Book Description
Can we abolish global poverty? Should we do away with foreign aid? Is the United Nations redundant? Why should I bother? Can I help? Mike Edwards offers timely answers to issues that have been propelled to center stage.
Future Positive offers a comprehensive and authorative rethink of an international system facing a period of unprecedented change. In a world of global markets, eroding state sovereignty, expanding citizen action and uncertainty about fundamental truths, what is the best was to tackle problems of global poverty and voilence?
Michael Edwards charts a "new path" between heavy-handed intervention and complete laissez-faire. Covering an enormous amount of ground in clear, lively and non-technical terms, Future Positive explains how the international system operates, the pressures it faces, and the changes it must undergo, and offers concrete new ideas to re-frame international relations and foreign aid.
Customer Reviews:
exactly what we need after Sepember 11th.......2002-01-08
... Make no mistake, this is a rigorous treatment of the international cooperation debate, packed with detailed evidence that is all footnoted at the end. At times this makes for some heavy reading, but it is worth it, since the evidence and the argument all hang together to illumine what has gone wrong in the world since 1945 and what we can do about it. Yes, this does mean "re-balancing the competitive and co-operative rationalities that motivate each one of us" (from the Preface), but in the aftermath of September 11th you would have to be crazy not to understand the importance of global cooperation in addressing threats like terrorism, pollution and poverty. What Edwards shows, better to my mind than any other recent book I've read, is how the original ideals of "international community" after World War II were corrupted into a system of threats and bribes that can never be effective in eliciting real cooperation between countries. Some of his prescriptions for correcting this situation may sound idealistic, but better this than the emptiness and cynicism of much current political debate. Especially since September 11th, I do believe that the world is heading in the direction of a "Future Positive", and this book is a pretty good roadmap to help us along the way.
Paving the road to (economic) Hell.......2001-12-29
If good intentions were all that is required for an author, Michael Edwards would be a giant among policy writers. Unfortunately, having one's heart in the right place is not enough. Consider this passage on page 144:
"Does basketball player Michael Jordan have to earn 31,000 times more for advertising Nike sports shoes than the workers who produce them, despite the fact that should wages be doubled the cost of production would still fall below $1 a pair?... Inequalities [such as this] result from political decisions
about the distribution of gains arising from economic activity."
This statement betrays a profound ignorance of how markets work. Michael Jordan earns 31,000 times more than the factory workers, not as a result of any "political decision," but because there are apparently many people for whom $1.75 a day is preferable to unemployment or life in a poor rural village. On the other hand, there is only one Michael Jordan and Nike believes only an athlete of his caliber should represent its product. If Nike had to settle for a lesser player as spokesperson and sold fewer shoes as a result, at least some of the workers in the shoe factory would lose their jobs. So while it may seem frivolous or even outrageous that someone who throws a ball through a hoop earns thousands of times more than people who provide a basic necessity like shoes, the shoemakers themselves and those who care about their wellbeing should be happy Nike can afford to hire Michael Jordan.
This preachy litany of cliches, half-truths, and unsubstantiated assertions about evils of competition and laissez-faire is nothing more than warmed-over Fabian socialism. It didn't work in the 19th century. It won't work in the 21st either.
Paving the road to (economic) Hell.......2001-12-29
If good intentions were all that is required for an author, Michael Edwards would be a giant among policy writers. Unfortunately, having one's heart in the right place is not enough. Consider this passage on page 144:
"Does basketball player Michael Jordan have to earn 31,000 times more for advertising Nike sports shoes than the workers who produce them, despite the fact that should wages be doubled the cost of production would still fall below $1 a pair?... Inequalities [such as this] result from political decisions
about the distribution of gains arising from economic activity."
This statement betrays a profound ignorance of how markets work. Michael Jordan earns 31,000 times more than the factory workers, not as a result of any "political decision," but because there are apparently many people for whom $1.75 a day is preferable to unemployment or life in a poor rural village. On the other hand, there is only one Michael Jordan and Nike believes only an athlete of his caliber should represent its product. If Nike had to settle for a lesser player as spokesperson and sold fewer shoes as a result, at least some of the workers in the shoe factory would lose their jobs. So while it may seem frivolous or even outrageous that someone who throws a ball through a hoop earns thousands of times more than people who provide a basic necessity like shoes, the shoemakers themselves and those who care about their wellbeing should be happy Nike can afford to hire Michael Jordan.
This preachy litany of cliches, half-truths, and unsubstantiated assertions about evils of competition and laissez-faire is nothing more than warmed-over Fabian socialism. It didn't work in the 19th century. It won't work in the 21st either.
Inspiring, practical, instructive for mind heart and soul..........2000-11-18
After over a decade of dealing with international co-operation in various capacities, in different locations and on many sides of the equation, this is the first time that I find a book that actually translates my experiences in a way that helps me deeply understand the reasons behind my successes and failures.
Would like to highly recomend this book to anyone who has lost faith in international co-operation, or who is looking for a compass to guide them through the complexities of such an art.
Insightful, inspiring, informed, committed, refreshing and very useful are some of the adjectives that come to me as I write this.
Happy reading
Future Positive: A reason for Amazon to add a sixth star!.......2000-07-22
Future Positive: A reason for Amazon to add a sixth star!
Future Positive does an outstanding job of summarizing the state of international development today, what brought us to this point, and a concrete roadmap for positive change in the future.
The author, Michael Edwards, hits the nail on the head again and again with insightful analysis of past events and creative, yet firmly rooted, stategies for the future.
I urge anyone that is interesting in the future of our world to read this book. It is what I call "International Development 101" for those seeking to understand the field. For those working in the field of International Development this is a must read.
I have made it required reading at our organization for all staff members and for every volunteer that goes to the field with our program.
Steven Rosenthal, Executive Director, Cross-Cultural Solutions steve@crossculturalsolutions.org
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Finance & Development, published by International Monetary Fund on September 1, 2001. The length of the article is 698 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: Future Positive.(international co-operation analysis)(Review)
Author: Gregory Dahl
Publication:
Finance & Development (Magazine/Journal)
Date: September 1, 2001
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
Volume: 38
Issue: 3
Page: 58
Article Type: Book Review
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Book Description
Switzerland has recently come to the attention to global strategic planners. This report puts these executives on the fast track. Ten chapters provide: an overview of how to strategically access this important market, a discussion on economic fundamentals, marketing & distribution options, export and direct investment options, and full risk assessments (political, cultural, legal, human resources). Ample statistical benchmarks and comparative graphs are given.
Average customer rating:
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Issues in Privatizing Social Security: Report of an Expert Panel of the National Academy of Social Insurance
Manufacturer: The MIT Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
 Economic Conditions
| Economics
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
Privatization
| Economics
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Popular Economics
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Business & Investing
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Economic Conditions
| International
| Business & Investing
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General
| Investing
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Management
| Management & Leadership
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Service
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| Business & Investing
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Social Services & Welfare
| Poverty
| Current Events
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
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Social Security
| Politics
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0262041774 |
Book Description
Two types of changes to Social Security have been proposed. One would keep the current defined-benefit structure but build and maintain a larger trust fund, to be partially invested in stocks and corporate bonds. The other would set up individual funded accounts, also to be partially invested in private markets. Both would raise taxes or lower benefits in the near term to increase funds for paying future benefits.
This study addresses many important aspects of these politically charged proposals. The questions discussed include: Should Social Security have more advance funding? Should Social Security funds be invested in the stock market? If investments are organized by the government, what independent institutions would shield portfolio decisions and corporate governance from political pressures? If investments are privately organized, what would be the regulatory structure? Finally, should Social Security include individual defined-contribution accounts or stay with traditional defined benefits?
The National Academy of Social Insurance is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization whose mission is to conduct research on and enhance public understanding of social insurance, to develop new leaders, and to provide a forum for the exchange of ideas on issues related to social insurance.
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Southern Economic Journal, published by Southern Economic Association on April 1, 2000. The length of the article is 1539 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: Issues in Privatizing Social Security: Report of an Expert Panel of the National Academy of Social Insurance.(Review) (book review)
Author: Teresa Ghilarducci
Publication:
Southern Economic Journal (Refereed)
Date: April 1, 2000
Publisher: Southern Economic Association
Volume: 66
Issue: 4
Page: 1022
Article Type: Book Review
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Book Description
What makes one an effective communicator in today's fast-paced, ever-changing business world? How can people tackle tough issues and resolve them successfully? Whether you work in an office as part of a team or collaborate from home via e-mail, communication competence has become more important than ever.
Straight Talk shows how skillful communication can help people reach resolution for strategic results--even on the thorniest, most controversial issues. The key to becoming a master communicator, according to management consultant Eric Douglas, is to become expert in using new communication tools that enable you to think more clearly and communicate in a far superior way. The result? Productive conversations that bring shared understanding, mutual action, and breakthrough results.
In Straight Talk, Douglas provides these tools and the direction needed for effective use of each. It all begins with communication styles, says Douglas, who identifies and profiles the four different types--Director, Expresser, Thinker, and Harmonizer. The secret to identifying other people's styles is to ask questions, observe reactions, and listen actively, he says. "Watch how people interact with you. Do they engage in small talk? Do they cut to the bottom line? Do they tell stories? Each of these is a trademark of a particular style."
Using exercises, surveys, and corporate stories, Straight Talk describes each style in action and offers techniques for developing a repertoire of styles for different situations. Readers learn to identify their own communication style and that of others, and how to modify their style for strategic results. They learn new methods for decoding conversations as well as new skills for improving time management, problem solving, decision making, project management, conflict resolution, meeting efficiency, and organizational culture through competent communication.
Customer Reviews:
Highly recommended reading for business managers.......2001-02-21
In Straight Talk: Turning Communication Upside Down For Strategic Results At Work, Eric Douglas draws upon his considerable business management expertise to show how anyone can identity their own communication style, as well as that of others, and modify that style for improved strategic results. Highly recommended reading for business managers at all levels of responsibility for corporate affairs, Straight Talk offers exercises, surveys, and real-life case studies to enhance the reader's telecommunication skills and effectiveness, and demonstrates how competent communication can play a significant, vital role to solve today's most urgent organizational problems and difficulties.
This is the most comprehensive book on group commmunication.......1999-07-27
The author skillfully weaves case studies with practical tools to give you a very complete look at strategies and techniques for guiding group communication. For couples it's also great, because the Communication Styles Survey gives you instant insights into your relationship. Highly recommended for anyone in a consulting role.
Average customer rating:
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Fashions in Management Research: An Empirical Analysis
Patrick Thomas
Manufacturer: Ashgate Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General
| Organizational Behavior
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
Management
| Management & Leadership
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
Training
| Management & Leadership
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 184014730X |
Average customer rating:
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Selling With Excellence: A Quality Approach for Sales Professionals
Larry A. McCloskey , and
Bryan Wirth
Manufacturer: ASQ Quality Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
Management & Leadership
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
| Business Ethics
| Consolidation & Merger
| Decision-Making & Problem Solving
| Distribution & Warehouse Management
| Industrial
| Information Management
| Leadership
| Management
| Management Science
| Motivational
| Negotiating
| Operations Research
| Planning & Forecasting
| Pricing
| Production & Operations
| Project Management
| Quality Control
| Risk Assessment
| Statistics
| Strategy & Competition
| Systems & Planning
| Systems Analysis
| Teams
| Total Quality Management
| Training
Techniques
| Sales & Selling
| Marketing & Sales
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0873893220 |
Book Description
Every sales professional will appreciate this book's unique combination of tradionally successful sales concepts, continuous improvement techniques, and customer-oriented business practices. The acronym C.A.S.H.-Customer oriented, Always improving, Strategically planned, and hard data based in sales. Important topics also include: identifying customers, and methods to being customer oriented; pursuing continuous improvement through benchmarking, the PDCA cycle, and other practices; aligning goals and achievements by creating strategic plans; accessing and capturing important information about customers; using quality techniques to create action plans for personal success.
Book Description
Old-style co-op advertising is the "great cash giveaway," a multibillion-dollar problem. Co-marketing, a far more effective technique, links manufacturer and retailer in channeling branding messages to the end user. (The "Intel Inside" campaign is an example.)
Customer Reviews:
Brand marketing is Changing.......2002-10-09
I did enjoy this book. I have a good background in trade marketing and felt the author did a good job in showing the whole picture as well as having a vast knowledge of how sales works and the retail environment works. The eight step model used was practical and this book could be an eye opener to young marketers that are too consumer focused and lack and understanding of sales and the world of trade marketing
Read at your own risk.......2002-01-19
I just received this book today. I noticed there a few pages dedicated to Intel and the "Intel Inside" marketing program. As a former employee of Intel (1991-2000), I worked in the corporate marketing organization and had first hand knowledge of the company's business history and the evolution of its marketing programs. Naturally, I first flipped to those pages related to Intel.
Some of the information was grossly inaccurate. It left me wondering whether the author made it up to make a more compelling case, or was misinformed. The inaccuracies are both large and small. For example, he says Intel's486 chip had a major flaw, which among other issues, was a jolt to the company's image. And he says the comany resolved it (in part) by bringing out the Pentium processor. Anyone who read newspapers or watched the news during 1994 would know what really happened is something completely different.
Therefore, I will read the book's case study examples and details with a more discriminating eye.
That said, I believe the "spirit" of what is being conveyed holds true. Conceived and implemented by VP Dennis Carter, Intel's ingredient branding program (in addition to other mktg efforts), has undeniably made Intel one of the most valuable brands in the world and lead to enormous company profitability.
Best book on trade marketing I've ever read.......2002-01-01
I thought from the title that it would be another book on Trade Marketing. But I'm glad that I was wrong.
It is the most lucidly written book on how to build your business and brand via trade partners (whether they be key accounts, 2nd tier distribution, etc) - that I've ever read. It shows a clarity of thinking that can only come from years of experience and an inquisitive mind.
This is a book written by a marketing practitioner one who has been in the trenches.
Good Marketing Book for Marketers.......2000-05-02
................................The content is very informative, but lack of deep explanation about branding. Just a little bit deeper, and I will give this book 5 stars.
Book Description
This digital document is an article from EDP Weekly's IT Monitor, published by Millin Publishing, Inc. on January 31, 2000. The length of the article is 608 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: CA, WM-DATA, iD2 TECHNOLOGIES BUILD SECURITY SOLUTION FOR SWEDEN'S LARGEST CONSTRUCTION CO.(Company Business and Marketing)
Publication:
EDP Weekly's IT Monitor (Magazine/Journal)
Date: January 31, 2000
Publisher: Millin Publishing, Inc.
Volume: 41
Issue: 4
Page: 1
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Average customer rating:
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New International Economic Order: A Third World Perspective (International Development Resource Books)
Manufacturer: Greenwood Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Development & Growth
| Economics
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
International
| Economics
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Popular Economics
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
General
| International
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
Management
| Management & Leadership
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
Relations
| International
| Politics
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0313241457 |
Book Description
Financial resources of the magnitude, form, and character necessary to support changes in the structure of production in developing countries are essential for progress toward a new, more equitable international economic order. Inadequacies in the current monetary and financial system contribute to the underutilization of resources productive to developing countries and to the maintainence of economic imbalance. This volume demonstrates the need for a systematic attack on the acute problems of poverty and underdevelopment. It provides background information and data for those directly involved in the formulation of development theory and the implementation of development policy. The theory developed and practical experience discussed in these essays provide valuable perspectives on the continuing efforts to realign the international economic order.
Book Description
This investment guide contains basic information on economy, business, export-import and investment climate, opportunities and regulations. Provides strategic information on economy, industrial development, banking, and government. Includes information on the most important business contacts and business travel. Updated annually.
Average customer rating:
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Falkland Islands Investment and Business Guide
USA International Business Publications
Manufacturer: Intl Business Pubns USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Exports & Imports
| Economics
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
General
| International
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Investing
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 073974061X |
Books:
- Geography of Production and Economic Integration (Routledge Studies in the Modern World Economy, 28)
- Global Civil Society 2005/6 (Global Civil Society - Year Books)
- Global Economic Prospects and the Developing Countries 2003: Investing to Unlock Global Opportunities (Global Economic Prospects and the Developing Countries)
- Growth With Equity: Economic Policymaking for the Next Century
- Health and Economic Growth: Findings and Policy Implications
- Inside Knowledge: Rediscovering the Source of Performance Improvement
- Insurance Risk and Ruin (International Series on Actuarial Science)
- Intellectual Property and Unfair Competition in a Nutshell: Intellectual Property (Nutshell Series)
- International Comparisons of Electricity Regulation
- Introduced Mammals of New Zealand: an Ecological and Economic Survey.
Books Index
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