Managing Without Management : A Post-Management Manifesto for Business Simplicity

Book Description

This stimulating vision of the future offers a radical prediction for what lies ahead for big business. The authors bring their global experience as top consultants to uncover the six powerful forces that will dismantle management and shape the supercorporation of tomorrow: the power of customers, information, investors, global markets, simplicity, and leadership.

Customer Reviews:

Opportunity Lost.......2005-04-06

I found this book rhetorical and in some areas misleading. While I can sympathise with the authors' attempts in trying to make sense of the management problem that afflicts industry and government, their resort to claiming that all problems will be fixed through the application of six change forces is pure technique drivel.

To be fair the concepts in the book are now becoming old (1997 reprint) but this does not distance it from deserved criticism. The last thing that the world needs is a dialectic that is predicated upon the Cult of the Leader(Leader Power) and a reverence to the ability of Information Technology to provide a managerial communications fix. Their concentration upon investor power is correct but for the wrong reasons.

Investors are not good at judging customer value and their influence in redirecting customer-centric corporate direction through a compliant CEO has to be viewed with scepticism. Do not misunderstand me, I am not a managerial apologist.

In concurrence with the authors I also believe that bureaucratic managerialism is inefficient and needs reduction. However the methods by which I would achieve this goal is not as socially disruptive as those endorsed by the authors i.e through rampant dismissals. I can understand why the authors state: ' We do not have the abswers' (p.215) to the unemployment dilemma.

The authors focus upon the Customer and upon Simpliicity are some of this book's redeeming features, until the authors start espousing the merits of outsourcing and the tired neo-conservative polemic that privatisation is a better economic model than public ownership. Outsourcing is only advantageous when core-competencies are not lost. The book's tenet revolves around the non-managerialism so would it not make sense to outsource management. Nowhere in the book is this stated.

The latter privatisation/public ownership debate only has currency because we have been and still are existing in a flawed Neoclassical economic milieu that, by historical circumstances, has ruled Western Society since the time of Adam Smith. It is a philosophy that professes a primacy of the individual over community.

Perhaps it is time to review this economic underpinning and start questioning the Neoclassical Economic ceteris paribus assumptions (see page 211) inherent in Neoclassical static economic models, especially in these times when Sustainability issues (ISO900, ISO 14001, etc.) have become paramount.

This latter exercise I think should provide the authors with a better avenue along which to proceed. I am convinced that the Chapter 3 heading is prophetic. I do not believe that this book is sufficiently detailed to provide the world with a blueprint that promises a 'Revolution that has not Happened.

Just when you thought you were safe from witch doctors.........1997-04-30

I don't know whether this book should be called Witch Doctors Part 2 (see Micklethwait's and Wooldridge's book) or vice versa theirs should be called Managing Without 2. Anyway, this book goes further than fingering management consultants as witches, and questions whether boards of directors in command and control organisations are to blame. Perhaps, they buy complex management consultancy to keep themselves occupied, intellectually or worse to make themselves an indispensable fixture as all else changes. How many top people rush into downsize everyone else than themselves? I think that the UK House of Parliament makes an excellent example of an organisation which will protest that it's willing to change anything apart from its top members' privileges. Why on earth does a country the size of the UK need to be governed by 650 + politicians in an era of interactive information? You don't need to be a modern day Guy Fawkes to join our witch doctors club which questions which management consultants and company boards are passionately, relentlessly, creatively worth their meal ticket? Join us to try to sort out the good, the bad and the ugly in the games that turn of the century company leaders - and their court jesters - play with their people and their consistent, boundaryless right to learn... ............................................................................... Chris Macrae, editor of Brand Chartering Handbook & MELNET www.brad.ac.uk/branding/ E-mail me at wcbn007@easynet.co.uk

Book Description

PART I: THE ACCOUNTING MODEL We start with an introduction to using accounting information (based on Intel Corporation). This begins our strong focus on interpreting financial results. Next, we introduce the basics of an accounting information system, processing business transactions, adjusting and closing entries, and accounting for a merchandising business. PART II: INTERNAL CONTROL AND INCOME MEASUREMENT ISSUES In this section we discuss internal control issues, receivables, short-term financing, inventories and long-lived assets. PART III: FINANCING AND INVESTING ISSUES In this section we discuss corporations: long-term liabilities, and investments. PART IV: REPORTING AND ANALYSIS ISSUES In the last section we discuss statement of cash flows, interpretation of financial statements, business consolidations, and international accounting and reporting issues

Book Description

Does the Supreme Court have the authority to deprive the people of the right to govern themselves? Marshaling a convincing array of historical sources, Raoul Berger demonstrates in Death Penalties that the Framers of the Constitution withheld such power from the Court and that its death penalty decisions unconstitutionally impose the Justices' morals upon an unwilling people.

Customer Reviews:

Not for the timid.......2003-03-16

Powerful, comprehensive, unanswerable scholarship. Read this book at your own risk if you would like to believe the U.S. Supreme Court has the authority to strike down the death penalty.

Book Description

Our lack of knowledge of the organisms dwelling in soils and sediments and of their roles in ecological processes constitutes a major barrier to understanding how ecosystems operate. This topic has both academic and applied relevance. Thus, in order to forecast the implications of perturbations in a site on both the species present and the ecosystem functioning, whether direct (e.g. pollution or physical disturbance) or indirect (e.g. climate change), methods need to be available that can be used to ascertain what organisms are present in a sample. This book provides an authoritative manual of the techniques now used for different organisms. It has been developed as part of a project initiated by the International Union of Biological Sciences (IUBS), supported by UNESCO. It covers both soil organisms and those inhabiting freshwater and marine sediments, from microbes (bacteria, algae, fungi, etc.) to macrofauna (earthworms, nematodes, molluscs, etc.). The chapters are arranged by organismal groups and have been written by recognized specialists from the USA and Europe. The book makes a major contribution to the literature and is indispensable for soil and aquatic biologists and ecologists, as well as those with a broader interest in biodiversity and environmental sciences.

Book Description

This book evaluates the reputation of the coelacanth, presenting up-to-date accounts of the structure of fossil coelacanths, and suggests a family history to show that there have been subtle but significant changes in coelacanth history.

Customer Reviews:

The essential guide to history's most famous fossil fish.......2006-05-10

Dr. Peter Forey, one of the world's most accomplished paleontologists, has crafted an absolutely terrific book -- the ultimate reference to the Coelacanth. It is a well-written, detailed look at the world's best-known prehistoric fish. In fact, "History of the Coelacanth Fishes" is the best, most in-depth book of its kind that I've ever read. Clearly, it's one that scientists and lay people will be turning to for years to come.

The book is not inexpensive -- but it is indispensable for those with an interest in prehistoric fish. For me, it definitely was money well spent.

Almost everything you could need know about coelcanths.......2004-03-11

Having just finished my dissertation on a related topic, I thought a review was in order. It's well written and very in depth, but could do with a revision, given the recent discovery of a new species of Latimeria. That said, I doubt that are any other books that have as much information on coelacanths as this, and no topic is skimmed over. Perhaps the only problem is that it does assume a fairly high level of background knowledge on anatomy and palaeontology, I'm an undergraduate student and I still found many of the terms unfamiliar.
I wouldn't recommend it to those with only a casual interest in the subject, especially with the hefty price tag.

The Triassic coelacanth fish Diplurus, with observations on the evolution of the Coelacanthini;: A study based on specimens collected at Princeton University ... Museum of Natural History, v. 99 article 2)

Average customer rating:

The Triassic coelacanth fish Diplurus, with observations on the evolution of the Coelacanthini;: A study based on specimens collected at Princeton University ... Museum of Natural History, v. 99 article 2)
Bobb Schaeffer
Manufacturer: [American Museum of Natural History]
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B0006AT6OK

Scientific publications of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, new ser

Average customer rating:

Scientific publications of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, new ser
Bobb Schaeffer
Manufacturer: Cleveland Museum of Natural History
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Natural History | Nature & Ecology | Science | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B0007DQ9YQ

Book Description

The Phanerozoic calendar of the history of the earth is composed of fundamental units called stages. A priority of the International Commission on Stratigraphy is to redefine these stages using a modern approach. This work presents a unique solution to the previously debated and diversified locations of the Campanian-Maastrichtian boundary, providing a precise correlation using the most accepted known time markers. The Campanian and the Maastrichtian are the last two stages of the Cretaceous System.

This volume includes a large amount of previously unpublished stratigraphical data. With the use of uncertainty margins for observations, established by comparison of results obtained by various experts using different approaches for the same stratigraphical tool, a new approach to stratigraphical information was employed. While most of the data have been taken from the recently rediscovered geological site at Tercis, France, data from other sections around the world have been considered. The section studied at Tercis is the best stratigraphical record on Earth for the period of several million years across the Campanian-Maastrichtian boundary.

Average customer rating:

In need of editing but a great story ...

The most memorable book I've ever read

Hard to tell you just how great this is

Disappointed

Multi Layered Tour De Force

The Bark of the Dogwood: A Tour of Southern Homes and Gardens
Jackson Tippett McCrae
Manufacturer: Enolam Group Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Comic | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Literary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Domestic Life | Women's Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Psychological & Suspense | Thrillers | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
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Katzenjammer: Soon To Be A Major Motion Picture

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Simon Lazarus

The Greatest White Trash Love Story Ever Told

The Losers Club: Complete Restored Edition!

ASIN: 0971553629

Book Description

Asked to write a series of articles on Southern Homes and Gardens for a New York Magazine, Strekfus Beltzenschmidt (the main character in The Bark of the Dogwood) chooses not only some of the plantations and historic residences the South is known for, but places of his youth, including the home he grew up in and those of his relatives that he visited as a child. The intended articles become in essence, short stories, which then grow into the main character's memoirs about his turbulent and sometimes humorous childhood. The result is not only an ongoing battle with his boss over the magazine's content and direction, but a painful journey into remembering the people and places of his past.

The opening statement of his first story, "When I was six years old I became locked inside the home of Helen Keller," is a clue into this insightful book's revelations about how we are all in some way, deaf, dumb, or blind, if not literally, then at least spiritually or emotionally. The stories serve as chapters themselves in the novel, expertly intertwined with the modern day world of publishing in New York--each chapter commenting on the other and linked in ways that only become obvious as the reader digs deeper into the novel.

The Bark of the Dogwood is a dazzling display of virtuosity, combining rollicking humor and insights into human nature with a tale of horror and family secrets surpassing even the most Gothic Southern novel. The end result is a massive undertaking that works on several levels—so many, that it is up to the reader to decide just how deep he wants to delve into the colorful cast of characters whose lives are inextricably intertwined.

Customer Reviews:

In need of editing but a great story ..........2006-09-13

There is so much that is wonderful about this book. I just wish someone had done a good editing job on it to bring it into focus and eliminate some of the overly long unnecessary rambling passages. It seems to be written from three viewpoints which reads like overkill. The first person and childhood reminiscences are usually okay but I think he could have left the third person perspective out of it entirely and been left with a cleaner, more concise piece of writing and storytelling.

The most memorable book I've ever read.......2006-06-27

If I could recomend only one book to the average reader--or anyone for that matter---it would be this one. I simply don't seem to be able to shake the experience of reading this novel. While I was sufficiently blown away while reading it, afterwards, after I had time to think about it, I was even more so.

This book will keep you up at night, AFTER you've read it. It's one of those "Wait a minute, I've had time to process this, and there's more here than I thought there was" types of experiences. Funny? You bet. Hysterical in fact, in places, but the real message of the book is survival and overcoming the "ODDS."

The books that find their way to my bookcase are usually one of two kinds. Either they are great writing examples such as "The Hours," or the novels of Toni Morrison, or they are entertaining reads such as the works of David Sedaris ("Me Talk Pretty") or memoir-type pieces such as "A Million Little Pieces" (give or take the truth), or the book "Running With Scissors." So I was a little shocked when I got all of this and more in this book. Let me give you a few examples of the beautiful writing:

"Again the man was speaking, saying something to him, but Strekfus's mind was a blur and he was already back there, in a time long before New York and much further away--in a land of red dust and fetid swamps and burning suns. A land where gullied roads led past dead cottonwoods and solitary eagles swung high over patchwork fields."

Then there are the examples of humor, this particular one involving Southerner's speech patterns and their knack for twisting words:

"Even for Southerners, the pronunciation of certain words can be precarious. Once, after attending a church revival with my parents in the country, I lay awake in bed all night, waiting for a can of "Lard" my mother kept under the stove to come into my bedroom and make its divine presence felt. It had been made quite clear to me at the various church meetings that unless you knew the "Lard" personally, you were in real trouble. It was years before I was able to distinguish the difference between the divine presence of our savior Jesus Christ and coagulated pig fat."

Based on a true story, this book will have you laughing one minute and cringing with pain the next. It all blends together in this powerful book. Warning: There are passages which are shocking and the main subject, humor or not, is child abuse, but this is one great piece of literature.

I haven't even gotten into form here, for others have and you can read that, but let's just say that the "book within a book" idea works perfectly. Really, everything about this novel is sheer genius. It's like someone took all the good things about novels over the years, weeded out the faults, and rolled them all together into this one.

If you want nothing but entertainment, this is it. If you want quality writing, this is it. If you want both, this is it. In short . . . this is it.

Hard to tell you just how great this is.......2006-02-03

I'll admit, I'm a little frustrated with this book. I keep touting it to EVERYONE I know, telling them it's a must read, and they keep asking me "why?" The problem is this: You can't really go into WHY this book is so great without giving away the secrets, anagrams, connections, etc. It's like asking someone about "Da Vinci Code" (whether you like it or not)--you simply can't tell everything without ruining it for the other person. Also, it would take you forever to even try and remember all the connections and odd characters.

I thought this was one of the best written pieces of "literature" i've read in years. Might I suggest you read the "Few will actually get it" review which does manage to explain some of the book without giving away any "spoilers."

Never thought I say this about anything I've read in all these years, but this is one of the best books I've ever read. Would also recommend you try the novel "You Remind me of Me," which is odd (in a good way) but very different. Cheers!

Disappointed.......2006-02-01

I loved the format of this book and the first few chapters and found myself laughing out loud at the quirky main character as a child (particularly when he asks "What was I thinking in choosing these parents?" and in the chapter about the dead dog). However, my enjoyment of the book dropped dramatically as I got to the chapters dealing with the "eccentric" college friends which, [...] -- I found to be ludicrous and annoying caricatures. The author really seemed to be trying too hard at that point. Although there were other good parts after that -- I never really got back to the level of enjoyment that I felt initially. All of the interconnected coincidences began to get on my nerves a LOT and a major part of the plot did not make sense to me. Good overall idea about how the cycle of family abuse can be traced back and, as I already said, really interesting format -- but I was very disappointed that the book went downhill after such a strong start. It's still better than many books but I would not bother to recommend it to a friend or keep it in my permanent library -- although I had expected to when I bought it. Don't read this next part if you don't want to know something major about the plot: Maybe someone can explain to me what Althea's motivation is supposed to have been for saving one baby over the other? She had no previous relationship with either baby or father yet when she carried out the critical action so why would she have gone to such trouble to do what she did?

Multi Layered Tour De Force.......2006-01-20

Without a doubt, far and away, the best book I have read in recent memory, and one of my favorites of all time. There are several books within this layered, tour de force novel. Sardonic, slighly dark and laugh out loud funny. Fabulous story, great characters. Full of historical and cultural references, coincidences-and oh, the anagrams! Harper Lee, William Faulkner, Gabriel Marquez meets Sedaris, but better.

Book Description

What is the difference between the Roman Empire and the Holy Roman Empire? Did Marie Antoinette really say, "Let them eat cake"? When did MTV first air and how did the Internet develop? U·X·L® History Fact Finder is an innovative 3-vol. set that answers 750 of the most commonly asked questions concerning topics, times, terms and people in world and U.S. history from ancient to modern times. The question-and-answer format is arranged in 15 chapters to facilitate quick lookups as well as informative browsing. Fun facts and interesting details are featured in handy sidebars throughout this set, which includes a comprehensive subject index. U·X·L® History Fact Finder's fully-illustrated volumes feature 180 illustrations, photos, maps, timelines and other graphics. Look for subject chapters that include information on:

Eras and Their Highlights
Religion
Exploration and Settlement
War and Conflict
Government and Politics
Law and Famous Trials
Economics and Business
Political and Social Movements
Natural and Man-made Disasters
Medicine and Disease
Philosophy
Science and Invention
Culture and Recreation
Holidays and Observances

Customer Reviews:

An emotional re-evaluation of a stoic warrior.......1999-10-14

Schwartz presents a verbose but imaginative look at the life and times of George Washington.

The book seemed to be a meditation on a single theme - George Washington was a human being with human frailties, misfortunes, and maladies. However, it is these weaknesses, according to the vibrant virtous verbiage(this is style in which Scwartz seems to sporadically specialize)of the author, that resulted in the "cult" of Washington.

Schwartz alludes to Washington's Revolutionary War loss at Philadelphia, his military indecisiveness and his self-induced lameducketry during his second term as proof of his humanity. I was pleasently suprised to read about these qualities or in Washington's case, the lack thereof.

Unfortunaely, Professor Schwartz assumes that the reader has rabies, because he injects us with 17 examples on the same theme. What of his problems with L'Enfant, his relationship with Martha, his relationship with his father, his children(did he have any?), his relationship with politicians other than John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and Ben Franklin?

In sum, Schartz provides the reader with a brilliant synopses of as to how Washington's military failures made him more human and thus, a better man. The scinece-fictionesque conclusion is atypical of a biography, but this is an atypical biography, so it fits quite will.

However, Schwartz is a sociologist, not a historian, and he attempts to overcompensate for this fact. Instead of producing a sociological study of a man whose life is often portrayed as if he were a Super Bowl halftime show, Schartz has fallen into the quagmire of over-analyzing his military misadventures, a boring road that this reader has travelled down many times before as an amateur historian.

Book Description

The first book to explore the rich history of Valley Forge after the American Revolution. “A few decades after the Revolutionary War, Valley Forge was a largely ignored battlefield that was rapidly reverting to farmland; this year as many as four million tourists will visit the site. Thus, it is both instructive and interesting to follow the evolution of this national shrine. Treese, an archivist at Bryn Mawr College, has a knack for breathing life into seemingly dry and fragmented documentary evidence. She skillfully examines lore about Valley Forge, including Washington's supposed pleas for divine guidance and the striking image of snow stained with the blood of shoeless, starving soldiers. She also reveals the often passionate conflicts and rivalries over development and concession rights. Finally, she paints a revealing portrait of the manner in which Americans, past and present, have chosen to view their history. In an age when the bloodstained, hallowed ground of Virginia battlefields is coveted as a site for a Disney theme park, Treese's work is a time! ly reminder that some treasures can't be calculated in dollars and cents.”—Booklist

More than four million people a year visit Valley Forge, one of America's most celebrated historic sites. Here, amid the rolling hills of southeastern Pennsylvania, visitors can pass through the house which served as Washington's Headquarters during the famous winter encampment of 1777-1778. Others picnic and jog in the huge park, complete with monuments, recreated log huts, and modern visitor center, all built to pay tribute to the Valley Forge story. In this lively book, Lorett Treese shows how Valley Forge evolved into the tourist mecca that it is today. In the process, she uses Valley Forge as a means for understanding how Americans view their own past.

Treese explores the origins of popular images associated with Valley Forge, such as George Washington kneeling in the snow to seek divine assistance. She places Valley Forge in the context of the historic preservation movement as the site became Pennsylvania's first state park in 1893. She studies its “Era of Monuments” and the movement to “restore” Valley Forge in the spirit of Rockefeller's enormously popular colonial Williamsburg.

Treese describes a Valley Forge fraught with controversy over the appropriate appearance and use of a place so revered. One such controversy, the “hot dog war,” a brief but intense battle over concession stands, was spawned by Americans' changing perceptions of how a national park was to be used. The volatile Vietnam era prompted the state park commission to establish its “Subcommittee on Sex, Hippies, and Whiskey Swillers” to investigate park regulation infractions.

Even today, people differ over exactly what happened at Valley Forge during the winter of 1777-1778. The modern visitor sees the remains of over a century of commemoration, competition, and contention. The result, Treese shows, is a historic site that may reveal more about succeeding history than about Washington's army. This book will give its readers a new way to look at Valley Forge—and all historic sites.

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George Washington : The Making of an American Symbol
Barry Schwartz
Manufacturer: Free Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000O98J0A

Book Description

Where and what is the place of the wild? Is the goal of preserving biodiversity across the landscape of North America compatible with contemporary Western culture.

Place of the Wild brings together original essays from an exceptional array of contemporary writers and activists to present in a single volume the most current thinking on the relationship between humans and wilderness. A common thread running through the volume is the conviction that everyone concerned with the natural world - academics and activists, philosophers and poets - must join forces to re-establish cultural narratives and shared visions that sustain life on this planet.

The contributors apply the insights of conservation biology to the importance of wilderness in the 21st century, raising questions and stimulating thought. The volume begins with a series of personal narratives that present portraits of wildlands and humans. Following those narratives are more-analytical discourses that examine conceptions and perceptions of the wild, and of the place of humanity in it. The concluding section features clear and resonant activist voices that consider the importance of wildlands, and what can be done to reconcile the needs of wilderness with the needs of human culture.

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