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by Dana Ardi (Get the Book)
The alpha model boss reigning from the corner office, issuing orders, and maintaining distance is slowly being replaced as the model for business success. What works better in the information age is the beta model management by collaboration, connection, and shared power. After years of advising Fortune 500 companies, Ardi has observed the evolution from hierarchic to horizontal management. Knowledge industry startups have provided the model that more traditional companies are beginning to adopt, and Ardi furnishes ample case studies of both. But she looks beyond the contemporary business world to provide history of the evolution of labor from hunter-gatherers to farmers, from the industrial to the information age, and the impact of globalization that makes the alpha model outdated. She also looks to anthropology, biology, genetics, psychology, sociology, and information technology for the social forces that have prompted a reexamination of alpha male-dominated organizational structure. Noting the potential of higher flexibility and creativity promised by the beta model, Ardi offers solid advice on how more companies can make the switch. An insightful look at a pivotal change in business management style. --Booklist
by Kevin O'Leary (Get the Book)
Books on investing usually require a thorough understanding of how the stock market works, and can frustrate or overwhelm the lay reader. Enter O'Leary (Cold Hard Truth: On Business, Money & Life), a tremendously successful entrepreneur who moonlights as an investor on TV's Shark Tank. In his latest book, O'Leary guides readers through financial decisions big and small, challenging them to understand their relationship with money, and focus on improving that relationship. These changes, according to O'Leary, will ultimately lead to greater financial stability. The beauty of O'Leary's approach is that it's straightforward and addresses the reader's changing financial needs at different life stages, from wedding planning and marriage, to buying a new home and having kids, to midlife and retirement. He lists numerous common money mistakes that people make and how to fix them, including: drowning in credit card debt; having no emergency savings; and not knowing where to invest. O'Leary pays particular attention to raising money-savvy kids and addresses the high cost of higher education and the lower costs of retirement. Full of valuable advice imparted in a no-nonsense manner, this book will have a profound effect on how people relate to and manage their money. --Publishers Weekly
by Sudhir Alladi Venkatesh (Get the Book)
Venkatesh, academic and ethnographer, lives within the underground economy in New York while studying it at the margins of the legal world. He states, The more I could penetrate the underground . . . if it was marginal, criminal or tinged with outsider status, count me in. He observes the essence of mobility, with people moving across physical space as well as reaching beyond their preordained lot in life. He finds extreme violence, which he describes as professional, nothing personal, and just business. And clearly, some of those he meets do not survive. At the same time, he observes kindness in the most unexpected places and people with so little reaching out to those with even less with remarkable loyalty and compassion. The people run businesses; they operate with a plan, seek profits and contain costs, hire, and fire while looking for new markets. Venkatesh brings to life the underground economy of New York, where rich and poor of varying ethnicities and backgrounds meet and function while they float. An enlightening book. --Booklist
by Vijay Govindarajan (Get the Book)
In this timely book, Tuck School of Business professor Govindarajan and consultant Trimble (coauthors of Reverse Innovation) show how innovation can be used in any business situation. Noting that most companies are built for day-to-day operations rather than for innovation, the authors present strategies for change, deftly detailing three business models that overcome these limitations: model S, for small initiatives; model R, for repeatable initiatives; and model C, for other initiatives. Illustrating their theories with business plans from BMW, Apple, and other companies, the authors point out the potential pitfalls of each approach. Next, they explain how to assemble targeted teams to execute these initiatives: dedicated teams, which are assigned to these ventures full time, or nearly full time; and shared staff, who contribute to these projects while also performing their regular jobs. Govindarajan and Trimble describe how to avoid conflict between the two teams while simultaneously maximizing their output and inspiring their dedication. A final chapter on lessons learned solidifies these action plans. Three appendices deal with strategy, change, and the role of the chief innovation officer (an increasingly popular job title), respectively. Written in an accessible style, this useful book will help companies of any size tackle the task of innovation with relatively little risk. --Publishers Weekly
by Luc de Brandebere (Get the Book)
Categorizing information is part of human nature, but in today's rapidly evolving business climate, "pre-wired ways of thinking" can threaten an enterprise's very survival. Boston Consulting Group executives Brabandare (The Forgotten Half of Change) and Iny suggest that thinking "outside the box" defies our natural tendencies and suggest that leaders, instead, should think "in the box," but with a new mindset. In this entertaining and transformative work, the authors provide a framework and structure for creative thinking that even traditionalists can embrace. Through five steps-doubt everything, probe the possible, diverge, converge, and reevaluate relentlessly-they propose a sustainable creative process that will serve an organization in the long-term. Using examples from their research, consulting projects, and from major companies, the concepts come to life. Readers see how Generali Insurance, a 200-year-old Italian firm, used off-sites, interactive exercises, and brainteasers to create an Internet strategy, and how Netflix used reevaluation to reenvision and reinvigorate its business model. The book is both academically rigorous and highly accessible, with call-out graphics, charts, and optical illusions adding visual interest and illustrating concepts. Informative and practical, this is a must-read for anyone in a leadership position who dares to look at the world in new ways. --Publishers Weekly
