Hi all, I'm Ted Kinni, a newbie here, and a business writer. You might have
seen my book reviews and articles in Training magazine and Corporate
University Review. I also publish a free monthly e-letter called The
Business Reader Review that includes capsule reviews of 10-20 new business
books each month. It's a NO spam/advertising/sales-hype publication.
I thought you might find it a useful way to keep up on what's new on the
business bookshelf and, if you all have no objections, I'll post the new
issue once a month. I look forward to hearing from old friends and new. Here
is the last issue for your evaluation:
THE BUSINESS READER REVIEW #8
Welcome to The Business Reader Review, our free e-letter offering capsule
summaries of 10-20 newly released business books each month. We are very
pleased to announce that we now have a modest home of our own on the Net.
For past issues, free subscriptions, and to learn a little about us, please
stop in at
http://home1.gte.net/bizbooks Here's what's new and notable on
the business bookshelf for February '99:
DISCOVERING THE SOUL OF SERVICE:
The Nine Drivers of Sustainable Business Success by Leonard Berry (Free
Press, 269 pg, $26, ISBN 0684845113). Texas A&M Professor Berry is a leading
authority on service businesses. Here, he studies 14 service companies to
identify how they maintain success. The result is a list of eight drivers
that revolve around the most important factor of all, values-driven
leadership.
HYPERWARS:
11 Strategies for Survival and Profit in the Era of Online Business by
Bruce Judson with Kate Kelly (Scribner, 240 pg, $25, ISBN 068485564X).
Another entry on the crowded e-business bookshelf, this one stands out for
its practical, plain English approach. Consultant Judson offers up a grab
bag of 11 strategies for successfully conducting business online, ending
each with a series of "battle plan" questions to help guide design and
implementation efforts.
SECRETS OF A CEO COACH:
Your Personal Training Guide to Thinking Like a Leader and Acting Like a
CEO by D.A. Benton (McGraw-Hill, 211 pg, $21.95, ISBN 007007108X). Executive
coach Benton puts the basic elements of a personal coaching session into her
latest book. It includes detailed self-evaluation exercises and tips and
techniques for building your mental, physical, and emotional energy.
THE 12 SIMPLE SECRETS OF MICROSOFT MANAGEMENT:
How to Think and Act Like a Microsoft Manager and Take Your Company to the
Top by David Thielen (McGraw-Hill, 181 pg, $18.95, ISBN 0071342486). Thielen
offers up a no-holds-barred version of winning management picked up during
his career as a senior software developer at Microsoft. From "total world
domination" to "Bill is watching," he pinpoints the cultural and strategic
elements that have driven growth at the software giant.
COMEBACK:
How Seven Straight Shooting CEOs Turned Around Troubled Companies by Martin
Puris (Times Business, 248 pg, $23, ISBN 0812931270). Puris examines seven
corporate turnarounds, including UPS, Compaq, and Adidas, for common
lessons. He finds that in each case, a dogged focus on reality and the
strength to work on until the problem was solved made all the difference.
THE INNER GAME OF ENTREPRENEURING:
10 Steps to Mastering the Small Business Challenge by Ronald Guzik (Upstart,
203 pg, $18.95, ISBN 1574101196). In an interesting spin on the subject,
Guzik focuses on the mental behavior and personal habits that support
entrepreneurial success. From self-awareness to systems thinking, the
chapters cover a wide range of intrapersonal and interpersonal skills in a
self-help-style presentation.
CLOSE THE DEAL:
Smart Moves for Selling by Sam Deep & Lyle Sussman (Perseus Books, 311 pg,
$13, ISBN 0738200387). The third book in the authors' Smart Moves series
offers up 120 checklists and over 1,000 individual tips, tools and
techniques for honing sales skills. Created with the help of the Sandler
Sales Institute, the book covers each step in the sales process, as well as
personal management strategies.
AN INTRODUCTION TO DESIGN OF EXPERIMENTS:
A Simplified Approach by Larry Barrentine (ASQ Quality Press, 114 pg, $24,
ISBN 0873894448). Barrentine explains the basics of this statistical quality
tool, that measures more than one variable in process improvement efforts,
in an unusually clear presentation. The paperback covers two and three
variable DOEs as well as the screening design process.
THE 7 ACTS OF COURAGE:
Bold Leadership for a Wholehearted Life by Robert Staub II (Executive
Excellence, 170 pg, $16.95, ISBN 1890009474). Courage, writes Staub, is the
basis for living and leading successfully. In this motivational read aimed
at executives, the therapist/coach explores seven kinds of courage: the
courage to dream, to see reality, to confront, to be confronted, to learn
and grow, to be vulnerable, and to take action.
RETHINKING THE SALES FORCE:
Redefining Selling to Create and Capture Customer Value by Neil Rackham &
John DeVincentis (McGraw-Hill, 308 pg, $24.95, ISBN 0071342532). Rackham,
the originator of Spin Selling, and DeVincentis argue that the sales
function must reorganize around value to the customer. They structure their
methodology around three value models: transactional selling, where the
value is in ease of acquisition; consultative selling, where the value is in
the seller's knowledge; and, enterprise selling, where the value lies in the
seller's strategic-level commitment to the buyer.
THE 2,000 PERCENT SOLUTION:
Free Your Organization from Stalled Thinking to Achieve Exponential Success
by Donald Mitchell, Carol Coles, & Robert Metz (Amacom, 258 pg, $24.95, ISBN
0814404766). The first half of this book identifies seven typical "stalls,"
common barriers to organizational success. The second half describes an
eight step stall-busting process for overcoming them.
THE MCKINSEY WAY:
Using the Techniques of the World's Top Strategic Consultants to Help You
and Your Business by Ethan Rasiel (McGraw-Hill, 185 pg, $21.95, ISBN
0070534489). Using his short three-year career at the firm and the knowledge
of other former employees, Rasiel offers up an unauthorized and largely
prosaic look at the consulting company's techniques. He describes how
McKinsey identifies problems, the process used to develop solutions, and the
techniques used to sell those solutions to its clients.
PRINCIPLED PERSUASION:
Influence with Integrity Sell with Standards by Marlene Caroselli (Center
for Professional Development, 480 pg, $29.95, ISBN 0922411077). Everyone
influences others, says Caroselli, but the best of us bring positive values
and integrity to the "selling" of our ideas. This thick paperback,
self-published by the author of 35 business books, contains hundreds of
methods to persuade positively and with regard for everyone's needs.
WHY SMART PEOPLE MAKE BIG MONEY MISTAKES AND HOW TO CORRECT THEM:
Lessons from the New Science of Behavioral Economics by Gary Belsky &
Thomas Gilovich (Simon & Schuster, 220 pg, $23, ISBN 0684844931). This eye
opening read identifies common financial erroneous zones and how they cost
people money. From "sunk cost fallacy" to "information cascades," the
authors describe 7 financial blind spots and offer advice to overcome them,
that applies to personal, as well as business, investment decisions.
POWER ETIQUETTE:
What You Don't Know Can Kill Your Career by Dana May Casperson (Amacom, 195
pg, $14.95 ISBN 0814479987). Professional manners maven Casperson provides a
straightforward guide to business etiquette. Her no-nonsense paperback
concisely covers 10 broad areas, including first impressions, wardrobe, meal
manners, written and verbal communication, office travel, entertainment, and
so on.
BEFORE WE GO:
Want to subscribe or unsubscribe to this free E-letter, give it free to a
colleague, buy these books, submit a book for coverage, or simply chat with
the guy responsible? Contact Theodore Kinni @ The Business Reader, P.O. Box
3627, Williamsburg, VA 23187. Phone (757) 258-4746; Fax (757) 258-3398;
Email
bizbooks@gte.net.
For past issues and more info, our website is
http://home1.gte.net/bizbooks
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Copyright 1999, The Business Reader