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Current Items of Interest to Members
| Selections from The Business Reader Review | Theodore Kinni, a member of The National Book Critics Circle, has been reviewing business books for over a decade. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Want to stay on top of the several thousand new business books published each year? The Business Reader Review is a free electronic newsletter of capsule reviews of the business books released by American publishers each month. Covering 10-20 of the newest and most notable releases in every issue, the e-letter is all business -- concise and objective with no advertising or sales hype. The editor of the Business Reader Review, Theodore Kinni, has kindly allowed us to carry excerpts from this monthly review, and we have selected those we feel will be of most interest to our members. Here are a couple of examples: CRADLE TO CRADLE: Remaking The Way We Make Things By William McDonough and Michael Braungart (North Point Press, 193 pp, $25, ISBN 0865475873). "We see a world of abundance, not limits," write these two leading voices for sustainable business practices. In the best book of the month, they outline a win/win philosophy of design and production that simultaneously serves the best interests of business and the environment. The book itself is an eloquent prototype of their concept of total waste elimination: it is made of synthetic resin "paper" and is waterproof, durable, and 100% recyclable. BEYOND E:12 Ways Technology Is Transforming Sales And Marketing Strategy by Stephen Diorio (McGraw-Hill, 232 pp, $29.95, ISBN 0071376496). Consultant Diorio analyzes the impact a dozen new and emerging technologies will have on the sales and marketing functions. From interactive direct marketing to peer-to-peer networking to CRM systems, the book explores and explains how to create an integrated multi-channel strategy capable of supporting and enhancing sales growth. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| If you have a resource you'd like to see listed here, just send us the information by email, to info@shbn.net, and we'll post it for the benefit of other members and the general public. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| The Who's Who of E-Business (Jan-02 Business 2.0) 23 core e-business technologies. 56 companies that provide them. How much they cost. Business technology evolves quickly. But everyone needs a starting point. Business 2.0's annual catalog of the basic technologies required to build an e-business explains what you need, what you'll pay, and who can hook you up.... (If you're one of the big guys. If not, you're already at the right place. We give you all this stuff, at the right size and at the right price, right here.) E-commerce, without the hype and the hurt (13-Nov-01 it.mycareer.com.au ) This is from an article about a book on e-business in Australia, but the essential insights are the same: e-business is here to stay. ...We defined eBusiness very broadly as "any business conducted by use of the Internet". We further defined five broad types of eBusiness. They are very different, just as there are many different ways of doing conventional business. There is the online sales model, which is similar to conventional retailing. There is the market maker model, which helps others conduct eBusiness. There is the content model (the sale of information), the infomediary model and the affiliate model. Most eBusinesses employ a combination of these.... "The dot com meltdown sent a false signal to executive management that the era of eBusiness is over. This is very scary, and very wrong. It has barely begun. A period of irrational investor exuberance has come to an end, but the hard work of transforming business to leverage the Web has only just started." (Gartner's Bob Hayward).... All the figures show that the number of transactions being conducted online continues to grow and that the Internet is now an indispensable part of doing business.... If the book has a theme, it is simply that eBusiness is an inevitable evolution in the way business is conducted. And we know what happens when we cease to evolve. Small Biz Gets Big Name Attention on Web (7-Nov-01 ecommercetimes.com) ...the Internet has plenty to offer, experts say, with just about any company -- no matter how small or how specialized -- able to capitalize on the Web in some way. "If you lay out all that can be done, especially on a business-to-business level, you realize that most firms have only started to scratch the surface," Deloitte & Touche e-commerce analyst Aran Nathanson told the E-Commerce Times. Study: E-Commerce Will Thrive Despite Recession (7-Nov-01 ecommercetimes.com) E-commerce will grow "whether the economic recovery is around the corner or a couple years off," according to a study released Wednesday by Forrester Research. Forrester predicts online retail spending will top US$74 billion in 2002, though Kelley said that forecast may change if the U.S. finds itself in a prolonged recession -- or "makes a miraculous recovery." Online spending will be about $51.5 billion in 2001, according to Forrester. What Customers Want: Researchers Demystify E-Shopping Behavior (7-Nov-01 ecrmdaily.com) ...When prompted to rate shopping elements on a five-level scale ranging from "must have" to "prefer not to have," consumers were adamant about several important customer service offerings of online shopping. For instance, a majority of respondents rated toll-free telephone access to a customer service representative and e-mail order confirmation as "must haves." 'E' in 'E-Business' Stands for Nothing (7-Nov-01 ecrmdaily.com) "E-business is exactly what you're doing now, except that instead of doing business over the phone, or face-to-face, you're getting online with your suppliers and customers," says Princeton Consulting's chief executive, Afshin Rabbani. Being successful at e-business has become synonymous with responding faster to customer needs, reacting more effectively to market changes, reducing operating costs and increasing cooperation with key customers and trading partners. ...Alex Drobik, a GartnerGroup analyst, also believes that when every business has integrated digital technology and the Internet into its operations, e-business will cease to be an identifiable and separate activity. However, that will not happen overnight. "E-business will become normal business, but in five to six years' time. By then, all businesses will be, by definition, e-businesses," he says. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Business Reader Review (18-May-02, edited by Theodore Kinni)
CRADLE TO CRADLE: Remaking The Way We Make Things By William McDonough and Michael Braungart (North Point Press, 193 pp, $25, ISBN 0865475873). "We see a world of abundance, not limits," write these two leading voices for sustainable business practices. In the best book of the month, they outline a win/win philosophy of design and production that simultaneously serves the best interests of business and the environment. The book itself is an eloquent prototype of their concept of total waste elimination: it is made of synthetic resin "paper" and is waterproof, durable, and 100% recyclable. ON TARGET: How To Conduct Effective Business Reviews by Michele Bechtell (Berrett-Koehler, 164 pp, $29.95, ISBN 1576751716). Strategic plans fail during implementation, says consultant Bechtell, and the most effective way to monitor and correct those failures is frequent business reviews. In this book, she explains how to identify and assign objectives, schedule and analyze reviews, and utilize peer reviews to accelerate results. THE ART OF ACHIEVEMENT: Mastering The 7 Cs Of Success In Business And Life by Tom Morris (Andrews McMeel, 180 pp, $22.95, ISBN 0740722018). Morris plumbs 2,500 years of philosophy for practical lessons in personal achievement. He boils it all down to seven "performance arts" that enable us to succeed. The seven arts are conception, confidence, concentration, consistency, commitment, character, and capacious enjoyment. LEADERSHIP ON THE LINE: Staying Alive Through The Dangers Of Leading by Ronald Heifetz and Marty Linsky (Harvard Business School Press, 252 pp, $27.50, ISBN 1578514371). True leaders attack the status quo and in return, they often become the targets of personal and professional counter-attacks. This book of tactics, authored by two faculty members at the Harvard School of Government, describes how to recognize and neutralize both the external resistance leaders typically face and the internal behaviors and responses with which leaders contribute to their own demises. WHOEVER MAKES THE MOST MISTAKES WINS: The Paradox Of Innovation by Richard Farson and Ralph Keyes (Free Press, 129 pp, $22, ISBN 0743225929). In this extended essay, the authors deconstruct how we think about success and failure and propose a counterintuitive approach that acknowledges that both coexist in any given situation. They explain why we should de-stigmatize and embrace failure as a prerequisite for success and a natural byproduct of the risk-taking and innovation it takes to succeed in business. A BRIEF HISTORY OF ECONOMIC GENIUS by Paul Strathern (Texere, 315 pp, $27.95, ISBN 1587991284). Strathern builds his history of economic thought upon the eccentric and entertaining personalities and stories of the men whose ideas helped create the discipline. The story includes a cast of characters that ranges over five hundred years from Luca Paciolo, who invented double-entry bookkeeping in the 1400s to John von Neumann (a real-life Dr. Strangelove and the creator of Game Theory), John Nash, and Milton Friedman in the 1900s. THE VENTURE IMPERATIVE: A New Model For Corporate Innovation by Heidi Mason and Tim Rohner (Harvard Business School, 358 pp, $29.95, ISBN 1578513359). New ventures are the most effective means to corporate innovation and growth, but most companies are unable to bring them to life. The keys to success, according to this author team, are the creation of a permanent "venture business office" linking the parent and new ventures, and the use of a four-stage development process to guide ventures from the business vision to full market launch. NOBODY IN CHARGE: Essays On The Future Of Leadership by Harlan Cleveland (Jossey-Bass, 236 pp $27.95, ISBN 0787961531). The theme of this collection of 15 previously-published articles and essays is, according to noted organizational thinker Cleveland, that: "Step 1: Nobody's in charge. Therefore (Step 2) everybody has a chance to be partly in charge. But (Step 3) most people will not, for one reason or another, reach for that brass ring. Consequently (Step 4) those who will find that they are 'leaders.'" ALWAYS THINK BIG: How Mattress Mack's Uncompromising Attitude Built The Biggest Single Retail Store In America by Jim McIngvale with Thomas Duening & John Ivancevich (Dearborn, 243 pp, $22, ISBN 0793153751). "Mattress Mack" McIngvale combined blanket advertising, same day delivery, discount pricing and customer delight to create Gallery Furniture, a Houston-based furniture superstore that generates $200 million in annual sales. In this book, he presents the seven principles on which he built his retailing success, including creating a values-based culture, selling with pride, corporate philanthropy, etc. TEACH YOUR TEAM TO FISH: Using Ancient Wisdom For Inspired Teamwork by Laurie Beth Jones (Crown Business, 204 pp, $22, ISBN 0609606794). Christian business consultant and speaker Jones continues her exploration of Jesus Christ as a business model in this book for team leaders. Stories from the Bible are used to show how to excite, ground, transform, and release teams to accomplish their highest potential. Each short chapter includes questions for self-analysis and a prayer for assistance. HOW WINNERS SELL: 21 Proven Strategies To Outsell Your Competition & Win The Big Sale by Dave Stein (Bard Press, 255 pp, $24.95, ISBN 1885167555). Sales consultant Stein boils the discipline of selling down into 21 easily swallowed lessons (one per chapter) that can either be sequentially or randomly read. The book covers a wide range of practical sales techniques and tactics including personal skills, prospect qualification, executive presentations, relationship management, etc. YOUR AUTHENTIC SELF: Be Yourself At Work by Ric Giardina (Beyond Words, 267 pp, $14.95, ISBN 1582700753). Most people leave their "authentic" selves behind when they go to work, says consultant Giardina. In this book, he offers a mix of practical and mystical range of advice for getting out of work mode and into authentic mode both inwardly and with other people. The promised results: improved personal performance; a better work/life balance; and more productive interpersonal relationships. DESIGN FOR SIX SIGMA: The Revolutionary Process For Achieving Extraordinary Profits by Subir Chowdhury (Dearborn, 179 pp, $25, ISBN 0793152240). Most companies miss attaining Six Sigma (3.4 defects per million) levels of quality because they do not extend the effort into the design process, according to this executive at the American Supplier Institute. The solution is DFSS (Design for Six Sigma), a product development-based methodology. The book, the first on its subject, explores the purpose, implementation, and each of the five stages of DFSS. FLOATING OFF THE PAGE: The Best Stories From The Wall Street Journal's "Middle Column" edited by Ken Wells (Wall Street Journal Books, 279 pp, $24, ISBN 0743226631). WSJ isn't exactly famous for light reading, but this anthology of 67 stories culled from the paper's popular human-interest column does hit the mark. The daily column was started in 1947 but, except for a few stories from the 60s and 70s, this collection dates from 1980 to the present.
The Business Reader Review (18-Dec-01, edited by Theodore Kinni)
WEIRD IDEAS THAT WORK: 111Ú2 Practices For Promoting, Managing, And Sustaining Innovation by Robert Sutton (Free Press, 232 pp, $26, ISBN 0743212126). Stanford's Sutton takes a contrarian approach to conventional business wisdom and uncovers a mostly-original set of principles for fostering organizational creativity. The author offers convincing arguments and supporting examples for each rule along with a host of ideas for applying them. They include: hire people who make you uncomfortable, even those you dislike; find some happy people and get them to fight; reward success and failure, punish inaction; etc. MAKE YOUR OWN LUCK: Success Tactics You Won't Learn In Business School by Peter Morgan Kash and Tom Monte (Prentice Hall Press, 231 pp, $23, ISBN 0735202249). Every coincidence and every bit of luck is all part of the "web of life" and each harbors opportunities, according to biotech VC Kash. He proves it with an engaging book-full of examples and in addition, offers practical advice for turning failure into success, evaluating opportunities, and how to specialize for success. WEBS OF INNOVATION: The Networked Economy Demands New Ways To Innovate by Alexander Loudon (FT.com, 245 pp, $27, ISBN 0273656465). Loudon says that the next stage of Internet evolution will be characterized by "webs of innovation" - networks that will be built around new concepts by new and existing companies working together. He describes why and how established companies should participate in these webs and the three strategies they can use: creating spin-offs from existing operations; mergers and acquisitions; and, venture capital financing. CREATING WEB-BASED TRAINING: A Step-By-Step Guide To Designing Effective E-Learning by Joseph Sinclair, Lani Sinclair & Joseph Lansing (AMACOM, 582 pp, $39.95, ISBN 0814471072). Instructional designers who are wondering how to put their work on the Web will find this thick primer a useful reference. The authors explain the basics of web page creation and publishing, and the building blocks of WBT (web-based training) design. They also offer an introduction to advanced techniques (such as streaming audio and video), cost budgeting, and a CD-ROM with case studies, tutorials and templates. TRUE LEADERS: How Exceptional CEOs And Presidents Make A Difference By Building People And Profits by Bette Price and George Ritcheske (Dearborn, 198 pp, $25, ISBN 079314826X). The authors convinced 27 organizational leaders to complete self-assessments and interviews in an effort to uncover the common characteristics of "true leaders." They found four shared values (social; utilitarian; individualistic; and, traditional) and a set of nine operating principles that are explored mainly through anecdotal evidence provided by the leaders themselves. CUSTOMER-CENTRIC PRODUCT DEFINITION:The Key To Great Product Development by Sheila Mello (AMACOM, 223 pp, $34.95, ISBN 0814406688). Consultant Mello claims that nearly nine of every ten new products fail within two years for the simple reason that they don't fill a customer need. To solve the problem, she offers her firm's trademarked Market-Driven Product Definition (MDPD) strategy, a four-stage, 16-step process designed to gather information through customer visits, transform customer desires into hard metrics, survey and analyze customer requirements, and generate creative solutions. FOCUS ON LEADERSHIP: Servant-Leadership For The 21st Century edited by Larry Spears and Michele Lawrence (Wiley, 396 pp, $34.95, ISBN 0471411620). Robert Greenleaf's concept of the servant-leader is expanded upon in this collection of twenty-five essays from leadership thinkers ranging from Warren Bennis to Meg Wheatley. In a four-part presentation, the material explores the impact of servant leadership on the individual, the workplace, the community, and the world.
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