tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13958893038628067072024-03-19T23:03:12.264-07:00LIFE TIME READINGManaged by Deepak Bhatt, Management Thinker, India
Visit : www.managementthinker.comAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16535547683214480562noreply@blogger.comBlogger27125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1395889303862806707.post-11186584198128506282012-12-13T21:33:00.002-08:002012-12-13T21:35:59.214-08:00WHAT NOT TO DO WHEN MAKING A KEYNOTE PRESENTATION<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">“Keynote<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><span style="color: black;">n: an address designed to
present the issues of primary interest to an assembly and often to arouse unity
and enthusiasm.”</span><span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">A
wonderful communication device, that keynote presentation is. Did you ever have
to sit through a bad one? It happens. If you would like to give a “snoozer”
yourself, here are a few sure-fire ways to give your audience the sleep they
may have been lacking.</span><span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><b>1.</b></span><span style="color: black;"><b> Try
To Fool The Audience.</b><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>It
probably won’t work. Audiences are very perceptive. They know when the speaker
in congruent and “walks the talk.” They also know when the presenter is just
giving a book report, having spent a little time in preparation to learn about
the high points of the topic presented. When you are the keynoter, your
audience ought to sense that you are not just a gallon of water, but, rather, a
fountain of knowledge.</span><span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
<b>2.</b> <b>Read
It From Your Text.</b></span><span style="color: black;"><b> </b>We liked hearing stories read to us as children. But our
audiences <span class="apple-style-span">are adults. They want to
xperience what is in your heart and in your mind. Notes to guide you
through the important points are fine, but if you are reading from a
text, you may as well hire a professional actor who is trained to bring a
script to life. Know your material cold. Tailor it as you deliver it. As
your audience reacts to a particular point, expand on it. Feed them what
they hunger for.</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;">
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</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"><b>3.</b></span><span style="color: black;"><b> Use
Inside Stories.</b><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Be sure to
mention some event or some anecdote about someone that most of your audience
will know nothing about. Isolate the majority of your audience. Keep them in
the dark. Make them feel that they are not among the chosen few. Use their time
to have a private, inside dialogue with someone. They will be riveted.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
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<span style="color: black;"><b>4.</b></span><span style="color: black;"><b> Make
Your Audience The Butt Of A Joke.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></b>Humor
is a wonderful communication tool (if you are funny). Self-deprecating humor
that reveals your own vulnerabilities and foibles works. Stories about people
and events, other than your audience, if done in good taste, will set the tone
for a positive learning environment. But if you direct the barbs of your humor
directly to your audience, you set up an “us versus him/her” climate that will
interfere with your message getting out. Attacking an audience, even if not
meant to offend, will tend to make them defensive and distrustful of the
speaker.</span><span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><b>5.</b></span><span style="color: black;"><b> Go
Over The Time Limit.</b><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>You have
a contract with your audience. Their obligation is to be attentive. Yours is to
deliver the material that was promised and to do it within the announced time
frame. If you are given twenty minutes, finish in twenty minutes. If no time
frame is announced, tell the audience up front how much of their time you will
take. (“We are going to be together for the next 50 minutes and during this
brief time…”). I frequently tell my audiences at the outset of my presentation,
“I will be your speaker and you will be my audience. If you get done before I
do, please let me know.”</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16535547683214480562noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1395889303862806707.post-39565558870030998452012-11-21T22:08:00.000-08:002012-11-21T22:09:32.212-08:00Why People Should Read ?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNTcZD5LJHlbDciMndUJ1oQkl77CjouIpNKvH-_B2iWpuKmD_k_lxzfbg5xmcm9lv-Hh5zZymWQDVEI2uXqen-cutr8Vhi-w9wdg1Lp995DzieFCf28hAhR6kQC9rJD7naRv3W2OTfnDI/s1600/draft_lens5583772module43245172photo_1246316123Most_Read_Books.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNTcZD5LJHlbDciMndUJ1oQkl77CjouIpNKvH-_B2iWpuKmD_k_lxzfbg5xmcm9lv-Hh5zZymWQDVEI2uXqen-cutr8Vhi-w9wdg1Lp995DzieFCf28hAhR6kQC9rJD7naRv3W2OTfnDI/s320/draft_lens5583772module43245172photo_1246316123Most_Read_Books.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the past years the
use of the television and the internet has increased; this situation has caused
many people to change their likes and the way that they enjoy their free
time. Because of television and the internet, many people spend less time
reading, so the purpose for this essay is to present reasons why people should
read just for pleasure. The reasons that I give you are quite simple: to
improve your knowledge, to expand your general culture, to have more fun, to
make your imagination fly, to find new ways to express your ideas, and finally
to expand your vocabulary.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">The first reason that I give you to enjoy reading is that when you
read, you can expand your knowledge and also your culture. There are a lot of
good books in which you can find history, novels, tragedies, comedies and a
variety of other themes. You can see that people who read more often frequently
have a bigger knowledge of life and also a bigger perspective of their
environment. I think that fact gives them an advantage over all others
who do not read frequently.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The second reason to read more often is that through books you can
have fun and even travel in your imagination. Children have not yet lost
the ability of getting into their dreams, and because of this, in their
first years the parents read a lot of tales in which they use their
imagination. Adults should try to keep this ability, so we do not forget the
importance of the use of the imagination. The imagination also represents a
tool that could help you to develop your professional career in a creative way.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_V80mYaHm8kz4TWkH_OTUZmvQ2EQQrCcfR6oB4V0NiwBSfolWG7wKnQ80ono1y_WM18U1XQx8mr2pR5MCw3XFRW3INN66I7PqBhYYfy5orhg4ZKZXGaPdthqZT0f0EGg46T9yhOYardE/s1600/460-reading_863045c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_V80mYaHm8kz4TWkH_OTUZmvQ2EQQrCcfR6oB4V0NiwBSfolWG7wKnQ80ono1y_WM18U1XQx8mr2pR5MCw3XFRW3INN66I7PqBhYYfy5orhg4ZKZXGaPdthqZT0f0EGg46T9yhOYardE/s320/460-reading_863045c.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Finally, the third and the most important feature that reading
offers you are that it does not matter the age that you have, you always could
expand your vocabulary and the ways to express your ideas to the others in a
simple and correct form. By the time you can improve the kind of books that you
read, there are a lot of categories, so you will never stop learning from the
pleasure of reading. People who know how to choose a book generally have the
capability of choosing a formal book in which they can find formal grammatical
structures and obviously a formal vocabulary. All these things allow them
to gain greater fluency in their communication.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In conclusion, I recommend that you enjoy reading more often.
There are excellent reasons for doing it; you just have to want to expand
your knowledge and your culture, to improve your imagination and also your
vocabulary. I know that we should evolve with the technology; that is, it is
good to know how to navigate in the internet, but we must also not forget the
books. Try to choose good books at the beginning, and then I ensure you that
you never will stop reading.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">* Based on Personal Experience</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">* Photo : Google India</span></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16535547683214480562noreply@blogger.com0Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India23.0395677 72.566004522.8057762 72.250147500000011 23.273359199999998 72.8818615tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1395889303862806707.post-5544813101134503022012-10-29T22:19:00.003-07:002012-10-29T22:19:49.927-07:00BOOK REVIEW : MAKING GLOBALIZATION WORK<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixcVzOZsLPpniYLyEC1vvkZjmf8ZqopPgyKGFdkuyRRzG3tA0vagZ3ssfWarSIZApNdG5T3nb92OHDCYOH698MZw1btsIERd4OfjeTGrOXQ_KSURO-15sVQaONLqOc6xhYAcSf9xvuIgA/s1600/9780141024967.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixcVzOZsLPpniYLyEC1vvkZjmf8ZqopPgyKGFdkuyRRzG3tA0vagZ3ssfWarSIZApNdG5T3nb92OHDCYOH698MZw1btsIERd4OfjeTGrOXQ_KSURO-15sVQaONLqOc6xhYAcSf9xvuIgA/s400/9780141024967.jpg" width="255" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Making Globalization Work</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">By Joseph E. Stiglitz.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">358 pp. Penguin Book. Rs. 267/-.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 22px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Fifteen years ago, the world seemed headed irresistibly toward economic integration. Developed, developing, formerly Communist and even still-Communist nations (like China and Vietnam) had embraced markets and plunged into the global economy.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Joseph E. Stiglitz</b>, a former Yale, Princeton and Stanford professor, spent most of the 1990s atop the commanding heights of this globalizing economy, first as the chairman of Bill Clinton’s Council of Economic Advisers and then as chief economist at the World Bank. After returning to academia with a position at Columbia, <b>Stiglitz became one of three recipients of the 2001 Nobel Memorial Prize for his research on the economics of information.</b></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now, as enthusiasm about economic integration has waned, Stiglitz has emerged as one of globalization’s most prominent critics. Even while he was at the World Bank, he clashed repeatedly with his counterparts at the International Monetary Fund and the United States Treasury over what he called their <b>“market fundamentalism.”</b> His “Globalization and Its Discontents” (2002) included sharp criticisms of international economic institutions, in particular the I.M.F. for its handling of the East Asian financial and currency crises of 1997-98.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The book, which sold widely, was hailed by globalization skeptics and hotly debated by economists, some of whom found Stiglitz’s criticisms exaggerated, unfair and unduly personal. Still, the novelty of an eminent economist and former high-ranking public official making a passionate assault on the international economic order put Stiglitz at the center of the globalization debate.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">His new book extends the discussion of <b>“Globalization and Its Discontents”</b> but largely avoids the polemical tone. One can, in fact, judge these two books by their covers. The earlier work showed a flame streaking across a stark black background. The soft white jacket of “Making Globalization Work” features three earth-eggs resting in a vulnerable nest. Stiglitz appears to have gone from flamethrower to mother hen. Even the title suggests a transition from flashy dissent to constructive engagement. And indeed, this book is a concise and enlightening treatment of international economic problems, along with much less convincing proposals for reform.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Stiglitz walks the reader through a series of issues, from trade and intellectual property rights to global warming and the role of the multinational corporation. Each of the book’s chapters frames a problem, provides some analysis and proposes solutions. On page after page, Stiglitz argues that globalization holds out great promise as a force for good, but that the rules of the present international economic order are designed and enforced by the rich nations to serve their interests. As a result, they are inequitable and inefficient.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Developed countries manipulate international trade rules to protect their factories and farmers from more efficient producers in the developing world, Stiglitz tells us. Multinational corporations evade responsibility for the damage they do. Meanwhile, the international financial system, led by the I.M.F., rewards improvident lenders (the wealthy) and penalizes hapless debtors (the poor).</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Stiglitz often invokes the concept of negative externalities: the costs that some individuals, firms or nations impose on others. A factory that skimps on pollution control, for instance, may increase its profits, but it harms the rest of society. The polluter is responding to incentives without having to pay the cost of its activities. Similarly, interest groups in developed nations benefit from favorable treatment by their governments, but these favors victimize people in developing nations who are trying to compete. It is bad enough, Stiglitz says, that thousands of wealthy American cotton farmers get billions of dollars in government subsidies; it is even worse that this depresses the world price of cotton, further impoverishing millions of African cotton farmers.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUJ8xupEsOl9PzaojMSq038HXm6rgx7kl82ltdDejo3j0sgqfqDo-w3bIqJrqc1sr0fQfur4qrp359B6HLEv6FCLJ_Ou91pBCiDE9rFIRURRCCoaDnGslbtfBrxw_s7mbXckwlsFMM-ko/s1600/stig190.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUJ8xupEsOl9PzaojMSq038HXm6rgx7kl82ltdDejo3j0sgqfqDo-w3bIqJrqc1sr0fQfur4qrp359B6HLEv6FCLJ_Ou91pBCiDE9rFIRURRCCoaDnGslbtfBrxw_s7mbXckwlsFMM-ko/s1600/stig190.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When the pursuit of private gain causes social losses, government should force the perpetrators either to stop or to help repair the damage, Stiglitz argues. This is the rationale for pollution control, fisheries management, public health restrictions and other familiar regulatory measures. “Making Globalization Work” calls repeatedly for action to avoid or redress the impact of externalities — in trade, corporate activity, the environment and financial and monetary affairs.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Stiglitz uses his command of economic logic to good effect, offering clear discussions of dozens of complex issues, from patent law to abuses in international trade. Many critics complain that drug companies overcharge poor countries, but Stiglitz goes further and makes a convincing case that this is not only immoral but also economically inefficient. Poor countries should be charged less than rich countries: if people willing to pay for medicines are unable to buy them, an existing demand goes unmet, which, in economic terms, is wasteful. Drug companies’ pursuit of private gain results in an inefficient allocation of resources and a social loss. Stiglitz won the Nobel for exploring how uncertainty and poor information can make markets fail. Here he takes evident pleasure in showing how an examination of incomplete markets can make corrective government policies desirable.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Many of Stiglitz’s criticisms are uncontroversial. He is hardly alone in believing that economic opportunities are not widely enough available, that financial crises are too costly and too frequent, and that the rich countries have done too little to address these problems. But he can be one-sided, as in his unstinting praise for East Asian development policies that often repressed labor and restricted democracy, and in his tendency to absolve developing-country governments of almost all blame for their problems. He is even weaker in his policy proposals.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Stiglitz argues throughout that powerful special interests have distorted the world economic order and the international institutions that run it. His preferred solutions are large-scale reforms in existing international institutions and the creation of new institutions like a global reserve system — to make trade fairer, to allocate reserves more equitably, to discourage despotism and corruption. But why would the national governments that, after all, still run the world want to do any of these things? And why should we expect new institutions to be any less biased, any less subject to special-interest pressures, than existing ones?</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is hard to disagree with Stiglitz’s intentions. Yet he seems to assume that bumping policies up to the international level will make world economic institutions less captive to the special interests he abhors — though democratic control of policy is more likely at a national than an international level, since most national politicians must face elections. Even if focusing on national policies (for example, what the United States should do in the I.M.F.) is difficult, it may be a more promising avenue for reform than Stiglitz’s new and improved international organizations.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>“Making Globalization Work”</b> is an optimistic book, offering the hope that global society has the will or the ability to address global problems and that international economic integration will ultimately prove a force for good. Certainly Stiglitz is right that the world would benefit from a concerted effort to address problems of the environment, poverty and disease. However, his proposals are almost utopian in their reliance upon good will, enlightened public opinion and moral imperatives to overcome selfish but deeply entrenched private or national interests that do not share his goal of making globalization work for as many countries and as many people as possible.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Stiglitz has given us a well-written and informative primer on the major global economic problems. He helps his readers understand exactly what is at stake. Nonetheless, for all its good intentions, “Making Globalization Work” is probably not a workable blueprint for the future.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">Photo Credit: Google</span></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16535547683214480562noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1395889303862806707.post-25373300745198527202012-10-24T22:41:00.000-07:002012-10-24T22:41:17.839-07:00Book Review : ON ETHICS AND ECONOMICS BY AMARTYA SEN<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">In the foreword to the book, John M. Letiche writes,<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span><i>"this small book is a <b>'treasure-chest'</b> for economists, philosophers and political scientists interested in the relations between contemporary economics and moral philosophy."</i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> Written in a clear, crisp and stimulating style, Prof. Amrtya Sen provides more than a terse synthesis of the relevant literature on ethics and economics. Here he shows the contributions that general equilibrium of economics can make to the study of moral philosophy; the contributions that moral philosophy and welfare economics can make to mainstream economics; and the harm that the misuse of the assumption of self-interested behavior has done to the quality of economic analysis.</span></span><b><span style="line-height: 28px;"></span></b></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="line-height: 24px;">Description and Summary</span></b></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">First of all, this book is a collection of his three lectures conducted abroad. He has divided the book into three main chapters and discusses various aspects in economics and ethics. In the first lecture, he goes in to the thoughts of Adam Smith, the father of economics. Here, he discusses the rational behavior & self-interest and the relationship of Adam Smith with Self-interest maximization. "Self interest dominates the majority of men." As Smith explains in <i>The Theory of Moral Sentiments</i>, Prudence is the union of two qualities of 'reason and understanding', on the one hand, and 'self-command', on the other. The notion of 'self-command', which Smith took from the Stoics, is not in any sense identical with 'self-interest' or what Smith called 'self-love'. As Smith himself puts it, 'man, according to Stoics, ought to regard himself, not as something seperated or detached, but as a citizen of the world, a member of the vast commonwealth of nature'. One of the passages of Adam Smith that has been quoted again and again by the latter-day Smithians, is quoted by Sen is the following: <i>"it is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker, that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest. We address ourselves, not to their humanity but to their sel-love, and never talk to them of our own necessities but of their advantages."</i></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">In the second lecture, Sen makes some economic judgement related to moral philosophy. First of all, he says that interpersonal comparisons of utility make no sense and are indeed totally meaningless. Second, Sen compares the pareto optimality & economic efficiency, well-being & Agency, Valuing & value and the relationship between self-interest and welfare-economics. Sen continues that if economic efficiency were the only criterion for economic judgement, and if the various conditions imposed by the so-called 'Fundamental Theorem of Welfare Economics' were to hold, then there would be in general no welfare-economic argument for anyone to behave in a way other than that required for self-interest maximization. Such behaviour on the part of all will indeed produce pareto optimality, and the attempt on the part of anyone to the part from self-interest maximization would, if it would do anything, only threaten the achievement of 'economic efficiency', i.e. Pareto optimality. Therefore, if welfare economics is in fact put in this extremely narrow box, and if the structural assumptions were to hold (including ruling out non-market interdependences), then there would indeed be no welfare-economic case against self-interested behaviour. Here Sen discusses that the impoverishment of economics related to its distancing from ethics affects both welfare economics and predictive economics.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">In the third and final lecture, he goes into the demands of the systematic ethical evaluation, and the role of consequences, freedom and rights in this evaluation. Here, he discusses how the conceptualization of personal achievement and advantage in welfare economics has been deeply influenced by the utilitarian view of the person and how this influence continues to be important even in the post-utilitarian phase of welfare-economics.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">In this elegant critique, Amartya Sen argues that a closer contact between welfare economics and modern ethical studies can substantively enrich and benefit both disciplines. He argues further that even predictive and descriptive- economics can be helped by making more room for welfare economic considerations in the explanation of behavior, especially in production relations, which inevitably involve problems of cooperation as well as conflict. The concept of rationality of behaviour is thoroughly proved in this context, with particular attention paid to social interdependence and internal tensions within consequentialist reasoning. In developing his general theme, Sen also investigates some related matters; the misinterpretation of Adam Smith's views on the role of self-seeking; the plausibility of an objectivist approach that attaches importance to subjective <span class="ilad">evaluations</span>; and the admissibility of incompleteness and of 'inconsistencies' in the form of over completeness in rational evaluation. Sen also explores the role and importance of freedom in assessing well-being as well as choice. Sen's contributions toeconomics and ethics have greatly strengthened the theoretical bases of both disciplines; this appraisal of the connections between the two subjects and their possible development will be welcomed for the clarity and depth it contributes to the debate. It's interesting how ethics and their practice seem to fall along the lines of events that tend to produce profits, and are therefore, more easily justified than not, to the point of being made a part of the law that governs ethics as well as processes. This aspect of human tendencies to favor profits as ethical under any circumstances may well have given rise to the Enron's, Worldcom's, etc., that often also produce the exonerations of bankruptcies where privileges of "restarts" are common, under different names, or through acuisition/mergers where social responsibilities are thrown by the wayside and efforts to salvage the more profitable opportunities are typical of commercial justice. The inconsistency that these ethics represents is often difficult to rationalize in rational minds.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="line-height: 24px;">Critical evaluation</span></b><b><span style="line-height: 24px;"></span></b></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">Through this lectures, he was trying to argue that welfare-economics can be substantially enriched by paying more attention to ethics, and that the study of ethics can also benefit from a closer contact with economics. He argued that even predictive and descriptive economics can be helped by making more room for welfare-economic considerations in the determination of behavior. He didn't try to argue that either of these exercises would be particularly easy. They involve deep-seated ambiguities, and many of the problems are inherently complex. But the case for bringing economics closer to ethics does not rest on this being an easy thing to do.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="line-height: 24px;">Conclusion</span></b></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Professor Amartya Sen, who became the first Asian to win the Nobel prize for economics today, has won acclaim as "conscience keeper" of the world of economics by probing into ethical and philosophical questions relating to inequality and causes of poverty and famine. <i>The Indian Express</i> dated on 15, October 1998 revealed Amartya Sen as a <b><i>'conscience keeper'</i></b> of world of economics<b>. </b><i>The Times of India</i> dated on 15, October 1998 says that Prof Sen's distinctiveness as an economist rests on the fact that he has ranged far and wide over the vast terrain covered under the rubric of economics. His diversity not only embraced different areas of economics but also bridged what, for most practitioners of the science, is an unbridgeable chasm -- that between the theoretical and the practical, combining empirical work with policy orientation. His contribution has been substantive to all the areas he has touched upon: social choice, definitions of poverty and welfare indices, causes of famine, and most importantly, the restatement of what indeed is development. Recognition of his outstanding insights to the science of economics has come in the form of a Nobel prize.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Book Review by Deepak Bhatt, 25.10.2012, 06:00 a.m.</b></span></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16535547683214480562noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1395889303862806707.post-27688816350227233232012-09-16T23:53:00.000-07:002012-09-16T23:53:13.665-07:00Being Ethical: Ethics as the Foundation of Business<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtk30LYIj2RjIQmgxTamqW9A55er15HbdAEgPrZ_UFre3C3Ik-kKU9jC47jyaOtxtP9NUnJZsRGVOjHMHDskFSsxeTZIn8hb9UtFskzrYb6O7Q1y8R-wQSGKrLbAJnzUble6nKJzxJeAQ/s1600/%7B4295B664-4FF0-47F2-B806-C30AFCAEEF35%7DImg100.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtk30LYIj2RjIQmgxTamqW9A55er15HbdAEgPrZ_UFre3C3Ik-kKU9jC47jyaOtxtP9NUnJZsRGVOjHMHDskFSsxeTZIn8hb9UtFskzrYb6O7Q1y8R-wQSGKrLbAJnzUble6nKJzxJeAQ/s320/%7B4295B664-4FF0-47F2-B806-C30AFCAEEF35%7DImg100.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: text1;">Businesses
have to act in self interest but to what extent should they sacrifice ethical
behaviour? The question has become increasingly relevant with the recent high
profile corporate scandals such as Satyam and the 2G scam. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: text1;">But
can, and should, a business behave ethically at all? Is the corporate social
responsibility of a company just to make profits as Nobel Prize winning
economist, Milton Friedman, once famously declared? In this timely book,
Professor Manikutty takes us through the minefield of business and ethics
looking at the ways in which ethics enters work and the choices available to
companies and to individuals. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: text1;">He
argues that being ethical is not a simple question of doing the right thing vs
the wrong thing; it is to find a balance between multiple right or wrong
choices, arriving at not a solution but a compromise. Using a variety of
examples and case studies from Indian businesses, Being Ethical is an
indispensable book for any responsible manager. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;">Does business need to be ethically neutral, not
unethical, but non-ethical? Asks Manikutty in this smartly brought out reader
for the Indian corporate mover and shaker. If the only social responsibility of
business is to make profits, is it enough that it is done legally? That is,
respecting the laws of the country you work in. What of ethics? To ask the
question in another way: Is being ethical good for business? It increases
credibility, generates trust, improves relationship with stakeholders, and
believe it or not, can reduce cost of litigations, says the author. But is it
practical? Tata’s story in India, missing in this book, could have been
instructive.</span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: text1;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="apple-style-span"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-themecolor: text1;">Professor S. Manikutty</span></b></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-themecolor: text1;"> </span></b></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-themecolor: text1;">has
specialized in Business Policy and Strategy and his areas of interest include
strategic management and competitive strategy, leadership, global
competitiveness of industries, corporate governance and strategies for family
businesses. He is the Regional Editor (Asia and the Pacific) of European
Journal of International Mangement (EJIM), a member of the Editorial Board of
Vikalpa, the journal of IIM Ahmedabad, Journal of Human Values published by the
Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta and of International Journal of
Innovation and Incubation published by Chinese Business Incubation Association
(Taiwan) as well as associate editor of Journal of Asia Entrepreneurship and
Sustainability published by St. Paul University (Quezon City, Philippines).</span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-themecolor: text1;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16535547683214480562noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1395889303862806707.post-17153852899383922442012-08-29T00:00:00.000-07:002012-08-29T00:00:07.366-07:00Toyota Under Fire by Jeffrey K. Liker and Timothy N. Ogden<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO-2iXrNxM1UhMdWGGgtT9rBbrWyF6n3OZ2SJV1eDWSRZzYavpmES_pItC2kfU7dF7_C5aMWpvzRPOdTY4TDCeyL0DkN9zBAKbF7unvDwbFTKPtakXNqJMKNaMEwWCK5KzL9wOMnEQiEg/s1600/toyota-under-fire-9780071762991.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO-2iXrNxM1UhMdWGGgtT9rBbrWyF6n3OZ2SJV1eDWSRZzYavpmES_pItC2kfU7dF7_C5aMWpvzRPOdTY4TDCeyL0DkN9zBAKbF7unvDwbFTKPtakXNqJMKNaMEwWCK5KzL9wOMnEQiEg/s320/toyota-under-fire-9780071762991.jpg" width="207" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I know it sounds silly but I found myself having read 50 pages and never jotting down a single item. I literally lost myself in this book.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The first 60 pages discuss how Toyota's culture and operations allowed it ride out out the recession and become stronger for it.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The remainder covers the issue of sudden unintended acceleration (SUA) and the Toyota recalls that followed.</span></div>
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<strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It reads like an episode of Law & Order. I loved it.</span></strong></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Read this book if you want to know the true facts about the recall and why the culture of problem solving at Toyota unintentionally caused so much angst in Americans.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It also covers how Toyota is changing they way they listen to customers by also understanding their worries and concerns.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The last few pages covers "Lessons" from the crisis. The book is worth reading just for these few pages of wisdom.</span></div>
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<strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The book is a fascinating compilation of data and facts that obliterates all the fallacy and myth about the recall.</span></strong></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After reading the book I Googled (Saylor sudden acceleration) and it's amazing the number of articles that contain so much false or misleading information about what was really happening at the time.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Just as Liker and Ogden say, some of the news pieces written appear to be based on innuendo, opinion and in some cases pure fiction. There was very little fact finding or discovery going on by the media. They just seemed to report everything that someone else said.</span></div>
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<strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></strong></div>
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<strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Who dunnit?" It was an improperly secured floor mat but public opinion didn't want to believe it and some still don't.</span></strong></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I wrote the next 2 segments in the hopes that people browsing the web for the real cause of the accident will find this and give themselves some closure. The book covers the below excerpt in about 6 pages but I wanted everyone to pay special attention to it so I gave it a louder voice in this review.<strong><br /></strong></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A few days before the Saylor family climbed into a dealer loaner and crashed, another person named Frank Bernard using the exact same vehicle had an almost identical experience.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Frank Bernard was using the same car a few days before the Saylors and had the accelerator pedal stick causing him to speed to between 80 - 85 mph. He used the brake to get down to about 25-30 mph and shift into neutral on the side of the road. He turned off the car, got out and removed the floor mat and went about his day.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Upon returning to the dealership he informed the receptionist what happened. Bernard assumed that the receptionist would pass the info along....the receptionist thought that Bernard would tell the service technician. Three days later Mark Saylor and his family would get the car as a loaner and die in a crash.</span></div>
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<strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The report is 29 pages so I've summarized the main points with the page numbers so you can read for yourself.</span></strong></div>
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<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The floor mat is indicated as being a possible cause ( p 14 - 15)</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How floor mats are stored and installed at Bob Baker Dealership (p 16 - 18)</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Recreation of pedal sticking (p 19 - 20)</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Frank Bernards story and the story from the receptionist (p 21 -23)</span></li>
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<strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">By the time I was done reading all of "Toyota Under Fire" I was asking myself 2 questions.</span></strong></div>
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<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Why does American culture desire conspiracy fueled by speculation as opposed to searching for facts?</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How can I get a job at Toyota?</span></li>
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<strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My favorite piece is a personal one.</span></strong></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Akio Toyoda often cites Jim Collins's book "How the Mighty Fall" to remind listeners that Toyota is not immune from mistakes and problems....That fourth stage is where Toyota's actions diverge from Collins's model. Those are the actions of a company that does not have, or does not have faith in, a strong culture. Toyota did not do any of these things. What Toyota has done is follow the recipe that Collins advocates: old-fashioned management virtues such as determination, discipline, calmness under pressure, and strategic decision making based on careful sifting of the evidence." Toyota followed the Toyota Way!</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16535547683214480562noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1395889303862806707.post-50597414908581674902012-08-23T06:42:00.002-07:002012-08-23T06:42:32.805-07:00The Accidental Theorist<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">First Published:</strong> 1998</li>
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THE ACCIDENTAL THEORIST: AND OTHER DISPATCHES FROM THE DISMAL SCIENCE is a collection of twenty-seven of Paul R. Krugman’s best essays that were written between the fall of 1995 and the summer of 1997. Throughout the book, Krugman uses clear English interspersed with understandable models and examples to communicate to the general public simple truths about economical issues, including unemployment, supply-side economics, corporate downsizing, globalization, economic growth, and financial speculation.</div>
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Krugman’s essays unravel and simplify some long-held and lofty economic ideas at a level that can be mostly understood by the general public, including insights on the effect of production efficiency on labor demand, the impact of globalization on economic policy, and the unimportance of the trade deficit with China. By examining pundits from across the political spectrum, Krugman enlightens the reader about the workings of the national economy, pointing out some of the pitfalls of the “supply-siders” of the Reagan-Bush era, as well as those of the “strategic traders” of the Clinton administration.</div>
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Since the book covers many important technical topics with great clarity, the reader’s desire to better understand economic principles, as well as the economic rhetoric of politicians, is encouraged and reinforced. However, this strong point also becomes a weak point of the book. Krugman not only needs to make the general public aware of the broad economic issues and problems, but he also needs to better address some practical solutions that might help resolve more of the problems. Nevertheless, the book is basically solid, and what Krugman has to say is clear, important, and provides the common public with a better overall understanding of the workings of our national economy.</div>
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, 'Liberation Sans', FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 23px;">Source: www.enotes.com</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16535547683214480562noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1395889303862806707.post-20566532844053183432012-08-17T02:57:00.001-07:002012-08-17T02:57:20.663-07:00Book Review: Confessions of an Economic Hit Man<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpjLlzR5-4bB9cEKouzf0Lak1n26ZhlUyS4jNMzWDkqzZzFH4Zg1tICZkNcMp0gWpD9GXPfgWEpJE1g9nkVBhHxj935J1jx5Ro0tdudCiS15EorGU8uFuWBf56vS7TF5ujpbZJwl5iRM4/s1600/confessions_of_an_economic_hitman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpjLlzR5-4bB9cEKouzf0Lak1n26ZhlUyS4jNMzWDkqzZzFH4Zg1tICZkNcMp0gWpD9GXPfgWEpJE1g9nkVBhHxj935J1jx5Ro0tdudCiS15EorGU8uFuWBf56vS7TF5ujpbZJwl5iRM4/s200/confessions_of_an_economic_hitman.jpg" width="129" /></a></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I just bought a new book named <b>"Confessions of a Economic Hit Man"</b> by John Perkins. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This book explains great secret stories of world's biggest fraud done by famous people across the globe. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Economic Hit Man are highly paid professionals who cheat countries around the globe out of trillions of dollars. Their tools include fraudulent financial reports, rigged elections, payoffs, extortion, sex and murder. They play a game as old as Empire but one that has taken on terrifying dimensions during this time of globalization.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">John Perkins should know - he was an economic hit man for an international consulting firm that worked to convince poorer countries to accept enormous development loans - and to make sure that such projects were contracted to U.S. companies. Once these countries were saddled with huge debts, the American government would request their 'pound of flesh' in flavours including access to natural resources, military cooperation and political support.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Confessions of an Economic Hit Man is the story of one man's experiences inside the intrigue, greed corruption and little known government and corporate activities that the U.S. have been involved in since World War II. The message is clear, unless these clandestine activities are stopped, they will have dire consequences for our future.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You can buy this book via this link - </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">http://www.homeshop18.com</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16535547683214480562noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1395889303862806707.post-75263379112137803312012-08-09T06:03:00.000-07:002012-08-09T06:03:21.813-07:00Book Review: The Black Swan (Nassim Nicholas Taleb)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It’s been some time since my last book review, so today I’ve decided to share my impressions of the latest book on probability by the ”financial dissident” Nassim Nicholas Taleb. If you still haven’t read his previous book — Fooled by Randomness (see my review here) — I strongly urge you to do so, even if you aren’t into trading. His latest book —<strong>The Black Swan</strong> — became a major bestseller and is a very important book, both for traders and for everyone else who works with the randomness.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The main idea of the book is that we can’t avoid the Black Swans (the rare events that are unpredictable in their nature) but we can try to decrease the amount of ”bad” Black Swans in our life and increase the amount of ”good” Black Swans — first, by admitting that our knowledge is very limited and by stopping to act like we can forecast rare events and, second, by choosing the life strategies, in which our potential success would be scalable and could surpass the potential failure. Other than that, the book offers the following important <strong>theses</strong>:</span></div>
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<li style="margin-top: 0.5em; text-align: justify; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What we don’t know can be more important than what we think we know.</span></li>
<li style="margin-top: 0.5em; text-align: justify; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We live partly in Extremistan and partly in Mediocristan. Rare events are very important (and are unpredictable) in Extremistan. Rare events have little impact in Mediocristan and they usually can be predicted.</span></li>
<li style="margin-top: 0.5em; text-align: justify; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Financial analysts, experts, strategists, portfolio managers generally don’t posses much knowledge about the reality of their profession, but for some reason general public listens to their opinions. Taleb sates that it’s completely unjustified.</span></li>
<li style="margin-top: 0.5em; text-align: justify; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bell curve (“the Great Intellectual Fraud”), although is a viable model in Mediocristan is a fallacy in Extremistan.</span></li>
<li style="margin-top: 0.5em; text-align: justify; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Modern world becomes more of Extremistan and less of Mediocristan.</span></li>
<li style="margin-top: 0.5em; text-align: justify; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our minds are bound to search and unite different facts and reasons — that’s the problem of the narrative fallacy.</span></li>
<li style="margin-top: 0.5em; text-align: justify; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pure probabilities don’t exist in Extremistan, they are properties of the artificial models — such as casinos and the study problems.</span></li>
<li style="margin-top: 0.5em; text-align: justify; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Fractal models of probabilities can’t predict the impact of the Black Swan, but they can give a slight hint, making a Black Swan Gray.</span></li>
<li style="margin-top: 0.5em; text-align: justify; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In Extremistan, metaphorically speaking, if you don’t chase the train, you don’t get frustrated by missing the train — if you don’t rely on the appearance or the lack of the Black Swans your state of mind won’t be disturbed by them.</span></li>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Although I liked Taleb’s previous book (Fooled by Randomness) more, this one also deserves attention and was very interesting despite the small amount of the new ideas compared to his previous work. I’d like to point out the following <strong>advantages</strong>:</span></div>
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<li style="margin-top: 0.5em; text-align: justify; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Interesting read due to the literary style of the author. I can imagine how boring could the book on such topic be if it would have been written by some “professor”.</span></li>
<li style="margin-top: 0.5em; text-align: justify; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Deeper understanding of the rare unpredictable events compared to Fooled by Randomness.</span></li>
<li style="margin-top: 0.5em; text-align: justify; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">More practical advices. They are more of ideas than advices but still can be quite helpful.</span></li>
<li style="margin-top: 0.5em; text-align: justify; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A book with praises to both Popper and Mandelbrot in it? I buy it :)! (Yeah, that’s quite subjective.)</span></li>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But to add some negative to this rather positive review, I’d want to mention that I liked Fooled by Randomness more than this one. Maybe that’s because the first book on a topic leaves a strong impression, or perhaps because of a rather bad translation (I couldn’t find The Black Swan in English here). Anyway, let’s list some <strong>disadvantages</strong>:</span></div>
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<li style="margin-top: 0.5em; text-align: justify; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As it was the case with Taleb’s previous book, the structure of the book is quite bad, there is still a lot of subject jumping even inside the <nobr>sub-chapters</nobr>.</span></li>
<li style="margin-top: 0.5em; text-align: justify; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Nassim Taleb is a genius but his style is quite heavily ridden with snobbery of an erudite and an intellectual.</span></li>
<li style="margin-top: 0.5em; text-align: justify; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There were many things, about which I’d disagree with the author and which needed further discussion, but they don’t eliminate the importance of the main problem of the book.</span></li>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To sum it all up, if you still haven’t read Fooled by Randomness, go, read it. If you liked it and want more, read The Black Swan. If you didn’t like it, then there’s no reason for you to read The Black Swan. But, apart from the direct usefulness of Taleb’s books, there’s always a big portion of aesthetic pleasure in reading his books. So, if you are looking for something to read, you can always stop by The Black Swan and combine the useful with the pleasant.</span></div>
</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16535547683214480562noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1395889303862806707.post-17051929336470357122012-08-05T22:32:00.003-07:002012-08-05T22:32:58.392-07:00Book Review : Competitive Strategy by Michael E. Porter<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Michael Porter is Professor at the Institute of Strategy and Competitiveness at Harvard Business School and a recognised authority on competition and competitive strategy. His book Competitive Strategy was first published in 1980 and quickly became required reading on many business studies and MBA programmes around the world.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The book was clearly written to be a text book as it provides a very structured and somewhat clinical description of the subject, rather than the more narrative approach preferred by authors targeting a broader audience. Nevertheless, it is an important work that does have a place on the bookshelves of practitioners as well as academics.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The book states that its objective is; “to provide a comprehensive framework of analytical techniques to help organisations analyse their industry as a whole and to predict their own future evolution, understand their competitors and to translate this analysis into a competitive strategy for their business.”</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The book is organised in three parts. In Part 1, the book presents a comprehensive framework for analysing the structure of an industry and its competition.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In Part 2, Porter shows how the analysis from Part 1 can be used to develop a competitive strategy. In this section he places a great deal of emphasis on how that strategy should be adapted to suit the circumstances of a particular industry. A strength of the book is therefore its recognitions that there are no “one-size-fits-all” routes to success and that successful strategies are based on the thorough analysis of a large number of variables.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the final part of the book Porter considers some of the major strategic decisions organisations are likely to face, such as whether to increase capacity, enter new markets or vertically integrate. Given the somewhat generic nature of the rest of the book, this section may at first sight see rather specific. However, the point I believe Porter is making is that change is inevitable and the strategies he describes are ones that organisations will inevitably have to consider at some point in their development as markets mature and as they attempt to react to or our-manoeuvre their competitors.</span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19px;"><br /></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-language: GU; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;">Although widely regarded as a seminal work, the
book has been frequently criticised for being too static in its analysis,
implying that markets do not change, a criticism Porter dismisses as a
misunderstanding. While I accept Porter’s point, it is easy to see how a
book that is so detailed in its analysis can be viewed as ignoring the dynamics
of an increasing pace of change; after all, not many companies will have either
the time or resource to conduct the sort of in-depth analysis that Porter
advocates before making important decisions in today’s markets. However,
this does not make the analysis any less worthwhile, it simply emphasises the
need for business leaders to be constantly in touch and well informed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-language: GU; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;">Finally to the difficult question – would I
recommend the book?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-language: GU; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;">I would certainly recommend it to anyone who is
working on writing a strategic plan as it provides a useful check-list of the
subjects to cover. But for someone with a more general interest in
marketing or business strategy, I would recommend “Dealing With Darwin” by
Geoffery Moore in preference to this book, as Moor provides an eminently more
readable description of the dynamics of strategic planning - Porter provides
more of a check-list.</span></div>
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</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Click <span class="link" style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: none;"><a class="link" href="http://www.homeshop18.com/competitive-strategy-techniques-analyzing-industries-competitors/author:michael-e-porter/isbn:9780743260886/books/miscellaneous/product:27127888/cid:14567/" style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">here</a></span> if you would like to purchase a copy of this book.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">* Author: Deepak Bhatt is a Strategic Management Consultant based at Ahmedabad, India. To know more about him, you may visit <a href="http://www.managementthinker.com/">www.managementthinker.com</a> </span></span></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16535547683214480562noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1395889303862806707.post-78105791800796748002012-08-04T02:21:00.000-07:002012-08-04T02:21:12.079-07:00The Innovator's Dilemma by Clayton M. Christensen<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">This book demonstrates how great managers in
top-performing companies can lead their companies into financial disaster even
while adhering to what were considered best practices during the late twentieth
century. Throughout the book, Dr. Christensen draws insights from his
observations of three industries (data storage, earth moving equipment, and
steel production) in which the disruptive technologies resulted in lost market
share for established firms that were unwilling adopt new standards.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Dr. Christensen provides a framework for managers
to recognize disruptive technologies and he performs a case study of electric
car technology to communicate how managers should react to the dual threat and
opportunity presented by disruptive technologies. This landmark book
deserves credit for reshaping strategic thinking on how and when to adopt and
market new standards for products (and services) in every industry.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">According to Dr. Christensen, established firms
typically focus their energies on <i>sustaining</i> technology
research and development and thus make incremental improvements to existing
technologies that comply with the standards and specifications specified by the
market. Working under such constraints naturally imposes limitations on
the direction of these R&D efforts resulting in gradual improvements that
bear little risk of market rejection.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The underlying assertion of this book is that the
risk-adjusted rewards associated with performing R&D for technologies that
deliver the anticipated (future) needs of the market may outweigh the
risk-adjusted rewards associated with performing R&D for sustaining
technologies. Managers have historically been taught to listen and
respond to the immediate or near-term needs of the market, so allocating resources
to development of disruptive technologies is a tough sell. In addition,
disruptive technologies often have not only little or no immediate market, but
also they may not work with complimentary technologies and infrastructures
(e.g., computer designers/assemblers must develop new chases to house 2.5 inch
hard drives).</span><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">In my humble opinion, engineers and scientist have
always recognized the dilemma described by Dr. Christensen but have never
communicated the issue so eloquently. The lifecycle of development for
nearly every technology platform exhibits diminishing marginal returns in
improvement for incremental development efforts. New technology platforms
must always be developed to bring significant increases in value to markets
towards the end of any product development lifecycle. The power of Dr.
Christensen's message is that companies must,</span><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<ol start="1" style="line-height: normal;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; line-height: normal; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">learn <u>when to investigate, develop and
deliver</u> disruptive technologies (sooner)<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; line-height: normal; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">how to <u>effectively organize a company</u> to
stimulate development of disruptive technologies<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; line-height: normal; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">how to <u>recognize the value</u> of
disruptive technologies through conservative initial marketing practices,
targeting appropriate markets, and frequent redesign during the early
stages of development<o:p></o:p></span></li>
</ol>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">By account of the destruction of numerous blue-chip corporations, Dr.
Christensen establishes the imperative that every company must have a strategy
to address disruptive technologies. He clearly demonstrates that many
technologies are susceptible to profound innovation and that competitors with
disruptive technologies (usually new entrants to markets) will likely attack
your market from below, i.e., disruptive technologies are generally not as
robust as existing technologies. Thus every company must,</span><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<ol start="1" style="line-height: normal;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; line-height: normal; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">consider developing disruptive technologies,<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; line-height: normal; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">recognize the threat of disruptive technologies as
they appear in the market,<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; line-height: normal; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">be prepared to incorporate the standards associated
with these disruptive technologies into their products/services.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
</ol>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">It is noteworthy that some companies have survived and remained profitable by
maintaining existing technologies while losing overall market share to
competitors that develop and market disruptive technologies. According to
Dr. Christensen, these companies must retreat up-market to survive, e.g.,
hydraulic technology replaced cable-actuated technology in earth moving
equipment in all but the most heavy-duty applications.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Dr. Christensen points out that development of
disruptive technologies requires a major shift in how companies do
business. First, management must be willing to accept the higher
probability of failure associated with disruptive technologies. Second,
established firms must be willing to find new markets for these
products/services rather than pushing disruptive technologies towards existing
customers. Finally, cultural norms in many organizations may result in
across-the-board lack of support for disruptive technology development efforts
if such technologies are not perceived to be central to the mission of the
firm. Regarding the last issue, Dr. Christensen proposes that companies
are well-advised to spin-off or otherwise create separate incentive systems for
individuals involved with developing a disruptive technology.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Dr. Christensen notes several other advantages to
creating more distinct operating divisions to handle development and marketing
of disruptive technologies. First, large firms are generally dissatisfied
with investments that do not generate cash from operations for extended periods
of time. Furthermore, even if an investment in a disruptive technology
generates cash, it is likely to initially capture only a small fraction of its
overall market - another typical cause for a project cancellation within the confines
of a large firm. A separate division is more likely to persist with its
development efforts if all bets ride on the success of the disruptive
technology. Such a division is also more likely to act entrepreneurial by
initially targeting very specific customers (thinking small) rather than
changing the technology to suit existing customers.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The last few chapters of the book consider the
important point that disruptive technologies are likely to require several
iterations of product redesign before they find a market. Thus, he
strongly recommends that companies leave themselves enough cash to improve upon
their technologies after initial development.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">This book is a must read for every technologist and
business manager. With a greater understanding of the applications
presented in this work, large corporations will eventually build this thinking
into their cultures and embrace the development of breakthrough
innovations. Dr. Christensen has proven that standards will continue to
be destroyed and redeveloped, and that markets can be made for disruptive
technologies!</span></div>
</span></div>
</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16535547683214480562noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1395889303862806707.post-56630513646597210042012-08-01T00:00:00.001-07:002012-08-01T00:00:36.585-07:00Persuasive Manager<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Persuasive Manager argues compellingly that strategic communication lies at the core of business leadership, and helps organizations run smoothly and effectively. What is persuasion, and how should managers balance their ability to persuade and exercise authority without becoming authoritarian? If credibility and mutual goodwill are to be established, then the need to inspire loyalty and build interpersonal relationships becomes an essential managerial strategy. The book explores the role of persuasion at different levels of the corporate hierarchy how does a manager convince her subordinates to initiate change? How can peers, or customers and suppliers, be won over and their opinions influenced? Persuading bosses is a particularly tricky business, so how does one use the perfect mix of tact, reasoning, discussion, and ingratiation? With its wealth of real-world illustrations, scenarios, and tips, The Persuasive Manager is the perfect communications roadmap for all managers.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">The IIM Ahmedabad Business Books bring key issues in management and business to a general audience. With a wealth of information and illustrations from contemporary Indian businesses, these non-academic and user-friendly books from the faculty of IIM Ahmedabad are essential corporate reading. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>M.M. Monippally </b>is a Professor of communications at IIM Ahmedabad. A specialist in strategies of managerial communication, persuasion, and bad news delivery, he has designed and run training worksops for middle and senior managers at Morgan Stanley, Reuters India, ICICI Bank, MICO Bosch, Global Trust Bank, and many other organizations.</span></span></div>
</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16535547683214480562noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1395889303862806707.post-34673971568654366562012-07-30T23:22:00.000-07:002012-07-30T23:22:52.125-07:00Private Label Strategy: How to Meet the Store Brand Challenge<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiPwu89Lg3IKyrBGaGyUVqobisBzfEEVFdBno-8-TUGnMHDNktnxsVIWTJEM8tqcdL3KGBpHCKqgSdz6x1OQMnoAWCmFuhbIMh_hbgCW2c_YEgbFMhyl0y8Th4y43nWYk3p774MXbnvdI/s1600/plstrategy1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiPwu89Lg3IKyrBGaGyUVqobisBzfEEVFdBno-8-TUGnMHDNktnxsVIWTJEM8tqcdL3KGBpHCKqgSdz6x1OQMnoAWCmFuhbIMh_hbgCW2c_YEgbFMhyl0y8Th4y43nWYk3p774MXbnvdI/s320/plstrategy1.jpg" width="203" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: black;">As retailers have become more powerful and global,
they have increasingly focused on their own brands at the expense of
manufacturer brands. Rather than simply selling on price, retailers have
transformed private labels into brands. Consequently, manufacturers such as
Johnson & Johnson, Nestle, and Procter & Gamble now compete with their
largest customers: major retail chains like Carrefour, CVS, Tesco, and
Wal-Mart. </span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">The growth in private labels has huge implications for managers on
both sides. Yet, brand manufacturers still cling to their outdated assumptions
about private labels. </span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black;">In "Private Label Strategy: How to Meet the Store
Brand Challenge," Nirmalya Kumar and Jan-Benedict E.M. Steenkamp describe
the new strategies for private labels that retailers are using, and challenge
brand manufacturers to develop an effective response. Most important, they lay
out actionable strategies for competing against--or collaborating with--private
label purveyors. Packed with detailed international case studies, valuable
visuals, and hands-on tools, Private Labels enables managers to navigate
profitably in this radically altered landscape.</span><span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;">About the Author<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;">Nirmalya Kumar</span></b><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;"> <b>(Winner: 2011 Thinkers50 Global Village
Award)</b> is a professor of marketing at London Business School, where he
is also co-director of the Aditya Birla India Center. His work focuses on
marketing and the rise of India as an economic force.Kumar is the author of
several books. Marketing as Strategy: Understanding the CEO’s Agenda for
Driving Growth and Innovation (2004); Global Marketing (2005); and Private
Label Strategy: How to Meet the Store Brand Challenge (2007), focused on
marketing strategy, where Kumar is also credited with introducing the concept
of "3Vs": valued customer, value proposition and value network.More
recently, he has written about India and its rise to economic superpower
status. In India's Global Powerhouses: How They Are Taking on the World (2009),
Kumar provides an insider's guide to doing business with Indian leaders and
companies.His latest book is India Inside: The Emerging Innovation Challenge to
the West, written with London Business School colleague Phanish Puranam (2011).
A keen collector of the work of Indian artist Jamini Roy, Kumar is said to have
the largest collection of Roy paintings outside of India.</span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</span></span></div>
</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16535547683214480562noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1395889303862806707.post-5234683862034591972012-07-29T23:54:00.003-07:002012-07-29T23:54:40.337-07:00Hard life for high-profile inmates in jail<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Former telecom minister <b>A. Raja</b> spends his day in a 15x10 feet
cell in Jail No. 1 of Delhi's Tihar Jail. The cell doesn't have a bed. Charged
with facilitating a <b>Rs
1,76,000-crore scam</b>, he sleeps on the floor using two of the six
blankets given to him as a mattress. Says Neeraj Kumar, director general
prisons (Delhi), "Inside the jail, no one is a VIP. High-profile prisoners
have been extended no extra facilities unless permitted by the court." In
Raja's case, the court has granted him permission to get home-cooked food twice
a week. Two conditions come attached: it should contain no curry and fruits.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 16px;"><b>Ex. Satyam Boss Ramalinga Raju</b></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 16px;">Courts have been more generous
to some other high-profile prisoners. A court directed the Central Prison in
Chanchalguda in Hyderabad to accord "special remand prisoner status"
to former Satyam boss M. Ramalinga Raju. Prisoners have the right to apply for
this status on the basis of their social standing and economic profile before
being incarcerated. There are less than 20 prisoners in the special category
among the 13,000 lodged in different jails across Andhra Pradesh.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The special status entitles Raju to better living conditions. Unlike Raja,
Raju has a cot, a mattress, two pillows, a mosquito net, a reading table with a
chair, and an additional easy chair in his prison cell. The 'special status'
also enables him to get fruits, something that is denied to an ordinary remand
prisoner like Raja. Raju is also entitled to fresh clothes and reading
material. Like ordinary prisoners, he is allowed two visitors a week. Other
privileges to those granted special status by a court include a barber on call.
Ordinary remand prisoners have to wait for their turn: there are usually only
15 barbers for every 1,000 prisoners.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Haldiram co-owner Prabhu Shankar Agarwal<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Life in prison, even with
special privileges, is worse than in a hospital bed. Nine months after he was
first imprisoned, Raju was moved to an air-conditioned ward in Hyderabad's
Nizam Institute of Medical Sciences after he was diagnosed with Hepatitis C and
a heart ailment. He stayed there for 10 months before being granted bail by the
high court. The Supreme Court cancelled his bail 84 days later and sent him
back to prison.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Manu Sharma, sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Jessica Lall,
managed to get parole for two months in September 2009 to look after his ailing
mother. Keen to make up for the lack of a social life in prison, Sharma hit
Delhi's clubbing circuit with a vengeance only to get into a public brawl at a
nightclub. His parole was cancelled.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Raja, for the moment, seems content with socialising within Tihar's walls.
Prison guards saw him in conversation with R.K. Sharma, a former IPS officer
convicted for the murder of journalist Shivani Bhatnagar.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">According to Kumar, the prisoners are given ample opportunity to get
together. "There are designated hours when prisoners are allowed to visit
the common room or the sports field," he says. Sharma is reportedly an
enthusiastic sportsperson and captains his jail's Twenty20 cricket team. Tihar
Jail also has a television in each barrack.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Jesica Lall murder convict Manu Sharma<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12pt; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Some VIP prisoners help
improve the quality of life of their fellow inmates. Prabhu Shankar Agarwal,
co-owner of the Rs 500-crore Haldiram Bhujiawala snacks and eateries chain,
spent a number of months in Kolkata's Alipore Central Jail, accused of
conspiring to kill a tea-stall owner, before he was released on bail last
September. He spent his jail term doing what he knew best: supervising the
kitchen. "He contributed to improve the quality of food which was being
served in our canteen. Many times he would make snacks such as samosas and
kachoris to demonstrate to others," says an official at the jail. He
trained at least 10 people in the art of cooking.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Social hierarchies don't just dissolve in jail. A Tihar prisoner who was
released three months ago says, "The social profile outside the jail
prevails inside the jail. Some privileges get accorded in a clandestine
manner." He blames the lower level prison staff for this. In 2009, for
example, Tihar officials recovered prohibited Internet data cards and pen
drives from jail numbers 2, 3 and 4. In 2010, authorities recovered nine
cellphones and 11 sim cards. A number of counter-measures like mobile phone
jammers and cctv surveillance were installed after these incidents. Says the
former prisoner: "Tihar jail is much better than other prisons, but
high-profile prisoners can still buy their comfort."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For a high-profile prisoner, Raja seems to have caused minimal problems for
the authorities and made few demands. Says Kumar: "He is cooperative and
we have no issues with him." Raja follows the jail routine to the tee. He
gets up at 5 a.m. and arrives punctually for breakfast at 6 a.m. At 7 p.m., he
lines up with the other prisoners for a headcount before all are locked in
their respective cells for the night.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Jail is a great leveller," says Kumar. But a privileged few will
always be more equal than others.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 8.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16535547683214480562noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1395889303862806707.post-88547758915030796042012-07-27T22:18:00.000-07:002012-07-27T22:18:48.354-07:00Book Review: Tom Cruise: All the World's a Stage<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS7XY3xGWDyN1VO-vGym-dtz0KxZTRroY6cyAOzLlySK9CVd8-2A_L93PTZpbc6sc2lhuIMaQLXbRPprY0QK8SKJ4aZET866YoI8JdWDawVvweWwsJeCaDcRXTdC6iMW8aMrsgMavQ4yw/s1600/41wIcMPOtpL._SL500_AA300_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS7XY3xGWDyN1VO-vGym-dtz0KxZTRroY6cyAOzLlySK9CVd8-2A_L93PTZpbc6sc2lhuIMaQLXbRPprY0QK8SKJ4aZET866YoI8JdWDawVvweWwsJeCaDcRXTdC6iMW8aMrsgMavQ4yw/s1600/41wIcMPOtpL._SL500_AA300_.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You can't envy Iain Johnstone the task of trying to write an up-to-the-minute biography of mercurial star Tom Cruise. Unlike some of the other biographies the former film critic has written -- notably on Dustin Hoffman and Clint Eastwood -- Tom Cruise is very much a work in progress and every day seems to bring new potential fodder for the biography mill. No matter: deadlines must be met, contracts must be honored, books must be written so, coming out of the gate, <i>Tom Cruise: All the World's a Stage</i> is not quite as fresh as it could be. The story is still being written, in a way. But the book? The book is here.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now, all of that said, Johnstone has done a credible job in weaving in all the threads of the ongoing story that is the actor Tom Cruise. His relationships, both failed and in progress, as well as various fist-raising and couch jumping episodes ("The year 2005 was, without doubt, the most astonishing in Tom Cruise's life...") and although the final picture is still incomplete, Johnstone gets points for insight and detail.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It should be pointed out that saying that the book is incomplete is not a quibble. The subject of the book is still a relatively young man and, perhaps more importantly, one who seems more and more emotionally volatile as the years pass. Unlike much of the entertainment press, Johnstone restrains himself from taking runs at this new volatility, though he does examine some of the causes. And while the portrait he produces seems as evenhanded as can be, it's more stately than might be expected, considering the type of press Cruise has been getting the last few years.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Because Cruise is arguably the most significant star of his generation -- and certainly has been for many years one of the best paid -- much has been written about him throughout his career. As a result, the star's die-hard fans won't find much here that's new. After all, in one form or another, it's all been said before. On the other hand, Johnstone brings an insider's insight to his Cruise biography project. As Johnstone points out in his prologue, he was appointed film critic of London's<i>Sunday Times</i> in 1983, the same year Tom Cruise starred in<i>Risky Business.</i></span></div>
<blockquote style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>During my dozen years as a critic, I observed and analyzed this arrestingly handsome young man with his perfectly symmetrical features, searchlight blue eyes and killer smile.</i></span></blockquote>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">More salient to the text than even Johnstone's professional observations have been the author's proximity to both the industry and even, on occasion, the star himself. Johnstone co-write the screenplay for <i>Fierce Creatures</i> with John Cleese. Still in the prologue, Johnstone relays his first meeting with Cruise, who visited the set of <i>Fierce Creatures</i> with Sarah Ferguson and "assorted children" in 1996. At first, no one recognized Cruise:</span></div>
<blockquote style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>They recognised the Duchess of York, her red mane not being the best disguise in the world; but not our chauffeur in his baseball cap and dark shades. All eyes turned to Fergie, who attracts a slightly mixed reaction amongst the British public -- and so it was that suffocating summer's morning. Little attention was paid to the man in black. Until he smiled -- that smile. Cynthia Cleese, normally the coolest of customers, permitted her mouth fall open when she realised who was addressing her.</i></span></blockquote>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As these snippets from the prologue indicate, <i>Tom Cruise: All the World's a Stage</i> manages just about a perfect balance of insider insight and good old journalistic research. Hard-core Cruise fans will find few surprises, but the rest of us will find much of interest.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">- Deepak Bhatt is a freelancer writer and chief editor of Leadership Express.</span></span></div>
</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16535547683214480562noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1395889303862806707.post-54721441019856512022012-07-26T23:06:00.002-07:002012-07-26T23:06:25.838-07:00Book Review: How Will You Measure Your Life?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFl5KTojobwKA45C-jucVpXH80Pm7CEzMF1qAwICGAeGyKu9yZT-LYcjRemmuMj7zE4p13JGNnQlycLcwGHCnftDQxSg_0bkv69DydccVBIV4pOxhPFBswFA-TyDgQnx1jbScW6DYY-qE/s1600/171651338.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFl5KTojobwKA45C-jucVpXH80Pm7CEzMF1qAwICGAeGyKu9yZT-LYcjRemmuMj7zE4p13JGNnQlycLcwGHCnftDQxSg_0bkv69DydccVBIV4pOxhPFBswFA-TyDgQnx1jbScW6DYY-qE/s320/171651338.JPG" width="213" /></span></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Writing this column for the past
several weeks has been hard for me. How I wish it were the only thing I could
do. But scrambling to<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-color: initial; border-style: initial; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px;"><span style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-left-color: windowtext; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 1pt; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 1pt; border-top-color: windowtext; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 1pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;">live</span></em>,
I’m forced to attend to other matters. They are namely matters that enable me
to have a roof over my head, but, as a result, give me little time to focus on
global entrepreneurs and global innovations in the detailed and analytical
manner both deserve. As such, I’m forced to choose between quantity (getting
material out) and quality (getting the story right). For me, quality
wins. After reading Clay Christensen’s new book,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-color: initial; border-style: initial; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px;"><span style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-left-color: windowtext; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 1pt; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 1pt; border-top-color: windowtext; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 1pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;">How Will You
Measure Your Life?,</span></em><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>I’m
relieved to know that’s spot-on.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Christensen, a professor at
Harvard<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-left-color: windowtext; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 1pt; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 1pt; border-top-color: windowtext; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 1pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;">Business</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>School, rose to fame with<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-color: initial; border-style: initial; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px;"><span style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-left-color: windowtext; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 1pt; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 1pt; border-top-color: windowtext; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 1pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;">The Innovator’s
Dilemma,</span></em><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;"> </span></i></span>a book that looks at how companies stay
cutting-edge and relevant through disruption. It caught the attention of many
Silicon Valley stars, most prominently former<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-left-color: windowtext; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 1pt; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 1pt; border-top-color: windowtext; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 1pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;">Intel</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>chief Andy Grove, who famously asked
Christensen to talk about what disruptive innovation meant for Intel. “But
instead of telling him what to think,” Christensen writes in his latest book’s
first chapter, “I taught him how to think. He then reached a bold decision
about what to do, on his own.”<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-color: initial; border-style: initial; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px;"><span style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-left-color: windowtext; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 1pt; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 1pt; border-top-color: windowtext; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 1pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;">How
Will You Measure Your Life</span></em>strives for a similar goal. Only
Christensen and his co-authors, James Allworth and Karen Dillon, hope that goal
is a worthy and fulfilling life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Finding happiness” is the header
titles for the respective sections of the approximately 200-page book (except
the last one which he calls “Staying Out of Jail”). That is its only flaw.
Though Christensen presents his material in self-help jargon, it avoids the
maudlin and illusionary comfort most in the “you can do it too!” genre render.
There is no focus on explanations or exceptionalism here. Christensen anchors<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-color: initial; border-style: initial; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px;"><span style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-left-color: windowtext; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 1pt; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 1pt; border-top-color: windowtext; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 1pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;">How Will You Measure Your Life</span></em>on
the opposite premise: you’re not special. Life, it points out, while rewarding,
is hard. So too must how we grapple with it. Christensen boils that down to
accepting, working with and appreciating what we have. Purpose and process, he
says, are key factors.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Christensen devotes the end of his book to purpose, asking readers
to think about the lives ahead of them: who, not what, did they want to be? He
asks that people not confuse purpose with priorities, which is a knee-jerk
default in today’s hyper-connected multi-tasking world. We’ve all got things to
do, it argues, but how do those things you’re doing impact you? It is an
appropriate conclusion to a book that asks us to question our decisions by
thinking ahead and, more importantly, outside of ourselves.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Many products fail,” Christensen writes, “because companies are
developed from the wrong perspective…We go into them thinking about what we
want rather than what is important to the other person.” He uses milk shakes as
an example. Asked by a “big fast-food restaurant” to advise them on how to
“ramp up sales of their milk shakes,” despite repeated improvements. “I wonder
what job arises in people’s lives that causes them to come to this restaurant
to ‘hire’ a milk shake?” he posits, “bringing a completely different
perspective” to the problem.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-color: initial; border-style: initial; line-height: 14.4pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Interestingly, all of the books
problems are addressed through business case studies. While Christensen does
regale us with a personal anecdote about how his mother shared with him her
thoughts about how she would mend a pair of socks in order to make a point
about empathy,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-color: initial; border-style: initial; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px;"><span style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-left-color: windowtext; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 1pt; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 1pt; border-top-color: windowtext; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 1pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;">How
Will You Measure Your Life</span></em><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>provides
concrete examples from experiences incurred by big brands such as<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-left-color: windowtext; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 1pt; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 1pt; border-top-color: windowtext; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 1pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;">Dell</span>,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-left-color: windowtext; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 1pt; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 1pt; border-top-color: windowtext; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 1pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;">Netflix</span>, Honda and
IKEA. This helps anchor the book at the practical intersection of life and
work. While morality and conscious dominate in this book, it avoids earnest
idealism. In many ways, though it never explicitly says so, it argues against
it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What it argues for is hard work,
which is harder than you may think. Today’s world provides too many scapegoats
and shortcuts. That’s what<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-color: initial; border-style: initial; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px;"><span style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-left-color: windowtext; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 1pt; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 1pt; border-top-color: windowtext; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 1pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;">How
Will You Measure Your Life</span></em><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;"> </span></i></span>is trying to stop. Or else Christensen
says you’ll be “set off in the wrong direction.” He uses his former HBS
classmate Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling as an example. “When his entire career
unraveled with his conviction on multiple federal felony charges relating to
Enron’s financial collapse, it not only shocked me that he had gone wrong, but
how spectacularly he had done so.” That, Christensen says, was probably a result
of “just this once..” or marginal thinking.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Marginal thinking is just that, seeing everything from the margins
– a narrow purview. Problem with that Christensen says is that when you’re
looking at things from the sidelines, you’re not seeing the whole picture or
considering all options, including who and what you want to be. That’s what
happened to Blockbuster, Christensen says, when it ignored Netflix when it
rolled out DVD by post. And we know how that turned out.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To avoid this fate, Christensen says, “you need to decide what
kind of person you want to be and what you stand for – and how often you want
to stand for it; not some of the time, not most of the time – but all the
time.” All the time – hard work, hardly ideal.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hardly ideal is how I sometimes
feel about the pieces I’ve put together for <em><span style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-left-color: windowtext; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 1pt; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 1pt; border-top-color: windowtext; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 1pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-style: normal;">Entreventures</span></span></em>. On those days I let the deadline pass. That annoys a great many,
including me. But with a plethora of information generated by an even greater
number of so-call “experts,” it seems only right to give readers well
researched and thought through material. Quality counts. That’s how I want you
to measure me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-color: initial; border-style: initial; line-height: 14.4pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-left-color: windowtext; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 1pt; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 1pt; border-top-color: windowtext; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 1pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;">How Will You Measure Your Life</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>hits bookstands tomorrow.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Source: Forbes</span></o:p></span></div>
</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16535547683214480562noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1395889303862806707.post-40580388554771997122012-07-26T00:06:00.002-07:002012-07-26T00:08:04.420-07:00Glow: How you can radiate energy, innovation and success by Lynda Gratton<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqIr7uzcXCZJOgjFPCyz978ISaK8AUtO17MZz4PkUQIXKBen2qwWRkVjKbos598qOwYIq7z8MsLig-eYmqXN-613sh4M9GwRP5lTBIAW7uE_tZ-JUEGtI6pmz1Tv2HIUoNRHtsIXUNdcs/s1600/9780273723875.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqIr7uzcXCZJOgjFPCyz978ISaK8AUtO17MZz4PkUQIXKBen2qwWRkVjKbos598qOwYIq7z8MsLig-eYmqXN-613sh4M9GwRP5lTBIAW7uE_tZ-JUEGtI6pmz1Tv2HIUoNRHtsIXUNdcs/s320/9780273723875.jpg" width="203" /></a></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Business theory larded with self-help truisms make for an overblown read. He may not be all aglow, but Peter York finds himself strangely warming to its author.</span></span></h2>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;">Glow: How you can radiate energy, innovation and success </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;">Lynda Gratton</span></span></h2>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;">FT Prentice Hall</span></span></h2>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">£14.99</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;"><br /></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When I first went through Lynda Gratton's Glow - reading's not really the word for it - I felt something calling me. I felt strangely drawn back to the comedian Neil Mullarkey's Don't be Needy Be Succeedy, a spoof of the Cool Culture Change genre book, which I reviewed for MT last year.</span></div>
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I didn't think it was accurate or funny then, mainly because the real things, motivational management books, were pretty much beyond parody. The language, the format, everything about Glow made me wonder if this woman could possibly be a real professor (she is, of management practice at LBS), and really be on The Times and FT lists of the world's top business thinkers (she is).</div>
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I mean, the book's called Glow; Gratton has founded an onward and upward global business community, Hot Spots Movement, which 'conducts research in the field of energy and innovation', and in 2006 she became head of the Lehman Brothers Centre for Women in Business (sic).</div>
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Everything in Glow is written in the self-help Double Plus language of that great publishing hybrid genre of our time, where the American big-idea business book meets the self-help 10-point plan for success, with a liberal helping of evangelism. 'Glowing' is, of course, what you do when you've been touched by Him.</div>
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Gratton wants to get people Glowing away, because that's how they'll 'radiate positive energy', so glowy indeed that they'll excite and 'ignite' everyone for miles. I'm driven, absolutely forced, to the great glowing metaphor of Spontaneous Human Combustion - the wonderful, presumably mythical, notion of people who are altogether too vibrant and glowing for their own good and literally ignite without matches, leaving just a pile of ashes.</div>
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In other words, it's Glow's hyper-charged language that makes me so allergic to an otherwise pretty formulaic genre book. There are masses of call-and- response, gospelly repetition; homely homilies about invented people in before-and-after situations; awful warnings about what happens if you don't stay ahead of the curve (answer: 'globalisation gobbles you up'); excitable sub-heads everywhere; three big Principles of Glowing and nine Actions to make you 'Glow every day'.</div>
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This approach cuts both ways. Everyone - publishers and their publicists especially - always says authors should make the writing 'accessible' and give the readers little routines to do ('cleanse, tone, moisturise'), so these kinds of books are nothing if not familiar. You know where you are. But, like mainstream ghost-writing, that's the problem for me. I'm so distracted by the certainty that I've been here before, that I can't concentrate on whatever the book's supposed to be delivering.</div>
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It means a second, maybe a third go at something that doesn't seem to warrant it, waiting for something engaging and original to connect with. This sort of book, with its highly non-specific optimism, doesn't describe anything but the psycho-bongo, all-purpose emotional side of corporate culture. There's no feeling for sector or place, ethnicity or class as causal factors in the simple situations Gratton describes.</div>
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There never is in these books; it'd narrow the market. In other words, it sends me into an absolute tailspin of snobbiness, cynicism and all-round non-positiveness.</div>
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The fact is that this kind of formula puts off as many as it turns on, even on the literary nursery slopes of management books.</div>
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People are forever looking for the identifiable, the shock of recognition, the significant details. Not management-speak with its grim enthusiasms and its laminated word-compounds.</div>
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Which is a pity, because Gratton has two highly relevant, little big things going for her, and I'd have come round to them sooner if the format and the language hadn't got in the way. First - blow me down - she's a bit of a woman-person who thinks women have the right attitude and are good at innovation, which is worth checking out in case she's right.</div>
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The other related idea is co-operation. Businesses actually work better if people share and co-operate and merge their heuristics - a hugely 2009 perspective, set against the individualist warfare-for-dummies language of The Apprentice - which is so instantly, hideously dated by events.</div>
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Gratton's three big glowing principles are, first, Developing a Co-operative Mindset. This means getting the right skills and habits, listening and having good conversations and not staying around anywhere where you can't put the other two to good use, because it's a dog-eat-dog culture. This seems a bit hopeful in the present recession.</div>
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The second principle is all about Jumping Across Worlds. This is to work with people who aren't like you, because that's the only way to stay excited and innovative and to be downright Glowy.</div>
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The third great principle - and I can hardly bring myself to write it, even though it's about something perfectly credible - is called Igniting Latent Energy. In English, this means getting people going by seeing the big positive ideas in their products and markets, the things that give more meaning to work than grim calculations like Shareholder Value.</div>
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Even here, Gratton is off on Wings of Song, moving from 'making a real difference in our community' to 'what does this mean for world hunger?' It sounds like a touch of the Trudie Stylers, but I'm starting to like Gratton. She could be All Heart.</div>
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</span></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16535547683214480562noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1395889303862806707.post-81309846612737574442012-07-24T02:47:00.001-07:002012-07-24T02:47:18.248-07:00Capitalism at Risk: Rethinking the Role of Business<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtiQWbcMbA3Z_PVAOPu_GL-JhE-K9NKtv4rTK1AEDP8o8VjSAB5tTUS66CtqyrjM_Hqx1mJ56ss9CGn1N0sV01pjP4JXzHx-Xc5TtnKLKqZRFKULfEaU2dAHW65CCzAhOniRl0ch0oUx8/s1600/capitalism-at-risk-rethinking-the-role-of-business.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: justify;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtiQWbcMbA3Z_PVAOPu_GL-JhE-K9NKtv4rTK1AEDP8o8VjSAB5tTUS66CtqyrjM_Hqx1mJ56ss9CGn1N0sV01pjP4JXzHx-Xc5TtnKLKqZRFKULfEaU2dAHW65CCzAhOniRl0ch0oUx8/s320/capitalism-at-risk-rethinking-the-role-of-business.jpg" width="212" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px;"><strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">By Joseph L. Bower, Herman B. Leonard, and Lynn S. Paine</span></strong></span></div>
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<strong>What does the future hold for the global market?</strong></div>
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</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">The spread of capitalism worldwide has made people wealthier than ever before. But capitalism’s future is far from assured. The global financial meltdown of 2008 nearly produced a great depression. </span><div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">Economies in Europe are still teetering. Income inequality, resource depletion, mass migrations from poor to rich countries, religious fundamentalism—these are just a few of the threats to continuing prosperity.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><div id="yui_3_5_1_1_1343123045554_2759" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 0px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 8px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: justify;">
How can capitalism be sustained? And who should spearhead the effort? Critics turn to government. In <i style="border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 0px; font-style: italic; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Capitalism at Risk</i>, Harvard Business School professors Joseph Bower, Herman Leonard, and Lynn Paine argue that while governments must play a role, businesses should take the lead. For enterprising companies—whether large multinationals, established regional players, or small start-ups—the current threats to market capitalism present important opportunities.</div>
<div id="yui_3_5_1_1_1343123045554_2761" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 0px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 8px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: justify;">
<i id="yui_3_5_1_1_1343123045554_2760" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 0px; font-style: italic; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Capitalism at Risk</i> draws on discussions with business leaders around the world to identify ten potential disruptors of the global market system. Presenting examples of companies already making a difference, the authors explain how business must serve both as innovator and activist—developing corporate strategies that effect change at the community, national, and international levels.</div>
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Filled with rich insights, <i style="border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 0px; font-style: italic; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Capitalism at Risk</i> presents a compelling and constructive vision for the future of market capitalism.</div>
</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 21px;">Simply put, market capitalism is the most successful engine of wealth creation for society. In the last quarter of the 20th century, more than 97 percent of the world’s countries experienced increased wealth. According to the World Bank, more than 450 million people have been lifted out of extreme poverty since 1990.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px;"><div style="text-align: justify;">
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The global financial meltdown of 2008 has threatened to reverse what capitalism has created over recent decades. After moving on from the blame game and deciding who should fix the system’s ills, many will point to government as being responsible for saving capitalism.</div>
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But Harvard Business School professors Joseph L. Bower, Herman B. Leonard, and Lynn S. Paine, authors of the compelling new book, Capitalism at Risk: Rethinking the Role of Business (Harvard Business Review Press, October 3rd, 2011) put the responsibility squarely on business.</div>
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In Capitalism at Risk, Bower, Leonard, and Paine draw on discussions with business leaders around the world to identify ten potential disruptors of the global market system and diagnose the causes behind existing institutions inability to combat them effectively. While the authors certainly recognize that the government will play a role in restoring capitalism, they maintain that all businesses, whether small, large or global, should lead the way by taking advantage of the vital opportunities fruited by the current threats to market capitalism.</div>
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“Business has a crucial role to play in addressing these threats,” says Paine. “Some say that these issues are best left to governments. We disagree. Good government is very, very important, but if business stands on the sidelines waiting for governments to act, it may well be too late.”</div>
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</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px;">“An important book. The authors argue that the future of market-driven capitalism is at risk unless business leaders develop new strategies that reduce the negative fallouts of the system, such as growing income disparity and environmental degradation. A clarion call for business to take the lead in saving </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 21px;">the system of market capitalism.”</span><br />
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-Barbara Hackman Franklin, President and CEO, Barbara Franklin Enterprises; former U.S. Secretary of Commerce</div>
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Capitalism at Risk: Rethinking the Role of Business will be available on Amazon.com and major book retail websites in October. </div>
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<strong>About the authors:</strong></div>
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Joseph L. Bower is the Baker Foundation Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School. Over the past four decades, his research has focused on the challenges involved in leading companies as they deal with important changes in the economic, social, and political environment.</div>
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Herman B. Leonard is the Eliot I. Snider and Family Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School and George F. Baker, Jr., Professor of Public Management at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. His work at HBS has focused on corporate social responsibility and the leadership of socially oriented components of business organizations.</div>
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Lynn S. Paine is the John G. McLean Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School. She has written widely on the leadership and governance of companies that meld high ethical standards with outstanding financial results.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16535547683214480562noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1395889303862806707.post-42454803414064398382012-07-22T22:35:00.001-07:002012-07-22T22:35:17.335-07:00World 3.0 by Pankaj Ghemawat<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This book provides a look inside the global corporate mindset through the eyes of a leading business school academic and consultant. Ghemawat's World 3.0 is not seen as a living planet with human societies within its biosphere. Rather his World 3.0 is a view of jostling geopolitical actors: nation states ("developed" or "emerging markets") and global corporations as well as smaller businesses, set within markets from global to local and today's international economic infrastructure, including the IMF, World Bank, WTO, that emerged with this current system.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ghemawat is essentially a humanitarian liberal reformer trying to temper the global competition between the dominant corporations for market share and penetration of developing countries for access to their resources. He counsels his corporate clients to show sensitivity to local cultures and politics – in their own enlightened self-interest so as to prevent "anti-globalists" and other political backlashes.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ghemawat's view is also from inside the box of conventional economics and its predominant goal of GDP-measured economic growth, citing all the now-suspect macroeconomic statistics and indicators of inequality, unemployment, inflation, capital investment, etc. from IMF, World Bank, WTO, NBER and other government and academic sources. He does note the ideological components of these macroeconomic categories and the tug-of-war continuing between Harvard's worries about "externalities" and the Chicago School's free market fundamentalism and disdain for governments. These inside-the-economics-box wars between "saltwater v. freshwater," Keynes v. Hayek continuing today between Chicago versus the Roosevelt Institute and INET – are getting tiresome. This economic view and its litter of ideological and theoretical detritus has long been de-bunked by game theory, behavioral and brain scientists, endocrinologists, complexity, chaos and systems theorists ("Real Economies and the Illusions of Abstraction," Henderson).</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Macroeconomic models have long held sway over policy and national debates, preventing for example the overhauling of GDP promised by 170 nations in 1992 at the UN Earth Summit in Article 40 of Agenda 21. Thus, the publics in 12 major countries see the need for including all the indicators of health, education, poverty gaps and environment into GDP and national accounts. This has been accomplished by accountants and micro-economists at the company level in ESG (environment, social, governance) "triple bottom line" accounting (GRI) used by 1600 corporations.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While Ghermawat share these social and ethical reformist goals, he does not cite such global standards, nor the 800 institutional investors who support such accounting reforms of the UN-PRI, the UN Global Compact, UNEP-FI, ILO or the UN's goals in its Green Economy Initiative. Neither does the author reference the TEEB models and the new "dashboard" approaches to measuring national progress Beyond GDP (beyond-gdp.eu) such as the Calvert-Henderson Quality of Life Indicators (calvert-henderson.com), Hans Rosling's and Jochen Jesinghau's web-based information displays.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Nevertheless, World 3.0 is a very useful book, seeing inside the minds of global corporate executives and their enabling academic sycophants like the Harvard Business School. As the Oscar-winning movie Inside Job shows, these academic consultants have used their ideological influence and economic theories to manipulate politicians, media and public opinion with little accountability. One hopes that reforming business schools and their obsolete economic and financial models and curricula will further engage Ghemawat and his colleagues. Harvard produced Enron's Jeff Skilling and Kellogg produced Andy Fastow. These and other business schools spawned the financial engineers that gave us CDOs and CDSs and the resulting Wall Street collapse of 2007-2008 and the widespread suffering of innocent local businesses and citizens. As influential academic consultants like Ghemawat widen the scope of their research, they will be welcome in the ethical markets. We invite them to join the over 80 signers of our Transforming Finance statement. These reforms are driving the next wave of human innovation beyond the fossil-fueled Industrial Era: the Green Transition to the cleaner greener information-rich technologies of the Solar Age.</span></div>
</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16535547683214480562noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1395889303862806707.post-24020769278183856322012-07-21T00:20:00.000-07:002012-07-21T00:20:24.573-07:00The Essential Advantage: How to Win with a Capabilities-Driven Strategy<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<em><b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; font-style: normal; mso-themecolor: text1;">The Essential Advantage</span></b></em><em><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; font-style: normal; mso-themecolor: text1;">: How to Win with a Capabilities-Driven
Strategy</span></em><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br />
Paul Leinwand and Cesare Mainardi<i><o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;">Harvard
Business Review Press (2011)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 18.0pt; margin-bottom: 9.6pt; margin-left: 12.0pt; margin-right: 12.0pt; margin-top: 6.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<strong><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;">The
strategic power of coherence</span></strong><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 18.0pt; margin-bottom: 9.6pt; margin-left: 12.0pt; margin-right: 12.0pt; margin-top: 6.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;">According to
Paul Leinwand and Cesare Mainardi in the first chapter, to achieve and then
sustain a competitive advantage, a company “must be resolutely focused and
clear-minded about three critical elements: its market position (it’s<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><em><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">chosen
‘way to play,’</span></em><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>if you
will); its<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><em><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">most distinctive capabilities</span></em>,
which work together as a system; and its<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><em><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">product and service portfolio</span></em>.
In a coherent company, the right lineup of products and services naturally
results from conscious choices about the capabilities needed for a deliberate
way to play.” There are no head-snapping revelations in this book, nor do
Leinwand and Mainardi make any such claim. Their purpose is clearly stated: to
help their reader to take deliberate steps — “to reconsider your current
strategy, overcome the conventional separation between your outward-facing and
inward-facing activities, and bring your organization into focus.” After
briefly identifying the “what,” they devote most of their attention to the
“how” and “why” of formulating and then executing a capabilities-driven
strategy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 18.0pt; margin-bottom: 9.6pt; margin-left: 12.0pt; margin-right: 12.0pt; margin-top: 6.0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;">For example, in Parts I and II, they explain:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;">• The essence of competitive advantage<br />
• How to achieve it<br />
• How to sustain it<br />
• The three elements of coherence<br />
• How to develop each<br />
• How to coordinate all three<br />
• What the “coherence premium” is and why it is so valuable<br />
• The right “way to play” (i.e. compete)<br />
• The structure of the capabilities system<br />
• The elements of a capabilities-driven strategy<br />
• How to achieve and sustain a product and service fit<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;">They
continue the same approach throughout the remainder of their lively and
eloquent narrative. In Part III, they explain how to create value; in Part IV,
they explain how to “live coherence every day.” As noted earlier, Leinwand and
Mainardi establish and then maintain a direct, personal rapport with their
reader. They cite dozens of real-world examples of capabilities-driven
companies that include Coca-Cola, Cisco Systems, Microsoft, Apple, P&G,
Herman Miller, Nordstrom, IBM, and Whole Foods. I was especially interested in
what they have to say about the leadership qualities are required.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 18.0pt; margin-bottom: 9.6pt; margin-left: 12.0pt; margin-right: 12.0pt; margin-top: 6.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;">The word
“coherent” is one word that comes to mind when CEOs such as A.G. Lafley
(P&G) are mentioned: “They have learned to generate excitement and
inspiration in a world of ruthless choice…When they go, they leave behind a
company that is stronger, more capable, and more coherent than it was before; a
company with a solid way to play and a capabilities system that enables people
to grow; a company that is primed to create value, wealth, and quality of life
for decades to come. In business, this is the most powerful legacy.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 18.0pt; margin-bottom: 9.6pt; margin-left: 12.0pt; margin-right: 12.0pt; margin-top: 6.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;">As Leinwand
and Mainardi would be the first to point out, it would be a fool’s errand to
attempt to adopt or even adapt all of the information, insights, and
recommendations they provide in this book. However, I am convinced and do not
hesitate to suggest that the leaders of almost any organization (whatever its
size and nature may be) can use their system framework to select a set of
integrated capabilities that are most appropriate for their organization, one
that will enable it to create value in the path it has chosen. Leinwand and
Mainardi cannot make those decisions for them. However, they – and do, in this
book – offer guidance to assist that decision-making process.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;">One final
point I presume to add: Capabilities improvement is a never-ending journey, not
an ultimate destination. An increase of capabilities must be accompanied by an
improvement of the talents, skills, and resources needed to apply those
capabilities. The most effective strategies are results-driven as well as
capabilities-driven. If the road to hell is paved with good intentions, the
road to failure in business is paved with “nice tries.” I agree with the Jedi
Master, Yoda: “Do or do not. There is no try.”</span></div>
</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16535547683214480562noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1395889303862806707.post-11261314360953051202012-07-19T00:02:00.001-07:002012-07-19T00:02:08.761-07:00Liberation Management by Thomas J. Peters<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tom Peters, who with Bob Waterman, brought us <b>IN SEARCH OF EXCELLENCE</b> ten years ago, says that big business as we know it today will be replaced by companies broken into small project-oriented teams. Since technology and markets change rapidly, goods and services have become like fashions — or fads. Businesses have to react quickly to capture fleeting markets; thus, hierarchical management structures must be replaced by flexible structures able to adapt to change and make decisions without waiting for a multilayered chain of command.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As part of this new, project-oriented team structure, job descriptions become fuzzy, and management layers disappear. Functions that used to operate independently and sequentially may occur simultaneously, as part of a team effort. Vertical departments — accounting, purchasing, engineering — may vanish, leaving horizontal project teams in their place.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Team members work on projects as needed, then move to other projects, replaced by fresh team members. Customers and vendors join the teams. And project members take their act on the road, with shop floor workers going to customer locations to see how the product is used so they can help the team build it better. As part of this new concept everyone has access to all the information and project teams make decisions. Front-line employees can answer customer queries without waiting for information to move up and back through a structured chain of command.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Can it work? Tom Peters’ examples say it can. The question is whether companies will heed this advice, and whether the rest will survive the changing marketplace he predicts. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 24px;">Apparently bent on doing for management science what Timothy Leary did for psychology, Peters here extends the cheerfully anarchic precepts advanced in Thriving on Chaos (1987)--which in turn represented a sharp departure from the more conventional wisdom of the two coauthored works (In Search of Excellence and A Passion for Excellence) that helped make him an archguru in the first place. In the brave new on-line real-time world of the near future, Peters asserts, traditional (i.e., hierarchical and bureaucratic) corporations will have ceased to exist, victims of the ongoing fragmentation in global markets. By his account, the commercial dinosaurs will be replaced by pro-tem networks of project-oriented teams able to take immediate advantage of fleeting opportunities for dernier-cri goods and services. In this demanding if Delphian context, Peters offers a lengthy name-dropping manual chock full of anecdotal advisories on how latter-day executives might adapt themselves and their enterprises, entrepreneurial or otherwise, to tomorrow's unruly economy. Evidently formatted to facilitate browsing, the six-section guide has nearly 50 chapters, more than a few of which boast cheeky titles--e.g., ``Glow! Tingle! Wow! (Yuck!).'' While Peters focuses on (among other major concerns) what he characterizes as necessary disorganization, hustle, information technology, innovation through deconstruction, and fashion, those who read straight through the text will be struck by his reliance on shock value--at one point, he does a riff on quantum mechanics to stress the absurdist aspects of what's in store for business. When (by his own admission) words fail him, Peters goes with coinages--e.g., ``customerization''; ``faith in the unexpected''; ``marketizing,'' etc. Nor does he shrink from ambiguity and paradox. As in his previous outings, here again, in the final analysis, Peters broaches a wealth of ideas without ever managing to be genuinely thoughtful--though you wouldn't know it from the 250,000- copy first printing. (Book-of-the-Month Dual Selection for January)</span></div>
</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16535547683214480562noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1395889303862806707.post-18351435990851198222012-07-16T02:00:00.000-07:002012-07-16T02:00:25.560-07:00Carly Fiorina Reviews Her Career, and We Review Her Book<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Like all timely memoirs of recent disasters, Carly Fiorina's Tough Choices will be read first at light speed, as interested parties skim through to find the account of her final days as Hewlett-Packard CEO and her take on the board members who unceremoniously fired her last year.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">A quick read will uncover an eyeful, including her cutting portraits of figures like board member Jay Keyworth ("emotional"), Compaq CEO Michael Capellas ("rude and abusive"), and board member Walter Hewlett (easily manipulated), as well as her conviction that her leadership of HP was a success.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">But Tough Choices is more than a throw-away tell-all. After extracting the news-related nuggets, readers should put the book down and pick it up again as if they had never heard of Carly Fiorina. Her memoir is peppered with keen observations of the psychological workings of big corporations; more, it is a testament to a passionate love for the teamwork, vision and sheer hard work of business life. Unfortunately, Fiorina fails to use her insight to reconcile this near-triumphant account of her controversial tenure with the widespread belief that it was a disaster.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Fiorina's background doesn't suggest a career in corporate leadership. Her mother was an artist and her father an academic; she studied philosophy at Stanford, dropped out of law school and was rejected from the University of Maryland's MBA program. (She talked her way back in.)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Starting out at the absolute lowest rung -- as a Kelly girl -- Fiorina embraced her first real job, answering phones at a brokerage firm just one block from HP headquarters, with pure joy: "I loved the pragmatic nature of the work. You did something and something happened," she writes. "Most of all, I loved the people of business."</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">This sense of excitement and devotion drives the first half of Fiorina's story, as she joins AT&T after business school and rises through the ranks. The book delivers several well-paced business stories. One of the most absorbing begins with her feeling like a fifth wheel as the 30-year-old manager of a team of competent AT&T engineers. With divestiture unleashing chaotic forces in the organization, Fiorina looked for a problem to solve and began to review billing records. After discovering systematic overbilling, she lit a fire under headquarters until the problem was resolved, saving the company hundreds of millions of dollars. The anecdote demonstrates how mid-level leadership in a giant corporation can successfully effect change.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">In her stories from AT&T and, later, Lucent, she draws out management lessons. Occasionally, her insights fall flat ("Trust was important to business,") but for the most part she successfully weaves them through the narrative, giving life to what otherwise might be boring truisms.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Many of her best insights revolve around the central observation that "business is about people." While at MIT's Sloan school -- where she earned an M.S. in business, sponsored by AT&T -- she saw CEOs up close for the first time. "Just like people everywhere, some were good at their jobs; some weren't," she writes. "Some got to the top after a lifetime of preparation; others still seemed surprised they were there. Some practiced intimidation; some were engaging. Mostly the interactions took the mystery out of the CEO."</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">This clear-eyed view was key to Fiorina's understanding of herself; she realized that she, too, could be a CEO. Seeing complex, powerful institutions as aggregations of human beings also gave her the ability to break problems into component parts, which she could then tackle. When the intimidating head of AT&T's Network Systems International was yelling and swearing at Fiorina for the many perceived wrongs of her team and the company, she responded with her own harsh and colorful words -- and, she writes, won him over.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Fiorina's focus on people results in an earthy wedding of psychology and business practice. As director of AT&T's International Strategy and Business Development, she and her team agreed on a framework to focus on certain international markets and ignore others. "Intellectually, everyone understood that a framework for deciding how to allocate our resources made sense. Intellectually, people even understood that our win rates would improve. Yet it felt emotionally limiting," she writes. Grasping the problem, Fiorina could decide on a solution: aiming to be the market leader so the excitement of competing would replace the fear of limitation. Grasping the problem, Fiorina decided on a solution: Aim to be the leader inevery market so the excitement of competing would replace the fear of limitation.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Similarly, Fiorina used her emotional intelligence when AT&T and Lucent representatives were mired down in discussions over Lucent's prospectus, often reopening issues that had already been resolved. Asked for help by Lucent's comptroller, Fiorina broke the process down into tangible parts: The group would read each page, and issues would either be decided on the spot or tabled for higher-ups to consider. After each page was completed, it was turned and could not be revisited. "The physical act of turning the page became a symbol of progress and a victory to be celebrated," she writes.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The book's emotional peak comes in Fiorina's involvement in the successful creation of Lucent. She observes several times that it's easier to create a new entity rather than reinvent the "left behind" company, and Lucent's spin-off suited her taste for rapid change, intense teamwork and ambitious goals. She and fellow executives met with potential investors before going public in a road show that was "a mind numbing" three weeks of eight presentations a day. "And yet I loved every minute of it -- the intense pleasure of the seamless team we had become, the thrill of doing something for the very first time, the excitement of talking about something I believed in so deeply, the knowledge that we were building a company right before our very eyes," she writes. And of the moment in 1996 when a hot air balloon with the Lucent logo was released to symbolize the company's independence from AT&T, she writes simply, "I loved Lucent."</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Wine, Women and Song</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Driven by this enthusiasm, Fiorina is impatient with gender issues. Explaining her discomfort with being crowned the Most Powerful Woman in Business by Fortune in 1998, she writes, "I didn't want to talk about being a woman in business. I wanted to talk about business." </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">No one can accuse her of being squeamish about sexism. The book includes not only the well-known tale of her attending a business meeting at a Washington D.C. strip club ("I was cordial and tried to appear relaxed,"), but also a few jaw-dropping stories, as when the president of a Korean company gave her a female companion for a night of traditional drunken feasting and song ("I could see why men absolutely loved this style of entertaining,") and when, as a Lucent executive, she tried to impress a cocky sales team by getting on stage with socks stuffed in her crotch to say, "Our balls are as big as anyone's in this room."</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Fiorina was harassed, insulted and propositioned, mostly early on in her career, but from these experiences she culls some sound advice -- you have 20 minutes to prove you know what you're talking about -- and even a bit of wisdom: "Life isn't always fair, and it is different for women than for men."</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Ironically, it was not sexism that caused her to stumble, but rather the fame that her success as a woman created. For Fiorina, sexism was just one more challenge, one more complex psychological problem that she could solve. Celebrity was a nut she couldn't crack. After appearing on the cover of Fortune, she writes, "Some people thought that as a celebrity, I was now different from them, separated from others. Many could no longer see me at all. They could only see 'Carly Fiorina, the Most Powerful Woman in Business.'"</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">With all of her emotional intelligence, she was unable to extract herself from the trap of being a successful woman people love to hate (The New York Times' Alessandra Stanley made the logical link to Hillary Clinton and Martha Stewart). As a result, a person who prided herself on asking questions and sparking debate before making decisions was now branded as cold and remote. "A leader must capture hearts as well as challenge minds," she writes. But the book offers little insight into how she failed so dismally in capturing the necessary hearts in and around HP.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Wrong Fit?</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">In the second half of the book, when Fiorina joins HP, the vitality fades from her writing. Although she often mentions that what she loved best about HP was its people, we meet very few of them. In place of her lively, character-filled stories from AT&T and Lucent, Fiorina offers a grim, drawn-out assessment of HP as a company in thrall to its past success, with a risk-averse culture and an incoherent organizational structure to boot. She lectures about the need for change, making analogies with everything from evolution to bull-fighting, as if still trying to convince a skeptical audience; one can imagine the feeling of having change crammed down one's throat.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">What becomes most puzzling is why the board offered the job in the first place, and why Fiorina accepted it. The board needed someone who could effect major changes. But was bringing someone from sales into an engineering-based company, a straight-talking woman into a conflict-avoidant culture, really a strategic fit? If Fiorina is right that the board was dysfunctional, then perhaps their hiring of her was a symptom of that disorder.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">On Fiorina's side, she noticed some troublesome issues with the board before even singing on as CEO. During a pre-hiring meeting with board member Dick Hackborn, Fiorina criticized a reorganization that had created four new CEOs. Hackborn agreed with her on that issue and more, which prompted Fiorina to wonder, "How could a board member who agreed so enthusiastically with me have so passively permitted a major move like this to occur?"</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Rather than see this episode as the warning light it was, Fiorina continued her talks with the board. Was she blinded by her own desire to reach the top leadership position? She shares an eerie story about her sense of destiny: Just before her mother passed away (some months before the HP job was on the table,) "she said with a faraway look in eyes, 'Who knows. Maybe someday you'll become the CEO of Hewlett-Packard.'" The comment raised the hairs on the back of Fiorina's neck.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Why she accepted the job, and later, why she championed the Compaq deal, may have something to do with Fiorina's dedication to the decision-making process. The recruitment dance with the board lasted more than six months and involved many detailed discussions. She told her father she didn't want to "sell" the board on her: "The board couldn't get buyer's remorse halfway through the journey. They needed to buy into me as the CEO all the way, and that required them to understand in every possible dimension what a controversial and risky choice I would be." Fiorina may have given the board more credit for due diligence than it deserved.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Similarly, with the Compaq acquisition, she had many bad vibes about the decision in advance, including serious reservations about Michael Capellas, Compaq's head. Yet as HP debated the many options to revive lagging performance, the discussion settled on acquiring Compaq. She appears compelled by the logic of the decision-making process: The job needed to be done, the board wanted to do it, she was capable of it, and yet she knew it would be "incredibly ugly," "a huge shock," and "a fight from start to finish."</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">While Fiorina declares the Compaq deal "an extremely successful integration" in spite of the controversy, others say the jury is still out. She admits that she could have done better by allowing management more time to make lay-offs and better preparing people for the merger.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">By the end of the book, the story is carried along by its own dark momentum, as the reader waits for the ax to fall. Fiorina makes her final mistakes, allowing Keyworth a more active role on and off the board and allowing Tom Perkins to become a board member; both men were active in her dismissal.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">With head lifted high, Fiorina contends that in 2005 "stock continued to climb as the organization executed the strategy and the 2005 plan we'd worked on so hard together," in effect taking credit for the bounce-back that followed her firing -- a claim that a number of commentators have refuted in the past week.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Critics have said Fiorina casts herself as a victim in this book. In fact, she casts herself as a hero, asserting that she has not lost her soul in rough-and-tumble of battle, but rather emerged as a whole person, able to enjoy the simple pleasure of sitting pool-side while her granddaughter swims.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Of course the HP story is hardly over. Readers may wonder how Patricia Dunn will cast herself in what will no doubt be another book on the tough choices that corporate leaders face.</span></div>
</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16535547683214480562noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1395889303862806707.post-90581742897613508542012-07-13T23:28:00.003-07:002012-07-13T23:28:46.645-07:00Book Review: The Professional by Subroto Bagchi<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8S8S6mTz-GS2VZHMyd5wXPD2tfqSlaO67PI1usWVvykKTJtl0ImcVTKJR7fOLjw3s8XcYG7A4RPk06i_8zncEBXSad4XUBTrWx3FkJAn8TD7zEtt1DWr7AzOtEO6eLsELVh2_ZlTahI8/s1600/TheProfessional-Book-Cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8S8S6mTz-GS2VZHMyd5wXPD2tfqSlaO67PI1usWVvykKTJtl0ImcVTKJR7fOLjw3s8XcYG7A4RPk06i_8zncEBXSad4XUBTrWx3FkJAn8TD7zEtt1DWr7AzOtEO6eLsELVh2_ZlTahI8/s1600/TheProfessional-Book-Cover.jpg" /></a></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #151515; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 17px;">Author: Subroto Bagchi</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #151515; line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Publisher: Penguin Portfolio<br /></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #151515; line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Price: 399/-</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I generated a lot of respect for Subrto Bagchi, when I read High performance Entrepreneur as a writer in the realm of business and management. My respect for him increased manifolds after reading his story in Go, Kiss The World. Finally when I finished reading The Professional by him, he joined the place up there with the people I idolize, I aspire one day I can be in the same league as them. All this not because of what he has achieved, but the way he has achieved, it is more about the journey and the destination.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I would concentrate on “The Professional” here, the book is the percepts of how to be a perfect working professional. It is what, if I may call a bible for all working professionals people who would like to be professional in their conduct. Subroto Bagchi, has painstakingly illustrated the behavior, conduct and ethics of a professional.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">In this world of falling moralities and flimsy loyalties, with likes of Satyam and Lehman rising from the dust and ending there itself, the conduct of a professional can be a grey area. What Bagchi illustrates is the mastering the art of being correct in spirit, not only in legalities. He writes the prescription for a strong and a moral work ethic still providing flexibilities to change organizations and switch loyalty. The examples he has quoted are relevant, inspiring and real life, motivating the professional on how he can follow the ethics and still be successful.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Though I am not sure how mature, the recruitment teams and the HR in the organizations are to value the kind of attitude Bagchi proposes in a professional. More difficult would be judging the professionals who actually live the attitude than mere glib who would try and speak their way to glory without actions. Bagchi, presents a correct and moral world pictures and also claims about the lengths he has gone to make sure these traits are identified and rewarded in his organization, but I have sincere doubts that these kind of model conduct would practically work in Non-Export areas, like government contractors, Builders, and many more agencies which thrive around the corruption in the government.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">But still nevertheless, I would say it’s a brilliant book and a must read for all professionals. I would recommend it as a must read especially for the students of professional courses too, to understand the value and relevance of the perfect code of conduct for a professional.</span></div>
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</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><strong>Summary: </strong>A great read, very easy and free flowing in the content and message. Relevant, inspiring and still a light read. A must read for everyone.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><strong>Rating: </strong>4.5 /5</span></div>
</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16535547683214480562noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1395889303862806707.post-41272992288363501032012-07-12T23:21:00.003-07:002012-07-12T23:23:25.134-07:00Book review: Beyond Performance<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://offlineHBPL.hbpl.co.uk//news/NST/richedit/beyond-endurance.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Beyond Performance" border="0" src="http://offlineHBPL.hbpl.co.uk//news/NST/richedit/beyond-endurance.jpg" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Beyond Performance" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Before you get worried: no, Scott Keller and Colin Price are not extolling the virtues of amateur dramatics to get you ahead in management. Rather, their book is about looking beyond the individual performances that make up an organisation and trying to understand what makes it flourish collectively. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; line-height: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #272525; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 15px;">Their big idea boils down to "performance and health". Performance is about delivering financial results right now. Health is about the ability to do it year in, year out. The two things are not the same, and organisations </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; line-height: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #272525; line-height: 15px;">might have neither, just one or both of these things. </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; line-height: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #272525; line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">There are three principles underlying this theory. The first is that performance and health matter as much as each other, so it is your job as a manager to address both in the decisions you take. </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The second principle is that you should be managing performance and health today - it's a common error that leaders focus solely on the here and now without equal emphasis on the long-term health of the organisation. The final principle is that nothing changes unless behaviour does. Improvement comes only by getting people to do things differently - and that's where your expertise as a manager will really get tested</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 1.2em;">.</span></div>
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</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16535547683214480562noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1395889303862806707.post-46952459879843000932012-07-12T00:39:00.003-07:002012-07-12T00:39:59.143-07:00Book Review: The Return of Depression Economics and the Crisis of 2008 by Paul Krugman - a superb big picture guide to the crisis<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrbOeY5lg6ONsHIDxAf492WWiR-ubjkqqF7g_YyEbHctv5Jk5zWg0AH4gMcxg1RhWY1VBLMybkealO1C9Ui7ePi7APxB2zqXUxsN7mNUaCJO64y0hX_jMCUnfwq4ZzW8SJZKxZM57ZZHI/s1600/6a0120a55ecf26970c013480a97d59970c-800wi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrbOeY5lg6ONsHIDxAf492WWiR-ubjkqqF7g_YyEbHctv5Jk5zWg0AH4gMcxg1RhWY1VBLMybkealO1C9Ui7ePi7APxB2zqXUxsN7mNUaCJO64y0hX_jMCUnfwq4ZzW8SJZKxZM57ZZHI/s320/6a0120a55ecf26970c013480a97d59970c-800wi.jpg" width="214" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In Paul Krugman's illuminating work, The Return of Depression Economics and the Crisis of 2008, the financial crisis that continues to play out is explained in surprisingly easy to understand language. He offers readers a history of past financial crises to setup his view of the causes, effects, and possible solutions to our current economic woes. While the title may seem ominous, Krugman maintains a positive, albeit tenuous outlook for the future.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The chief goals of this updated edition, as highlighted in the book's introduction, are to answer three important questions:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How could this catastrophe have happened?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How can the victims recover?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How can we prevent this from happening again?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In reading through his extensive treatise of past financial crises and their commonalities, he does a terrific job in answering the first question. Additionally, his prescription for preventing future calamities of this sort is sensible and built on sound principles. However, the book lacks details in explaining exactly how victims of this round of financial instability are to recover. Overall, the book offers an important and timely look at the nature of financial crises and is likely a timeless exposition on the subject.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Elements of a Financial Crisis</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The first four chapters of the book examine major financial crises in varying detail that include the Panic of 1907, the Great Depression, the savings and loan problems of the 1980s, the Latin American Crisis of the mid 1990s, the Asian Flu of the mid to late 1990s, and Japan's Lost Decade. Within these stories, themes emerge that bear striking resemblances to one another. Virtually all involved an attractive story to bring in new capital to fund rapid economic expansion, loose credit, asset bubbles, a loss of confidence, investor biases, currency complications, and of course, the eventual unraveling of the financial system.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Among these, the most disconcerting is the role that confidence plays in feeding a financial crisis. As Krugman explains, this is a four step, circular process that acts as a feedback loop into a microphone – the sound of feedback grows until it becomes an unbearable screech. The confidence loop is described as follows:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Begin with confidence</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Feeding the financial markets</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Feeding the real economy</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then, back again to confidence</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this phenomenon is the fact that it works in both directions. To fuel economic booms, participants in the economy have a great deal of confidence, so much so that during economic expansion, large bets are placed on the prospects of continued success. However, a financial crisis begins with a seemingly small change that chips away at confidence, eventually turning into a pit of panic.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">These facts are explained in detail through the historical accounts given by Krugman. In each case, there was a spark that moved confidence to ever greater heights, only to have it all come crashing down. This process leaves a kind of stain on the minds of investors, policymakers, and everyday people alike. As illustrated with Japan's Lost Decade or the Great Depression, confidence, once lost, can be difficult to regain.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>The Power of Speculators</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Of course, where these surges and eventual collapses in confidence occur, the power of speculators can be found on full display. As Krugman outlines, speculators often go by the name of 'hedge funds', but these profiteers rarely do much in the way of hedging. Rather, they are fully engaged in turning a profit wherever opportunities exist and at whatever the social costs may be. In the cases of Latin America and Southeast Asia, hedge funds played an important role in the rapid descent of these financial markets and economies.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The basic strategy of hedge funds is to exploit markets by shorting safer assets and then buying long in riskier assets. However, when a market is ripe for a financial crisis, these speculators will engineer trades that will shake the stability of a country's financial markets with currency being a prime target. In each of the cases outlined by Krugman, hedge fund managers leveraged positions up to 100 to 1 in an effort to devalue a target nation's currency. Indeed, they created windfall profits for themselves in virtually every instance.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Unfortunately for those living in targeted countries, speculators' profits meant an enormous amount of economic pain. As a singular example, Argentina's currency lost 70% of its value due, in part, to the role of hedge funds. This devaluation caused a great deal of pain and hardship for Argentinians, but social costs are irrelevant to profiteers.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Regulatory Blindness</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This brings into focus the question of regulation. If hedge funds offer no social value (or in this case, create social harm), how can they be allowed to operate so freely? The answer to this question is hedge funds are largely unregulated and take great care to stay away from the watchful eyes of regulators. With free reign to operate as they please, these speculators can wreak havoc around the world without fear of any serious repercussions.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As disheartening as this may be, hedge funds are not alone in taking advantage of regulatory blindness. Krugman skillfully parallels the so-called shadow banking system with the operations of hedge funds. In both cases, profits were the motivation, leverage was used at mind boggling levels, each engaged in some form of risk arbitrage, and in the end, both created widespread financial destruction. The only difference between them is hedge funds profited from the downward spiral while once venerable companies like Lehman Brothers collapsed.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is where Krugman does a superlative job in writing. It would require many volumes of text to fully explain the shadow banking system and the complex schemes and instruments used, but Krugman gives the right level of detail so readers can understand how the world was blindsided by a banking system that few knew existed. At one point, he estimated that the traditional banking system had $6 trillion in assets while the shadow banking system accounted for another $4 trillion. It is almost unimaginable that a banking system with $4 trillion was completely unregulated.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>The World, Blindsided</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">High finance is littered with very intelligent people, but left unchecked, a financial train wreck is the inevitable outcome. Just as hedge funds had laid waste to Southeast Asia and Latin America in the latter half of the 1990s, so too did the shadow banking system – only this time, it was not confined to a region, but became a global calamity that few saw coming.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Drawing on the themes of financial crises past, this current wave of panic bore a striking resemblance to all its predecessors. Profit was available, leverage multiplied profits, a bubble popped, confidence was shaken, and finally, disaster. The only difference was that this crisis had its roots in the United States, a previously unthinkable possibility.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As the largest economy in the world, many believed that the problems of subprime mortgages could be contained. In fact, Treasury Secretary Paulson issued just such a statement in September of 2007. As it turns out, his assessment of the size and scope of the problem was terribly off the mark.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Once the subprime crisis was in full swing, a crisis of confidence developed. The shadow banking system – largely dependent on borrowings between banks – began to show signs of great duress. With rapidly falling confidence in financial institutions, companies attempted to deleverage quickly, selling off assets and abandoning loans to other institutions. This compounded the problem, following the same cycle of confidence degradation that all financial crises share. The net result was the deepest recession in a generation.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>The Return of Depression Economics</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is at this point that Krugman offers some advice on what must be done to move out of recession or at minimum, avert a depression. His recommendation for the immediate future is to get credit flowing again and to prop up spending by any means necessary. In addition, he believes that depression economics must be used and that policy should focus on demand side macroeconomics. Outside of the immediate needs, Krugman proposes global, coordinated financial reforms for any financial institution or market that meets a very plain definition: anything that needs to be rescued in a financial crisis must be regulated.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>The Answers</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What were the answers to Krugman's three important questions? The catastrophe was hatched in a $4 trillion unregulated market and eventually collapsed under a downward spiral of confidence. This crisis had victims in all corners of the globe, but there is no clear path towards recovery. The flow of credit and fiscal stimulus are good starting points, but much more will be needed. Finally, to prevent another crisis of this magnitude, regulation will play an important role, but it would be foolish to believe that this will be the last.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Left with Wanting</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Return of Depression Economics and the Crisis of 2008 is a fantastic work that can be easily comprehended by anyone with a basic understanding of economics. However, the book leaves the reader wanting a more detailed proposal for what must be done to repair the damage created by this crisis. With respect to Krugman's call for a return to depression economics, greater elaboration on what this would look like is needed. In the end, this is a book that richly rewards the reader, but could have been improved with an extra chapter to expand on some of the potential solutions – solutions that likely have not been seen in many, many years.</span></div>
</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16535547683214480562noreply@blogger.com0