Boring to bravo : proven presentation techniques to engage, involve and inspire your audience to action

by Kristin J. Arnold
The author's qualifications are important for a book on public speaking (where authorial experience in practicing what is being preached is crucial). Arnold's background as a facilitator and speaker is extensive, capped by her new role as the incoming president of the National Speakers Association. Her focus is on presentations in the workplace, but the fluidly presented and dynamically toned pages soon make it obvious that her techniques and methods can be used by all who are required to give presentations, whether it be in their public or private lives. Her ideas are underscored by the basic premise that a dull, sleep-inducing program is intolerable, not to say detrimental, to the effectiveness of the presentation. How to engage your audience is the key to speaker success, and the author presents a series of increasingly sophisticated techniques to involve the audience, from employing the right tone of voice to breaking the audience out into smaller discussion groups. Hers are not pat responses to the issue of good programming but are well-thought-out, robustly tested, and greatly practical techniques.

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Dark Side of Valuation

by Aswath Damodara

In this work, the world's top expert on valuation brings together today's best practices for accurately valuing young, distressed, and complex businesses. Damodaran has thoroughly revised this book, broadening its perspective to consider all companies that resist easy valuation.

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Return on strategy : how to achieve it!

 by Michael Moesgaard Andersen. Many companies featured as exemplars in the how-to strategy literature end up struggling a few years later. Something in the environment changes, and what worked before no longer works. Following what these exemplars have done, the authors conclude, is a recipe for failure. Andersen, Froholdt, and Poulfelt (all, Copenhagen Business School, Denmark) argue that what is missing is the "X-Factor," something that is not captured in existing strategy books. Their book succeeds in diagnosing issues in strategic management, but it struggles at providing a better solution. Like the classic Blue Ocean Strategy (2005), this volume stresses the importance of innovation as a source of success. It differs by stressing the importance of innovation not just in a firm's products, but also in how it organizes and operates. The authors identify six elements around which firms should consider thinking differently about their strategy, but they provide limited guidance. They struggle in identifying what the X-factor specifically is, but are much better at explaining what it is not. At its best, the book provides an excellent review of the strategy literature and features many fresh company exemplars such as Huawei and Saxo Bank. --Choice (Check Catalog)

Smart Growth: Building an Enduring Business by Managing the Risks of Growth

 by Edward D. Hess. Hess (Darden Graduate School of Business, Univ. of Virginia) challenges the traditional assumptions of the relationship between growth and business success. For Hess, growth is neither an abhorrent nor an imperative goal. Rather, he argues that corporate growth must be consistent with an organization's long-term viability and enhance value to stakeholders. Drawing on his extensive research, Hess provides unique insight into the ways that organizations can skillfully compete while assuring long-term sustainability. Topics include theories of growth, competitive advantage, managed earnings, true value creation, key success factors, real growth versus short-term earnings, and Wall Street expectations. Chapters are enhanced by excellent short case studies of well-known companies, e.g., Best Buy, Coca-Cola, Costco, Defender Direct, Harley-Davidson, Home Depot, JetBlue, McDonald's, Procter & Gamble, Room & Board, Starbucks, Sysco, and Tiffany & Company. Hess's useful seven-step Darden Growth/Innovation Model and his Growth Risks Audit Checklist provide readers with behavioral tools for strategically managing growth consistent with the creation of true sustainable value. The book is oriented toward business leaders, and a familiarity with contemporary business theory and practices would be helpful to a thorough understanding of this work's content. --Booklist (Check Catalog)