Theory of Games and Economic Behavior (Commemorative Edition) (Princeton Classic Editions) Review

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Theory of Games and Economic Behavior (Commemorative Edition) (Princeton Classic Editions) Review
I'm not even sure I'm qualified to pass judgement on this book, but what I understand, I give 5 stars without hesitation. The authors discuss almost every class of game (2-person, 3-person, zero-sum, non-zero-sum, etc.) and even a very simplified version of poker.

You basically have to be a mathematician to get full value from this book. This book is absolutely full of equations and complex proofs. For a beginner with little math, I'd recommend Game Theory by Morton Davis, or for someone with some university math I'd recommend Games and Decisions by Luce and Raiffa. However, if your math is good, you might as well go straight to this book, which started the whole field of game theory.Theory of Games and Economic Behavior (Commemorative Edition) (Princeton Classic Editions) Overview

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The Differentiated Workforce: Transforming Talent into Strategic Impact Review

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The Differentiated Workforce: Transforming Talent into Strategic Impact Review
Brian Becker, Mark Huselid, and Richard Beatty shares their thoughts about how to solve the various strategic challenges that line managers now face. "Specifically, it is about making senior managers more successful at executing their strategy" by putting strategy, not people, first. "For most organizations, that success has an important talent dimension. When it comes to workforce strategy, our approach requires that line managers define success but that HR professionals deliver the solution. This requires a new perspective on workforce strategy for both." That said, the transformation they recommend requires thinking more broadly (perhaps even counter intuitively) about the respective roles of line managers, HR, and the workforce because all of them must be centrally in any change initiatives.
With regard to this book's title, Becker, Huselid, and Beatty explain that "there are four key domains that distinguish a differentiated approach from a more conventional (undifferentiated) approach to workforce management: a focus on equity instead of equality; a focus on engaging the right employees, not necessarily all employees; an emphasis on hiring choice employees, not becoming an employer of choice; and finally, a focus on earned increases (i.e. increased responsibilities and compensation." More specifically, strategic talent becomes a competitive advantage (equity), those with strategic talent fully understand how to acquire and retain customers as well as how to accelerate improvement of organizational performance (employee focus); strategic talent is retained and helps to attract and hire fewer but much better-qualified job candidates (employee of choice); and peak performers are generously (and appropriately) rewarded and remain whereas poor/mediocre performers are not rewarded and asked to vacate their strategic roles.
There at least two major reasons why workforce differentiation is so important to almost all organizations, whatever their size or nature may be. First, it can help them to achieve significant and verifiable strategic impact in their competitive marketplace. Also, it will address one of the greatest challenges now facing their senior-managers: How to get more workers positively and constructively engaged? Recent Gallup research indicates that only 29% of the U.S. workforce is positively engaged (i.e. loyal, enthusiastic, and productive) whereas 55% is passively disengaged. That is, they are going through the motions, doing only what they must, "mailing it in," coasting, etc. What about the other 16%? They are "actively disengaged" in that they are doing whatever they can to undermine their employer's efforts to succeed.
In their book, Becker, Huselid, and Beatty provide a cohesive, comprehensive, and cost-effective program by which achieve these two very important objectives, achieving significant and verifiable strategic impact in the competitive marketplace, and increasing the positive and productive engagement of workers at all levels and in all areas of operations. More specifically, they explain
1. How to put strategy, not people, first
2. How to link strategic capabilities to workforce strategy
3. How to identify and evaluate strategic positions
4. How to establish leadership accountability for workforce success (e.g. the line manager's HR role)
5. How to design architecture for the differentiated workforce
6. How to develop and apply strategic workforce measures
My repetition of the word "how" is deliberate because Becker, Huselid, and Beatty devote most of their time and attention to explaining how to implement their various recommendations. They are diehard pragmatists, with an insatiable curiosity to know what works, what doesn't, and why. Their determination to focus on real-world issues, problems, and solutions is perhaps best illustrated by the detailed and surprisingly lively case study they provide in Chapter 7 (Pages 171-231) of how th4 American Hat Association created a differentiated workforce. Obviously, it would be a fool's errand to attempt to duplicate those initiatives without appropriate modification in another organization, even one in the healthcare field. It would also be a fool's mistake to ignore the lessons to be learned from this case study.
Those who share my high regard for this brilliant book are urged to check out Becker, Huselid, and Beatty's previously published The HR Scorecard: Linking People, Strategy, and Performance and The Workforce Scorecard: Managing Human Capital To Execute Strategy as well as Enterprise Architecture As Strategy: Creating a Foundation for Business Execution co-authored by Jeanne Ross, Peter Weill, and David Robertson, James O'Toole and Edward E. Lawler III's The New American Workplace, Dean Spitzer's Transforming Performance Measurement: Rethinking the Way We Measure and Drive Organizational Success, and Leadership Brand: Developing Customer-Focused Leaders to Drive Performance and Build Lasting Value co-authored by Dave Ulrich and Norm Smallwood.The Differentiated Workforce: Transforming Talent into Strategic Impact OverviewDo you think of your company's talent as an investment to be managed like a portfolio? You should, according to authors Becker, Huselid, and Beatty, if you're interested in strategy execution. Many companies fall into the trap of spending too much time and money on low performers, while high performers aren't getting the necessary resources, development opportunities, or rewards. In "The Differentiated Workforce", the authors expand on their previous books, "The HR Scorecard" and "The Workforce Scorecard", and recommend that you manage your workforce like a portfolio - with disproportionate investments in the jobs that create the most wealth. Based on two decades of academic research and experience working with hundreds of executives, "The Differentiated Workforce" gives you the tools to translate your talent into strategic impact.

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Harvard Business Review on Corporate Strategy (Harvard Business Review Paperback Series) Review

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Harvard Business Review on Corporate Strategy (Harvard Business Review Paperback Series) ReviewThis is another excellent collection of essays from Harvard Business Review and the topic is Corporate Strategy. 8 essays in a little less than 250 pages address various corporate strategies that can be useful if you are in a similar situation.
These are very interesting theories and it is fascinating to read them with all the real life examples. If you don't enjoy pure strategy, some of the material may feel dull though. This book goes into the guts of what makes for good corporate strategy. It starts out with a chapter on Creating Corporate Advantage where you are exposed to examples of companies that leveraged their multibusiness capabilities extremely well to create a serious corporate advantage (the companies are Tyco International, Sharp, The Newell Company, and Saatchi and Saatchi).
The book then moves on to the strategy in the 1990s with a focus on competing on resources. Five tests are put forward that should help determine if a resource can qualify to be the basis for an effective strategy.
The rest of the book addresses topics such as Synergy, Strategies for a Sustainable World, Emerging Markets, Competing on Capabilities, Parenting Advantage (the kind of businesses a company should own), etc.
Overall, the book has some very serious discussions on Corporate Strategies. Some of these may not be as relevant to the particular situation you are in, but most would be if you work in a large organization. I picked up the book to see what I could learn on strategy for small businesses but this isn't the book for that. Though these lessons could be applied when the small business starts transforming into a large business. Bottom line - this book is an interesting read especially if you are in an MBA program or are part of the upper management of a large corporation. Enjoy!Harvard Business Review on Corporate Strategy (Harvard Business Review Paperback Series) Overview

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Retooling HR: Using Proven Business Tools to Make Better Decisions About Talent Review

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Retooling HR: Using Proven Business Tools to Make Better Decisions About Talent ReviewProfessor John W. Boudreau wants you to rethink the contribution your human resources unit makes to the way your company recruits, develops and retains crucial "talent," that is, people. Dodging most, but not all, jargon, Boudreau advocates using metrics from the business side of your organization to evaluate how talent contributes to your firm and how your talent needs will vary under changing business conditions. He asks you to examine how you will muster enough people with crucial skills, now and in the future, and suggests strategically rethinking your workforce and considering how to develop it as the demand for pivotal skills spikes or shrinks. Boudreau makes his points with sharp intelligence in this clearly written, well thought-out book. It covers some very specific subject areas pertinent to HR professionals, but it is not a difficult read, partly due to its lively examples. While HR professionals who want to play a more strategic role will receive it most readily, getAbstract finds that this book will also help talent-focused C-level and middle managers who want more from HR and their employees. Boudreau makes a solid case for the merit of good metrics, but he's aware that HR is measuring people, not widgets, so risks and trade-offs abound.Retooling HR: Using Proven Business Tools to Make Better Decisions About Talent Overview

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Reorganize for Resilience: Putting Customers at the Center of Your Business Review

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Reorganize for Resilience: Putting Customers at the Center of Your Business ReviewIn his timely book, Gulati provides CEOS and managers with a wakeup call and a practical tool kit they can use to re-organize their firms to thrive in increasingly turbulent economic conditions. The issues discussed in this book are of importance for small, large and even non-profits. Gulati has done an excellent job of writing in a very readable style that I believe will benefit many firms that are seeking ways to survive and thrive.
The core message of this book is that only those firms attain resilience that are truly able to place their customers at the center of their enterprise. However, implementing this strategy is not easy for most firms. Gulati notes that many of the firms which believe that they are customer centric by virtue of going through the motions of traditional market research may actually be deluding themselves. Even when they do solicit ideas from their customers, they do so through the lens of their products as their focus remains on how the customer experiences their products. Further, most firms get caught up in their day to day operations and processes and forget to keep the customer at the center of their enterprise. Unfortunately, customers "become after thoughts" because firms become distracted and blinded by the rigidity of their internal architecture.
Based on qualitative and quantitative research, Gulati explains that while many firms get locked in self-erected silos and thick internal walls, some firms thrive while embracing brutal competition and demanding customer. What distinguishes these firms?
To answer this critical question, Gulati distills lessons from a broad array of firms. He explains that the key differentiator of these successful firms is not just their curiosity and engagement with their customers and their problems, but the ability to actually turn some of those insights into action.
To achieve this high degree of "customer-centricity" Gulati advises firms to dismantle their rigid "inside-out" organizational architecture and adopt a customer focused "outside-in" mind set with an intense focus on understanding and serving the needs of their customers. Putting the customer in the driver's seat can be accomplished only by radical reorganization. This in turn comes about from their capacity to effectively coordinate the appropriate organizational, human, and social resources for creating products and services that satisfy the real needs of their customers. By becoming nimble and flexible, firms can foster "resilience" to achieve competitive advantage for thriving under adversity.
The book not only provides an answer to the WHY of resilience but also the HOW. Gulati peels away multiple layers to demystify the operative mental models as well as the structural and social architecture of exemplary resilient firms. He explains the features and processes that are related with the five key levers that need to be engaged in reorganization. The five levers are: coordination, cooperation, clout, capability and connection.
I particularly appreciated Gulati's efforts to simultaneously highlight the structural, human, and relationship aspect of each lever. Most important, he provides clear and practical guidance on how to appropriately engage these levers to achieve resilience and customer centricity.
This book is not recommended for leaders who wish to undertake incremental changes. Gulati is blunt in his assessment and advice. While acknowledging that creating resilient organizations is not impossible, he cautions that it is not easy because it requires long term perseverance and consistent effort. He also notes that re-organization can be fraught with heightened concerns and operational chaos. But the eventually rewards can be dramatically positive. Thus, he cautions leadership to be prepared to invest considerable energy in creating companywide commitment.
Since any organizational transformation journey must begin with honest self assessment, I suggest that CEO's and leaders read this book first. After taking a hard look and reorienting their personal mental models, they should require their entire staff to read it. They should then use this book to initiate an honest conversation within their organizations and start preparing their blue prints for achieving "customer-centricity".
Reorganize for Resilience: Putting Customers at the Center of Your Business OverviewIn an era of raging commoditization and eroding profit margins, survival depends on resilience: staying one step ahead of your customers. Sure, most companies say they re customer-focused, but they don t deliver solutions to customers thorniest problems. Why? Because they re stymied by the rigid silos they re organized around. In Reorganize for Resilience, Ranjay Gulati reveals how resilient companies prosper both in good times and bad, driving growth and increasing profitability by immersing themselves in the lives of their customers. This book shows how resilient organizations cut through internal barriers that impede action, build bridges between warring divisions, and transform former competitors into collaborators.Based on more than a decade of research in a variety of industries, and filled with examples from companies including Cisco Systems, La Farge, Starbucks, Best Buy, and Jones Lang LaSalle, Gulati explores the five levers of resilience: Coordination: Connect, eradicate, or restructure silos to enable swift responses. Cooperation: Foster a culture that aligns all employees around the shared goals of customer solutions. Clout: Redistribute power to bridge builders and customer champions. Capability: Develop employees skills at tackling changing customer needs. Connection: Blend partners offerings with yours to provide unique customer solutions.Authoritative and practical, Reorganize for Resilience helps you walk the walk, not just talk the talk, of customer-centricity jump-starting a virtuous cycle of profits, growth, and competitive advantage.

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Winning in Emerging Markets: A Road Map for Strategy and Execution Review

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Winning in Emerging Markets: A Road Map for Strategy and Execution ReviewAchieving scale economies and rapid growth in emerging markets requires moving beyond the comfort zone of the top segment (innovators, high income) frequented by American producers and getting directly to the large and growing middle class. This requires the ability to live without credit card systems, TV and radio advertising, relatively easy dispute resolution processes, Internet vendors, "Kelly Blue Book" and "Consumer Reports" reviews of products, and/or developed logistics providers, etc. One must decide whether to replicate, partner with, or innovate around these services.
Examples include Brazil, China, and India requiring twice as many procedures to register a business in 2007 vs. the 6 in the U.S. or 2 in Canada and Australia. Constructing a warehouse took about 200 days in developed nations in 2007, vs. 336 in China, 24 in India, and 704 in Russia. Time to enforce a contract was about 406 days in China, 300 in the U.S. 230 in South Korea, 1,420 in India, and 570 in Canada. Another important issue involves government involvement - degree of corruption, strength of family ties, depth of involvement, etc. Also helpful comparisons of what a new home/apartment buyer gets in China vs. U.S.
The authors provide a useful checklist type approach to reviewing key issues that may be problematic in doing business in developing economies.Winning in Emerging Markets: A Road Map for Strategy and Execution Overview

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On Competition, Updated and Expanded Edition Review

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On Competition, Updated and Expanded Edition ReviewThis is a big ol' book - not just by volume, but by scope - and somewhere between Parts I (on developing strategy at the individual business level) and II (on the competitiveness of locations) it dawned on me that On Competition bears similarities to On Liberty, On Democracy in America, and On Human Nature*.
Like those classic tomes, this, too, cuts across disciplinary lines, tackles big subjects, and offers powerful insights into a wide variety of social problems.
Mr. Porter's been called "the world's most important business thinker" but, as I kept learning while reading Parts III and IV, his work touches on more than just business. His own big subjects are value creation and competition; the frameworks he's developed over the years have practical implications for organizations of all kinds. (think of government and non-government organizations)
You don't need to be a social scientist to understand the work. You *do* need to have a taste for academic-style writing and argument - and it'll no doubt help if you enjoy diagrams, activity maps, data tables, matrices, and other sorts of inserts. You should also have more than a passing interest in the interplay between business and society. If that's 'you', you'll find the articles in On Competition richly rewarding.
Maybe now more than ever. I think the book's most important message is that competition has the "staggering power to make things better - both for companies and for society." What better time than the midst of an economic crisis to learn that?*by John Stuart Mill, Alexis de Tocqueville, and E.O. Wilson, respectivelyOn Competition, Updated and Expanded Edition Overview
For the past two decades, Michael Porter's work has towered over the field of competitive strategy. On Competition, Updated Edition brings together more than a dozen of Porter's landmark articles from the Harvard Business Review. Five are new to this edition, including the 2008 update to his classic "The Five Competitive Forces That Shape Strategy," as well as new work on health care, philanthropy, corporate social responsibility, and CEO leadership.
This collection captures Porter's unique ability to bridge theory and practice. Each of the articles has not only shaped thinking, but also redefined the work of practitioners in its respective field. In an insightful new introduction, Porter relates each article to the whole of his thinking about competition and value creation, and traces how that thinking has deepened over time.
This collection is organized by topic, allowing the reader easy access to the wide range of Porter's work. Parts I and II present the frameworks for which Porter is best known frameworks that address how companies, as well as nations and regions, gain and sustain competitive advantage. Part III shows how strategic thinking can address society's most pressing challenges, from environmental sustainability to improving health-care delivery. Part IV explores how both nonprofits and corporations can create value for society more effeapplying strategy principles to philanthropy. Part V explores the link between Strategy and Leadership

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Real Business of IT: How CIOs Create and Communicate Value Review

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Real Business of IT: How CIOs Create and Communicate Value ReviewWhat is the business value of IT? This is a perennial question that dominates executive discussions. Many have sought to answer this question with fancy algorithms, consulting practices, benchmark data and other tools. However, the question is basic to IT so it should have a basic answer - right? Absolutley and fortunately Hunter and Westerman provide much of the answer in this book.
The Real Business of IT is a clear and focused look at the issue of IT value and the approaches to capture, communicate and increase that value. This book is unique in several respects. It is a book written for CIOs largely based on the experience of CIOs.
The book features extended practices from leading companies like McKesson, Intel, Freescale, Deltak and many others. Building on those sources, Hunter and Westerman explain a simple virtuous cycle for driving IT value. They illustrate this cycle with about a dozen concepts that CIOs can use tomorrow to change the way they talk about value.
Hunter and Westerman make good use of these resources creating a book that is filled accessible information. One of the ways they do this is through using analogies from outside of IT. This not only makes the ideas easy to understand but also it gives the CIOs stories that they can use to inform and educate their business peers about IT.
This book helps CIOs avoid common value traps that limit the view of IT's value in the enterprise. It then goes on to build the tools and techniques to demonstrate the value for money in IT, how IT helps run, grow and transform the enterprise, manage IT's unit costs, and other key concepts.
The book is tuned and intended for CIOs and IT executives, rather than business executives. This is not to say business executives should not read this book, its just that it is not written for them. By focusing on CIOs, the authors avoid much of the complexity found in other books. This should be taken as a strength since that focus enables the authors to clearly provide practices and tools that CIOs can use.
The business value of IT sits in the conversations within your enterprise not in compliance with some industry standard. Therefore, I would suggest that CIOs use this book with their teams to build that conversation, in their terms and their situation.
This book is highly recommended for CIOs and IT executives all of whom will face the need to answer questions about the value of IT. In this book, CIOs will learn directly from the authors as well as the insights of leading CIOs and their examples. This is a powerful combination that makes the investment in The Real Business of IT a good value.
Strengths
Anchoring IT value solidly in terms of business performance. This is critical to establishing a clear and unequival way of measuring the value of IT.
Actionable and practical advise that comes directly from CIO experience.
Contains positive and negative examples on the business value of IT
Clearly illustrated tables and tools that CIOs can put into action quickly
References actual performance data and metrics
Uses non-IT analogies and stories that facilitate both understanding IT value issues and CIOs to use these analogies to make their own case in the enterprise.
Challenges
While the book is strong in terms of tools and advice, many of these specfics are generic. This means that CIOs will have to tailor these tools to their own situation. This is not a big weakness, as CIOs should not simply implement solutions blindly.
Business executives often express value in terms of financial measures and terms. While the book advises CIOs to focus on business performance, it could have done with some expanded financial content.
The latter chapters that discuss BPR and organizations change cover them in a traditional way. This reinforces the importance of creating value beyond more than just IT.Real Business of IT: How CIOs Create and Communicate Value Overview

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Competitive Intelligence Advantage: How to Minimize Risk, Avoid Surprises, and Grow Your Business in a Changing World (Wiley) Review

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Competitive Intelligence Advantage: How to Minimize Risk, Avoid Surprises, and Grow Your Business in a Changing World (Wiley) ReviewThis book is a gem. It is a rare book that I would recommend equally to senior executives and students thinking about a career path, but this is such a book. I agreed to review this book for the publisher and received a free copy. I've known the author since the early 1990's when the U.S. Government first tried to learn how to do commercial intelligence, calling it Open Source Intelligence (OSINT). They still don't get it, for the same reason most executives don't get it: arrogance, ignorance, and a complacency that comes from having too much money and not enough accountability.
Before laying down my notes, let me first place this book squarely in the top twelve books in English. This is the one I would recommend to anyone as a starter, followed by:
Ben Gilad, Blindspots (Infonortics, UK), order online from them directly
Early Warning: Using Competitive Intelligence to Anticipate Market Shifts, Control Risk, and Create Powerful Strategies
Measuring the Effectiveness of Competitive Intelligence: Assessing & Communicating CI's Value to Your Organization
Super Searchers Do Business
Super Searchers on Competitive Intelligence: The Online and Offline Secrets of Top CI Researchers (Super Searchers series)
Business and Competitive Analysis: Effective Application of New and Classic Methods
Building & Running a Successful Research Business: A Guide for the Independent Information Professional
The New Competitor Intelligence: The Complete Resource for Finding, Analyzing, and Using Information about Your Competitors
Keeping Abreast of Science and Technology: Technical Intelligence for Business
The New Craft of Intelligence: Personal, Public, & Political--Citizen's Action Handbook for Fighting Terrorism, Genocide, Disease, Toxic Bombs, & Corruption
Information Operations: All Information, All Languages, All the Time
The last are mine, as with all my books free online at Phi Beta Iota, the Public Intelligence Blog. There are MANY books in this field, some listed at the back of this book. For me it boils down to culture, structure, sources, and process. CULTURE: from the CEO to the Chief Content Officer or Chief Knowledge Officer, do the bottom-line bosses understand that Competitive Intelligence is worth at least 20% of their gross in new revenue or avoidance of lost revenue? STRUCTURE: Is there at least a six person CI shop with a direct report relationship to the CEO or no less than one down from the CEO? SOURCES: Does the CI staff have a budget for serious research including out-sourcing of special studies and integration of appropriate processing power? PROCESS: Is the CI staff integrated into both the day to day decision-making as well as the strategic forward thinking? Nothing is dumber than "this is what we've decided to do, tell us about the path."
Now my notes on this book, which fully satisfies as an overview of the above and as an introduction to the broader literature.
1. External matters. It has been a long time in coming, but both the commercial intelligence industry (which is emergent from the scattered competitive intelligence industry) and the key customers including law firms are starting to realize that the customer's future needs, unstated needs, and the totality of the external environment are vastly more vital than internal data mining also badly known as Business Intelligence. One shipping executive told me they learned the hard way that in one particular African country with a strong textile industry, the regulatory and corruption context was so bad that the fashion cycle was OVER before they could get the finished goods out of the country. Never assume anything and forget the past.
2. Truth matters. The author is very polite on this point, one that the U.S. Government at the political and senior executive level still does not appreciate. I am totally enchanted by the early quote from the chairman of Saatchi & Saatchi, "When things are not going well, until you get the truth out on the table, no matter how ugly, you are not in a position to deal with it." That one quote made this book worthwhile for me.
3. Executive short-falls. I like to quote Ben Gilad, who along with this author and Jan Herring and Dick Klavans and Babette Bensoussan are among my most respected colleagues: writing in BLINDSPOTS: replacing myths, beliefs, and assumptions with market realities (Infonortics UK 1996): "Top managers' information is invariably either biased, subjecive, filtered or late." Also from Gilad: "Using intelligence correctly requires a fundamental change in the way top executives make decisions." The author does a devastatingly elegant job of putting executive naivete in its place early on, the same section serving as a "lay of the land" for any aspiring commercial intelligence practitioner.
4. Definitions and Scope. The middle of the book is great on definitions and strong in comparing market research with competitive intelligence on multiple levels. In Figure 3.1 on Page 38 th author lists the following as being essential elements of any comprehensive endeavor (I put them in alpha order) Culture; Customers; Demographics; Distributors; Economy; Government and Industry Regulations; Other Industries; Prospects; Substitutes; Suppliers; Technology; AND Competitors. I will never forget the head of the French steel industry lamenting in 1993 that after spending a ton of money on studying all other national steel industries, they got cut off at the knees because they failed to realize plastic would be a substitute for automobile parts including underside parts.
5. Data, Information, and Intelligence. The author does a very fine job, the best I have seen by anyone else, distinguishing among data (pieces), information (a generic collage) and intelligence (actionable answers for specific executives making specific decisions). I like the general discussion of know versus don't know, today versus tomorrow, and the integration of assumptions (question them), changes (recognize them), and strategies (have at least one). I especially like the author's emphasis on encouraging dissent and re-evaluating soup to nuts every single year.
6. Creating or Employing a CI Capability. This portion of the book is intended to be an overview and it does a fine job there. The author also reviews sources and puts Google in its place, but fails to mention that advanced search (not what Google offers, but understanding its actual code language and using it to create subsets within subsets) offsets some of Google's shortfalls. The author properly notes that "it's not about software," and provides proper emphasis on the human aspect of intelligence, something I address in comprehensive manner with my Human Intelligence (HUMINT) Trilogy at the Public Intelligence Blog.
7. Applications. Chapter 7 details more than a dozen applications of CI, with over 70 examples of how and when to use CI.
8. Myths and Advantages. The book ends with a chapter on the 13 myths of CI followed by another on the 15 advantages of CI, and as tempted as I am to list them here, I will simply note that they also make the book worthy of purchase in and of themselves.
This book has been endorsed by Cyndi Allgaier, Babette Bensousson, and Jan Herring, whom I know to be among the top dozen English-language practitioners, and while I am focused more on creating a World Brain with embedded EarthGame that brings all eight tribes of intelligence together (Academic, Civil Society, Commercial, Government, Law Enforcement, Media, Military, and Non-Governmental), I believe this book to be the new leader, the new best in class offering for anyone thinking about "getting a grip" on reality so as to survive.
The author has done all of us a great service in producing something that is easy to read, up to date, and a great starting point for anyone from the CEO of Exxon (poor fellow) to a student at any community college wondering about being a Chief Sustainability Officer versus being a Chief Knowledge Officer--NEWS FLASH: you cannot be one without the other, do both.Competitive Intelligence Advantage: How to Minimize Risk, Avoid Surprises, and Grow Your Business in a Changing World (Wiley) Overview

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Waging Nonviolent Struggle: 20th Century Practice And 21st Century Potential Review

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Waging Nonviolent Struggle: 20th Century Practice And 21st Century Potential ReviewGene Sharp has done more to advance our understanding and practice of strategic nonviolence than anyone except perhaps Mahatma Gandhi himself. Waging Nonviolent Struggle is a compendium of his wisdom developed over half a century of serious study, writing, and consulting. If I were to recommend one volume on nonviolent struggle to newcomers and experts alike, it would be this one. Its argument is nuanced with deep social and political theory and also includes a practical guide to strategic planning for activists.
During the past five decades, Sharp has analyzed and systematized historic examples of types of nonviolent direct action; he has observed, advised, and learned from contemporary movements, and charted directions for the future. Waging Nonviolent Struggle is the culmination of that work. It begins with an instructive autobiographical preface that reviews the evolution of his thought, proceeds to a concise introduction to the underlying theory of power and nonviolent action and then provides 23 short case studies that illustrate its efficacy. The finale of the book is a practical guide to strategic planners that draws on Sharp's research and experience, charting the future of nonviolent direct action as a reflexive and deliberate strategy rather than improvised response to concrete historical situations.
This will be the foundational text for introductory courses at the nonviolent equivalent of the war academies; it will teach scholars and guide activists. It contains the information one needs to have to understand the tectonic shifts in geopolitics of recent decades, in which nonviolent people power rather the military brute force has been primarily responsible for reshaping the globe. Yes, freedom is on the march, but not for the reasons trumpeted in the halls of political privilege.Waging Nonviolent Struggle: 20th Century Practice And 21st Century Potential OverviewThis groundbreaking new work builds on 50 years of Gene Sharp's definitive academic research and practical experience aiding nonviolent struggles around the world.Recently, advocates have applied these methods and strategies with great success in Serbia and Ukraine. In his most recent work, Dr. Sharp shows how to strategically plan nonviolent struggle and make it more effective.In Waging Nonviolent Struggle, Dr. Sharp documents 23 significant—and often successful—20th century nonviolent struggles in a range of cultural and political contexts, and reaffirms nonviolent action as a realistic and powerful alternative to both passivity and violence.Building on the power analysis of his seminal Politics of Nonviolent Action, Dr. Sharp coherently integrates his theories into praxis, with a vitality tested on the frontlines, often under extreme violence.Any serious student—or practitioner—of nonviolent struggle will find this book an invaluable resource. Skeptics will be compelled to seriously consider nonviolent action's viability.Today's world is in desperate need of realistic alternatives to violent conflict. Waging Nonviolent Struggle demonstrates that these alternatives exist.--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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How Brands Grow: What Marketers Don't Know Review

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How Brands Grow: What Marketers Don't Know ReviewI've been a marketing and branding practitioner for 30+ years and I've read literally hundreds of the most 'notable' marketing texts from the leading academics in the business. This book was recommended by a highly respected researcher and if he hadn't mentioned it I probably would never have read the book.
Let me just say that we rarely get many marketers who are brave enough to take a contrarian's point of view on delicate marketing subjects. Byron Sharp takes on some of the real heavy hitters from HBS and other leading business schools and he does it with outstanding proprietary research and rich third party data. The book now has me wondering what other leading thought leaders I've been impressed by whose work is also suspect.
Other reviewers on these pages can give you specific examples of Sharp's notable findings. I can only give you my recommendation...buy and read this book!How Brands Grow: What Marketers Don't Know Overview

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Four Seasons: The Story of a Business Philosophy Review

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Four Seasons: The Story of a Business Philosophy Review
Prior to reading Isadore Sharp's memoir, I checked out the biographical information about Four Seasons' founder, chairman, and CEO at the corporate Web site. Here is a portion of it that provides an excellent introduction to his book. As Sharp explains, "The reason for our success is no secret. It comes down to one single principle that transcends time and geography, religion and culture. It's the Golden Rule - the simple idea that if you treat people well, the way you would like to be treated, they will do the same. There was no vision, there was no grand dream," since the first Four Seasons - a modest motor hotel - opened in downtown Toronto. "But there has always been a consistent thread and it propels us forward today, as we continue to grow globally, and that's service." It may seem obvious that in the hotel business, service is a primary objective, but it is how that service is delivered that sets Four Seasons apart. "One way to characterize Four Seasons service would be to call it an exchange of mutual respect performed with an attitude of kindness." Defining and enforcing the company culture was one of four key strategic decisions made in the formative years of Four Seasons history. "I sat down with our communications experts and wrote down the fundamentals of our culture, which is based on the Golden Rule - to treat others as you wish to be treated...A lot of companies talk about having a culture, but we knew we had to walk the talk if we expected it to thrive in our hotels."
The company that was launched in 1961 with a 125-room motor hotel in Toronto now has arguably the most profitable as well as the highest rated luxury hotels in the world, more than 140 in more than 40 countries. Sharp's leadership deserves much of the credit. What I most appreciate about this book is the fact that, to the best of my knowledge, this is the first time that he has discussed so comprehensively and so specifically the process by which the Four Seasons organization has evolved over the past 46 years. There are so many highlights to cover and no one else is better qualified to do so. Here is a representative selection:
1. In 1963, Four Seasons opened its second hotel, Toronto's Inn on the Park. the sophisticated urban resort-style hotel was an instant success.
2. As indicated, throughout its history thus far, Four Seasons made four strategic decisions that formed the pillars of its business platform. The first was about quality. Small, central and well-appointed, with friendly, personalized 24-hour service, the first London hotel was just what people were seeking in the new age of international jet travel at the dawn of the 1970s. Rather than being all things to all people, Four Seasons would focus on one thing: being the best in each location, with medium-sized hotels of exceptional quality.
3. The second key strategic decision that formed the business platform was about service. True luxury is defined not by architecture or décor, but by service. So Four Seasons must make the quality of our service our distinguishing feature and a competitive advantage. In 1976, Four Seasons entered the US market with its first management contract, for San Francisco's 1913 landmark hotel, The Clift.
4. Then in 1979, the first Four Seasons-branded US hotel opened on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, DC. It was service that made the hotel special - so much so that the new Four Seasons Hotel Washington, DC, was featured in the introduction to Tom Peters' In Search of Excellence. The 1980s unveiled flagship hotels in a dozen other US cities, including Philadelphia, Boston, Dallas, Los Angeles and Chicago. Four Seasons as a distinct brand name was coming into its own. Divesting less-strategic properties, the company began to transform itself from a hotel owner-operator into a management company. It also started to manage hotels in mixed-use developments - a new concept at the time - allowing it to extend its expertise into high-quality residential environments.
5. The third of the four strategic decisions that formed the business platform was about culture. Four Seasons had always had an implicit operating philosophy. As the company expanded, Sharp decided to make it explicit. He knew that shared values were essential to the service culture he wanted to create. Therefore, he and his team developed a formal credo, founded on the Golden Rule. This became the cornerstone of Four Seasons culture. 6. The final strategic decision that formed the pillars of the company's business platform was about the brand itself: to grow as a management company and build a brand name synonymous with quality. It began to transform itself from a hotel owner into a management company. This intensified focus freed Four Seasons to concentrate on its greatest strength: serving the luxury traveler.
7. As its fifth decade began, Four Seasons continued to grow - in both size and recognition - around the world. The company now welcomed guests to 50 properties, on every continent except Antarctica. More than ever, Four Seasons Private Residences, Residence Clubs and other branded residential offerings were integrated with urban and resort Four Seasons locations. The strength of the brand remains the same at every location, during each interaction with a guest: a promise of a quality of life.
These are but a few of the highlights throughout a process of Four Seasons' development under Isadore Sharp's leadership as founder, chairman, and CEO. However, as he would be the first to point out, all that has been accomplished thus far is the result of a team effort and he generously (and properly) acknowledges the significant contributions of dozens of his associates throughout the last four decades, including members of his family who shared his dream and also helped to make it a reality: unsurpassed luxury for all seasons.Four Seasons: The Story of a Business Philosophy Overview

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