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The Halo Effect
Overview
The Halo Effect: and the Eight Other Business Delusions That Deceive Managers
With two new chapters and a new preface, the award-winning book The Halo Effect continues to unmask the delusions found in the corporate world and provides a sharp understanding of what drives business success and failure.
Too many of today’s most prominent management gurus make steel-clad guarantees based on claims of irrefutable research, promising to reveal the secrets of why one company fails and another succeeds, and how you can become the latter.
Combining equal measures of solemn-faced hype and a wide range of popular business delusions, statistical and otherwise, these self-styled experts cloud our ability to think critically about the nature of success.
Central among these delusions is the Halo Effect—the tendency to focus on the high financial performance of a successful company and then spread its golden glow to all its attributes—clear strategy, strong values, brilliant leadership, and outstanding execution.
But should the same company’s sales head south, the very same attributes are universally derided—suddenly the strategy was wrong, the culture was complacent, and the leader became arrogant.
The Halo Effect not only identifies these delusions that keep us from understanding business performance, but also suggests a more accurate way to think about leading a company. This approach—focusing on strategic choice and execution, while recognizing the inherent riskiness of both—clarifies the priorities that managers face.
Brilliant and unconventional, irreverent and witty, The Halo Effect is essential reading for anyone wanting to separate fact from fiction in the world of business.
ISBN:9781476784038
Author:Phil Rosenzweig
The Effective Executive by Peter Drucker
The Effective Executive: The Definitive Guide to Getting the Right Things Done.
What makes an effective executive?
The measure of the executive, Peter F. Drucker reminds us, is the ability to "get the right things done." This usually involves doing what other people have overlooked as well as avoiding what is unproductive. Intelligence, imagination, and knowledge may all be wasted in an executive job without the acquired habits of mind that mold them into results.
Drucker identifies five practices essential to business effectiveness that can, and must, be learned: Managing time Choosing what to contribute to the organization Knowing where and how to mobilize strength for best effect Setting the right priorities Knitting all of them together with effective decision-making
Ranging widely through the annals of business and government, Peter F. Drucker demonstrates the distinctive skill of the executive and offers fresh insights into old and seemingly obvious business situations.
The Breakthrough Company
Overview
The Breakthrough Company: How Everyday Companies Become Extraordinary Performers
The vast majority of small businesses stay small–and not by choice. Only the most savvy and persistent–a tiny one tenth of one percent–break through to the very highest ranks.
In The Breakthrough Company, technology CEO and Fortune 500 consultant Keith McFarland draws upon an extensive empirical study to reveal exactly how everyday companies become extraordinary, showing that breakthrough success is associated with a clearly identifiable set of strategies and skills that anyone in any business can emulate–from small startup to industry leader.
With powerful and specific action steps concluding each chapter–and invaluable advice on virtually every page from business leaders who’ve taken their companies to extraordinary levels of growth and profitability–The Breakthrough Company is stuffed with real-world tools and myth-busting insights that can be used by anyone wanting his or her business to join this exclusive circle.
ISBN:9780307352194
Author:Keith R. McFarland
The Return of the Economic Naturalist
Brief summary
The Return of the Economic Naturalist: How Economics Helps Make Sense of Your World
The Economic Naturalist is back with a whole batch of intriguing new questions and answers, drawn from his New York Times columns that reveal how we really behave when confronted with economic choices. Do tax cuts for business owners really stimulate employment?
Why shouldn't we just leave everything to the market? And why do we all save so little? Discover the answers to these and many more questions.
With his trademark plain-speaking wit and insight, Robert Frank shows through dozens of examples how our personal choices about everything from paying for food and housing to large-scale policy decisions about taxation and the regulation of markets all boil down to the same simple economic principles, often resulting in the same wasteful mistakes.
He shows that while our desires may be boundless, the resources necessary to satisfy them remain limited and argues that choices are always best made pragmatically - by carefully weighing the costs and benefits of competing options.
This is a fascinating, entertaining and revealing collection full of insights that have more bearing than ever on our bank balances and our personal happiness.
ISBN:9780753519660
Author:Robert H. Frank
The Economic Naturalist
Brief summary
The Economic Naturalist: Why Economics Explains Almost Everything.
This is the Number One "Sunday Times" Bestseller. For years, economist Robert Frank has been encouraging his students to use economics to explain the situations they encounter in everyday life, from peculiar product design to the vagaries of sex appeal.
Now he shares the most intriguing questions and the economic principles that answer them to reveal why many of the most puzzling parts of daily life actually make perfect (economic) sense.
This recording is unabridged. Typically abridged audiobooks are not more than 60 per cent of the author's work and as low as 30 per cent with characters and plotlines removed.
ISBN:9780753513385
Author:Robert H Frank
Creating a World Without Poverty: Soc...
Creating a World Without Poverty: Social Business and the Future of Capitalism.
In the last two decades, free markets have swept the globe, bringing with them enormous potential for positive change. But traditional capitalism cannot solve problems like inequality and poverty, because it is hampered by a narrow view of human nature in which people are one-dimensional beings concerned only with profit.
In fact, human beings have many other drives and passions, including the spiritual, the social, and the altruistic. Welcome to the world of social business, where the creative vision of the entrepreneur is applied to today's most serious problems: feeding the poor, housing the homeless, healing the sick, and protecting the planet.
Creating a World Without Poverty tells the stories of some of the earliest examples of social businesses, including Yunus's own Grameen Bank.
It reveals the next phase in a hopeful economic and social revolution that is already under way—and in the worldwide effort to eliminate poverty by unleashing the productive energy of every human being.
Building Social Business
Brief summary
Building Social Business: The New Kind of Capitalism That Serves Humanity's Most Pressing Needs
Muhammad Yunus, the practical visionary who pioneered microcredit and, with his Grameen Bank, won the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize, has developed a visionary new dimension for capitalism which he calls "social business.”
By harnessing the energy of profit-making to the objective of fulfilling human needs, social business creates self-supporting, viable commercial enterprises that generate economic growth even as they produce goods and services that make the world a better place.
In this book, Yunus shows how social business has gone from being a theory to an inspiring practice, adopted by leading corporations, entrepreneurs, and social activists across Asia, South America, Europe and the US.
He demonstrates how social business transforms lives; offers practical guidance for those who want to create social businesses of their own; explains how public and corporate policies must adapt to make room for the social business model; and shows why social business holds the potential to redeem the failed promise of free-market enterprise.
ISBN:9781586488246
Author:Muhammad Yunus
Africas Greatest Entrepreneurs by Mok...
Africa's Greatest Entrepreneurs comprises of a series of profiles on some of the most successful and dynamic businesspeople currently operating in Africa.
Each chapter is dedicated to a single entrepreneur and will focus on the personality as well as the story of how they achieved their success in their particular environment or field.
The narrative will focus on the personal success stories of these self-starters in the context of the economic and political climate of their respective markets.
Issues discussed include: how they started in business; their defining moments; the challenges they faced and how they overcame them; their frustrations and achievements; what kept them going; what they learned in the process; things they would have done differently; their relationship with the political power structures; their opinions on leadership, on Africa's future; their heroes and villains, and finally, the legacy they leave behind.
The book is inspiring and will provide a better understanding of who the real powerbrokers in Africa are. It will give an unprecedented insight into unique and successful African entrepreneurs as well as first-hand experiences of the realities of how to get things done on the continent.
Africa's Greatest Entrepreneurs will feature an eclectic mix of the most well-known and notable entrepreneurs in Africa. Some of the names included in the book are: Kagiso Mmusi (Botswana), Victor Fotso (Cameroon), Jean Kacou Diagou (Cote d'Ivoire), Gerald Mangoua (Cote d'Ivoire), Kofi Amoabeng(Ghana), Kwabena Adjai (Ghana), Chris Kirubi (Kenya), Daniel David (Mozambique), Wale Tinubu (Nigeria), Aliko Dangote (Nigeria), Aliou Sow (Senegal), Mzi Khumalo (South Africa), Keith Kunene (SA), Ndaba Ntsele (SA), Herman Mashaba (SA), Richard Maponya (SA), Mo Ibrahim (Sudan), Reginald Mengi (Tanzania), Ali Mufuruki (Tanzania) and Wavamunno (Uganda).
Uta do
Brief summary
Do you have great business ideas but don't know what to do about them? How do you make them a reality? Uta Do? How to Get Support for your business Idea has the answers.
This is a book every entrepreneur must have, especially if you are starting a new business venture. Whether you are seeking partners, clients or funding, this is a practical, step-by-step guide to presenting your business idea.
The language is clear, the information accessible and situations discussed apply to the East African context. You are guaranteed to learn something useful on every page, and you will refer to this little gem again and again.
ISBN:9789966001023
Author:Agatha Verdadero
Crown Your Customer
Brief summary
"Crown your customer" gets in depth on customer service and how it can revolutionize your business. Sunny Bindra expounds on the Kenyan type of customer service from the corporate companies to the typical matatu conductors and that particular waiter/waitress who irritates you in the restaurants by the poor standards of service.
Moreover he gives the key lessons of superb customer care on all types of services with an aim of crowning the customer with exceptional performance.
This is an ideal book to emphasize on customer care which is a cornerstone to all organizations."
ISBN:9789966724516
Author:Sunny Bindra
The Undercover Economist by Tim Harford
Brief summary
An economist's version of The Way Things Work, this engaging volume is part field guide to economics and part expose of the economic principles lurking behind daily events, explaining everything from traffic jams to high coffee prices.
The Undercover Economist is for anyone who's wondered why the gap between rich and poor nations is so great, or why they can't seem to find a decent second-hand car, or how to outwit Starbucks.
This book offers the hidden story behind these and other questions, as economist Tim Harford ranges from Africa, Asia, Europe, and of course the United States to reveal how supermarkets, airlines, and coffee chains--to name just a few--are vacuuming money from our wallets.
Harford punctures the myths surrounding some of today's biggest controversies, including the high cost of health-care; he reveals why certain environmental laws can put a smile on a landlord's face; and he explains why some industries can have high profits for innocent reasons, while in other industries something sinister is going on.
Covering an array of economic concepts including scarce resources, market power, efficiency, price gouging, market failure, inside information, and game theory, Harford sheds light on how these forces shape our day-to-day lives, often without our knowing it.
Showing us the world through the eyes of an economist, Tim Harford reveals that everyday events are intricate games of negotiations, contests of strength, and battles of wits. Written with a light touch and sly wit, The Undercover Economist turns "the dismal science" into a true delight.
Swimming with Sharks
Brief summary
Swimming with Sharks: My Journey into the World of the Bankers
Joris Luyendijk, an investigative journalist, knew as much about banking as the average person: almost nothing. Bankers, he thought, were ruthless, competitive, bonus-obsessed sharks, irrelevant to his life. And then he was assigned to investigate the financial sector.
Joris immersed himself in the City for a few years, speaking to over 200 people - from the competitive investment bankers and elite hedge-fund managers to downtrodden back-office staff, reviled HR managers and those made redundant in the regular 'culls'.
Breaking the strictly imposed code of secrecy and silence, these insiders talked to Joris about what they actually do all day, how they see themselves and what makes them tick. They opened up about the toxic hiring and firing culture. They confessed to being overwhelmed by technological and mathematical opacity.
They admitted that when Lehman Brothers went down in 2008 they hoarded food, put their money in gold and prepared to evacuate their children to the countryside. They agreed that nothing has changed since the crash.
Joris had a chilling realization. What if the bankers themselves aren't the real enemy? What if the truth about global finance is more sinister than that?
ISBN:9781783350650
Author:Joris Luyendijk
Atlas Of Management Thinking
Brief summary
First published in 1981, this was the first book ever to be written explicitly for the right side of the reader’s brain. Much has been made of the research conducted into the left side of the brain—home to language and logic.
The right side works in images, whole patterns and undefined feelings—none of which can be verbalized. This more elusive thinking often functions as what is loosely called "intuition." Here, Edward de Bono shows us how to use the right side.
It is an atlas because it is a visual reference of images and illustrations that point the reader in the right direction (literally).
For anyone who has ever been told to trust their instinct, or who is concerned with decision-making, this book is a classic.
ISBN:9781785041105
Author:Edward de Bono
Warren Buffetts Management Secrets
Brief summary
Warren Buffett's Management Secrets: Proven Tools for Personal and Business Success.
Even in today's economic climate, when so many investors and major companies are failing, Warren Buffett continues to be successful in all aspects of his life. Mary Buffett and David Clark have written the first book ever to take an in-depth look at Warren Buffett's philosophies for personal and professional management -- what they are, how they work, and how you can use them.
Through close examination of Warren Buffett's life and career from his earliest days to now, Buffett and Clark shed light on his decision-making processes and reveal his strategies for keeping on track and maintaining focus.
They examine Buffett's inimitable leadership qualities and explain how Warren integrated what he learned over time into a winning management formula and became not only the manager whom other managers want to emulate but also the second richest man in the world.
A true companion volume to Buffett and Clark's successful Buffettology series, Warren Buffett's Management Secrets is filled with anecdotes and quotes that show how Buffett's life philosophies are reflected in his business decisions and in the way he manages people and businesses.
This insider's view into Warren Buffett's management techniques offers simple solutions for success to newcomers and seasoned Buffettologists alike and illustrates how and why success in business and life usually go hand in hand.
"
ISBN:9781849833233
Author:Mary Buffett & David Clark
Warren Buffett and the Interpretation...
Brief summary
Warren Buffett & the Interpretation of Financial Statements: The Search for the Company with a Durable Competitive Advantage.
With an insider's view of the mind of the master, Mary Buffett and David Clark have written a simple guide for reading financial statements from Buffett's successful perspective.
They clearly outline Warren Buffett's strategies in a way that will appeal to newcomers and seasoned Buffettologists alike. Inspired by the seminal work of Buffett's mentor, Benjamin Graham, this book presents Buffett's interpretation of financial statements with anecdotes and quotes from the master investor himself.
Destined to become a classic in the world of investment books, Warren Buffett and the Interpretation of Financial Statements is the perfect companion volume to The New Buffettology and The Tao of Warren Buffett.
"
ISBN:9781849833196
Author:Mary Buffett & David Clark
The Tao of Warren Buffett
Brief summary
The Tao of Warren Buffett: Warren Buffett's Words of Wisdom - Quotations and Interpretations to Help Guide You to Billionaire Wealth and Enlightened Business Management.
A collection of pithy and inspiring sayings from America's favorite businessman that reveal his secrets of success
Like the sayings of the ancient Chinese philospher Lao-tzu, Warren Buffett's worldly wisdom is deceptively simple and enormously powerful in application.
In The Tao of Warren Buffett, Mary Buffett — author of three books on Warren Buffett's investment methods — joins noted Buffettologist and international lecturer David Clark to bring you Warren Buffett's smartest, funniest, and most memorable sayings with an eye toward revealing the life philosophy and the investment strategies that have made Warren Buffett, and the shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway, so enormously wealthy.
Warren Buffett's investment achievements are unparalleled. He owes his success to hard work, integrity, and that most elusive commodity of all, common sense. The quotations in this book exemplify Warren's practical strategies and provide useful illustrations for every investor — large or small — and models everyone can follow.
The quotes are culled from a variety of sources, including personal conversations, corporate reports, profiles, and interviews. The authors provide short explanations for each quote and use examples from Buffett's own business transactions whenever possible to illustrate his words at work.
As Warren says:
"You should invest in a business that even a fool can run, because someday a fool will."
"With enough inside information and a million dollars, you can go broke in a year."
"No matter how great the talent or effort, some things just take time: You can't produce a baby in one month by getting nine women pregnant."
"Our method is very simple. We just try to buy businesses with good-to-superb underlying economics run by honest and able people and buy them at sensible prices. That's all I'm trying to do."
The Tao of Warren Buffett inspires, amuses, sharpens the mind, and offers priceless investment savvy that anyone can take to the bank. This irresistibly browsable and entertaining book is destined to become a classic.
ISBN:9781416541325
Author:Mary Buffett & David Clark
The Warren Buffett Stock Portfolio
Brief summary
The Warren Buffett Stock Portfolio: Warren Buffett Stock Picks: Why and When He Is Investing in Them
Warren Buffett has always believed that the time to buy stocks is when nobody else wants them. As we enter the fifth year of what many economists are calling the Great Recession, we find that some of the most amazing businesses—those with a durable competitive advantage—are trading at prices and price-to-earnings ratios that offer investors serious long-term moneymaking opportunities.
Pessimism about the banking situation in Europe and unemployment in America have created the perfect storm to bring stock prices down and present value-oriented investors some great possibilities.
In Warren Buffett’s world, as stock prices decrease, the prospects for investment increase. Putting a number on those prospects tells Warren whether or not the stock is an attractive buy.
The Warren Buffett Stock Portfolio explains how to do just that—how to value companies and conservatively estimate the kind of future return that an investment is offering at its current market price. Mary Buffett and David Clark look at stocks in Warren’s portfolio as the basis for their analysis.
After a brief history of Warren’s investment strategy, Buffett and Clark explain how to interpret a company’s per-share earnings and per-share book-value histories to quickly identify which companies have a durable competitive advantage and to project the compounding annual rate of return that an investment offers.
The authors provide case studies and evaluations of seventeen companies in Warren Buffett’s portfolio.
ISBN:9780857208439
Author:Mary Buffett & David Clark
The Upstarts
Brief summary
The Upstarts: How Uber, Airbnb, and the Killer Companies of the New Silicon Valley Are Changing the World
A look deep inside the new Silicon Valley, from the New York Times bestselling author of The Everything Store
Ten years ago, the idea of getting into a stranger's car, or a walking into a stranger's home, would have seemed bizarre and dangerous, but today it's as common as ordering a book online.
Uber and Airbnb have ushered in a new era: redefining neighborhoods, challenging the way governments regulate business, and changing the way we travel.
In the spirit of iconic Silicon Valley renegades like Steve Jobs and Bill Gates, another generation of entrepreneurs is using technology to upend convention and disrupt entire industries. These are the upstarts, idiosyncratic founders with limitless drive and an abundance of self-confidence.
Led by such visionaries as Travis Kalanick of Uber and Brian Chesky of Airbnb, they are rewriting the rules of business and often sidestepping serious ethical and legal obstacles in the process.
The Upstarts is the definitive story of two new titans of business and a dawning age of tenacity, conflict and wealth. In Brad Stone's riveting account of the most radical companies of the new Silicon Valley, we discover how it all happened and what it took to change the world.
ISBN:9780316396813
Author:Brad Stone
Tools of Titans by Tim Ferriss
Tools of Titans: The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World-Class Performers
From the author:
"For the last two years, I’ve interviewed more than 200 world-class performers for my podcast, The Tim Ferriss Show. The guests range from super celebs (Jamie Foxx, Arnold Schwarzenegger, etc.) and athletes (icons of powerlifting, gymnastics, surfing, etc.) to legendary Special Operations commanders and black-market biochemists.
For most of my guests, it’s the first time they’ve agreed to a two-to-three-hour interview. This unusual depth has helped make The Tim Ferriss Show the first business/interview podcast to pass 100 million downloads.
"This book contains the distilled tools, tactics, and ‘inside baseball’ you won’t find anywhere else. It also includes new tips from past guests, and life lessons from new ‘guests’ you haven’t met.
"What makes the show different is a relentless focus on actionable details. This is reflected in the questions. For example: What do these people do in the first sixty minutes of each morning? What do their work out routines look like, and why? What books have they gifted most to other people? What are the biggest wastes of time for novices in their field? What supplements do they take on a daily basis?
"I don’t view myself as an interviewer. I view myself as an experimenter. If I can’t test something and replicate results in the messy reality of everyday life, I’m not interested.
"Everything within these pages has been vetted, explored, and applied to my own life in some fashion. I’ve used dozens of the tactics and philosophies in high-stakes negotiations, high-risk environments, or large business dealings.
The lessons have made me millions of dollars and saved me years of wasted effort and frustration.
"I created this book, my ultimate notebook of high-leverage tools, for myself. It’s changed my life, and I hope the same for you.”
The Start Up of You by Reid Hoffman a...
The Start-Up of You: Adapt to the Future, Invest in Yourself, and Transform Your Career
A blueprint for thriving in your job and building a career by applying the lessons of Silicon Valley's most innovative entrepreneurs.
The career escalator is jammed at every level. Unemployment rates are sky-high. Creative disruption is shaking every industry. Global competition for jobs is fierce. The employer-employee pact is over and traditional job security is a thing of the past.
Here, LinkedIn cofounder and chairman Reid Hoffman and author Ben Casnocha show how to accelerate your career in today's competitive world. The key is to manage your career as if it were a start-up business: a living, breathing, growing start-up of you.
Why? Start-ups - and the entrepreneurs who run them - are nimble. They invest in themselves. They build their professional networks. They take intelligent risks. They make uncertainty and volatility work to their advantage.
These are the very same skills professionals need to get ahead today.
This book isn't about cover letters or resumes. Instead, you will learn the best practices of Silicon Valley start-ups, and how to apply these entrepreneurial strategies to your career. Whether you work for a giant multinational corporation, a small local business, or launching your own venture, you need to know how to:
• Adapt your career plans as you change, the people around you change, and industries change.
• Develop a competitive advantage to win the best jobs and opportunities.
• Strengthen your professional network by building powerful alliances and maintaining a diverse mix of relationships.
• Find the unique breakout opportunities that massively accelerate career growth.
• Take proactive risks to become more resilient to industry tsunamis.
• Tap your network for information and intelligence that help you make smarter decisions.
A revolutionary new guide to thriving in today's fractured world of work, the strategies in this book will help you survive and thrive and achieve your boldest professional ambitions. The Start-Up of You empowers you to become the CEO of your career and take control of your future.
