The Jews and Modern Capitalism (Classics in Social Science Series)

Book Description

Dominican Republic 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.

Book Description

At last, there’s a business leadership book that really tackles the tough issues of integrity and governance. Taking a unique approach to leadership, this book gathers the path-breaking perspectives of influential shareholder activists; opinion-leading CEOs of major firms; trailblazing, distinguished academics; and courageous regulators. The all-star roster of contributors from the corporate world and academia includes Vanguard's John Bogle, former SEC Chairman Arthur Levitt, and Harvard Business School's Rosabeth Moss Kanter. Sherron Watkins, Enron whistleblower and Time Person of the Year, shares an inside look at Enron, and Barbara Ley Toffler, former head of Arthur Andersen's Ethics Practice, paints a picture of Anderson Consulting before their fall.

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Expert contributors on the challenges facing today's business leaders
No business leadership book tackles the tough issues of integrity and governance as does Leadership and Governance from the Inside Out. Taking a uniquely holistic approach to leadership, this book gathers the path-breaking perspectives of influential shareholder activists; opinion-leading CEOs of major firms; trailblazing, distinguished academics; and courageous regulators. The all-star roster of contributors from the corporate world and academia includes Vanguard's John Bogle; former SEC Chairman Arthur Levitt; Professor Michael Useem of the Wharton School; Harvard Business School's Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Rakesh Khurana; Robert Lane, CEO of (John) Deere & Company, shareholder activist Nell Minnow; and Philippe Haspeslagh, Professor of Business Policy at INSEAD. Sherron Watkins, Enron whistleblower and Time Person of the Year, shares an inside look at Enron, and Barbara Ley Toffler, former head of Arthur Andersen's Ethics Practice, paints a picture of Anderson Consulting before their fall.
Robert Gandossy (Redding, Connecticut) is a Global Leader for Hewitt Associates' Talent and Organization Consulting. Jeffrey Sonnenfeld (Hamden, Connecticut) is the Associate Dean for Executive Programs at Yale University's School of Management, as well as founder, President, and CEO of The Chief Executive Leadership Institute of Yale University.

Leadership and Governance from the Inside Out.(DIRECTOR LIBRARY)(Book Review) : An article from: Directors & Boards

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Leadership and Governance from the Inside Out.(DIRECTOR LIBRARY)(Book Review) : An article from: Directors & Boards
Paul D. Lapides
Manufacturer: Directors and Boards
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

Online Books | Books & Reading | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Directors & Boards, published by Directors and Boards on March 22, 2005. The length of the article is 1666 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: Leadership and Governance from the Inside Out.(DIRECTOR LIBRARY)(Book Review)
Author: Paul D. Lapides
Publication: Directors & Boards (Magazine/Journal)
Date: March 22, 2005
Publisher: Directors and Boards
Volume: 29 Issue: 3 Page: 20(2)

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

The publisher, IDG Books

The fun and easy way to learn the latest version of Quicken for Windows.

Quicken Five for Windows for Dummies Quick Reference

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Quicken Five for Windows for Dummies Quick Reference
Stephen L. Nelson
Manufacturer: John Wiley & Sons Inc (Computers)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Public Finance | Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Personal Finance | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 156884963X

The publisher, IDG Books

Quicken is one of the most popular personal financial packages around -- for good reason. From managing your budget and paying bills to keeping good records for when tax time rolls around, Quicken can help you tame even the most unruly finances. But to take full advantage of all of Quicken's important features -- and not waste time trying to figure out how to use them -- you need Quicken 5 For Windows For Dummies. In one concise, compact guide, you'll find commands and features explained along with tips on how best to put them to use. This is one Quicken reference you can't afford to be without.

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Small Business Computing for Dummies
Brian Underdahl
Manufacturer: John Wiley & Sons Inc (Computers)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

MIS | Industries & Professions | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Small Business & Entrepreneurship | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0764502875

Amazon.com

A thorough, comprehensive guide to enhancing a small business with computer technology, this book explains the key issues involved in buying, setting up, and using a computer. Underdahl begins by answering the "why" questions of frugal small-business owners, providing a convincing argument for business computerization. He then discusses hardware, the physical stuff that makes up a computer system. You'll get the goods on desktops-versus-portables, PCs-versus-Macintoshes, and the virtues of various hard-disk interfaces (IDE, EIDE, SCSI, and so on), for example. After walking you through the buying process, he takes you through the process of setting up your new acquisitions. His explanation is fine if you encounter no problems, but you'll be looking for help elsewhere if you run into trouble.

The author then gets into software, explaining what kinds of programs you'll most likely need and detailing the differences among various publishers' offerings. He goes into particular detail on QuickBooks Pro, the popular accounting package from Intuit. You'll learn how to create invoices and pay bills in QuickBooks--this is enough to get you started and may be all you need in addition to Intuit's documentation. A companion CD-ROM contains loads of shareware, freeware, and demonstration utilities plus a trial version of QuickBooks Pro. --David Wall

Book Description

So you've decided to take the plunge and launch your own small business, or it's time to take your current enterprise to the next level. Topping your shopping list is a new computer, but the choices are simply mind-boggling. Where do you go for help and sage advice? Straight to Brian Underdahl's Small Business Computing For Dummies, that's where! Small Business Computing For Dummies helps you navigate through troubled waters, from deciding which type of computer system works best for you to discovering how to troubleshoot and solve basic problems quickly. Along the way, you'll discover how to buy the software that you'll really use, add all the peripherals (modems, printers, scanners, network cards, and the like) that you'll really need, and even put your business onto the rapidly growing World Wide Web. And the CD-ROM that comes with Small Business Computing For Dummies is packed with trial software -- from graphics and word processing tools to Personal Information Managers, plus the popular (and powerful) QuickBooks Pro -- to expand and enhance your working world...at home, in the office, or on the Web.

Book Description

This up-to-date bibliography on business communications which, unlike any other, also indexes the availability of sample documents and other learning aids has been compiled with students, faculty, librarians, and other working professionals in mind. It combines research sources with an annotated bibliography that emphasizes practical solutions to business and technical communications problems. The topical arrangement facilitates the prompt location of materials that emphasize specific communication skills such as editing, interviewing, and public speaking. The extremely fine-tuned subject index details the locations of all sources on a particular topic and specific kinds of assistance, such as outlines and sample documents. The guide is composed of two major divisions of three chapters each. Part I, the research handbook, assists researchers who need answers to basic questions: chapter 1 details standard reference sources including dictionaries, bibliographies, and directories; chapter 2 lists research tools such as indexes and online data bases; and chapter 3 cites additional important resources including grammar hot lines, national associations, and research institutions. Part II, a topical bibliography of books published between 1980 and 1988, facilitates the location of outlines, guidelines, examples, workbooks, sample documents, and similar forms of assistance. Chapters four through six are devoted to three skill areas: general skills such as editing, graphics and visuals, and word processing; written documents such as abstracts, newsletters and feasibility studies; and oral products such as interviewing, presentations, and workshops and seminars. Three distinct indexes provide access to this wealth of information by name, title, and subject. Better Said and Clearly Written should be made available not only to business and technical libraries but to academic and public libraries as well. It will be an indispensible tool for technical writers, small business owners, corporate personnel, and anyone wishing to improve their oral and written communication skills.

Book Description

The 20 Keys system does more than just bring together twenty of the world's top manufacturing improvement approaches - it integrates these individual methods into a closely interrelated system for revolutionizing every aspect of your manufacturing organization. This revised edition of Kobayashi's bestseller amplifies the synergistic power of raising the levels of all these critical areas simultaneously. The new edition presents upgraded criteria for the five-level scoring system in most of the 20 Keys, supporting your progress toward becoming not only best in your industry but best in the world.

Customer Reviews:

Very foolish.......2007-02-14

This is truly a very strange book. I can't imagine a process that would be in such dire straits such that this book would be of much value. Stick with readings by Box, Deming, etc.

Simple Lean Manufacturing Implementation.......2006-03-27

There are several methods of implementing Lean Manufacturing Practices in a Factory. I have found the 20 Keys method to be the easiest and still broad enough to be effective. The lowest score is 20 and the maximum score is 100. You are guaranteed a doubling of productivity with each 10 points. Go for it!

20 Keys as a guide and assessment tool.......2005-08-04

A concise guide to assessing the level of 'leanness' in an organisation - useful for benchmarking. In addition it provides some useful guidelines for implementation.

A `white-glove test' for becoming lean.......2005-06-07

20 Keys is a powerful `white-glove test' for a lean-type environment. Mr Kobayoshi's system not only reveals how far along your operation is on the journey toward perfection, but it also helps pinpoint facets where improvements are needed. Find your shortcomings and strengths. Furthermore, it can provide a roadmap of recommended areas to target to reach the end goal from your self-assessed position. It will not provide all the specific tools, but it will walk you through to a logical implementation plan; learn what areas to concentrate on, do your how-to research, and fill in the appropriate details as needed. If you understand lean practices, 20 Keys may simply help you identify where to start and where to proceed to; you select the right tools from all those already at your disposal to create a coordinated strategy.

The original edition of this book was a bit difficult to follow and to use as a reference. To my surprise, the newer revised version almost appears to be a complete rewrite. Even the many illustrations laced throughout the book have changed. Many sections have been condensed, and the capture of key thoughts as bullet-point outlines seems more prevalent. The book has also been expanded with case studies and an index. Buy the revised edition for the best introduction to the 20 Keys. The earlier release has been readily available for just a few dollars (a bargain), so get the original edition too for additional insights on points of particular interest.

this is the world class journey!.......1999-01-29

This is probably the finest book of the world class journey ever written, not in theory, but the things we have to do to keep on the journey. Prof Kobayashi brings to light the 20 different skills in a broad perspective that any organization can use effectively to make the journey possible. To truly understand the subtle secrets you will eventually read this book 20 times. You will be so inspired by the graphics you will go to Japan to find the deep rooted meanings of the content, as the processes behind them (2o keys) are a culture in their own right! Enjoy your personal world class journey by starting with yourself!!!

The "20 Keys" to workplace improvement.: An article from: Industrial Management

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The "20 Keys" to workplace improvement.: An article from: Industrial Management
Dino Petrarolo
Manufacturer: Institute of Industrial Engineers, Inc. (IIE)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

Workplace | Organizational Behavior | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Management | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Industrial Management, published by Institute of Industrial Engineers, Inc. (IIE) on January 1, 1998. The length of the article is 4180 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.

From the supplier: A novel approach to benchmarking and improvement of product standardization is called the '20 Keys' method that emphasizes twenty different aspects that determine a company's flexibility and adaptability. This approach features the systematic and integrated process that enables employees to improve their work in a simple, methodical and solid manner. Management-wise, it can help the supplier improve its organizational strength to achieve world-class standards.

Citation Details
Title: The "20 Keys" to workplace improvement.
Author: Dino Petrarolo
Publication: Industrial Management (Magazine/Journal)
Date: January 1, 1998
Publisher: Institute of Industrial Engineers, Inc. (IIE)
Volume: v40 Issue: n1 Page: p22(7)

Distributed by Thomson Gale

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Great Life Lessons

Excellent series

Great for children

The Super Red Racer: Junior Discover Work (Life Lessons With Junior)
Dave Ramsey
Manufacturer: Lampo Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Personal Finance | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
General | Ages 4-8 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
General | Personal Finance | Business & Investing | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
General | Ages 4-8 | Children's Books | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
All 4-for-3 Deals | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

Careless At The Carnival: Junior Discovers Spending (Life Lessons With Junior)

The Big Birthday Surprise: Junior Discovers Giving (Life Lessons With Junior)

My Fantastic Fieldtrip: Junior Discovers Saving (Life Lessons with Junior)

Battle of the Chores: Junior Discovers Debt (Life Lessons with Junior)

Financial Peace Jr.: Teaching Kids About Money! : "Cool Tools" for Training Tomorrow's Millionaires!

ASIN: 0972632301

Customer Reviews:

Great Life Lessons .......2007-03-24

Thanks for giving me material to use to teach my kids about saving and a good work ethic!

Excellent series.......2005-11-10

All of the Dave Ramsey childrens books are wonderful, teaching children about saving, spending responsibly and giving, and presented in an enjoyable and easy to read format. Of all the books in the series, this one is my 7-yr old son's favorite. Soon after reading it the first time, he was eager to start earning his own money for an item he has had his eye on. All of the books have been re-read several times through.

Great for children.......2005-04-29

After purchasing the Financial JR kit, I found this book. It is great. My six year old son loved it and could relate with the boy in the book. We will be reading this again and again. I will be buying another in this series.

the Super Red Racer Junior Discovers Work

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the Super Red Racer Junior Discovers Work
Dave Ramsey
Manufacturer: Chick-Fil-A
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000K0GUIG

Book Description

Founded as a fine-chemicals manufacturer in 1849, Pfizer has grown into one of the most innovative healthcare companies in the world. During World War II, Pfizer used its mass fermentation process to mass-produce the wonder drug penicillin, thus saving thousands of Allied lives. Today, with revenues topping $15 billion, Pfizer's drug pipeline is the envy of competitors and its pharmaceuticals for animals and humans make it a leader in its therapeutic categories. In 1999, the company celebrated its 150th year in business, and was named Company of the Year by Forbes Magazine. With information available nowhere else, this book is the result of years of research, countless interviews, and extensive archival review. Illustrated with images from the companys inception to present day, The Legend of Pfizer chronicles the story of a company that has become an integral part of our lives.

Customer Reviews:

A One-Sided Sales Pitch-- Just One Reader's Opinion.......2006-11-07

The author did a good job at researching and tracing the origins and early history of Pfizer, but made few attempts at addressing criticisms that existed by contemporaries of the founders of the company. Indeed, the criticisms and negative allegations seem to have drawn little if any notice at all from the author. From the human subject tests and experiments that took place under the company's direction early on in Germany-- methods that have been outlawed in the United States, but that were unfortunately too common place in the industry at the time, and that Pfizer certainly wasn't alone in carrying out, to the modern day criticisms of the company from patient advocate groups, Justice Department probes and investigations of government healthcare fraud and off-label marketing that has endangered patient lives (including the 2004 $430 million Neurontin settlement), the public record that is replete with litigation brought by employees whose lives and careers were destroyed by an iron-fisted company that would not tolerate dissension by its own employees on behalf of public safety-- Dr. Peter Rost being the most public, but only one of dozens, and who knows how many others were similarly wronged and simply never filed suit. Similarly recent criticisms of the industry and the company for their methods of using pretty girls rather than medical experts to sell life-saving or endangering drugs to doctors to give to their patients in exchange for golf, ski, or internation vacations (see details of the federal government's suit against the company in the Neurontin case, and allegations from Dr. Rost and others who contend the practice exists today, while even the New York Times and Inside Edition did stories earlier this year on the practice of targeted hiring of former cheerleaders rather than medical experts to push their product).

There seems to be too little notice given to the allegations that Celebrex and Bextra (each exceeding $2 billion per year in profit to the company) were actually dangerous to many patients and that Pfizer did even less than Merck had with vioxx to get it out of patients' hands-- in Pfizer's case acting only after the FDA forced them to.

There was too little discussion of allegations that Pfizer spends a substantial chunk of its research and development budget in executive salaries and direct-to-consumer advertizing, and in buying up biotech companies rather than actual research itself.

There was little notice given to claims made by former New England Journal of Medicine Editor-in-Chief, Marcia Angell's allegations in her book that drug companies-- including Pfizer-- are spending the bulk of the research and development budget on "me-too" (copy cat) lifestyle drugs rather than medicines that are dramatically improving longevity and quality of life. For example, how many erectile dysfunction and toe-nail fungus drugs do we really need when there are far more serious conditions going un-researched, might paraphrase her argument.

Earlier this year there was a report of a lawsuit brought in a New York Federal court against Pfizer for using an Aids treatment outreach in Africa (what was supposed to be a charitable act) in the 1990s instead as an opportunity to turn those would-be patients without their knowledge into human test subjects, since those tests could not legally or ethically be done in the U.S. without patient knowledge. These are solely allegations in a lawsuit unless or until proven, but that remains a substantial issue that perhaps the author could have refuted or explained in this book.

There was little discussion about the political influence that Pfizer wields (U.S. Senate Finance Committee Chairman, Charles Grassley, says that the influence of the drug lobby is huge in Washington and that one could scarcely swing a cat by the tail without hitting one. And yet, while that is speaking of the industry's lobbyists as a whole, even this book points out that Pfizer is far and away the largest of the players in that industry. So why not more discussion on the influence they wield with policy makers in Washington?)-- especially in the context of a Medicare Prescription Drug law that prohibited the federal government from negotiating prices. Pfizer CEO in an interview in 2004 explained on PBS' Nightly Business Report that this benefit was expected to only be a wash for the company, with no real profit. But if that was so, why did they lobby so heavily for so long to get that benefit enacted? The real reason is because Medicaid has a provision requiring drug companies to provide them the best price information that was paid for the same drug by any private insurance plan after negotiation. The drug companies are then required to charge Medicaid within only a percentage of that amount-- effectively "capping" the profit on each drug sold to Medicaid. As a result, many drug companies fail to report the real "best price" hoping the government won't catch them and thereby maximize profits. Since 2001, however, there have been a slew of cases brought by the Justice Department worth billions of dollars now for violating this provision. Realizing that those actions were now subjecting them to big time trouble with the Justice Department, and that many of the nation's Medicaid patients are over 65 . . . the obvious solution to "legalize" mark-ups of sometimes thousands of percent (Abbott Labs in one of those cases actually got pegged for marking up its profit against Medicaid by somewhere around 12,000 percent, but they're not alone), was to get those patients off of Medicaid drug plans and rolled over onto a new Medicare drug plan-- in which the fed. govt. would have no right to negotiate for a lower price.

Then there's the political issue of the reimportation of drugs from Canada, and Pfizer's letter to several Canadian pharmacies that they would stop supplying them with any drugs at all if they continued to sell them back into the U.S. Their political argument in Washington was simply that free trade should apply to everything except their pills because of patient safety. And yet, their pills are made in Puerto Rico before being shipped to Canada OR the U.S. They claim a concern that there is no assurance that the drugs are being properly stored once leaving the Canadian pharmacy-- but they're just as properly stored as those drugs are when they get mailed from those Canadian pharmacies to Canadian's homes; or as they are in this country when being mailed from the drug company to the prescription benefit managers that then mail them to America's insured's homes; or as they are when they're shipped from the manufacturing plant in Puerto Rico to either Canada or he U.S. But for more on those arguments I'll refer the reader to Peter Rost's writings or the Congressional record where testimony has been so compelling that the U.S. House of Representatives has twice voted to legalize the reimportation of prescription drugs before the industry's lobby in the Senate was able to block that vote from becoming law.

That issue is not just about the industry-- it is heavily about Pfizer itself. Or else Peter Rost would still be employed as a V.P. there, and most certainly would not still be getting harassed by their investigators at his own home nearly one full year after his termination. What kind of a company does that to an employee a year after they have already terminated them?

What about Pfizer CEO Hank McKinnell sitting on the Board of Exxon Mobile and pocketing money from the two industries Americans are having the hardest time affording-- literally having America and its Seniors by the throat.

These are all issues of great interest to readers in America where the author could have really provided so much more of either explanation or helping the readers and patients better understand why Pfizer does what it does if there are good reasons for it rather than so much of a sales pitch for the company.

The title should have told me the book would be slanted in favor of Pfizer, but only time will tell if in 25 years the Legend of Pfizer will be seen through rose-colored or shame-colored glasses.

I, for one, would like to believe that Pfizer was really improving everyone's lives; but the facts that are in the public domain, combined with a lack of reasonable explanations when opportunity for them are given leave me doubtful. I was hopeful this book might address some of the controversies more, after all of the interviews the author conducted, to finally shed light on the reasons for their conduct if anything other than greed exists. For that I would have liked to see more research done into the criticisms of Pfizer's early years and addressing the criticisms floating around in today's world.

My critique, then is not about the literary style of the author or anything. I have nothing bad to say about that. My only criticism would be on what at least seemed to me to have been too limited breadth of fact-gathering and in the analysis of the facts that were gathered without the context of public record allegations; and a greater analysis of how all of the parts do or don't fit together.

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