Black December: Banking Instability, the Mexican Crisis, and Its Effect on Argentina (World Bank Latin American and Caribbean Studies)

Sacred Cows Make the Best Burgers: Paradigm-Busting Strategies for Developing Change-Ready People and Organizations
Average customer rating:

Gee Why didn't someone think of that sooner?

Recommended reading for all managers

A must read book to help "fix" the work environment.

Sacred Cows Make the Best Burgers: Paradigm-Busting Strategies for Developing Change-Ready People and Organizations
Robert J. Kriegel , and David Brandt
Manufacturer: Warner Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Management | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Organizational Change | Organizational Behavior | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
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If it Ain't Broke...Break It!: And Other Unconventional Wisdom for a Changing Business World

Sacred Cows Make the Best Burgers: Developing Change-Ready People and Organizations

ASIN: 0446518409

Customer Reviews:

Gee Why didn't someone think of that sooner?.......1998-09-21

Kriegel and Brandt are so direct in their approach, so simple in their ideas, so refreshing, it begs the question, why didn't someone think of it sooner? As a strategic planning consultant, I believe that any manager in any business will benefit from reading this book. But BEWARE, reading this book can lead to frustration, as you try to implement these heretical concepts in organizations that are not run by Change Ready people. I would love to see them attack our tax code next!

Recommended reading for all managers.......1998-06-06

Highly recommended for any supervisor or manager who acts as a change agent in their organization. Reflected my own organization in each chapter and I appreciated the specific strategies suggested.

A must read book to help "fix" the work environment........1996-05-22

This book will not only give you the insite but even the courage to identify, corral, and even eliminate many of the sacred cows which encumber your daily work environments. If for no other reason you can use some of the ideas in this book to have a little fun buy just calling attention to sacred cows at the office

Sacred Cows Make the Best Burgers: Paradigm-Busting Strategies for Developing Change-Ready People & Organizations

Average customer rating:

Sacred Cows Make the Best Burgers: Paradigm-Busting Strategies for Developing Change-Ready People & Organizations

Manufacturer: Diane Pub.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: 0756755514

Product Description

Demonstrates why the latest business panaceas -- re-engineering, virtual teams, outsourcing, reinventing, restructuring, downsizing -- almost always prove unsuccessful. Exposes how these buzzword programs overlook the most fundamental element of all business: people. They offer concrete strategies to help you: discover where sacred cows hide, round them up, & put them out to pasture; prepare an environment in which new ideas can grow & flourish; conquer the 4 types of resistance; motivate people to welcome change -- 5 surefire methods make it easy; cultivate the 7 personal characteristics of Change-Readiness; & perform at peak levels at all times

Book Description

Why is `blood thicker than water'? Are we innately violent or pacific? What is the best sex ratio? Why are plants and animals sexual? Why do we grow old and die? Over what do our chromosomes quarrel? Such questions have motivated the life-work of W. D. Hamilton, widely acknowledged as the most important theoretical biologist of the 20th century. His papers continue to exert an enormous influence and they are now being republished for the first time. Each one is introduced by an autobiographical essay written especially for this collection. This first volume contains all of Hamilton's publications prior to 1981, a set especially relevant to social behaviour, kinship theory, sociobiology, and the notion of `selfish genes'. It includes several of the most read and famous papers of modern biology. A forthcoming volume will be devoted to the second half of Hamilton's life's work, on sex and sexual selection. Narrow Roads of Gene Land will be welcomed by professionals, graduate students, and undergraduates from a variety of disciplines, including evolution, population genetics, animal behaviour, genetics, anthropology, and ecology. The essays are accessible to non-specialists and will fascinate and entertain general readers with an interest in evolution and behaviour.

Customer Reviews:

A real gem!.......2000-07-09

This is an outstanding collection of some of the most important papers in evolutionary ecology, and when one can get them with Hamilton's wry, insightful, and occasionally extremely funny commentary, all I can say is "BUY IT!" No, Hamilton's mathematics is not for the faint of heart, but even if the thought of equations gives you the willies, you will find valuable stuff about the nature of science and scientists in the "interlinear" that links each of the stand-alone papers. I look forward to Volume 2 with great excitement!

Customer Reviews:

Absolutely beautiful.......2001-07-06

This is a perfect book to give to anyone interested in reptiles, including kids. The pictures are bright and beautiful, and you'll find all sorts of creatures you never knew existed before. There is some text, but it's not extensive. This is a definite coffee table book.

Give it as a gift, and you'll be a hit!

Absolutely beautiful.......2000-08-30

Give it as a gift, and you'll be a hit!

It's easy to read and have lots of beautiful pictures........2000-08-07

It's easy to read and have lots of beautiful pictures.I brought it at Discovery store at SF.Even it's written by English,but for a graduated school come from Taiwan.This book still easy for me to not only read it but enjoy it.I love this book.

Excellent Book Highly Recommended.......2000-01-08

The best reference book foor outstanding pictures. Excellent Photography and hust all around great book!

Not up to snuff for Lamar.......1998-12-13

I bought this book and while the photos are, in many cases spectacular, the book itself does not match the previous work by the author. Granted, you get to see pictures of some extremely rare and little-known herps. But, that just whets the appetite for more; especially a bit of text for edification, something which Lamar is perfectly capable of doing. I had hoped this would be on a par with the author's work in the "Venomous Reptiles of Latin America" but it does not match the scope of that monumental work. Alas, this is exactly what it purports to be, an expensive albeit very well done book of pictures. It is worth having if you have money to spare and wish to fill your shelves.

Fitness Training in Soccer: A Scientific Approach
Average customer rating:

The importance of science in soccer

impressed

Fitness Training in Soccer: A Scientific Approach
Jens Bangsbo
Manufacturer: Reedswain
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Reference | Miscellaneous | Sports | Subjects | Books
General | Training | Sports | Subjects | Books
General | Soccer | Coaching | Sports | Subjects | Books
General | Soccer | Sports | Subjects | Books
General | Sports | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 1591640628

Book Description

What happens in the body when playing soccer? How much does a player work during a match? How do players cope with the physical requirements? How should players train and prepare for a match? This book provides answers to questions like these based on scientific results combined with practical experience. In a simple way it gives the reader an understanding of the principles of fitness training in soccer and how to perform the training in practice.

Customer Reviews:

The importance of science in soccer.......2006-02-02

This book is obviously a must for a person who aspires to be a serious soccer coach. To understand and use the concepts of fitness training elaborated by Bangsbo one must have a least a rudimentary knowledge of anatomy, physiology, metabolism, biochemistry, etc. It makes a lot more sense to be aware of these when planning training programs. It is regrettable that the overwhelming majority of youth soccer coaches ignore those issues entirely. As a result, the efiiciency of training is very low. One other sad consequence of this ignorance is wrong ratios of load and work,inappropriate time units for various aerobic,anaerobic, and aerobic/anaerobic activities implemented during practice.In some extreme situations players may develop a variety of both short-term or long-term cardiovascular, respiratory, or metabolic problems. Bangsbo is one of the leading authorities on the subject of fitness training and has been involved with providing practical advice at the highest international level. Fitness Training in Soccer when studied in conjunction with a manual on periodization will make practice properly calibrated and efficient.

impressed.......2005-06-17

I am a youth soccer coach .I bought this book for what it says on the cover, to understand the body in the game itself. Although somewhat heavy going in places, it enlightened me to the importance of the basics in successful performance, if you're looking for drills, tips, tactics, look else where, if you want to get the best from the body? Plan your season? this is the book . Oh and drink plenty of water!

Customer Reviews:

Only Useful as an Overview.......2005-02-19

This map will only be useful to you if you don't have any other basic resources, like a general world atlas or travel guides, at home.
The main map itself shows the entire South Pacific region, with country boundaries clearly marked, but individual islands reduced to the size of dots.
Major islands are shown on inset maps, however even these are still tiny - you will find bigger, more detailed, and more accurate maps of the same islands (and many more) in travel guidebooks to this region by Lonely Planet or Moon.
In short, unless you just want a general map to hang on your wall, don't waste your money on this one!

amazing map.......2004-12-16

I've been looking for a map for a long time of Oceania because after college I'm settling on an island by myself in search for waves. I could'nt believe all the islands I've never known about. If I was to purchase one map in conjunction with nautical charts, it would be this one.

Excellent coverage of Melanesia, Micronesia, & Polynesia.......1999-08-02

This map covers an area of the world that is not well represented in most world atlases. Excellent index. Fifty-one detailed inset maps.

Book Description

This volume presents the life work of the late Ruth Johnston-Feller, one of the nation's leading color scientists. It combines an overview of basic theoretical concepts with detailed, hands-on guidance for the professional conservator and conservation scientist.
The author focuses on the application of color science to the solution of practical problems, providing a comprehensive discussion of the nondestructive spectrophotometric tools and techniques used to understand the color and appearance of materials during the technical examination of works of
art. The book, which features numerous examples of reference reflectance spectra, can help prevent misinterpretation of color measurements and the erroneous conclusions that might result. Topics include spectrophotometry, colorimetry, colorant mixtures, analytical techniques, reflection,
fluorescence, and the effects of extenders, fillers, and inerts.

Book Description

What can digital business technologies do for you, as a user, manager, strategist, marketeer or sales director? This book presents a template for seizing these new opportunities.
Six cases demonstrate both power and risks of digital business technologies. Winners use them to make front-line people the point of decision making, to unlock information about customers; and to manage the fulfilment of their commitments. These are Total Action organisations, making every activity inside their organisation directly relevant for their customers.
The authors take you on a discovery tour of new management concepts to create the winning organisation in the digital world.

Customer Reviews:

A learning consultant from Buckinghamshire, U.K........2000-06-25

As a facilitator of client account management programmes that include a range of learning modules, I found "How to Win Customers in the Digital World" a significantly useful book. The majority of the discussed techniques are familiar; however, the real value of the book is the way that those techniques are made accessible to the user. The majority of books of this nature never take theory through to practical use ... but this book certainly does. Real, understandable, accessible customer situations are worked through in a a manner that the reader can absorb and apply for their own organisation.

Understanding the must do's in digital business.......2000-04-13

I don't write a lot of book reviews, not because I don't read a lot of books but because so few of them are worth reviewing. This week I'm going to make an exception since this is a very good book. The book is called "How to Win Customers in the Digital World", subtitled "Total Action or Fatal Inaction". The title and subtitle have been flipped since I saw the book in draft form a year or so ago. The authors are Al Dunn and his partner Peter Vervest. Al is based in London, and has spent most of his working life advising European telecommunications suppliers and carriers as well as other apparently slow-moving organisations on how to improve their customer service. As you can imagine, this is a difficult and thankless task. But he and Peter Vervest, plug away, spending a lot of time with companies like Finland's Nokia and Dutch and German and Swiss PTTs on change management and customer relations. (PTT is a peculiarly European acronym for "Post, Telephone and Telegraph", which indicates the term's long history. Despite being overtaken by technology and other events, it is still used to describe the major European telecommunications companies, many of which are still government owned or which behave as if they are). Al has been talking about the importance of the customer ever since I have known him, which is the best part of twenty years. Just about every organisation says that its customers are important, but a surprisingly small amount actually believe it, and even fewer adopt a customer focus as the cornerstone of their business philosophy. Common sense tells us that the customer is paramount, because they are after all the people who buy our products. But it is not just the computer industry that very often pays more attention to its products than to the people who buy them. We see it everywhere in business, and in life, and suppliers have to be constantly reminded that they are in business only because people want what they sell, are prepared to pay for it, and are happy to remain loyal if the service is good enough. This has always been true, and it always will be true. But now, with the growth of the Internet and electronic commerce, business practices are changing very quickly, and the nature of the relationship between supplier and customer is evolving accordingly. In the digital world the skills involved in attracting and retaining customers are different enough to warrant comment, hence the book. The authors make a major distinction between "total action" - which is roughly defined as "squeezing out" every activity that is not specifically important to the customer - and "fatal inaction" - intense activities that have no relationship to an organisation's performance with that customer. "These departments develop around themselves highly complex and rigid processes and systems. In due course they begin to perceive themselves as businesses in their own right, an error today's `business unit focus simply magnifies. "Such organisations often become dysfunctional. Their people, usually intelligent and competent, have become trapped in corporate autism, a serious handicap inherited from task-oriented production-line forbears. They become inward-facing internal markets for themselves, with rules and behavioural standards that are far too rigid for the digital business world." Sound familiar? The object becomes the process itself, rather than the end result of that process. Now, the Internet has vastly altered these processes and their capabilities for redefining customer interaction. "Digital technology, as best exemplified by the Internet, allows us to easily bring together vast amounts of related information. This information can be located anywhere in the world, but it can be presented with amazing clarity and relevance to provide links to all the sources from which the information has come. This fundamentally changes business. "This gives the customer the ability to transparently look into an organisation's operations, and make decisions with much more information and much more quickly than was previously the case. This, and the vastly improved access of the Internet, makes it much easier for customers to change their supplier. And that is death in the digital age." I recommend this book to you. "How to Win Customers in the Digital World" will remind you of the most important people in your life and how to deal with them

Review from a consultant in this business.......2000-04-03

This book has been written as a management book; the book is about a concept that has been worked out quite thouroughly and is illustrated by a number of good examples. Because i was quite familiar with the concepts, i could easily understand the content of this book; however i think that managers who are not too familiar with concepts like this will feel it hard to really use the material in their real life practice. They will probably understand that they have to start moving, but will have to read the examples probably twice to really understand the steps to undertake. The book gives good insight in the global steps to undertake, but could have been worked out in more detail to really deliver a management agenda.

Overall i am quite satisfied with this book and would recommend this book to others, especially managers in brick and mortar companies.

The Global Me: New Cosmopolitans and the Competitive Edge: Picking Globalism's Winners and Losers
Average customer rating:

A good academic work

History

Culture is key but not king

diversity from a personal view

Good stores of interesting people

The Global Me: New Cosmopolitans and the Competitive Edge: Picking Globalism's Winners and Losers
G. Pascal Zachary
Manufacturer: PublicAffairs
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Popular Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
International | Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
General | International | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Public Affairs & Administration | Government | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
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The Diversity Advantage: Multicultural Identity in the New World Economy

ASIN: 1891620614

Amazon.com

"Diversity," declares Wall Street Journal senior writer G. Pascal Zachary in his opening to The Global Me, "defines the health and wealth of nations in a new century." Changes in economics, technology, and identity, he argues, have made diversity an increasingly common thread among successful people, thriving countries, and "the world's biggest, richest, most profit-hungry corporations." Zachary examines our growing propensity to lay claim to both "roots" and "wings"--meaning specific "ethnoracial affiliations"--as well as an openness to new ties, leading to creativity and economic strength. He goes on to show how this is playing out in the United States, Germany, Ireland, and Japan; the benefits and drawbacks involved; and how leaders can advance the former while constraining the latter. Zachary uses the terms "mongrel," "hybrid," and "cosmopolitan" interchangeably to describe the new world citizen, and kicks off every chapter with illustrative vignettes spotlighting real-life examples from England, Switzerland, California, Moldova, Germany, Canada, and Thailand. In the future, the author concludes, hybrid cultures at all levels will prevail over their counterpart monocultures "in the intensifying global competition for trade and technology, wealth and jobs." His argument is provocative and original. --Howard Rothman

Book Description

Why is Japan, a country that looked economically invincible a decade ago stagnating, while long-moribund Ireland booms? What qualities will insure the continued dominance in the new millennium of U.S. culture, society and business?

In The Global Me, The Wall Street Journal's G. Pascal Zachary provides a provocative roadmap to the new civilization arising out of sweeping shifts in the world economy. He reveals-through vivid examples of individuals and institutions--that the key new determinants for economic, political and cultural success are, surprisingly, national diversity and a "mongrel" sense of self. Roaming the globe, Zachary shows how the rise of new forms of identity and migration are helping to determine exactly who will win and lose in the next century. Zachary's thesis isn't just about countries, but about individuals, too. In his tour of a new global civilization, we meet a fascinating gallery of characters who possess an intriguing mix of "roots" and "wings." Strong enough to know who they are, they are nevertheless ceaselessly becoming someone else-and in the process bestowing the gifts of creativity and social harmony on the cities and states that they call home.

Social critics, pundits, politicians and economists will argue about The Global Me this season. Years from now they will realize the prescience of Zachary's original and compelling vision of a world where nations who embrace multiculturalism win big and those who do not are doomed to stagnation or worse.

Customer Reviews:

A good academic work.......2006-04-03

The book is generally great. The author is open-minded. But he misused some unnecessary politics. E.g. he kept addressing Taiwan as a nation. And he regarded a group of cheaters (Fa Lun Gong)as religion. Obviously, God doesn't defy Newton's Laws, or I won't have faith in him. But Fa Lun Gong defy science.

History.......2000-12-06

I mostly enjoyed this book, which argues that hybrid nations will be the winners in the coming century. The book makes good arguments that people don't need to lose their roots in order to have wings. You can and should have a hybrid identity, and even though you change by having wings, you may become a better person. I agree with these arguments wholeheartedly. The book contains several examples showing hybrid identities of people all over the world, and these illustrations are very interesting to read. However, the thing I will remember the most about the book is not something positive. The book keeps mentioning Armenian genoside as a historical fact in several places, right after mentioning German genoside of Jews. I do not find the two events comparable to each other, and I think it is not fair to mention them in the same sentence. I wish the author could have been more considerate and knowledgable of the history and avoid such bold statements. This is not the place to discuss history, so I will not go on but I need to say I am disturbed. This made me question the accuracy of other information given in the book. The author says Americans have a selective memory about their history of their own country. I must add that this American has a distorted memory when it comes to the history of other countries. Which is a shame, because this is one thing the author criticizes in lesser developed nations (the use of history to create conflicts). Here is how it starts!!

Culture is key but not king.......2000-09-27

The author does an excellent job of suggesting a new civilization arising out of emerging technologies and expanding global economies. Using real life individuals and institutions, Zachary defines national diversity, a hybridity of cultures, and a cosmopolitan sense of self as positive traits for the new millineum and beyond. He shows that the new identity will result from migration, racial mixing and ethno-racial affiliations and how they will help determine winners and losers in the new century. While I agree in principle that a world in which nations openly embrace multiculturism are better positioned to alleviate economic stagnation and instill social cohesion, I hesitate to agree that these factors alone are priority in terms of the health and wealth of a country. This is particularly true given the speed at which technology is changing virtually everything in society. What is good today is not necessarily so good tomorrow. Remember the 8-track tape? Seen in this light, it begs the question of the conditions under which homogenous groups achieve compared to the conditions under which heterogenous ones do best. Its hard to imagine that during a crisis, a team of mixed cultural individuals could respond as fast as those from a homogenous one. On the other hand, it is very easily to see how the quality of results from mixed cultures would be superior to those of a one mindness. Thus while cultural-fluency will factor heavily into the failure or success of companies in a global economy, remember it is important to get the right mix. In the words of the author,"...countries struggle with diversity-too much can be harmful while too little harms growth and security".

diversity from a personal view.......2000-09-22

The strength of diversity always had a religious quality for me. it was something i had to believe despite my natural inclination.

i am the person, as zachary described, who feels comfortable eating lunch with other koreans likes of me. sometimes i pressure myself to eat hamburgers with my white coworkers at the next table. i eat kimchee during lunch and worry about my breath afterward.

i work for a korean company even though my korean is limited and hate many things that are korean. i argue with my korean coworkers who exhibit outdated business customs from Korea. i openly disagree with my boss and write my memos in english despite alienating the headquarters staff.

i cannot imagine myself living in seoul, but dream of moving to sydney. my wife is from sydney but speaks excellent korean. i listen to korean mp3 files at my office, but turn the volume down when a japanese coworker walks in.

what i saw previously as contradictions and identity conflicts were the strengths of diversity that zachary described. i turned out to be the cosmopolitan that fuels the economic, politcal and cultural progress. i feel exonerated thanks to zachary.

Good stores of interesting people.......2000-07-30

Zachary is a journalist, and he surely writes like a journalist too. Things about Japan, although true, seems what has been said before, and are not as quite unique as other parts of the book. But there is nothing wrong with writing like a journalist. I really like those stores about so many interesting individuals who have mulitiple identities about their culture roots/wings. In my view, those stores themslves worth the money.

When it comes to fair comments about Americans, usually I won't count on Americans themslves, especially about immigration. Zachary boasts American embrace of immigrants, but his fellow Americans seems more like those living on the coasts. He didn't spend much time mentioning Congress' continuous slowness/hostility toward opening up immigration, even the non-immigrant H1B visa.

Overall this is a rare book that gives an excellent introduction of what shapes the globlism with stores about lots of interesting individuals.

The Global Me: New Cosmopolitans and the Competitive Edge - Picking Globalism's Winners and Losers
Average customer rating:
The Global Me: New Cosmopolitans and the Competitive Edge - Picking Globalism's Winners and Losers
Gregg Zachary
Manufacturer: Nicholas Brealey Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Strategy & Competition | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
General | Popular Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Macroeconomics | Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
General | International | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
General | Race Relations | Sociology | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1857882539

The Global Me: New Cosmopolitans And The Competitive Edge - Picking Globalism*s Winners And Losers
Average customer rating:
The Global Me: New Cosmopolitans And The Competitive Edge - Picking Globalism*s Winners And Losers
Gregg Zachary
Manufacturer: Brealey, Nicholas Publishing Limited
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Popular Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1857882482

Book Description

This clearly written textbook provides a comprehensive exploration of the formation of an economic and monetary union among twelve of Europe's leading countries, the most exciting experiment in modern political economics. Erik Jones charts the embattled h

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