New Titles | Business Book Summaries

Project Management for Dummies

admin — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 14:04:10 +0000

Author:

Portny, Stanley E.

Publisher:

John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Published Date:

2010

Management

Productivity

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In Project Management for Dummies, Stanley Portny examines project-management skills and techniques, and aims to suggest that they are not burdensome tasks. Rather, they are a systematic way of thinking, communicating, and behaving in all aspects of daily work. Projects have been around since ancient times, but today the stakes are higher. Projects of all types and sizes are now the primary way that organizations structure and accomplish their work. Over time, a new breed of project manager has emerged.

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Meaningful Workplaces

admin — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 14:04:10 +0000

Author:

Chalofsky, Neal E.

Publisher:

John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Published Date:

2010

Human Resources

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In Meaningful Workplaces, Neal E. Chalofsky describes how strong and responsive Human Resource functions influence organizational effectiveness by building an employee-engaged, community-based workplace culture where people want to work. Basing his research on a multi-year study and extensive research from renowned experts in the field, Chalofsky addresses how the nature of work has greatly changed since the Boomer Generation from a mechanistic, military-inspired model to a socially- and ethically-conscious model based on meaning and community.

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What Women Want

admin — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 14:04:10 +0000

Author:

Underhill, Paco

Publisher:

Simon & Schuster

Published Date:

2010

Diversity

Human Resources

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Over the past twenty years, women have gained significant cultural, social, and economic influence. Women enjoy greater buying power than ever before, and they prefer to spend their money at businesses that provide female friendly environments. In What Women Want, Paco Underhill explores how women’s preferences for cleanliness, control, safety, and consideration are changing the way homes are designed and how the retail landscape looks all together.

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The Laws of Charisma

admin — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 14:50:03 +0000

Author:

Mortensen, Kurt W.

Publisher:

AMACOM

Published Date:

2011

Leadership

Management

Relationships

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Kurt Mortensen defines charisma as the ability to easily build rapport, effectively influence others, inspire them to achieve more, and in the process make allies for life. It is a vital motivational life skill that can and must be mastered if one is going to succeed in influencing others. Charisma is the ability to empower and persuade others to believe and trust in a leader and want to be influenced by that leader. Charisma permeates every aspect of life; Career, relationships, ability to influence, and income are all related to one’s ability to radiate charisma.

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The High-Impact Middle Manager

admin — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 14:50:03 +0000

Author:

Haneberg, Lisa

Publisher:

ASTD Press

Published Date:

2010

Management

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In The High-Impact Middle Manager, Lisa Haneberg focuses on those who have more impact on business than any other layer of an organization: middle managers. As the glue that connects corporate strategy to work productivity, middle managers can either make or break the company. Because their position is critical to an organization's success, it is vital that middle managers receive the resources and development they need to operate at their highest potential.

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Make Work Great

admin — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 14:50:03 +0000

Author:

Muzio, Ed

Publisher:

McGraw-Hill

Published Date:

2010

Leadership

Relationships

Teams

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In Make Work Great, Ed Muzio outlines a strategy for creating and growing cultural change in the workplace. Whether one is a manager or an individual contributor, Muzio’s book serves as a blueprint for improving relationships and solving problems, no matter how difficult or entrenched. Cultural change begins with a “seed crystal” – one person committed to reinventing how things are done. One must begin to see oneself as the solution to problems in the workplace, rather than the victim of these problems.

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The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader

admin — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 14:50:03 +0000

Author:

Maxwell, John C.

Publisher:

Thomas Nelson, Inc.Thomas Nelson, Inc.

Published Date:

1999

Leadership

Personal Growth

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In The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader, John C. Maxwell examines the personal characteristics that he believes every leader should recognize, develop, and refine to become a truly effective leader who people will want to follow. Becoming a competent leader takes time, and understanding leadership is actually different than being a leader. However, actual leadership involves a daily effort in which the leader must reflect, review, and renew his or her abilities, and infuse leadership qualities into their characters and daily actions.

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Smart Questions

admin — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 14:50:03 +0000

Author:

Nadler, Gerald

Chandon, William J.

Publisher:

Jossey-Bass

Published Date:

2004

Management

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Most business executives and managers approach problem solving using a method whose end result is excessive data collection, analysis paralysis, and solutions that cause more problems than they solve. One temporary fix after another is all too common in organizations, with true resolution being the exception rather than the norm. Research indicates that about 92 percent of the population approaches problem solving in a manner that yields the aforementioned results, so what are the other eight percent doing right?

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Well Connected

admin — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 14:50:02 +0000

Author:

Curtis, Gordon S.

Lewis, Greg

Publisher:

Jossey-Bass

Published Date:

2010

Communication

Relationships

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In order to accomplish common goals, today’s businesspeople are required to form partnerships with both colleagues and competitors. According to Gordon Curtis, identifying and engaging the right people – those who possess key information or capital – is far more effective than amassing hundreds of contacts in a virtual network. In Well Connected, Curtis provides the Right Person-Right Approach method to help networkers determine clear objectives, identify the crucial individuals who can assist in accomplishing them, and gain their support using progressive reciprocity.

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Pay Attention!

admin — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 13:46:22 +0000

Author:

Thomas, Ann

Applegate, Jill

Publisher:

John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Published Date:

2010

Customer Focus

Marketing

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In Pay Attention!, Ann Thomas and Jill Applegate present a guide for addressing the customer service challenge in a modern age where consumers are more skeptical, demanding, and self-reliant. Things like social media and other new online channels represent both a rich opportunity for consumers, and a significant threat to modern businesses. Learning to harness them is essential to a company’s longevity and success. The Pay Attention strategy addresses the basic human need for customers to feel validated and heard.

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Consulting Basics

admin — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 13:46:21 +0000

Author:

Gendelman, Joel

Publisher:

ASTD Press

Published Date:

2010

Entrepreneurship

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While businesses are struggling with economic problems in today’s market, jobs are changing, and employment is unstable. Professionals are grappling with thoughts concerning whether they should strike out on their own and add “entrepreneur” to their résumés. However, before they take the plunge, Joel Gendelman, author of Consulting Basics, suggests that they should develop a plan. His book provides information to help readers decide whether they are prepared and have the skills and traits necessary for the consulting life.

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Full of Bull

admin — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 13:46:22 +0000

Author:

McClellan, Stephen T.

Publisher:

FT Press

Published Date:

2010

Economics & Finance

Entrepreneurship

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In Full of Bull, McClellan uses his thirty-two years of experience as a securities analyst on Wall Street to help individual investors decode the Street’s confusing advice and make better investment decisions. Recommendations from Wall Street are directed at institutional investors who understand the nuances of how the game is played. For the individual investor, it is not enough to stay on top of stock recommendations published in various media outlets. The information must be understood in the proper context to be used effectively.

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Perfectly Able

admin — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 14:17:45 +0000

Author:

Hasse, Jim

Publisher:

Lighthouse International

Published Date:

2011

Diversity

Human Resources

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In Perfectly Able, Jim Hasse explores the many benefits of hiring people with disabilities. Advanced problem-solving skills and creativity engendered by the need to overcome the obstacles of disability are just two of the qualities that many workers with disabilities possess. In addition, the book covers the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) regulations governing the hiring process and accommodations employers must make for workers with disabilities, as well as guidelines for creating a work environment that successfully embraces diversity.

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The Compromise Trap

admin — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 14:17:45 +0000

Author:

Doty, Elizabeth

Publisher:

Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc.

Published Date:

2009

Personal Growth

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In today’s corporate environment, many individuals feel pressured to compromise their values, principles, or beliefs. They compromise what they know is right because they believe that is what it takes to get ahead. But in The Compromise Trap, Elizabeth Doty proves that this is not at all the case. Compromising one’s beliefs only results in feelings of worthlessness, anxiety, and depression, and once someone begins to compromise their values, it can be incredibly difficult to recognize what their core values once were.

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Globalization

admin — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 14:17:45 +0000

Author:

Greenwald, Bruce C.

Kahn, Judd

Publisher:

John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Published Date:

2009

Global Business

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Globalization has been occurring for 200 years, and has been feared for nearly that long. In fact, the balance between local and global has remained nearly unchanged. Globalization discusses the fears, realized and not, of the impact of globalization on local economies. Globalization features an in-depth discussion of the history of globalization and the impact it has had on local employment, corporations, and finance, as well as its role in the development and growth of individual countries. Bruce C.

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Flipped

admin — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 14:17:45 +0000

Author:

Winsor, John

Publisher:

B2 Books

Published Date:

2010

Customer Focus

Marketing

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In Flipped, John Winsor describes how companies can use bottom-up marketing strategies to co-create new products and services with their customers. With the advent of Facebook, Twitter, and other social networks, successful companies have responded by encouraging their customers to participate in building their brands. Many companies still cling to outdated, top-down strategies, such as focus groups and traditional market research, which outsource the most importance relationship they have – their relationship with their customers.

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Get-It-Done Guy's 9 Steps to Work Less and Do More

admin — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 14:12:56 +0000

Author:

Robbins, Stever

Publisher:

St. Martin's Griffin

Published Date:

2010

Productivity

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Most people today are overwhelmed with work both at work and at home. Working more efficiently is one solution, but few know where to begin. In Get-It-Done Guy’s 9 Steps to Work Less and Do More, Stever Robbins has identified specific techniques for working smarter and getting more done in the same amount of time or less. His methods are the result of working with clients for years and helping them change the way they approach tasks.

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About Face

admin — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 14:12:56 +0000

Author:

Hill, Dan

Publisher:

Kogan-Page

Published Date:

2010

Marketing

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In About Face, Dan Hill demonstrates how advertising agencies and marketing strategists can employ new advances in neuroscience, behavioral economics, and cognitive psychology to create emotionally effective advertisements that bring brands and companies closer to the consumer. Hill is an expert in facial coding and a widely sought speaker who has appeared on NBC’s “The Today Show,” FOX, CNN, and MSNBC for his analysis of the 2008 Presidential Election and steroid scandal in Major League Baseball.

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Obstacles Welcome

admin — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 14:12:56 +0000

Author:

de la Vega, Ralph

Publisher:

Thomas Nelson

Published Date:

2009

Business Biographies

Leadership

Major Works

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In Obstacles Welcome, Ralph de la Vega describes in rich and fascinating biographical detail how adversity and obstacles present opportunities to enrich and transform our business and personal lives. De la Vega, currently the President and CEO of AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets, arrived in the United States in 1962 as a ten-year-old Cuban immigrant.

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The Politics of Life Itself

admin — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 14:12:55 +0000

Author:

Rose, Nikolas

Publisher:

Princeton University Press

Published Date:

2007

Health Care

Social Responsibility

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As biotechnology has continued to advance, some eagerly anticipate the creation of new intellectual property and a new bioeconomy. On the other hand, some fear that the desire for profit is leading to the unethical uses of science. Now that life is better understood and can be engineered at the molecular level, human existence has increasingly become the focus of government attention, the target of new forms of expertise, and the object of economic exploitation.

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Manager Redefined

admin — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 14:12:55 +0000

Author:

Davenport, Thomas O.

Harding, Stephen D.

Publisher:

Jossey-Bass

Published Date:

2010

Management

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Management positions are a staple of corporate organizational charts, but the role itself is not always well defined. It is often an assortment of pieces and parts designed to do too many things, and thus accomplish none of them well. As a result, people in the organizational hierarchy question its value. In Manager Redefined, Tom Davenport and Stephen Harding take a different view, and argue that managers and supervisors are essentially the center of insight and influence, and endowed with the potential to make dramatic contributions to overall enterprise success.

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The Innovator's Way

admin — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 14:12:55 +0000

Author:

Denning, Peter J.

Dunham, Robert

Publisher:

The MIT Press

Published Date:

2010

Innovation

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Innovation is critical for personal, business, and economic success. Although thousands of books have been printed on meeting the challenges of innovation, the August 2005 issue of Businessweek reports an innovation success rate of only four percent. In The Innovator’s Way, Peter J. Denning and Robert Dunham propose the development of personal skills as a new way of improving the innovation success rate.

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Trade-Off

admin — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 14:12:55 +0000

Author:

Maney, Kevin

Publisher:

Random House Books

Published Date:

2009

Business Strategy

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Most providers of products and services are confronted with trade-offs between fidelity and convenience, yet few business leaders choose to view their product and service strategy through this lens. In Trade-Off, Kevin Maney looks at businesses through the lens of fidelity versus convenience and demonstrates how this concept gives business people a new framework for thinking and talking about strategy.

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Telling Ain't Training

admin — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 15:13:53 +0000

Author:

Stolovitch, Harold D.

Keeps, Erica J.

Rosenberg, Marc J.

Publisher:

ASTD Press

Published Date:

2011

Business Strategy

Communication

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Telling Ain’t Training presents an in-depth look at workplace training, adult learners, and the most effective tools for conveying and absorbing knowledge. By switching the focus from the information to be learned to the needs of the learners, the instructor can optimize the transfer of knowledge. By engaging students through activities that reinforce course objectives, the instructor can communicate knowledge that learners will store and retain.

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Win at Work!

admin — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 15:13:52 +0000

Author:

Katz, Diane L.

Publisher:

John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Published Date:

2010

Communication

Management

Relationships

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In Win at Work!, Diane Katz presents an alternative to the traditional linear model of resolving conflict called “The Working Circle.” This approach encourages flexibility when resolving conflict. The Working Circle is a circular approach with eight steps that can be revisited on the way to conflict resolution. Rather than focusing solely on solutions, The Working Circle requires individuals to balance feelings and reason in order to improve confidence and focus on organizational goals.

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