Business and Finance Page
Click on links to check availability.
by Stephen Krupp (Get the Book)
Krupp and Schoemaker, CEO and founder of the consulting firm Decision Strategies International, respectively, have assembled a cogent, inspiring guide to what constitutes a strategic leader-and how readers can be strategic in their own lives. The narrative centers on a hypothetical employee, Jane, who suffers through an all-too-familiar performance review, as she is encouraged to "be more strategic" with no guidance as to what that means or how she should accomplish it. Having established the problem of vague, ambiguous guidance, the authors come to the rescue with a clear, executable breakdown of the disciplines of leadership. These include anticipating change through understanding your market, challenging assumptions, interpreting data, making tough decisions, aligning the interests and incentives of stakeholders, and learning from both success and failure. Krupp and Schoemaker provide plenty of case studies, from Elon Musk to Pope Francis. Most valuably, this highly readable book focuses on the nuts and bolts of each discipline, guiding readers on how to import the lessons learned into their own lives. --Publisher's Weekly
by Jane Hyun (Get the Book)
Coauthor Hyun (Breaking the Bamboo Ceiling) provide the modern manager with a playbook on how to switch among leadership styles to get the most out of -employees. Based on the premise that today's workplace suffers from a "power gap" between the frontline manager and employees who are increasingly multicultural, inter-generational, and female, the authors' notion of "flexing" introduces the idea of a fluent leader who can bridge differences. Using examples from across disciplines, Hyun and Lee offer ways to encourage participation and innovation from employees who do not always work within the Western model of corporate -culture. The book's three parts provide the rationale for their leadership model, practical methods for bridging personal and cultural -divides, and ways to build fluency and flexibility within an organization. The premise -behind the work is timely and important, but -readers may find some of the examples filled with stereotypes rather than realistic people. -VERDICT Hyun and Lee offer important methods for switching among proven leadership styles; their work will find an audience with Americans who need to -manage a diverse workforce. --Library Journal
by Gary Kleppel (Get the Book)
Long embraced by corporations who are driven only by the desire for profit, industrial agriculture wastes precious resources and spews millions of tons of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere each year, exacerbating climate change and threatening the very earth and water on which we depend. However, this dominant system, from which Americans obtain most of their food, is being supplanted by a new paradigm. The Emergent Agriculture is a collection of fourteen thematic essays on sustainability viewed through the lens of farming. Arguing that industrial food production is incompatible with the realities of nature, science and ethics, this lyrical narrative makes the case for a locally based food system which is: Stable in the face of economic uncertainty Resilient in the face of environmental variability Grounded in stewardship of the land, on attaching value to food and the craft involved in producing it, and on respecting the dignity of farmers, consumers and livestock. A revolution in food production is underway. Written from the vantage point of an ecologist who is also a farmer, The Emergent Agriculture is essential reading for anyone interested in food security and the potential for growing local economies. Food for thought about the future of food. (Summary)
by Nir Eyal (Get the Book)
Successful product developers don't quit once they've got a prototype in hand, says startup founder and tech journalist Eyal. In fact, he thinks that the most important, and the trickiest, part of the process is figuring out how to make your product indispensable to users. While getting his M.B.A., he became fascinated with the question of how successful tech companies managed to accomplish this goal. Eyal's answer? Don't rely on pricey marketing; link your service to your customers' emotions and daily lives. The two most important factors in getting them "hooked" on a product are the frequency with which they use it and its perceived utility. Eyal aims to simplify this task through the "Hook Model," consisting of internal and external triggers, action, variable reward, and investment. He names companies that have done it right, from household names like Snapchat and Pinterest to lesser-known examples like the Bible App. Eyal's ideas are good, but his real impact comes from his relentless enthusiasm. Also worthwhile is his caution about maintaining ethical practices even while getting customers "hooked." With concrete advice and tales from the product-development trenches, this is a thoughtful discussion of how to create something that users never knew they couldn't live without. --Publisher's Weekly
by Michael Dorff (Get the Book)
Prodded by economists in the 1970s, corporate directors began adding stock options and bonuses to the already-generous salaries of CEOs with hopes of boosting their companies' fortunes. Guided by largely unproven assumptions, this trend continues today. So what are companies getting in return for all the extra money? Not much, according to the empirical data. In Indispensable and Other Myths: Why the CEO Pay Experiment Failed and How to Fix It, Michael Dorff explores the consequences of this development. He shows how performance pay has not demonstrably improved corporate performance and offers studies showing that performance pay cannot improve performance on the kind of tasks companies ask of their CEOs. Moreover, CEOs of large established companies do not typically have much impact on their companies' results. In this eye-opening exposé, Dorff argues that companies should give up on the decades-long experiment to mold compensation into a corporate governance tool and maps out a rationale for returning to the era of guaranteed salaries. Michael Dorff has taught at UCLA School of Law, Rutgers Law School, and the Peter F. Drucker and Masatoshi Ito Graduate School of Management. He is currently Professor of Law at Southwestern Law School, where he teaches corporate law and other business law topics. (Publisher)
