively updated second edition of his critical analysis of Labour's government, John Grieve Smith argues that if Labour is to break the neoliberal, Thatcherite mould and achieve its long-standing objective of a fairer society, it must adopt radically different policies.

In analysing Labour's shift to the right, John Grieve Smith examines the economic history of the government's current policies. He then considers Labour's approach to the problems of economic and social policy, including the continued erosion of social security benefits and the need for higher and more progressive taxation if the quality of health and education services is to be improved.

Many of these issues are a common feature of economic policy throughout the Western world, and the greatest challenge of coming decades is to develop more effective international institutions in economic and other fields. In this context, John Grieve Smith also debates the future of the EU, and proposes a program of major reforms of the global financial system, in order to make both developing and industrialized countries less vulnerable to unstable financial markets.

This lively and controversial book is a timely contribution to the debate of the future of New Labour.

Books about: In Search of Your European Roots or The Pentagons New Map

Gendering Organizational Analysis

Author: Peta Tancred

"This book offers some of the most forward-looking work available on the topics of gendered organizations and the interrelationship of gender and race. . . . In Gendering Organizational Analysis, one may get a glimpse of the broader domain of gender in organizations, an area infrequently reflected in research conducted in the United States. . . . Gendering Organizational Analysis is not simply applicable to the organizations of others. It also offers insight on the gendering of the institutions within which knowledge is produced." --Academy of Management Review "Gendering Organizational Analysis makes a distinct contribution. . . . The collection succeeds in demonstrating 'that gender makes an overwhelming difference to organizational reality'. . . . Gendering Organizational Analysis is most useful for its accessibility. I will use this book to teach undergraduates in organizational studies. . . . It would also be a useful addition to courses emphasizing the interdisciplinary contributions of gender and feminist studies." --Contemporary Sociology What impact do gender issues have on organizational structure and performance? Why should gender matter in organizational settings? And, how can we better understand organizations through a recognition of women's roles within them? In Gendering Organizational Analysis, the editors approach these questions from a variety of perspectives--structural and post-structural, social, psychological, interactionist, radical, and post-modernist. Contributors examine the core issue of how race and ethnicity are intertwined with gender in organizational settings and outline the concrete differences this issue makes in male-dominated work settings. Theypropose that numerous errors have been made in interpreting organizational operations because traditional approaches to organizational theory are ethnic- and gender-blind. Bringing together the top thinkers and writers on this crucial topic, Gendering Organizational Analysis will interest students and professionals in management, organizational studies, women's studies, sociology, and public administration.

	Preface	vii
	Introduction	1
Part I.	Organizational Analysis: A Critique	9
1.	Differential Recruitment and Control: The Sex Structuring of Organizations	15
2.	Room for Women: A Case Study in the Sociology of Organizations	31
3.	Gender and Organizations: A Selective Review and a Critique of a Neglected Area	46
Part II.	Toward Feminism as Radical Organizational Analysis	67
4.	Sex and Organizational Analysis	71
5.	Organization, Gender, and Culture	93
6.	A Feminist Perspective on State Bureaucracy	112
Part III.	From Theory to Application: Explorations in Feminist Organizational Analysis	129
7.	Sex Ratios, Sex Role Spillover, and Sex at Work: A Comparison of Men's and Women's Experiences	133
8.	Women Managers' Perceptions of Gender and Organizational Life	151
9.	"The Clerking Sisterhood": Rationalization and the Work Culture of Saleswomen in American Department Stores, 1890-1960	167
10.	Merit and Gender: Organizations and the Mobilization of Masculine Bias	185
Part IV.	Contemporary Voices	197
11.	An/Other Silent Voice? Representing "Hispanic Woman" in Organizational Texts	201
12.	Using the "F" Word: Feminist Theories and the Social Consequences of Organizational Research	222
13.	Re-Visioning Women Manager's Lives	235
14.	Gendering Organizational Theory	248
	References	261
	Name Index	291
	Subject Index	294
	About the Contributors	303

Globalization and Growth or Total Quality in Higher Education

noreply@blogger.com (To Read or not To Read) — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 18:10:00 +0000

Globalization and Growth: Case Studies in National Economic Strategies

Author: Richard H K Vietor

GLOBALIZATION AND GROWTH: CASE STUDIES IN NATIONAL ECONOMIC STRATEGIES explores the major developmental trajectories that have defined the recent history of economic growth. These cases empirically describe the strategies of China, India, Japan, Mexico, South Africa, Poland and the Czech Republic, Europe and the United States. The cases are as much political and institutional as they are economic and are based on Harvard Business School's way of teaching analytical methodology for managers called "country analysis," which is a method of identifying the economic performance, social and political context, and national development strategy of a country or region.

1. Savings, Productivity and Structured Growth. Case Study: Singapore Inc.
2. Gradual Transition from a Planned Economy. Case Study: China: Facing the 21st Century.
3. Import Substitution to Washington Consensus. Case Study: India on the Move.
4. State Socialism's Disintegration. Case Study: Russia: The End of a Time of Troubles? Conceptual Note: The State.
5. Structural Adjustment Beyond the Washington Consensus. Case Study: Mexico: The Unfinished Agenda.
6. Regional Free Trade Amidst Instability. Case Study: Brazil: Embracing Globalization?
7. The African Renaissance. Case Study: South Africa: Getting in GEAR.
8. Islamic Resurgence. Case Study: Saudi Arabia: Getting the House in Order. Industry Note: World Oil Markets.
9. Regional Integration. Case Study: European Monetary Union.
10. Monetary Union and Microeconomic Competitiveness. Case Study: Italy: A New Commitment to Growth.
11. The Limits of Managed Growth. Case Study: Japan: Beyond the Bubble.
12. Deficits, Debt and Defense. Case Study: Excerpts from Economic Report of the President, 2003.

New interesting book: Excel Programming or Starting an Online Buiness For Dummies

Total Quality in Higher Education

Author: Ralph G Lewis

This book provides a framework for implementing total quality principles in the college or university environment. It includes the history and principles of quality management and an assessment of factors in the college and university environment that are leading to serious questions concerning higher education effectiveness and efficiency.

Booknews

For both academic and administrative members of the college and university communities, introduces the principles of total quality management, and provides a framework and practical information for their implementation. Includes case studies and journal articles and a chapter on ISO 9000 in training and education. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

	List of tables
	Preface
1	The British Economy since Industrialisation and the 'Cultural Critique'	1
2	British Culture and Economic Performance	45
3	Education, the 'Gentleman', and British Entrepreneurship	102
4	Elites and the Evolution of the British Economy	140
	Notes	163
	Index	179

Business Reference

Made to Stick or Business by the Book

Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die

The Washington Post - Barry Schwartz

Publishers Weekly

Carol J. Elsen Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information - Library Journal

Heidi DolamoreCopyright 2006 Reed Business Information. - School Library Journal

Business by the Book: The Complete Guide of Biblical Principles for the WorkPlace

Career Match or Wall Street Journal Personal Finance Workbook

Career Match: Connecting Who You Are with What You'll Love to Do

Wall Street Journal Personal Finance Workbook

Secrets of Power Negotiating or The World is Flat

Secrets of Power Negotiating: Inside Secrets from a Master Negotiator

The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century (Further Updated and Expanded)

Options as a Strategic Investment or High Altitude Leadership

Options as a Strategic Investment

booknews.com

Reference & Research Book News

Booknews

High Altitude Leadership: What the World's Most Forbidding Peaks Teach Us About Success

Publishers Weekly

Table of Contents:

Valuation or Buying Selling on eBay

Valuation: Measuring and Managing the Value of Companies

New York Times Book Review

What People Are Saying

Table of Contents:

Buying & Selling on eBay (Quamut)

Rich Dads Guide to Investing or George Washington on Leadership

Rich Dad's Guide to Investing: What the Rich Invest In, That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not!

Table of Contents:

George Washington on Leadership

Kirkus Reviews

What People Are Saying

eBay For Dummies or The Screenwriters Bible

eBay For Dummies

Table of Contents:

The Screenwriter's Bible: A Complete Guide to Writing, Formatting, and Selling Your Script

Melissa Jones

William Kelley

New York Screenwriter

Candace Monteiro

Booknews

Fish A Remarkable Way to Boost Morale and Improve Results or Leadership 101

Fish! A Remarkable Way to Boost Morale and Improve Results

Leadership 101: What Every Leader Needs to Know

Publishers Weekly

Make up Your Mind or Political Advertising in Western Democracies

Make up Your Mind: Entrepreneurs Talk about Decision Making

Political Advertising in Western Democracies

Table of Contents:

SPC Simplified for Services or Cases in Strategic Management

SPC Simplified for Services: Practical Tools for Continuous Quality Improvement

Booknews

Cases in Strategic Management

Table of Contents:

Petroleum Economics or Strategies for Asia Pacific

Petroleum Economics: Issues and Strategies of Oil and Natural Gas Production

Booknews

Table of Contents:

Strategies for Asia Pacific

Booknews

Choice

Grounds for Agreement or Essentials of Economics

Grounds for Agreement: The Political Economy of the Coffee Commodity Chain

Table of Contents:

Essentials of Economics (with Infotrac )

The Career Mystique or Bearing Witness

The Career Mystique: Cracks in the American Dream

Table of Contents:

Bearing Witness: Gay Men's Health Crisis and the Politics of AIDS

Publishers Weekly

Library Journal

Financial Information Analysis or Business and Professional Communication

Financial Information Analysis

Table of Contents:

Business and Professional Communication

Global IT Management a Practical Approach or Democracys Dilemma

Global IT Management - a Practical Approach

Table of Contents: