Book Description
In Thomas A. Stewart’s bestselling first book, Intellectual Capital, he redefined the priorities of businesses around the world, demonstrating that the most important assets companies own today are often not tangible goods, equipment, financial capital, or market share, but the intangibles: patents, the knowledge of workers, and the information about customers and channels and past experience that a company has in its institutional memory. Now in his new book, The Wealth of Knowledge, Stewart--widely acknowledged as the world’s leading expert on working with intellectual capital in today’s knowledge economy--reveals how today’s companies are applying the concept of intellectual capital into day-to-day operations to dramatically increase their success in the marketplace.
Arguing that companies can make untold millions of dollars by managing knowledge more effectively--and save millions more--Stewart offers executives and managers compelling accounts of how leading companies around the world are successfully tackling the practical issues involved in today’s knowledge economy. The heart of the book is a revolutionary 4-step preocess that shows how to put intellectual capital to work to improve performance and profitablity, as well as manage knowledge processes. He goes on to discuss how companies can better utilize their current assets and enhance their knowledge resources for the future. Questioning many of the assumptions that have ruled business in the twentieth century, he addresses such critical and fundamental issues as why companies exist, how they should be organized and how people should be compensated. With his customary fearlessness and foresight, he plunges into the thick of the controversial arena of measuring and accounting, as well-an increasingly difficult task when a corporation’s assets are intangible.
The Wealth of Knowledge not only sets out the latest thinking in creating and managing knowledge assets, but provides a detailed course of action for corporations trying to navigate their way in the world of knowledge economy.
From the Hardcover edition.
Customer Reviews:
Engaging book, sometimes lacking focus.......2003-01-02
Business corporations of old were formed out of physical assets such as real estate, buildings, and machinery. Over the last few decades, and accelerating as we move into the 21st century, businesses have increasingly shifted emphasis to intangible assets, including brands, patents, relationships, knowledge, and organizational culture. Yet accounting methods and much input into strategy and decision-making have lagged behind this trend. Stewart, author of Intellectual Capital and a Fortune columnist, has produced an impressive book that investigates many aspects of the knowledge enterprise and the role of intellectual capital. The three main sections are "The Theory of a Knowledge Business", "The Disciplines of a Knowledge Business", and "The Performance of a Knowledge Business". The weakness in this range is that it appears that Stewart has thrown in topics that have little relation to the main point of the book. Each chapter, with a few exceptions, can be read separately as they do not build one on another effectively. Some of the chapters are particularly rewarding: Chapter 10 looks at how to support knowledge processes; chapter 12, "The Human Capitalist", gathers some interesting thoughts on work and pay for intellectual capitalists, and chapter 13 covers several recent views on how to account for intangibles. The book is definitely worth picking through for the many nuggets but would have been improved with a tighter focus and a stronger theoretical framework. Faults are easy to miss and, when not missed, to forgive thanks to Stewart's undeniable talent as an entertaining writer.
Good read, provocative ideas.......2002-11-30
This is Tom Stewart in his usual form: provocative, speculative, and challenging conventional logic. The writing style is lucid and the discussion of KM technolgy (2 chapters) is commendable. Just a few phrases and metaphors that is uses in the book make it a worthy read. Definitely worth the money. Buy it, but read it slowly. There is much tacit knowledge between the lines!
Paying Attention to Truth is Profitable and Protective.......2002-09-21
Too many people will miss the core message of this book, which is about paying attention to truth and seeking out truth in the context of networks of trust, rather than about managing the process of internal knowledge.
When the author says "It's time to gather the grain and torch the chaff," his book over-all tells me he is talking about brain-power and a culture of thinking (the grain) and counterproductive information technology and irrelevant financial audits (the chaff).
This is one of those rare books that is not easily summarized and really needs to be read in its entirely. A few items that jumped out at me:
1) Training is a priority and has both return on investment and retention of employee benefits that have been under-estimated.
2) All major organizations (he focused on business, I would certainly add government bureaucracies) have "legal underpinnings, ..systems of governance, ..management disciplines, ..accounting (that) are based on a model of the corporation that has become irrelevant."
3) Although one reviewer objected to his comments on taxation, the author has a deeper point--the government is failing to steer the knowledge economy because it is still taxing as if we had an industrial economy--this has very severe negative effects.
4) As I read the author's discussion of four trends he credits to John Hagel of I2, it was clear that "intelligence" needs to be applied not only to single organizations, but to entire industries. In my view, this author is quite brilliant and needs to be carefully cultivated by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, all of the industry associations, and by governments. There are some extremely powerful "macro" opportunities here that his ideas could make very profitable for a group acting in the aggregate.
5) This is one book that should have had footnotes instead of end-notes, for while the author is careful to credit all ideas borrowed from others, it is difficult in the text to follow his thinking in isolation. One idea that is very pertinent to national intelligence and counterintelligence as well as corporate knowledge management is that of the reversal of the value chain--"first sell, then make," i.e. stop pushing pre-conceived products out the door and get into the business of just enough, just in time knowledge or product creation that is precisely tailored to the real time needs of the client.
6) The author excells at blasting those corporations (and implicitly, major government bureaucracies such as the spy agencies that spend over $30 billion a year of taxpayer funds) that assume that if they only apply more dollars to the problem, they can solve any challenge. "Too often 'dumb power' produces a higher-level stalemate." One could add: and at greater cost!
7) The bottom line of this truly inspired and original book comes in the concluding chapters when the author very ably discusses how it is not knowledge per se that creates the value, but rather the leadership, the culture, and infrastructure (one infers a networked infrastructure, not a hard-wired bunker). These are the essential ingredients for fostering both knowledge creation and knowledge sharing, something neither the CIA nor the FBI understood at the management level in the years prior to 9-11.
It's About the Money.......2002-05-16
A compelling and eminently practical book. Packed with examples and case studies, The Wealth of Knowledge builds a bridge between the abstract world of Intellectual Capital theory and the tough realities of business in the 21st century. With a fast paced and "in-your-face" style, veteran Fortune writer Tom Stewart reminds us of what the Knowledge Economy is all about: money. How to get it, keep it and make it grow. Anyone who thinks the phrase "New Economy" was just passing techno-hype and dot-com reverie should read this book. It may just save your business.
David H. Brett, CEO and Founder, Knexa.com
check your premises.......2002-05-13
The author's offhand comment on page 19 "...taxation--some loonies call it theft--..." was not needed to make his point.
And calling persons
loonies does not change the facts. I was enjoying his book until he riled me with that comment.
Book Description
Organizational Behavior places core concepts of human behavior and industrial psychology in a real-world context. The text's applied approach and succinct coverage of topical issues helps prepare students to meet practical, day-to-day challenges. Strong end-of-chapter exercises, activities, plus an optional case and exercise book make this flexible text suitable for students at the undergraduate level. Likewise, the authors' emphasis on the latest organizational behavior research continues to attract graduate students.
In keeping with the emphasis on current content, the Seventh Edition includes an ongoing case featuring Enron that encourages students to consider how all OB topics tie together and practice applying key concepts by systematically working through the case and answering the accompanying questions. All boxes have been replaced or significantly updated to reflect recent changes in business—including Talking Technology, Mastering Change, The Business of Ethics, Working with Diversity, and World View features. Call-out quotes from managers appear at appropriate points throughout the text to highlight relevant, real-world examples. In addition, each chapter includes one cartoon with a content-based caption that highlights an interesting, and often humorous, aspect of organizational behavior.
- New! Building Managerial Skills exercises require students to consider different workplace situations from a manager's standpoint and determine a suitable course of action for each scenario.
- New! OB Online exercises, previously known as Developing OB Internet Skills, ask students to gather information from the Web and use it to answer critical-thinking questions.
- New! Self-Assessment exercises, previously known as Building OB Skills, give students the opportunity to complete brief self-assessment and diagnostic activities.
- Experiencing Organizational Behavior exercises reinforce the real-world application of chapter concepts and ask students to work through the activities together.
Customer Reviews:
Well Nice bookie.......2003-06-09
Nice treatment of management. I learned a lot from this book.
Most helpful and insightful.......2002-09-28
The book is fairly comprehensive in terms of its scope. We are currently using the book at our Organizational Behavior class, and it's proved to be an excellent reference. The way it is structured (for the reader) makes in-depth reading or skimming through it (let's face it: this is the reality for most working MBA students!) equally effective. It has clearly distinguishable definitions on the margins, which can serve as a cue for the topic, along with the summaries at the end of every chapter. The intro and closing "cases" provided around the topic of the chapter are VERY insightful and on every other page or so, there are examples about the matter being discussed, which help with the understanding (I know that I, as an Engineer, appreciate examples to illustrate a point). Finally, the illustrations (graphs and charts) are one of the best things the book has! Remember that phrase that used to say "a picture is worth a thousand words"? Well, the authors epithomize it. The charts in the book do a great job at conveying entire pages of information at a time in a very efficient way. All in all, I like the book a lot, and it's been very helpful in complementing our in-class discussions about cases and topics of Organizational Behavior.
But this book ONLY if it is required!.......2000-12-10
I had to buy this book for a college management class. The material is painfully obvious. However, if you've lived you're entire life living in a dark, dank room eating Cheetos and watching MTV, then this book will be a watershed for you. If, on the otherhand, you are looking for some solid management theory, this book is not for you. If you have to buy this book for a course like I did, remember, you can always sell it to someone who hasn't read it yet.
Customer Reviews:
Great cases & exercises!.......2004-01-09
This is a fantastic resource of small case studies (appropriate for introductory undergraduate courses) and in-class exercises. If you enjoy having a more "participative" class-room, but your students are not ready for HBS case studies yet, this is a great way to introduce them to case analyses, and get them applying the theories and concepts that you have talked about in class.
Average customer rating:
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Poisonous Plant Contamination of Edible Plants
Manufacturer: CRC Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
 Herbal Remedies
| Alternative Medicine
| Health, Mind & Body
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General
| Health, Mind & Body
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General
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General
| Botany
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Toxicology
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Toxicology
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ASIN: 0849363691 |
Book Description
Poisonous Plant Contamination of Edible Plants discusses the chemical and toxicological aspects of poisonous plants that frequently contaminate edible plants, such as grains and vegetables, thereby causing toxicity in humans. Topics covered include hepatotoxic plant contamination; cyanogenic plant contamination; contamination of edible plants by poisonous ones; chemical constituents; pharmacological and toxicological data; and the botanical characteristics of toxic plants. Botanists, food researchers, horticulturalists, and others interested in the contamination of edible plants by poisonous plants will find this book a valuable source of information.
Book Description
Sandplay - Silent Workshop of the Psyche provides a historical background for understanding sandplay as well as a helpful discussion of how it works in a clinical context.
Based on the authors' clinical work, the volume includes in-depth sandplay case history material from a wide range of adults and children, detailed notes on interpreting the sand tray, and an examination of symbols and concepts used in sandplay. Soundly based in theory, this practical guide offers a solid introduction to sandplay as well as insightful material for those already practicing this form of therapy.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent resource for beginning and advanced therapists........1999-02-28
This is a book that can be read cover to cover or used as a reference resource. Through an alchemical mix of word and image, the authors communicate to the reader layer upon layer of meaning which can be gleaned with each reading of the book. Each time I return to any given chapter, I discover something new. The first part, "Background and Reflections," includes a review of the history of sandplay, a comparison of another three authors' perspectives, an explanation of co-transference, a discussion of the differences between sandplay and sandtray, and helpful answers to questions that frequently come up about the theory and practice of sandplay therapy. In the second part, "Symbol Studies," the authors remind us that in human development, the image comes before the word. Clinical material in the form of sandplay images illustrate this section of the book with color plates and black and white photographs of sandplay scenes. The third and final part of the book, "Individual Cases," consists of detailed studies of ten complete sandplay processes with accompanying photos. In both "Symbol Studies" and "Individual Cases," the reader witnesses through word and image the journey of healing and growth with the therapist and with the sandplayer who attains the treasure.
Book Description
This fascinating study examines the rise of American molecular biology to disciplinary dominance, focusing on the period between 1930 and the elucidation of DNA structure in the mid 1950s. Research undertaken during this period, with its focus on genetic structure and function, endowed scientists with then unprecedented power over life. By viewing the new biology as both a scientific and cultural enterprise, Lily E. Kay shows that the growth of molecular biology was a result of systematic efforts by key scientists and their sponsors to direct the development of biological research toward a shared vision of science and society. She analyzes the motivations and mechanisms empowering this vision by focusing on two key institutions: Caltech and its sponsor, the Rockefeller Foundation. Her study explores a number of vital, sometimes controversial topics, among them the role of private power centers in shaping scientific agenda, and the political dimensions of "pure" research. It also advances a sobering argument: the cognitive and social groundwork for genetic engineering and human genome projects was laid by the American architects of molecular biology during these early decades of the project. This book will be of interest to molecular biologists, historians, sociologists, and the general reader alike.
Book Description
Do you use the dictionary more than you think you should? Are the business memos you write filled with embarrassing spelling mistakes? Have you received a lot of low grades on your papers because of poor spelling? This easy-to-use book not only teaches you how to avoid misspellings, but also sharpens your skills so you can recognize spelling errors right away. You'll write clean English, improve your grades, and increase your chances for finding a new or better job.
Customer Reviews:
Practise What You Preech.......2007-01-31
This is a handy self-help book for a person who either is a horrible speller or gets tripped up by the occasional (not ocaissonal) word. Each chapter gives a diagnostic test on a particular spelling problem: double letters, ei/ie, plurals, apostrophes, etc. If you are strong in a given area, you can skip the exercises and jump ahead to the next section. The book presents some spelling rules that I wish had been explained to me in school; the rule about doubling a final consonant when adding a suffix to a word is elegant. I now understand why "referral" has a double-r and "reference" does not.
I would have rated this book a lot (not alot) higher if there weren't so many typographical errors. Maybe that's one of the hidden bonuses of the course (not coarse) -- you know you have improved when you can spot the misspellings (not mispellings). Here are some examples:
- In one of the very first diagnostic tests you have to determine which of the words is spelled correctly: (a) absence (b) changable (c) enviroment (d) immediatly. They give the answer as *a, c, d,* which is absurd. Only (a) is correct.
- In an exercise to check the correct usage of double letters there is this sentence about a shepherd: "... he swung his star in a wide arc over his head in triumph." This is very poetic, but the imagery eludes me. What they meant to print was *staf* so that you could correct it to "staff."
- Just below that on the page you have to underline the correct spelling in a given pair of words: "2. disc, disk." Well, both are correct; it depends whether you are talking about a CD or a floppy. Further on there is "7. clef, cleft." Again, both are correct; one is a musical sign and the other is a dimpling of the chin. I think they meant to print *cleff* so that you could choose the first word.
- The book twice gives the plural of focus as *loci.* Close, but not quite. The correct spelling is "foci." The other word is the plural of locus.
- In an exercise on homophones there is this sentence: "This is the (site, sight) for the new dotre." Did someone sneak in a hip new internet term? If *dotre* is a word, I'm stumped.
- This example appears in an exercise on the use of apostrophes: "... it is the faculty's ponsibility to change the policies...." Maybe it is hard to proofread a book that is meant to contain deliberate errors, but I'm sure it is someone's responsibility.
I hold back another star for the binding. The spine is very stiff, and the pages don't stay open easily. If you can get the book to lie flat, the pages eventually fall out. Perhaps it was not intended that you keep this book as a reference; having mastered the art of spelling, you can definitely (not definately) throw it away.
FABULOUS!!.......2003-04-22
Both my father and I used this book to work on our spelling. I was born in the US, and English is my first and only language. Ironically, I am actually an English major. While I could interpret the innerworkings of Shakespeare, I couldn't spell basic English words. I started using this book and my spelling improved incredibly! My father, an immigrant from India, didn't begin to learn English until he was 17 years old. However, by the time he had finished with this book, his spelling was nearly perfect!! This book is great for anyone and everyone!!
Product Description
Synopsis Do you use the dictionery more then you think you should? Are the business memos you write filled with embarassing spelling mistakes? Have you recieved alot of low grades on your papers because of poor spelling? Did you notice that some of the words in the above questions (dictionary, than, embarrassing, received, a lot) were misspelled? If not, you need this book. This easy-to-use workbook not only teaches you how to avoid misspellings like the ones above but also sharpens your skills so you can recognize spelling errors right away. You'll write clean English, improve your grades (if you're a student), and increase your chances for finding a new or better job. (After all, resumes and cover letters with misspelled works are often discarded). Can't spare 30 minutes a day? You can custom design your learning to take as little as five minutes day! Whichever way you use it, Better Spelling in 30 Minutes a Day is just what the teacher ordered.
Average customer rating:
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Better Spelling in 30 Minutes a Day
Edie Schwager
Manufacturer: Pentagon Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Grammar
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ASIN: 8182746469 |
Book Description
Deep in the Shadows
The night is not alone. Even those few who see into the shadows of the World of Darkness are surprised and horrified at what lurks there. Not every corpse that walks is a vampire. Not every mortal who chants in reverence to a greater power is a mage. Some of these beings are creatures born of fear and hunger... and some defy definition altogether.
Monsters Know Fear
World of Darkness: Antagonists provides systems and information on beings for use as foes and foils for your Storytelling characters. Zombies, monster-hunters, cultists and stranger things await. Some want only to exist, to feed in their own ways and be left alone. Others exist only to stalk and kill the unsuspecting. Do you stand against them, or do you have something more... devious in mind?
Customer Reviews:
Monsters manual!.......2007-03-08
I read a few reviews about this book and they all said this was not a monsters manual, I disagree. It has a few pages in the beginning of the book talking about antagonists in general and their function of a story. Then the book starts explaining about various antagonist races. A expanded monsters manual, without the nice imaged D&D's has.
NOT EXACTLY A MONSTER MANUAL.......2006-06-09
When I heard about WORLD OF DARKNESS: ANTAGONISTS, I thought I would be buying a "Monstrous Manual" for the Storyteller system, maybe some boogedy-men for supernatural types. This assumption was quite wrong. ANTAGONISTS is a book on antagonists from a narrative perspective; what an antagonist is, what is an antagonist's purpose for a story, some classes of antagonists from which to draw inspiration, and ten specific examples which can be used in any story.
ANTAGONISTS opens with a bit of zombie-voodoo fic; not a bad story but fairly predictable. The content itself begins with the purpose of an antagonist, which is to highlight the protagonist. This is an excellent point which I had never considered. The purpose of an enermy in gaming is traditionally to "level up", but in literature an enemy serves to either contrast the postive aspects of the story hero(es) or to highlight the similarities. It depends on the story you want to tell - is it to plumb the depths of darkness and fight the good fight or is it to expose the evil that is a part of everyone and how easily we are corrupted? An antagonist also has a purpose to his/her/its conflicts with the protagonists. Monsters and madmen may exhibit irrational behavior, but that behavior is not undirected. That behavior could be rooted in envy, territoriality, bigotry, hate, or even hunger. But there is always a motive, and discovering that motive is often the key to resolving conflicts that don't lend themselves well to violence. This is especially true in a mortals chronicle, who have little enough on their side to begin with.
ANTAGONISTS also has some chapters on types of enemies; who they might be, possible goals, possible resoultions, and sample antagonists. The first is zombies - an interesting coincidence with my having just finished ALL FLESH MUST BE EATEN (the zombie role-playing game). The contrast is striking; in the latter, there is almost always some apocalyptic scenario and the best hope is short term survival in a doomsday world. In ANTAGONISTS, it is pointed out that an apocalypse would have strong repercussions for the other supers, who would no doubt bring their powers to bear on the subject. So zombie outbreaks tend to be local, keeping the horror more personal. Maybe the characters need to bargain with the loa causing the dead to rise, or find the scientist who created the undead virus and bring back the antidote. Nevertheless, if the group decides to play a zombie attack in WOD, I would highly recommend also reading ALL FLESH MUST BE EATEN as the definitive source on zombies.
Next up are mortal hunters. I really found this chapter useful, since hunters are antagonists to supernaturals but protagonists in a mortals chronicle. The information for making mortals a credible threat to a supernatural creature is necessary reading for a group of mortals who WANT to be a credible threat to THEIR antagonists (hey - it's the original crossover game!) There's information on what motivates a normal Joe to abandon his normal life and take up arms against what's out there, strategies for maximizing the likelihood of survival in fighting a super, and how hunters might organize to make themselvesmore threatening. After some thought i realized that it is important for humans fighting supers to have symapthetic characteristics to avoid the storyline devolving into comic book drama. One might argue that vampires and werewolves have alien psychologies and do what they do for their own purposes, but humans MUST be believable. They are, after all, us. There are a few human hunters provided, along with their backstories. These are genuinely sympathetic characters, even as they threaten the existence of the PCs.
And who could forget those crazy cultists? This chapter explains why people join cults, how cults recruit people, and how a cult might serve as an opponent to your group. Cults tend to be portrayed more like the Mafia than like serial killers; it's nothing personal if they are after you. Maybe you have something they want, or you are in the way of their goals, or maybe this is pledge week and they're making an offer you can't refuse. Some sample cults are listed, although I would recommend that you also read anything by Lovecraft or his Mythos servitors if you want cults.
Some potential enemies are listed in the final chapter, with background stories and stats. These are meant to be rare, once-in-a-lifetime encounters with something Really Awful. Some prey explicitly on supers while others seem interested in protecting humanity, if as nothing else than a food source. Most are designed to be slowly introduced, to build mystery and fear as the characters come to realize what is happening. I thought all of the examples had possibilities.
ANTAGONISTS is an excellent book overall. The enemies and conflicts provided are meant as material for supernaturals, but could just as reasonably be applied to mortals games. The chapter on hunters is absolutley necessary for mortals who plan to do their own hunting. It is consistent with the theme and flavor of the WORLD OF DARKNESS setting and I would highly recommend it for any story-telling game.
The best supplement for the new World of Darkness.......2006-02-24
This is absolutely the greatest supplement in the new World of Darkness. There is no other way to describe this book.
It's divided into sections about the living dead (not including Vampires. You'll need the Vampire: The Requiem core rule book for that,) cultists, monster hunters, and just plain weird stuff that's really better to use against supernatural players.
All of the sections are fantastic, and I very highly recommend this book for anyone looking to start a World of Darkness chronicle.
What do monsters fear?.......2005-08-17
This book a GREAT utility to help spark your imagination. It helps you get into the mind set of yuor underworld aware characters, a find out what makes their skin crawl, what exactly are vampires afraid of? or even a werewolf? If you are wanting to run a high risk game this is definatly something to invest in.
Books:
- The World and a Very Small Place in Africa: A History of Globalization in Niumi, the Gambia (Sources and Studies in World History)
- The World Economy: Resources, Location, Trade and Development (5th Edition)
- Top Heavy: The Increasing Inequality of Wealth in America and What Can Be Done About It, Second Edition
- Transnational Protest and Global Activism (People, Passions, and Power)
- Two Lucky People: Memoirs
- Whole-Scale Change: Unleashing the Magic in Organizations
- World City Network: A Global Urban Analysis
- Yale Assessment of Thinking: A Self-Assessment of Your Skill in the Areas of Reasoning, Insight, and Self-Knowledge, 2nd Edition
- A Global History of Indigenous Peoples: Struggle and Survival
- Against the Dead Hand: The Uncertain Struggle for Global Capitalism
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency
- That's Not My Puppy: Its Coat Is Too Hairy
- The Autobiography of Donovan: The Hurdy Gurdy Man
- Moral Imagination and Management Decision-Making
- SPIN Selling
- The Deptford Trilogy
- Tales of Alaska's Bush Rat Governor: The Extraordinary Autobiography of Jay Hammond Wilderness Guide
- Fundamentals of Accounting: Advanced Course
- Repeated Games with Incomplete Information
- Canada's Top 100 Employers: 2001
Intellectual Capital: The New Wealth of Organizations
The New Organizational Wealth: Managing and Measuring Knowledge-Based Assets
Working Knowledge
The Knowledge-Creating Company: How Japanese Companies Create the Dynamics of Innovation
If Only We Knew What We Know: The Transfer of Internal Knowledge and Best Practice
