Reviews (29)

Excellent:Clear & Practical
GETTING PAST NO by William Ury is well written and will become a classic must-read if it is not already.The book is brief, easy-to-read yet is strinkingly powerful and useful.The primary benefit from reading this book is how pratical it is.You can use the tools, tactics, and concepts in this book in professional life, business or even to negotiate with friends.In summary, if you want to improve your ability to negotiate, you would be doing yourself a very big favor by acquiring a copy of this book.
One of the best books on negotiation
"Getting Past No" further elaborates on the ideas based on Ury's first book "Getting to Yes."I read it front to back, probably 4-5 times now and I take something new from it everytime.The best thing about this book is that it bridges the gap between negotiation models and conflict resolution books--something that I've seen very little of on the bookshelf.The techniques that Ury offers are not industry specific and can be applied to both business, professional, or interpersonal relationships.He also writes it in a very easy to understand format, with each chapter being a new step in the process.Ury is right on when he says that overcoming difficult people are one of the biggest obstacles in a negotiation and his approach is the benchmark that I have been using in my own teachings and in my own book.

Skip this book, buy Getting to Yes instead
I bought this book expecting to see a refinement or elaboration of the strategies explained in, "Getting to Yes!". I was extremely disapointed!
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Subjects:  1. Business / Economics / Finance    2. Career/Job    3. Negotiating    4. Negotiation    5. Business & Economics / Negotiating    6. Personnel & human resources management   

Reviews (7)

great original book on coaching - still work a read!
This book was outstanding when it first came out - and it has truly stood the test of time. Sir John provides a welcome breath of reach air from the often all too frequent US-based and over-hyped coaching genre. Along with Thomas Lenard, Sir John Whitmore is one of the real pioneers of life coaching and workplace coaching. A great book.

The "Grandfather" of Coaching Books - and Still One of the Best!
This book, now in its third edition, is the grandfather of coaching books and approaches. Much of what has come to be known as professional business coaching came from Timothy Gallway and Whitmore's sports training techniques. As such, the book provides a simple foundation for coaching based on the context of awareness and responsibility through asking questions and listening. He presents the G R O W model of coaching - Goal, Reality, Option, Will - as a format for coaching sessions.
Difficult leap from tennis to business
I used this book for a class on coaching and developing employees.There were eleven people in the class that read the book and each was very disappointed. The overall conclusion was that the author should stick to sports, as the attempt to link the priciples to business was too far of a stretch. We will not be using this book again. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Employee motivation    4. Employees    5. Entrepreneurship    6. Human Resources & Personnel Management    7. Organizational learning    8. Personal Finance    9. Personal Finance - General    10. Teams in the workplace    11. Training of    12. Business & Economics / Personal Finance / General    13. Personnel & human resources management   

Reviews (8)

From a student's perspective...
Last year, I took an intro to PR class to see if I'd like it. I loved the class, but our text, Effective Public Relations, was another story.As a college student, I read a lot of textbooks.This one certainly is as they claim: a PR bible, full of essential PR knowledge.But dang if it wasn't the most stimulating, interesting read since late night phonebook reading.Even compared to other textbooks, it was a chore to read.

Thorough Public Relations Intro
I must concede to being a fan of Cutlip's and Broom's work.I was deeply interested to see what they would update and change in this seminal work from their previous edition, most notably anything in the area of extremely cost effective public relations, especially as clients are demanding more and better public relations counsel for less money.While the 8th edition does not disappoint, nor does it rise above all expectations.For one who is a neophyte in the area, then I strongly suggest this work, as it provides one of the most comprehensive overviews of our industry that I have ever seen.For myself, I felt the book needed more coverage in the cost effective area.I found that coverage in Michael Levine's Guerrilla PR: Wired, which addresses the burgeoning need of attaining strong coverage without blowing the budget.Overall then, while I recommend this book, I cannot do so without some reservations.Nonetheless, I look forward to reading the 9th Edition.

Eat, Drink and Sleep P.R.
Read this hand in hand with Michael Levine's "Guerrilla P.R." and "Guerrilla P.R. Wired", and you will even start to dream like a P.R professional! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Entrepreneurship    5. Marketing - General    6. Public Relations    7. Business & Economics / Public Relations   

Reviews (3)

Get correct edition
Amazon's listing for this book is very confusing....as seems to often be the case with Amazon. The 5th edition was released in 2003 (ISBN # 0072553928) and the 4th edition was released in 2001 (ISBN # 0072497017). Vastly different books and more care by Amazon should be given when listing books. It can be done.....Barnes and Noble does it at their website.
Basic introduction with a few bright spots
This book serves as a basic introduction to retail, though it often feels like "baby talk".It basically describes, without much analysis, the types of policies retailers adopt in several areas including merchandising, inventory management, ordering, HR, finance, store layout, etc.Good as a reference to what others are doing, but not at the cutting edge of retail.

A realistic review of Retailing....
RMgmt is a great book with valuable case studies from people with REAL experience.Read more

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Entrepreneurship    5. Industries - Retailing    6. Retail Management    7. Sales & Selling - Management    8. Business & Economics / Marketing / General    9. Sales & marketing   

Editorial Review

To listen to its proponents, network (or multilevel) marketing is the greatest thing since sliced bread: top performers earn $1 million a month, reside in alluring places like Aspen and Kauai, and still find quality time to happily raise children and lovingly cement spousal relationships. Contending that those who fail to make it that far are ill prepared for the initial challenges they face, Mark Yarnell and Rene Reid Yarnell--married network marketers who are among the industry's leaders, as well as members of a University of Illinois faculty that teaches the only college-certified course on the subject in the U.S.--have written Read more

Reviews (67)

A Must Read for People in Network Marketing / MLM
As is commonly said, the fastest way to achieving what you want is to follow the path of those who have been there and done that. This book lays out how the business should be pursued - by the author who walks the talk. Learning the concepts/strategies and putting them into practice will be the fastest way to success in the network marketing industry. I also recommend "The Greatest Networker in the World" and its sequel "Conversations with the Greatest Networker in the World" by John Milton Fogg.
"Your first Year in Network Marketing"
I'm halfway through reading this book and my first reaction is:Finally, I found a book that really tells you how it is.It's a very good validation for people who are new to network marketing and aren't too sure if it's for them or not.It's also a very good motivator.I would recommend it any time!

Your First Year In Network Marketing
This book is fantastic,it spells out all the things that you will run into your first year as a network marketer. From the belief in does this really work to the dreamstealers that will beat you down. This is recommended reading for anyone getting into or already in this field. I give it five stars. Larry R. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business/Economics    3. Careers - Other Specific Fields    4. Careers / Job Opportunities    5. Entrepreneurship    6. Marketing    7. Marketing - Multilevel    8. Multilevel marketing    9. Advice on careers & achieving success    10. Business & Economics / Marketing / Multilevel    11. Sales & marketing   

Reviews (8)

How To Frame Corporate Strategy Methodically
Jay B. Barney has written an enduring, understandable user's guide to corporate strategy that is a must read for any business student.Barney helps would-be business leaders frame their strategic decision-making process.Barney first explains to his audience the concepts of strategy and performance, and their relevance to the corporate organization both internally and externally.Barney then explores the different strategies that the corporation can adopt in dealing with its competitive environment: Cost leadership, product differentiation, tacit collusion, and alliances.The author does a very good job in demonstrating to his readers that the four strategies are not mutually exclusive but occasionally complementary.Finally, Barney explores how a company can structure itself across markets over time.He successively addresses the issues of integration, diversification, mergers and acquisitions, and globalization.Gaining and Sustaining Competitive Advantage has been one of the most influential business textbooks that I have ever been asked to read.

How To Frame Corporate Strategy Methodically
Jay B. Barney has written an enduring, understandable user's guide to corporate strategy that is a must read for any business student.Barney helps would-be business leaders frame their strategic decision-making process.Barney first explains to his audience the concepts of strategy and performance, and their relevance to the corporate organization both internally and externally.Barney then explores the different strategies that the corporation can adopt in dealing with its competitive environment: Cost leadership, product differentiation, tacit collusion, and alliances.The author does a very good job in demonstrating to his readers that the four strategies are not mutually exclusive but occasionally complementary.Finally, Barney explores how a company can structure itself across markets over time.He successively addresses the issues of integration, diversification, mergers and acquisitions, and globalization.Gaining and Sustaining Competitive Advantage has been one of the most influential business textbooks that I have ever been asked to read.

PERSPECTIVE IS EVERYTHING
This is a great book - more for what it organises than what it adds as new ideas.Read more

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Competition    5. Corporate Planning    6. Entrepreneurship    7. Industrial Management    8. Leadership    9. Marketing - General    10. Strategic Planning    11. Business & Economics / Systems & Planning    12. Business competition   

Editorial Review

Organizational guru Ken Blanchard has long had a knack for writing management books that are easy and fun to read (Read more

Reviews (30)

Wow, what a book!
While I have read other Ken Blanchard books, this one truly got my attention and was wonderful.As a student collegiate athelte myself, Blanchard and Bowle's book was easy reading and very easy for me to connect with based on my own experiences.The book allows one to follow a main character that starts off by being fired from his job, then gets involved coaching a young hockey team and calls on a coach he remembers from his school days to assist and turn the team around.With the assistance of this "coach" the main character begins to understand what it takes to make a successful team. He realizes the importance of maintaining a positive attitude and building team pride.This is a book that you can't put down, it can be read quickly and easily and I do feel everyone would be able to associate with parts of the book.Blanchard and Bowles do a great job at using the hockey team to teach the readers about team building yet simultaneously showing how these same principles can be applied to a work site.One is taken through the steps of team building and given examples time and time again on how these steps can be applied.There are very interesting twist throughout the book that keeps one's attention.I recommend this book to everyone.

Team work - A neccessity in any workplace
Team Work - Everyone knows the importance but yet more often than not, our own individuality gets in the way. How much more can be achieved if everyone behaves for the collective good of the group rather than for himself?
For the simple minded only - and not in a good way
This book is a utopian, unrealistic, poorly thought-out, infantile piece of trash. It's an insult to the intelligence of any adult who reads it. Written at a third grade level with 16-point type, this book's contents would be better suited to a coloring book. The philosophy it presents a real no-brainer, and if you need to read this to learn these principles, you have bigger problems to worry about. The "story" is just that, a "story" - there isn't an ounce of truth or realism to it, so just file this book under "office fairy tales". Believe it or not, I'm not a pessimist, I love books, and I'm totally into "self/professional improvement" topics. But do not waste your time or money on this silly book. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Entrepreneurship    5. Management - Teams    6. Organizational Behavior    7. Teams in the workplace    8. Business & Economics / General   

Reviews (1)

A great review manual and reference book
This book was my primary source when I was preparing for the CLA exam.Coherent, organized and thoughtful, it is a "must buy" for CLA candidates.Until my book was borrowed (and not returned) by another legalassistant, the manual served as a handy reference manual in my practice. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Certification    2. College Entrance    3. LSAT (Law School Admission Test)    4. Law    5. Law Office Administration    6. Law Office Education    7. Law examinations    8. Legal Reference / Law Profession    9. Legal assistants    10. Professional - General    11. Professional Education    12. Reference    13. United States    14. Business & Economics / General    15. Higher & further education    16. Industrial or vocational training    17. Legal skills & practice    18. Office & workplace   

Reviews (21)

Read Soon, Before Your Crisis Arrives
Well Worth Reading! You've likely heard it said that the first step to solving a problem is recognition. During, and since, my reading of "The Impending Crisis: Too Many Jobs, Too Few People " I've been speaking with business people who confirm all I've learned from this informative "MUST READ".Fortunately, now I not only recognize the problem, I also see practical steps that employers can take to position themselves to make it through the current and increasingly turbulent, employee shortages. I've found the research based evidence in this book to be presented in a way that not only speaks to CEOs and their direct reports, but also to every person, in any organization, that is planning to remain competitive in local, national or global markets. The real issues that affect employees decisions to either remain with or leave (and in some cases, even flee from) their current employers, are well addressed with an insightful understanding of the needs of all stakeholders involved in any business venture, including the customer. Since reading this book, I find myself looking at businesses differently; I now closely observe employees that serve me as a customer and many times I can see and hear the lack of commitment they have to their current employment. On the occasions that I am treated well as a customer, invariably, I find, through conversation, that this person likes where they work and is not being driven away by any of the 5 reasons most employees seek other employment. The last of which, by the way, is the amount they're paid. I recommend this book to any and everyone that is in business or a part of the workforce, but especially to those organizations that want to avoid being left without quality skilled employees.

Wrong But That's A Good Thing
As consultants very often do, this author has relied on statistics and the outside-the-picture view consultants inevitably have, and has come to the wrong conclusion. I think he's wrong about the nature of the impending crisis because he is basing his theory on the assumption that baby boomers are going to retire in large numbers. Most baby boomers I know are never going to retire because they can't afford to. They are supporting kids in college, elderly parents and a lifestyle that they refuse to give up unless they are forced to by becoming one of the increasing number of 55+ people who are being laid off so employers can avoid paying their benefits. These laid off people are not finding jobs at all or if they are lucky enough to find jobs they are jobs that pay far less than the ones they had. Many employers are reducing or cutting off medical benefits for retired people and medical costs are so high people are having to get whatever kind of job then can to pay them.
Thwarting Impending Crisis
Herman and Gioia early on identified a critical problem the workforce is facing: a labor shortage.With downsizing and growth in new sectors comes the inevitable problem of a labor force that is not able to meet thecurrent demands.
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Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business/Economics    3. Careers - Job Hunting    4. Economics - General    5. Employment    6. Forecasting    7. Labor & Industrial Relations - General    8. Politics / Current Events    9. Skilled labor    10. Supply and demand    11. United States    12. trends   

Reviews (24)

Ludicrous
I didn't read the passage that the other reviewer did, who stated:"Did you know that if you start a business from your home, everything you currently own and use for the corporation (tables, computers, chairs, etc.) can be considered a donation to the corporation, resulting in a write off on your individual tax return? You can even write off your rent if you operate from there!"But assuming his citation of the book is accurate the book is flat wrong.A contribution by a shareholder to a corporation in a 26 USC 351 transaction is NOT A CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTION and IS NOT DEDUCTIBLE by the contributing shareholder.Moreover, one cannot contribute assets to a corporation in exchange for stock, and then cause the corporation to make a 26 USC 179 election with respect to the contributed assets.
Books on amazon
Great book and there was a great description on amazon web site and I it is just great.

Excellent resource for a new Entrepreneur
I found this book to be an excellent resource for how a small business owner can significantly reduce their tax burdon and personal legal liability.
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Subjects:  1. Business & Economics / Entrepreneurship    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. General    5. Incorporation    6. Popular works    7. Tax planning    8. United States    9. Business    10. Business & Economics    11. Entrepreneurship   

Reviews (12)

An Average read
The Rules of Work provides regular advice to would be managers/bosses however in my opinion it is not a fundamental read. It's basically a "How to" book with simple ideas. The reader will find that most rules are quite obvious.

Worthwhile Words on the World of Work
If you are looking for some good insights and perspectives from an experienced business manager about how to use the unwritten and unspoken rules of your workplace to your advantage, then you should read this book.Templar's 100 rules cover the gamut from what to wear and how to act to get noticed, to developing a career game plan.If you have never worked in an office environment, this book will help prepare you for what you will likely experience.If you have spent any time in an office environment, you will find many familiar situations to which you can relate.
A lot of Basic Information
There are things in life and business that are caught, not taught.At least there used to be. Read more

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business Life - General    4. Business Life - Inspirational    5. Business/Economics    6. Development - General    7. Executives    8. Management    9. Motivational    10. Personal Growth - Success    11. Success in business    12. Advice on careers & achieving success    13. Business & Economics / General    14. Business & Management   

Reviews (8)

The Improvement Guide
A very clear update of performance improvement process for business.Can be used as an introduction to the concept for newly trained staff and an everyday reference for those working on real projects.

A must read for all Black Belts
This is a very practical and powerful guide for improvement. Improvement viewed as a science.
Whether involved with improving products/processes within a business or coaching little league baseball, The Improvement Guide provides a practical and fundamental approach for improving performance.The book serves as anexcellent reference for those involved with change, specifically, changethat will result in improvement.Read more

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Corporate Planning    4. Entrepreneurship    5. Management - General    6. Organizational change    7. Organizational effectiveness    8. Quality (Management)    9. Quality control    10. Reference    11. Structural Adjustment    12. Total Quality Management    13. Business & Economics / General    14. Production & quality control management   

Reviews (4)

The Strategy Process
The authors of "The Strategy Process..", produced a high quality textbook on strategic planning and management. The authors show the complexity of the subject and the need for managers to exercise caution in using prescriptive systems in the highly dynamic, uncertain and complex operating environment. The book avoids taking a simplistic view to the subject but take a realistic approach of presenting various approaches that managers can use depending on their peculiar circumstances. Having grasped the various concepts, leaders of organisations can then use their judgement to come up with appropriate decisions and actions. The book focuses on developing the ability of managers to make informed judgements based on analysis, synthesis, experience and intuition and harnessing the collective skills and expertise of their organisations.
decent book
This book is an ok book.The cases are very interesting and they were the best part of the book.The readings in the first half of the book were random at times and generally not that good.Mintzberg has a great grasp of the concepts, but the book does not do well at conveying them.

Excellent business book
This is the kind of book that everyone who wants to be a business administrator should read. It is a compilation of diferents articles most of them from HBR and each unit has some real cases which explain the themebetter. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Case studies    5. Entrepreneurship    6. Management - General    7. Management Science    8. Strategic Planning    9. Business & Economics / Systems & Planning    10. Business strategy   

Reviews (12)

E-Business Demystified
Every chapter is very informative and applicable. It's packed full ofuseable information about how to enter into the new world of internet commerce.
Step-by-step process for developing your own Internet site!

Better than you'd think from the title!Really!
Give this one a chance in spite of the title.It really does break down the different types of web sites (and hybrid-types) that make money.And after such "what do I do on the net?" fundamentals, it does add simple, inexpensive nuts and bolts to get ideas up to speed almost immediately.Examples throughout, as well as specific resource recommendations.Good for confidence, as it reveals that internet money-making is neither rocket science nor spam hype. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. E-Commerce - General    5. E-Commerce - Internet Marketing    6. Electronic Commerce    7. Entrepreneurship    8. Internet    9. Internet - General    10. New business enterprises    11. Information technology industries   

Reviews (23)

Useful and practical, with many new insights for agile software development
In the last couple of years, I have heard many times about lean manufacturing (and in particular the Toyota way of manufacturing). I have also read a couple of articles by Mary Popendieck on the web, so I thought I would get this book and find out more.
Agile software development meets lean manufacturing
While the topic of agile software development has been popular at least since the late 90s, and many have written about how various methodologies (XP, Scrum, Crystal, etc) work and how much software developers love them as opposed to CMM and other process-heavy ways of doing things that only managers care to push, until this book came out few had been able to explain WHY these agile methodologies work and what principles are behind them.The main revelation comes at the beginning of the book: while the software engineering gurus (think SEI, DoD, etc) have been busy all these years trying to make software development more like mass production, the manufacturing world has actually moved on to lean production, and there is much we software managers have to learn from it.Drawing from her unique experience as software project manager for companies that follow lean manufacturing, Poppendieck distilled all she has learned from lean manufacturing into seven principles and twenty two practical tools for software development that while not a methodology per se at the very least serve as paradigm busters for managers who believe that believe there is a necessary trade-off between speed and quality, and at best it can provide the necessary building blocks for development organizations to develop custom methodologies that would allow them to work orders of mangitude faster.But more than that, by establishing a relation to lean production, principles which after the spectacular success of companies like Toyota are now unquestioned, Poppendieck provides a more solid foundation and gives greater credibility to agile methodologies that have until now remained controversial.This will hardly be the last word on this topic, and in fact Poppendieck is about to release a second book that goes into more detail on how to put lean development in practice, but nevertheless this work is sure to remain relevant for a long time to come.

A good, practical book
Our reading group at work recently read "Lean Software Development."There are several things I really like about this book:
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Subjects:  1. Computer Books: General    2. Computers    3. Computers - Languages / Programming    4. Entrepreneurship    5. Programming - Software Development    6. Software Development    7. Computers / Programming / Software Development    8. Software engineering    9. Systems management   

Reviews (19)

Lean Production for everyone
Japan manufacturing revolutionized the automobile industry.Japan transformed the automobile industry by applying ideal perfection conditions of zero defect products, reduced inventories, and the generation of endless product inventories.How did Japan accomplish this breakaway?Lean production is the answer.Lean production allowed the Japanese to reduce human labor by ½, manufacturing production space by ½, capital investment by ½, required engineering hours by ½, and reduced production time by ½. US automobile companies were on the defensive and rather than compete head to head in quality and competitiveness with their Japanese counterparts they sought refuge in the political system.