The Invisible Hand: Economic Thought Yesterday and Today

Book Description

This book explains the world of economics in simple terms. Starting with the questions put forward by the first economists it proceeds to the core of today`s economic theory and provides the reader with a straightforward introduction to what economists discovered about wealth, unemployment, growth, and inflation. The author is Professor of Economics at the University of Münster in Germany, where the original version has been a great success. Renouncing the use of any formal methods, he offers the reader a historical perspective of the main economic problems the world has to deal with today. The inclusion of many anecdotes as well as simple figures and interesting photos makes the reading of this book a source of great pleasure and benefit.

Book Description

A member of the PH OD Series! Organizational Learning II expands and updates the ideas and concepts of the authors' ground- breaking first book. With new examples and the most up-to-date information on the technical aspects of organizational and management theory, Argyris and Schon demonstrate how the research and practice of organizational learning can be incorporated in today's business environment. Features chapters focused around the Introduction to Organizational Learning; Defensive Reasoning And The Theoretical Framework That Explains It; Inquiry-Enhancing Intervention and Its Theoretical Basis; and Strengths and Weaknesses Of Consultation and Research In The Field Of Organizational Learning.

Customer Reviews:

error in listing in Amazon.......2007-08-15

this is by Chris and Donald Schon, not David and the link for Author should go to Donald who has done great work
Fantastic work - great for all org dev researchers.

Deep theories on learning in organizations.......2004-08-06

Individuals learn by absorbing new knowledge, finding ways to apply preexisting knowledge and to avoid tactics that fail. Organizational learning is much more complicated than that; it incorporates all of the learning tactics of individuals and includes the interactions of the people in the organization. The interactions are among peers, horizontally across different responsibility levels and longitudinally across time. However, the authors opt to use a fairly simple definition of organizational learning.

"Generically, an organization may be said to learn when it acquires information (knowledge,
understanding, know-how, techniques, or practices) of any kind and by whatever means. "

In this sense, learning can be in either the positive or negative sense, an organization can become either more or less efficient over time. The authors spend a great deal of time covering the concept of an undiscussable. An undiscussable is a topic where everyone knows that it exists, is probably a problem, but for some reason is not talked about. In the worst case, the undiscussables becomes undiscussable, meaning that you cannot even discuss the fact that there are things you don't discuss. There are many reasons for the development of an undiscussable, but the most common is the perception that higher levels only want to hear statements of a certain type.
The authors define two types of organizational learning: single and double loop. A single loop learning situation is one where strategies of action are changed, but there is no change in the underlying theory behind the actions. For example, suppose a company is convinced that hotels are needed in a particular area. If the hotel rooms do not fill up, then the company may try to change the style of the rooms. This is a single feedback loop, where the failure feeds back to cause a change in the implementation. A double loop learning situation is where there is a second feedback loop that can alter the theory behind the strategies. In the case of the hotel rooms example, this would mean that the company questions whether additional hotel rooms were needed.
The authors also define model I and model II learning. Model I learning is the most common, which has a single feedback loop. It is characterized by situations where emotions and confrontation are minimized or disallowed. When difficulties or conflict are present, the general reaction is to suppress the issues as much as possible. The definition of model II learning is:

"Model II couples articulateness and advocacy with an invitation to others to confront the views ands
emotions of self and other. It seeks to alter views in order to base them on the most complete and valid
information possible and to which people involved can become internally committed. "

Model II learning is characterized by double loop learning, where the positions people take are examined in the context of their emotional condition.
The book is occasionally very theoretical, which makes it dense and difficult reading. It is easy to state theories of feedback loops based on emotions, but it is hard to articulate an appropriate way to construct them. Humans have dealt with their emotions for thousands of years, and psychologists are still arguing over the best means by which we should deal with them. Nevertheless, there is much of value in this book, as long as you don't expect it to solve all of the problems your organization has in learning and executing different strategies.

Normative and practive-oriented organizational learning.......2003-01-27

The burgeoning literature that has grown up around organizational learning in the past twenty-five years is either uncritical (treats the phrase "learning organization" as a catchword for whatever it is the front-running Japanese or other organizations are doing and whatever the rest of the world needs to do to catch up with them) or distant from practice, skeptical and non-perspective.

In this book, the approach to organizational learning is normative and practice-oriented. The authors are mainly interested in productive organizational learning: how this kind of learning can be generated in real-world organizations and how practitioners can help to foster it.

The theory given in this book is primarily based on two types of learning: single-loop and double-loop. The authors have borrowed the distinction between single and double-loop learning from W. Ross Ashby's "Design for a Brain" (1960).

On case studies of known companies, such as Intel, General Motors, etc., the authors show "primary inhibitory loops" that inhibit organizational learning, and "conditions for error", and how to avoid them. The following list gives the most common "conditions for error" and how to avoid them:

- Vagueness : Specify
- Ambiguity : Clarify
- Untestability : Make testable
- Scattered information : Concert
- Information withheld : Reveal
- Undiscussability : Make discussable
- Uncertainity : Inquire
- Inconsistency/incompatibility: Resolve

In part I, the authors introduce the conceptual framework, both for organizational learning and for the relationship between research and practice. In part II, they introduce and illustrate concepts central to limited learning. Part III presents a brief classroom-based example. Part IV is the review of the recent history of the field of organizational learning.

Despite of the brilliant content, the book which is marked as "Reprinted with corrections August, 1996", which I have (paperback), is awfully printed. It is really the eye-killer. And nevertheless, it has some typos. Please try to find a version which is not "Reprinted with corrections August, 1996".

Definitive: how people politics stop organisational learning.......1997-02-08

This is the definitive book on how people politics preventorganisational learning, especially when a company needs a doubleturnround. That is a change of culture as well as strategy. Some of the early chapters are a bit heavily academic, but the pursuit is worthwhile if you want to understand how many big old western organisations stop working - instead of reinventing themselves - whenever a competitor dramatically changes the rules of the marketplace. The authors seem to imply that what they call double loop learning across every department of an organisation is both so laborious as a change process and requires such extraordinary levels of mutual trust that it might be better to raise an old organisation to the ground, and start from scratch. Their research is full of evidence why the last two decades have seen so much downsized leadership. One question that occurs to me is will their pessimistic conclusions hold true now that companies can use internal media like intranets to turn all employees' thinking around at the same time? If you would like to discuss this or other provocations relating to this work, I would be delighted to help form an interactive book discussion club.

Chris Macrae, editor of Brand Chartering Handbook and MELNET www.brad.ac.uk/branding/ E-mail me at wcbn007@easynet.co.uk

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Organizational Learning II Theory, Method, and Practice
Chris Argyris
Manufacturer: NY
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000N7KQOA

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Organizational Learning II: Theory, Method, and Practice (2nd Edition)
David A. Schon Chris Argyris
Manufacturer: FT Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OOH1V8

Book Description

The cytoskeleton is a dynamic filamentous structure composed of at least actin and microtubule networks. Actin and microtubules are no different structurally from their animal and fungal counterparts. However, the strategies of cell differentiation and development in plants require this network to respond appropriately to plant-specific developmental cues and to environmental factors. This book views the cytoskeleton from different perspectives but, on the whole, as a network composed of structural and regulatory proteins controlled by internal and external stimuli that result in different aspects of cell differentiation. This is a volume for researchers and professionals in plant biochemistry, cell biology and genetics.

The Plant Cytoskeleton in Cell Differentiation and Development

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The Plant Cytoskeleton in Cell Differentiation and Development
Hussey
Manufacturer: Blackwell Publishing (UK)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000N55V0G

Book Description

This manual teaches the user the basic concepts of microscopy, fluorescence, and digital imaging and the principles of confocal microscopy so that s/he may take full advantage of the confocal microscopes now available.

Customer Reviews:

An excellent introduction to practical confocal microscopy.......2006-03-16

This book provides a very "user-friendly" guide to beginners in the field of confocal microscopy. As introduction the author reviews in a compact and accesible manner basic issues of microscopy (including optics, the limits of microscopy, imaging modes and the parts of a microscope) and microscopy hardware always pointing out the advantages and drawbacks inherent to confocal microscopy. The main section of the book describes how to use a confocal microscope in detail, from collecting images to image presentation and publication, dealing along the way with topics such as interpretation of images, understanding fluorescence and fluorescent probes, specialized confocal microscopy techniques and live cell imaging. Appendices discuss further information that can be accessed through further reading or microscopy resources in the internet, as well as a succint evaluation of all commercial confocal microscopy brands currently available, highlighting their strengths and weaknesses.

The book has been written with a thorough care to produce an enjoyable and didactic text, containing many hints and "how to" procedures that have been personally very helpful to me when I started working with this technique, being completely novel to ANY class of microscopy.

The wealth of information available in its pages make it a good reference book on the subject. Indeed, we have adopted it in my laboratory as the standard for our confocal applications.

Highly recommended, in short.

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CONFOCAL MICROSCOPY FOR BIOLOGISTS
ALAN R. HIBBS
Manufacturer: KLUWER ACADEMIC PUBLISHERS GROUP
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000N5DAV8

Book Description

Tailored for the literary-minded cat lover, this charming celebration of the relationship between cats and their smitten owners is packed with amusing and enticing quotes about human-feline relationships. People who may have a website devoted to their cats will find themselves in great company, with quotes from cat "slaves" Raymond Chandler, Edgar Allan Poe, Theodore Roosevelt, Martha Stewart, and Mark Twain. In addition to hundreds of quotations on the subject of cats and their owners' passionate enslavement to them, the book also includes anecdotes about notable cat owners and what they named their pets.

Customer Reviews:

great for any cat lover.......2007-04-05

This is such a eclectic collection of quotes about cats, if you're a slave to your cat, you're sure to find something you love. There are hundreds of quotes by a huge variety of people, some you'll recognize, others you won't, but all the quotes will make you think about our pesky feline friends.

Book Description

Compiled by Ferrari, this luxury edition is the quintessential tribute to Italy's great automotive innovator. It captures in words and pictures the fifty year history of the company decade by decade, exploring in-depth the mystique of this timeless symbol of joy, freedom, and sleek automotive muscle.

Vivid testimonials and memoirs of the best professional and gentleman drivers tell of phenomenal wins and singular experiences, and an extensive technical introduction charts Ferrari's crucial developments in engines and other components with photographs, plans, and cut-away drawings.

Customer Reviews:

IF A CAR CAN BE SEXY ..THIS IS IT.......2006-10-13

Exhaustively chronicled and well presented, this is the benchmark for books on the icon Ferrari. This car is and always has been a piece of art, the cars are beautifully created and the most stylish. The perfect car for the continental Italian. Ferrari is like everything italian, it just get's better with age. If you have any interest whatsoever in Ferrari, then i highly recommend this book, the images alone are worth the purchase, the book looks like it was designed by Ferrari.

History of World Supercar Industry.......2001-04-12

Antonio Ghini's book contains whatever lies below the "Prancing Horse" badge, for models produced in the 50 years period; moreover, it helps to understand and find answers of today's automotive & motorsports technologies' innovational questions which are solved decades before. The online version of the book is available at CuoreSPORTIVO ICEO Web Site with pictures.

Awesome Official Account of Racing History.......2001-02-15

This is the true story - from Enzo's days as an Alfa Romeo engineer and race mechanic, up to his death...and beyond. It's refreshing to find the story so well summed up - while it's not an unbiased account, it's exactly what you'd expect from the folks who make some of the most amazing machines on the face of this earth. What an awesome story, and great pictures to boot!

Balanced book.......2000-12-10

This book accomplish quite properly it mission. To give us a shallow look at the first 50 years of the make. Good and some very rare pictures, diagrams explaining technical solutions and good but condensed text. A must.

The Racing Bible.......2000-06-01

If you are interested in a broad sweep of Ferrari racing history, this is the book. If you are interested in Ferrari road cars, buy "Ferrari" by Hartmut Lehbrink instead. This is an excellent book, large and heavy with great color pictures and cut-aways. It does gloss over the road cars and has great summary color thumbnails of all Ferrari's (racing and road)in the back. A worthy addition to any Ferrari library.

Average customer rating:

A Good Overview
Good Overview
Great book

50 Years of Ferrari: 1947-1997

Manufacturer: Motorbooks International
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Luxury | Automotive | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Racing | Automotive | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Foreign | Automotive | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Automotive | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

History | Automotive | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Engineering | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

Motor Sports | Miscellaneous | Sports | Subjects | Books

General | Sports | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0760304548

Customer Reviews:

A Good Overview.......2000-06-01

For those who want a quick rundown on these cars, this is the book. There is a mix of color and black & white photos throughout that are good but not great. For the price, this is a good buy and worthy addition to your Ferrari library, but don't expect an extensive review or full page glossy color photos.

Good Overview.......2000-05-17

Great book.......1998-09-27

i just like to say that im a 15 year old car enthuasist. When i was asked to write a essay in english about anything i chose, 50YEARS OF FERRARI. Then i went out and bought this book. it saved my mark. I got an 84 on my essay, my best mark all year!!

Average customer rating:

Ferrari 1947-1997 The Official Book
Gianni Cancellieri
Manufacturer: Giorgio Nada Editore
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Transportation | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

History | Automotive | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 8879114247

Book Description

Reprint of the prestigious volume published on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the House of Maranello and sponsored by Ferrari itself. The imposing work is subdivided in two large sections. The technical part is by Karl Ludvigsen and details the technological innovations introduced by Ferrari from 1947 up to now; the historical part is by Gianni Cancellieri and recalls, decade after decade, Ferrari's history from the industrial, sport and human viewpoint. The appendix includes the silhouettes of all the cars built by Ferrari, the list of the men that in these fifty years have contributed in building the myth of the Prancing Horse (presidents, technicians, teams, drivers and so on).

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Ferrari 1947-1997
Gianni Cancellieri
Manufacturer: ETAI
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Nonfiction | French | Foreign Language Books | Specialty Stores | Books

All French Books | French | Foreign Language Books | Specialty Stores | Books

French | Foreign Language Nonfiction | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 272688492X

Book Description

This newly revised Langenscheidt Pocket Turkish dictionary is a powerful tool with thousands on entries, pricise grammar, helpful listings and more. Value priced and easily portable, it is the perfect reference tool. And, with a tough vinyl cover, it will withstand years of hard use.

Langenscheidt Turkish Pocket Dictionary (Langenscheidt's Pocket Dictionaries)

Average customer rating:

About using this dictionary for learning Turkish
Best Turkish dictionary
Excellend
Excelent Refernce

Langenscheidt Turkish Pocket Dictionary (Langenscheidt's Pocket Dictionaries)
Langenscheidt
Manufacturer: Langenscheidt Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Turtleback

General | Reference | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0887290906

Book Description

A convenient reference for writers, students, and businesspeople; anyone who needs the right word at the right time.

Customer Reviews:

About using this dictionary for learning Turkish.......2005-01-12

Pretty good for a beginner like me. Unfortunately, it is both for speakers of Turkish that learn English, and for speakers of English that learn Turkish. It includes a lot of useless information about English and, consequently, it includes less useful information about Turkish than a dictionary of this size could possibly do. That is why I give it 4 and not 5. Otherwise, the organization and the presentation are excellent.

Best Turkish dictionary.......2002-10-13

This the best Tukish/English dictionary you can find. I was in Turkey for four months and I taught myself Turkish only by using this dictionary. I must add that I already knew Arabic, Persian and French and that helped a great deal since there are a lot of Arabic and Persian words in Turkish vocabulary. Nonetheless, this dictionary is very easy to use and gives you all the info you need about a word.

Excellend.......2001-10-30

This book is very convenient for turkish immigrant, for make eazy concentration.

Excelent Refernce.......2000-06-23

My wife from Turkey owns this book, she has been able to look up many things to be able to communicate easier with me and others, this is an excellent tool for Turkish folks when they visit or move to an English speaking country

Langenscheidt Pocket Turkish Dictionary (Langenscheidt Pocket Dictionary)

Average customer rating:

Langenscheidt Pocket Turkish Dictionary (Langenscheidt Pocket Dictionary)

Manufacturer: Langenscheidt Dictionaries
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

English (All) | Dictionaries & Thesauruses | Reference | Subjects | Books

General | Foreign Languages | Reference | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 3468970900

Langenscheidt English-Turkish, Turkish-English Pocket Dictionary

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Langenscheidt English-Turkish, Turkish-English Pocket Dictionary

Manufacturer: Milet Publishing Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

English (All) | Dictionaries & Thesauruses | Reference | Subjects | Books

General | Foreign Languages | Reference | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 9751003318

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Turkish Langenscheidt Pocket Dictionary
*
Manufacturer: LANGENSCHEIDT DICTIO
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Book Description

Idea Index kick-started a revolution in graphic design books, unique in size, feel--and most important--wealth of ideas. Layout Index is the next step, a compendium of layout idea-generators that will help designers explore multiple possibilities for visual treatments each time they turn the page. The visual and textual suggestions are divided into eight major areas, including newsletters, flyers, posters, brochures, advertising, stationery, page layout, and Web pages.

Each of these examples are designed to inspire effective solutions in the viewer's mind, rather than simply give specific answers to design problems. The tone and temperament of the design problems, as well as their solutions, vary from traditional to cutting-edge, from corporate to crazy. Designers will learn to solve their design problems, produce fantastic work and become better, more creative thinkers.

* Both creativity books and layout books are extremely popular
* As proven by Idea Index, the format of this book is a proven winner with designers

Customer Reviews:

great for students, good for old hands, priceless for adhoc designers.......2007-01-04

The whole "index" series is good for jump starting when in a stuck place. For average students it can really be helpful to get them to seek/create more variety in their work. For marketing or PR individuals or students it is a must have. Many individuals may have a cursory introduction to design and yet find themselves having to create layouts and design. The Index Books are a lifesaver.

Sad leftovers from the dark ages..........2006-10-14

This book is at first appearance, visually interesting and consuming. But upon closer look (as in opening it) it's not worth the time, money or breath sadly. The concepts and ideas within this book can be inspiring to thoses who have the time and energy, but overall this book is just a display of bad, kitsch design. My advice? Don't bother.

Not overly sophisticated.......2005-09-06

I bought this along with the Color Index, and I must admit I'm not overly impressed with the ideas in this text.

I will keep it onboard because you -never- know what might spark your creativity, and I must admit there are a few good ideas to jump off from in this book. I donno, I guess I just feel underminded when I flip through this book. It is a bit too kitchy for me (think clip-art-like graphics), and many of the solutions presented in it are too busy and hardly professional.

i use a lot.......2004-12-09

for those who aren't experienced in the in's and out's of page layout and design, this book is a lifesaver. it really gets your creative juices flowing by simply giving you a full range of possible ideas for how you can change up your design. i found it much more useful than the idea book, which didn't really help me with the visual expression part. if you have a concept and you simply want to consider all the possibilities for how you can express it on a page, i recommend getting this book!

A simple, helpful guide.......2004-07-09

Design inspired by this little book leans towards clean & well ordered displays of information. This book provides basics of page building & information distribution.
Beginners will like this book, however, those looking for more complex layout ideas should either work on the existing ideas taking them to the next levels, or peruse other books.

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