Age of greed : the triumph of finance and the decline of America, 1970 to the present

 by Jeffrey G. Madrick. Madrick traces America's movement of greed from the 1970s through the succeeding two decades and its contribution to the 2008 financial crisis. We learn that this wave of greed was not caused by inevitable forces of history or natural swings in politics. This is a story of people reacting to crisis and change and the resulting economic carnage. While presidents and policymakers were players, it was mostly business pioneers who fought government regulation or, through innovation, avoided government oversight and diminished its power. Financiers led the way. Woven through their stories is the biography of a conservative thinker, born in 1933, who eventually served Ronald Reagan and whose tale of family, education and cultural influences is a prototype of the development of conservative thinking as it came to dominate the country. Madrick conclude. the financial community has to be re-mad. an enormous challenge, given the power and money at stake. An excellent,  thought-provoking book. --Booklist (Check Catalog)

Brand media strategy : integrated communications planning in the digital era

 by Anthony Young. Young splendidly portrays the enormous changes that have characterized the marketing communications industry during recent years. He presents an elaborate but realistic framework within which today's marketing and brand managers must operate to provide value and satisfaction for the markets they serve. Young specifies why marketers need to know about social media networks; no reason is more telling than the fact that social media provide an enormous data-mine in the form of a global focus group that allows marketers to target messages. Among the author's many nuggets of wisdom is his concept of "receptivity planning," or identifying the specific moments and places consumers will be most receptive to a marketer's messaging. The ability to take advantage of this "readiness" to influence consumers is a hallmark of social media. Also valuable are Young's thoughts on campaign measurement and the metrics that should be used. The book is an enlightening trip through all the important changes in the advertising and media industry, explaining how the Internet and social media have dramatically changed the way consumers make marketplace decisions and what marketers must do to successfully reach their target markets. Young's "digital manifesto" should be required reading for every media planner and marketer engaged in marketing communications. Summing Up: Highly recommended. --Choice (Check Catalog)

Ten steps ahead : what separates successful business visionaries from the rest of us

 by Erik Calonius. As the Wall Street Journal's former London correspondent, Calonius has rubbed shoulders with many of the world's biggest names in business. Given his claim that these so-called visionaries have something that sets them apart, we might ask the same question posed by the Cowardly Lion, "What have they got that I ain't got?" And the answer in both cases would be the same: courage. Well, that along with conviction, vision, intuition, a little charisma-and luck. This book combines Calonius's private encounters with entrepreneurs with the latest research in neuroscience and psychology to demonstrate just what attributes combine to make a Steve Jobs or a Richard Branson. His vignettes are drawn not just from formal interviews but from personal visits to country estates, fabled garage incubators, or wild airplane rides. The reader gets to witness these thinkers in their native habitats and see what makes them tick. VERDICT Calonius explains the neuroscience behind the visionaries' accomplishments as successfully as he tells their stories. This breezy read even offers advice to those wanting to increase their own visionary abilities. --Library Journal (Check Catalog)

Practically radical : not-so-crazy ways to transform your company, shake up your industry, and challenge yourself

 by William C. Taylor. As the business world becomes increasingly competitive, global, and adoptive of new technologies, companies worldwide are constantly searching for answers about how to best evolve to meet their customers' needs and to stay abreast of their competitors. Taylor (Mavericks at Work) asserts that change is the name of the game; he takes us on an inside look at 25 companies that have grown ever more adaptive to not merely survive but thrive in today's challenging environment. Taylor's book is intended to guide leaders in launching fresh initiatives and rethinking "the logic of leadership itself as they work to rally their colleagues around an agenda for renewal." The work achieves its promise with actionable prescriptions and meaningful examples, such as how organizations like the Girl Scouts have redefined their brand and revitalized their mission, how Zappos has reimagined retail and service, and why, like IBM, leaders must constantly challenge the status quo by examining the self-reflection and commitment to innovation. An engaging and briskly written read, this will captivate and benefit business people interested in change and innovation. --Publishers Weekly (Check Catalog)