Business: The Ultimate Resource
- Book Review,
by Perseus Publishing
From Publishers Weekly
In the mid-1980s, business professionals from a variety of fields were asked what percentage of the knowledge necessary for their jobs they had stored in their heads. The average answer was 75%; today, it's a fraction of that. What's needed now is business intelligence, business literacy and business wisdom strengths often innate, but more often learned. In his introduction, Goleman says intelligence is distributed: a manager doesn' t need to know it all; she just needs to know how to learn it when she needs it. Like a business library between two covers, this exhaustive reference offers a no-frills, serious approach to achieving the trifecta: in seven sections, over 200 contributors from Warren Bennis to Peter Drucker offer insights, information, and practical guidance on every aspect of management. The Best Practice section includes some 160 mini-articles on competition, marketing, personnel and leadership; Management Checklists and Actionlists provide practical how-tos on conducting a termination interview, choosing an advertising agency and writing cover letters. Precis of key business books, both new (1998's Blur) and classic (1937's How to Win Friends and Influence People), make up the Management Library, while the Business Thinkers and Management Giants section profiles movers and shakers from Astor to Edison to Woolworth. The Dictionary clarifies acronyms and explains terms and slang (an unsophisticated investor is a "barefoot pilgrim"); and the World Business Almanac compiles vital stats on all 50 states, over 150 countries and 24 industries, from automotives to water. Finally, Business Information Sources lists the best sources on advertising, retirement planning, stress management and a host of other issues. Most sections offer lists of further resources, since the two-page entries are provocative but lean fare. Designed for maximum efficiency and readability despite the tiny type (there are bullet points, icons, headings and subheadings, sidebars, maps and charts), this volume will be what its title promises as long as you can lift it.Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
This ambitious work attempts to create a one-stop resource for the business world. First, by analyzing the various industries, the language of business, and the ideas of both pioneers and current leaders, it provides a guidebook to working in, managing, and building today's companies. In addition, it includes an outstanding collection of 150 original essays written by business practitioners and leaders as well as academics like Philip Kotler, Mark Brown, and Laura Ries. Separate sections offering management checklists and actionlists lead readers through procedures for coaching, writing job descriptions, and starting a small business, as well as building a web site and creating product literature. Readers will be inspired by both the management library and the biography section (featuring, for instance, Adam Smith and Est‚e Lauder), while the dictionary of some 5000 international terms and the world business almanac with its 24-industry sector surveys and profiles of 150 countries are valuable reference sources in their own right. The "Business Information Sources" section lists 3000 resources organized into 100 subject areas, including web sites, books, magazines, and organizations. An introduction by Daniel Goleman (Primal Leadership; Emotional Intelligence) completes the package. Any library or personal business collection will want a copy of this unique and reasonably priced reference.Susan C. Awe, Univ. of New Mexico Lib., AlbuquerqueCopyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Weighing in at seven pounds and running to more than 2,100 pages, this colossus (200 contributors, 2.5 million words, 700 illustrations, 150 maps) is most definitely not your father's reference book. Although it fits into the traditional category of specialized desktop encyclopedia, the editors have done a wonderfully innovative job of designing it for the time-pressured, eye-weary business executive. The liberal use of white space, graphics, sidebars, and boxed features, plus a concisely informative writing style, will remind business research veterans of the Hoover's Handbook titles that were launched by Reference Press a decade ago.Business is arranged into stylishly presented sections. "Best Practice" provides dozens of two-page, signed essays covering topics such as "Strategic Agility," "Intellectual Capital," and "Mentoring." These essays are really executive summaries, and they include mini-case studies, tips, and suggestions for finding more information. The "Management Checklists" and "Actionlists" sections are organized into subsections on training, e-commerce, etc., and are intended to serve as a "comprehensive handbook of practical answers to everyday business challenges." "Management Library" summarizes highly influential business books.The next sections, "Business Thinkers" and "Management Giants," profile individuals such as Peter F. Drucker, John Jacob Astor, and F. W. Woolworth. The "Dictionary" gives definitions of more than 5,000 international business terms, acronyms, and abbreviations, and the "World Business Almanac" contains statistics, facts, and figures, including profiles of more than 150 countries, 50 U.S. states, and 24 key industry sectors. The final section, "Business Information Sources," lists more than 3,000 Web sites, books, journals, magazines, and organizations. The volume closes with an exhaustive 32-page index.A nice bonus for Business purchasers is that they may choose to register for monthly, PDF-format updates, and these will be archived on a Web site. Registration is via [http://www.ultimatebusinessresource.com/], with a subscriber password provided upon purchase of the print volume. A quick, online "walk-through" of this process proved it to be extremely simple and user-friendly. Business is highly recommended both for library and individual purchase. RBB
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
USA Today
"Flip to any page and you'll find gems of information...Might be the closest we have to a business bible."
Anthony Gottlieb, executive editor, The Economist
"[A] first-class and highly practical encyclopedia of the business world."
Margaret J. Wheatley, author, Leadership and the New Science and Turning to One Another
"This remarkable book will help us navigate the journey."
Toronto Star 01/08/03
"An indispensable reference book for your home or company library...pound for pound, it's a real bargain."
Stan Davis, author of Lessons from the Future and co-author of Blur
"With this kind of depth and breadth, Business obviously has something for everyone. "
The Wall Street Journal, August 30, 2002
" 'Business' is arguably the most ambitious business book ever published."
BusinessWeek
"Answers nearly any question about how to do business better....Worth a spot on any manager's shelf."
Fast Company
"...this well-designed navigation key will guide you to the appropriate resource."
Library Journal
"Any library or personal business collection will want a copy of this unique and reasonably priced reference."
Miami Herald
"Pound for pound...it may be the best purchase one could make for a business library."
Book Description
An unparalleled compendium of incisive essays, lively biographies, and authoritative and up-to-date source materials, Business is an operating system for your whole business, and includes: --Original best-practice essays from over 150 of today's thought leaders
--Profiles of the 100 most influential business pioneers and management thinkers
--Summaries of the 70 most important business books of all time
--Over 300 practical checklists, covering all areas of management and career development
--A first-class world business almanac covering more than 150 countries, all 50 US states, and 24 industries
--A jargon-free dictionary of 6,000 business terms
--An extensive list of 3,000 information sources (books, journals, Web sites and organizations), covering 115 topics "Could there be a business intelligence -- a set of abilities that dismantle those truly outstanding in the world of commerce? Could business intelligence be the mark of outstanding individual performers, as well as the building block of the best-performing companies?"
--From the Introduction by Daniel Goleman Business: The Ultimate Resource offers unique access to the expertise and ideas that will drive global commerce and the art of management in the twenty-first century. Unmatched in scope and depth, and guided by a team of eminent advisors and editors, Business will become the "operating system" for any organization or anyone in business -- the infrastructure that drives ideas and action. Business illuminates the state of the art in business thinking and practice today, and will serve as the essential guide for seasoned executives, up-and-coming managers, entrepreneurs, consultants, administrators, educators, and students alike. Much more than a reference, Business provides fascinating perspectives on the culture of business, which is arguably becoming the most potent force in society around the globe. The centerpiece of Business is a collection of over 150 original essays and thought pieces, commissioned especially for this volume from among the world's most dynamic business authors. From Warren Bennis on the four critical aspects of leadership to Charles Handy on the future of business to Peter Bernstein on the case against the long run, readers will learn what's on the minds of today's thought leaders. Business also includes colorful, and often surprising, biographies of the pioneers who have left their indelible marks on the business landscape: from the larger-than-life "robber barons," such as financier J.P. Morgan and oil tycoon John D. Rockefeller, to today's high-tech and media titans, Bill Gates and Martha Stewart; from the groundbreaking research of W. Edwards Deming on quality and Abraham Maslow on psychological needs to today's high-profile strategy gurus, Gary Hamel and Rosabeth Moss Kanter. Every page of Business is filled with information, inspiration, and application. For example, the management library section illuminates the most influential business books of all time, including Sun Tzu's timeless The Art of War, Alfred P. Sloan's My Years with General Motors, and James Champy and Michael Hammer's controversial bestseller, Reengineering the Corporation. Over 300 checklists, covering every aspect of management, offer a wealth of practical guidance for anyone who works: essential strategies for tackling virtually every challenge, from managing stress on the job to reading a balance sheet to making the most out of performance appraisals. With detailed industry overviews, an extensive dictionary of business terms, and a world-class almanac of facts and figures, Business has something for everyone. Let the collective wisdom of generations of trailblazers be your guide to achieving business literacy -- a working knowledge of the key thinking, writing, people, and trends that define business today -- and ultimately the business intelligence to thrive in a world of complexity and possibility.
Book Info
Original best-practice essays from more than 150 of today's thought leaders. A comprehensive dictionary of 5,000 business terms. Contains profiles of the 100 most influential business pioneers and management thinkers.
From the Publisher
CONTRIBUTORS include: Karl Albrecht, Keith Alexander, David Allen, Christopher Bartlett, Peter Bebb, R. Meredith Belbin, Chip R. Bell, Warren Bennis, Peter Bernstein, Drayton Bird, Don Blohowiak, Steve Bone, George Percy Boulden, R. Brayton Bowen, William Bridges, Mark Brown, Peter Brown, Tom Brown, Matthew Budman, Robert Buttrick, Sir Adrian Cadbury, Susan Cartwright, John Case, James Champy, Debashis Chatterjee, Cary Cherniss, Subir Chowdhury, Stewart Clegg, Peter Cohan, Jim Collins, Cary Cooper, Robert Cooper, Anne Covey, Stuart Crainer, Mike Cunningham, Tom Davenport, Stan Davis, Charles R. Day Jr., Dinna Dayao, Edward de Bono, Michael de Kare Silver, Sir Peter de la Billiere, Des Dearlove, Donryn Dewar, Alan Downs, Scott J. Edgett, Leif Edvinsson, John Elkington, Melanie Ellis, Marc J. Epstein, Liam Fahey, Martha Finney, John Fisher, Patrick Forsyth, Robin Fraser, John Frazer-Robinson, Mike Freedman, Robert Fritz, Sumantra Ghoshal, Jerry Gilley, Jules Goddard, Beverly Goldberg, Daniel Goleman, Edward E. Gordon, Michael Griggs, Jim 'Gus' Gustafson, Cliff Hakim, Katherine Hammer, Michael Hammer, Richard Handscombe, Charles Handy, Oren Harari, Sir John Harvey-Jones, Robert Heller, Antoine Hermens, Chris Hoenig, Jeremy Hope, Maria-Therese Hoppe, Masaaki Imai, Bill Jensen, Daniel Jones, Sharon Jordan-Evans, Robert Kaplan, Beverly Kaye, Lucy Kellaway, Allan A. Kennedy, Debbe Kennedy, Maggie Kennedy, Peter Killing, Karin Klenke, Leslie L. Kossoff, Philip Kotler, Thomas Koulopoulos, Jim Kouzes, Andrew Lambert, Max Landsberg, Jean-Claude Larréché, Rick Lash, David Lawton, Robert S. Leaf, Richard Leider, Andrew Leigh, Peter Leyden, Bernard Lietaer, Christopher Locke, David H. Maister, Dorothy Marcic, John Mariotti, Steve Markwell, Ryan Mathews, Ann Maycunich, Michael Maynard, Andrew Mayo, Malcolm McDonald, Gerry McGovern, Ronan McIvor, Regis McKenna, Chris Meyer, Henry Mintzberg, Ian Mitroff, Geoffrey Moore, Michael Morris, David Morrison, Geoffrey Mott, Kenneth L. Murrell, Judith Neal, Sue Newell, John Nirenberg, Bob Norton, David Norton, Wally Olins, Hugh Parker, Perry Pascarella, Louis Patler, Tom Petzinger, Jeffrey Pfeffer, Gifford Pinchot, B. Joseph Pine, Salvador Porras, Colin Price, Jeffrey Rayport, Kathleen Reardon, John Reh, Dick Richards, Jonas Ridderstråle, Al Ries, Laura Ries, Gill Ringland, Alan Rugman, Philip Sadler, David Sadtler, James Schrager, Peter Schwartz, John Seely Brown, Jane Galloway Seiling, Patricia Seybold, Adrian Slywotzky, John Smythe, Paul Spenley, David Stauffer, Erik Stern, Thomas Stewart, Paul Stobart, Paul Stoltz, Florence Stone, Merlin Stone, Robert Sutton, Don Tapscott, Noel Tichy, Dan Tobin, Robert Tomasko, Fons Trompenaars, Jim Underwood, Christopher Voss, Watts Wacker, David Weinberger, John Wells, Meg Wheatley, Richard Whitely, Priscilla Wisner, Leslie Yerkes, Ron Zemke, Danah Zohar
About the Author
Business features original essays and interviews by nearly 200 of the world's top practitioners, thought leaders, and academics, including Dr. Karl Albrecht, Keith Alexander, and David Allen. It is their contribution to this comprehensive volume that collectively illuminates the state-of-the-art in business thinking and practice today. Internationally best-selling author Daniel Goleman, the spokesperson for Business, will be at the center of an ambitious national publicity campaign. A member of the project's Advisory Board, Dr. Goleman has also contributed an essay in the best-practice section as well as the general introduction to the book. Dr. Goleman consults internationally and lectures frequently to business audiences, professional organizations, and student groups. He is CEO of Emotional Intelligence Services, an affiliate of the Hay Group, and the author of Emotional Intelligence and Working with Emotional Intelligence and the co-author of Primal Leadership.
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