Small Business Books: December 2008

Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Locating Renaissance Art or Management Accounting

Locating Renaissance Art, Vol. 2

Author: Carol M Richardson

Renaissance art history is traditionally identified with Italian centers of production, and Florence in particular. Instead, this book explores the dynamic interchange between European artistic centers and artists and the trade in works of art. It also considers the impact of differing locations on art and artists and some of the economic, political, and cultural factors crucial to the emergence of an artistic center.
During c.1420-1520, no city or court could succeed in isolation and so artists operated within a network of interests and local and international identities. The case studies presented in this book portray the Renaissance as an exciting international phenomenon, with cities and courts inextricably bound together in a web of economic and political interests.

Go to: Dr Jensens Guide to Better Bowel Care or The What Would Jesus Eat Cookbook

Management Accounting

Author: Anthony A Atkinson

AUDIENCE: For upper level undergraduate and MBA Management Accounting courses.

APPROACH: Atkinson is a managerially-oriented book that focuses on both quantitative and qualitative aspects of classical and contemporary managerial accounting.

COMPETITORS: Garrison, MH;

Value Engineering or Total Quality Service

Value Engineering: A Plan for Invention

Author: Richard J J Park

One of the most effective cost-reduction efforts available today and for the future, Value Engineering (VE) offers ways to not only improve problem-solving skills - but also to understand many of the reasons why it's often difficult to resolve complexities of problem-solving with effectiveness and efficiency. After more than 50 years as a manager and VE pioneer, Richard J. Park outlines Value Engineering: A Plan for Invention. Drawn from his extensive experience in major automotive, aircraft, and general manufacturing fields - then as an independent consultant and trainer - Park shows VE's applicability to not only the corporate environment, but other aspects of community and personal life as well. Park demonstrates how to adopt VE as a thinking process - allowing managers and leaders to employ knowledge already gained, but greatly increase its effectiveness.

Booknews

Demonstrates how to adopt value engineering (VE) as a thinking process to open the mind to new ideas by breaking down the constraints to visualization. After reviewing the more popular management systems, the technical aspects of project development, and human relations, the author brings these elements together to explain the VE system, and discusses how an organization can implement VE for problem solving and operation improvement. A final part describes successful examples. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

Sect. I	The World Around us
1	Background: From Fire to Flight	3
2	Management, Systems: Tools For the Toolbox	9
3	The Toolbox: The Application Benefit Matrix	31
Sect. II	The Economics of Profit
4	Cost and Its Elements: The Driving Force	39
5	Function: The Foundation of Clarity	73
6	Value: A Matter of Opinion	91
7	Quality: A Major Component of Value	117
Sect. III	The Human Element
8	Communications: A Two-Way Street	129
9	Motivation: Different Things Move Different People	143
10	Teams and Teamwork: A Synthesized Knowledge Group	157
11	Creativity: The Innate Drive To Change	171
Sect. IV	The Sum of the Parts - A Practical Method
12	Value Engineering: A Total System	193
13	Organization and Implementation: Develop a Practical System	241
14	Examples: Winning Results	253
	Aids and References	285
	Index	335

Interesting book: Going Global or Designing and Managing the Supply Chain

Total Quality Service: Principles, Practices, and Implementation

Author: Dean H Stamatis

Total Quality Service rises to the business challenge of the 90s.

It explains in the most concise terms possible the principles of TQS. The research stands-most unhappy customers do not complain. Instead, they never again buy from businesses that just once left them unsatisfied.

What then is TQS? In the simplest terms, it is the true commitment to operationalizing the concept of customer focus, establishing service performance standards, measuring performance against benchmarks, recognizing and rewarding exemplary behavior, and maintaining enthusiasm for the customer at all times.

Companies that do not provide quality service not only won't compete-they won't exist. Let Total Quality Service put you and your employees on the cutting edge of customer satisfaction.

Booknews

Explains the main tenets of total quality customer service and argues that companies must adopt it in order to survive. For general managers, discusses communication, implementation strategy, teams and empowerment, conflict resolution, benchmarking, ISO 9000, and other aspects. The CiP data shows the title as Principles of Service Quality. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Cityscapes and Capital or Study Guide to Accompany Lippincott Williams and Wilkins Administrative Medical Assisting

Cityscapes and Capital: The Politics of Urban Development

Author: Michael A Pagano

As American cities seek to revitalize their urban centers and surrounding region, planners and politicians often look for quick-fix schemes. But cities that have achieved success, Michael Pagano and Ann Bowman claim, have done so through an alliance of politics and economics focused upon a long-term vision of what the city can be. Arguing that "politics matter," Pagano and Bowman demonstrate the critical role played by political leaders in molding a city's future and in forging coalitions to ensure success. They contend that market failure does not explain why city governments get involved in subsidizing development; rather, governments intervene in response to changing fiscal conditions and political leaders' perceptions of their city's image and its place in the hierarchy of cities.

Pagano and Bowman draw on comparative data from ten medium-sized cities, which they divide into four categories: survivalist cities (high distress, high activism), expansionist cities (low distress, high activism), market cities (high distress, low activism), and maintenance cities (low distress, low activism). Examining forty city-supported development projects within these four categories, they show how city investment in, and regulation of, development projects is the most effective way for political leaders to control and shape the future of their city. The book also emphasizes the importance of comparing initial expectations and goals to results in evaluating the success of city-supported development.

"A theoretically astute, methodologically sound, and policy-relevant study."--Journal of the American Planning Association

"The authors' genuinely unique contribution to ourunderstanding of urban development -- a contribution that will and should command the attention of future scholars -- lies in their emphasis on the vision, images, and aspirations of urban leadership... Its wide scope makes it ideal for use in the classroom."--Journal of Politics

"Fills an important need for studies in the middle range between qualitative and quantitative research."--American Political Science Review

Booknews

Arguing that "politics matters," the authors demonstrate the critical role played by political leaders in shaping a city's future, drawing on comparative data on 40 development projects in 10 medium-sized American cities. They conclude that cities can achieve successfully revitalized urban centers through an alliance of politics and economics focused on a long-term vision rather than a quick fix. Includes b&w photos. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Interesting textbook: Our Bodies Ourselves or After Cancer Treatment

Study Guide to Accompany Lippincott Williams and Wilkins' Administrative Medical Assisting

Author: Connie Stack

Designed to accompany Lippincott Williams and Wilkins' Administrative Medical Assisting, this student study guide includes skills performance evaluation forms; chapter outlines and learning objectives; matching, multiple-choice, and critical thinking exercises; patient teaching exercises; and learning self-assessment exercises.

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Managers Guide to Financial Statement Analysis or Dollars and Events

Manager's Guide to Financial Statement Analysis

Author: Stephen F Jablonsky

Praise for The Manager’s Guide to Financial Statement Analysis

"The Manager’s Guide to Financial Statement Analysis opens the door for both financial and nonfinancial managers to develop a framework for understanding a company’s true financial performance. The Manager’s Guide goes the extra step by providing the reader with the skills necessary to communicate the impact of a firm’s financial measures in a nontraditional, easy-to-understand manner. It is this combination of understanding and effective communication that allows the manager to then improve a firm through the use of financial information."–Christopher D. Flick, Investment Manager, The Vanguard Group

"The Manager’s Guide to Financial Statement Analysis has helped me in both my personal (investing) and professional (management) lives. The authors unravel the complexities of financial statements so that the information they contain can be easily digested and exploited. There is no more hiding a company’s strategy behind a set of financial statements. I keep this book close at hand!"–Steven I. Glusman, Chief Engineer, Comanche Helicopter Program, Boeing Rotorcraft Program Management Center

"A valuable framework for communicating firm results and aligning managers around common goals. The methodology links the information contained in a company’s financial statements with its external market performance in a format that is easily understandable by the different functional managers of any company."–Scott Teeter, The LTC Group

Booknews

Explains how financial statements support meaningful management communications, in accessible, nontechnical language, drawing on a decade of financial data from Wal-Mart and on case studies of other high-profile firms. Offers a framework that helps managers see how business strategy is linked to shareholder accountability through the firm's financial statements, yet does not attempt to explain how financial statements are prepared according to technical accounting rules and regulations. Emphasis is on how managers can make use of financial information to improve the performance of the organization. Jablonsky teaches at Penn State University. Barsky teaches in the College of Commerce and Finance at Villanova University. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

	Preface
	Acknowledgments
	Introduction
1	Financial Statements and Business Strategy	3
2	Strategic Profit Model: Margin Management	30
3	Strategic Profit Model: Asset Management	43
4	Strategic Profit Model: Return on Assets	60
5	Strategic Profit Model: Financial Management	71
6	Strategic Profit Model: Comprehensive Management	90
7	Strategic Financing Model: Long-Term Investment and Financing	99
8	Strategic Financing Model: Financing the Business	122
9	Market Valuation: Market Performance Measures	141
10	Market Valuation: Long-Term Debt	155
11	Market Valuation: Common Stock	173
12	Market Valuation: The Strategic Profit Model Revisited	190
	App: Introduction	201
App. A	Microsoft	205
App. B	Coca-Cola	227
App. C	Caterpillar	249
	Index	271

Look this: Gemstones A to Z or Never Be Fat Again

Dollars and Events: How to Succeed in the Special Events Business

Author: Frank Supovitz

Start, grow, and manage your special events career! To succeed in the world of special events management, you need to develop a vast array of skills and acquire a broad knowledge base that covers everything from planning and management to consulting, production, lighting and sound, decor, catering, and more. You'll also need the critical business know-how that will enable you to plot a course for success, measure your progress along that course, and adapt to changes in the business environment along the way. In short, you need Dollars and Events.

The first and only book written specifically for aspiring and established special events professionals, Dollars and Events provides all the information you need to start, grow, and manage a special events-related business or career. You'll learn how to develop a vision, a mission, and a strategy; manage your finances; find the capital you need; create a marketing plan; and hire and keep employees that will help your business thrive.

You'll also find:

Advice and direction from outstanding special events entrepreneurs and intrepreneurs
Help in adapting proven business concepts such as benchmarking, best practices, and quality teams to your business or career
End-of-chapter activities to help you learn by doing

Whether you are starting your own special events business, running or working in an established firm, or involved in the special events department of a large corporation, this book gives you the tools you need to advance your business, enhance your career opportunities, and enrich yourself and your clients both now and in the future.

A Survival Guide for Restaurant Professionals or Public Relations Worktext

A Survival Guide for Restaurant Professionals

Author: Alan Gelb

In the fast-paced culinary arts professions where anything that can go wrong will go wrong and where the customer rules, students and professionals alike need quick access to helpful information. Four Star Tips: A Survival Guide for Restaurant Professionals is a lively, easy-to-read book that is full of anecdotes and useful information for the busy student or professional. With tips from restaurant professionals on everything from organization to stress management to owning your own restaurant, this is one book busy students and professionals won?t want to be without.

Chapter 1	The Whole Enchilada	1
Chapter 2	Taking Inventory	25
Chapter 3	The Goal Zone	44
Chapter 4	Go, Team!	68
Chapter 5	The Whole You	95
Chapter 6	Better Safe Than Sorry	118
Chapter 7	The Waiting Game	144
Chapter 8	More Members of the Team	169
Chapter 9	Bring on the Food!	188
Chapter 10	Managing Your End	206
Chapter 11	Owning It	227
Chapter 12	The Savvy Professional	246
	Index	267

Public Relations Worktext: A Writing and Planning Resource, Second Edition

Author: Joseph Zappala

Public Relations Worktext is a writing and planning resource for public relations students and practitioners.

Communication and Negotiation or Cases in Alliance Management

Communication and Negotiation, Vol. 2

Author: Linda L Putnam

"This first edition of Communication and Negotiation, edited by Linda L. Putnam and Michael E. Roloff, provides a much needed discussion of the links between communication and negotiation . . . In fact, this text would be an excellent resource guide for psychologists, social psychologists, psychotherapists, and marriage counselors, as well as all other parties interested in managing conflict through negotiation." --Contemporary Psychology "References to contributors . . . for whom applied issues in industrial relations have been to the fore--are fairly frequent. This is testimony to the sheer thoroughness of the organization of the book, and to the conscientious approach of the authors commissioned to write the relevant separate chapters. . . . This book is a useful pointer to the knowledge we have to hand." --The Occupational Psychologist "This publication is a profound review of the state of the art of that speciality of communication research which deals with human negotiation or bargaining activities. . . . [The book] provides an interesting and well-structured entry to the understanding of the variety of factors involved in the communication processes that constitute a two-party negotiation. To LIS researchers, in particular in the fields of information management and information (seeking) behavior, this publication may offer important insights and methodologies as well as novel ideas with respect to investigating particular phenomena occurring prior to, during, or preceding the use of information (retrieval) systems. . . . Communication and Negotiation is a useful companion to researchers who wish to dig deeper into empirical and theoretical investigations of the aspects ofthe negotiation processes. . . . Communication and Negotiation brings forth many ideas relevant to LIS research, and within its firm communication approach the publication serves well as a profound review of research in a historical context of the negotiation and bargaining phenomena." --The Library Quarterly "Communication and Negotiation is volume 20 in Sage's Annual Reviews of Communication Research series, and offers the professional presentation and excellent quality one would expect from a work that is part of such a long tradition. . . . This volume offers quite a valuable summary of the state of the art in communication theory as it applies to negotiation. Researchers in other primary disciplines need to be aware of this work as it overlaps heavily with other disciplinary viewpoints. . . ." --The Alternative Newsletter In recent years, a number of universities have established formal centers for studying conflict and dispute resolution. Scholars, too, have created new journals to focus exclusively on the study of conflict processes. Communication and Negotiation provides a synthesis of the research in this area by consolidating alternative perspectives on communication and negotiation, reviewing the work of noted communication scholars, and suggesting directions for future research. Contributors explore three major aspects of negotiation communication: a) strategies, tactics, and negotiation processes; b) interpretive processes and language analysis; and c) negotiation situation and context. In addition, these studies examine bargaining planning, frames and reframing, and relational communication with opponents, constituents, and audiences. A showcase for communication scholars as well as an extremely useful reference book for negotiation theorists, Communication and Negotiation is one of those rare books with wide interdisciplinary appeal. Scholars and students in political science, psychology, economics, management and organizational behavior, sociology, law, and industrial relations as well as the communications fields will especially profit from this remarkable new collection.

Look this: A Life Worth Living or Testosterone Syndrome

Cases in Alliance Management: Building Successful Alliances

Author: Jean Louis Schaan

The Ivey Casebook Series is a co-publishing partnership between SAGE Publications and the Richard Ivey School of Business at The University of Western Ontario. Due to their popularity in more than 60 countries, approximately 200 new cases are added to the Ivey School of Business library each year. Each of the casebooks comes equipped with instructor's resources on CD-ROM. These affordable collections will not only help students connect to real-world situations, but will benefit corporations seeking continued education in the field as well.

Drawn from best practices, this casebook provides a practical road map and real-life case studies to help students develop the necessary skills to design, negotiate, and manage domestic and international alliances. Editors Jean-Louis Schaan and MicheÃl J. Kelly have organized this book around the four major phases in the alliance formation and management process--strategic rationale, partner selection, negotiation, and implementation.

Key Features:

Offers best practices in alliance management: Students are provided with state-of-the-art research findings and best practices about alliance management so that they have both a comprehensive understanding of alliance management challenges and practical ideas as to how managers approach them. Up-to-date references provide readers with the latest thinking and research.
Provides flow charts for each phase of the alliance process: The material presented in the text provides a context for assessing the value of alliances to a business and its ability to pursue them.Step-by-step frameworks help students analyze each of the phases in the alliance process and develop their analytical skills.
Presents a diverse array of real-life case studies: The case studies provide an opportunity to create different classroom learning experiences including case discussions, role plays, and negotiation exercises to enhance students' problem-solving and decision-making skills. The examples cover equity and non-equity alliances in a variety of industry sectors and regions of the world.
Includes instructor's resources on CD-ROM with detailed 6-10 page casenotes for each case, preparation questions for students to review before class, discussion questions, and suggestied further readings.

Intended Audience: This is an ideal text for advanced undergraduate and graduate courses such as Corporate Strategy, Strategic Management, and Strategic Alliances in the fields of International Business and Strategy.

The IVEY Casebook Series
Cases in Business Ethics Cases in Entrepreneurship Cases in Gender & Diversity in Organizations Cases in Operations Management Cases in Organizational Behavior Cases in the Environment of Business Cases in Alliance Management Mergers and Acquisitions: Text and Cases

Introduction to the Ivey Casebook Series - Paul Beamish
Preface
Introduction
1. Should you build a Strategic Alliance?
Cambridge Laboratories: Proteomics
Fishery Products International Ltd.: A New Challenge
Non Stop Yacht, S.L.
Strategic Direction at Quack.Com (A)
Pharma Technologies Inc.
Alpes S.A.: a Joint Venture Proposal (A)
2. Selecting the Right Partner
Ben & Jerry's- Japan
Larson in Nigeria
Privatizing Poland's Telecom Industry: Opportunities & Challenges in the New Economy & E-Business
Prosoft Systems Canada (A)
Cameron Auto Parts (A)
3. Negotiating and Designing an Alliance
lue Ridge Spain
Teqswitch Inc.: Business in Buenos Aires
Textron Ltd.
Nora Sakari
Majestica
Eli Lilly in India: Rethinking the Joint Venture Strategy
4. Implementing Winning Conditions
Audible.com
Canadian Closures (A)
Cameco in Kyrgystan: Corporate Social Responsibility Abroad
Wil-Mor Technologies: Is There a Crisis?
Wuhan Erie Polymers Joint Venture
About the Editors

Monday, December 29, 2008

Food Service Management by Checklist or Financial Accounting

Food Service Management by Checklist: A Handbook of Control Techniques

Author: Herman E Zaccarelli

"Whether in the classroom or on the job, this book will provide its users with the means for focused action plans. Like the food service operations which they are designed to measure, the checklists are organized to follow a flow ranging from the front of the house to the back of the house and up to the top of the house, covering all relevant procedures from food and beverage service to product handling to general administration. Modern issues such as cultural diversity, guest relations, food safety and sanitation, and energy management have been incorporated into the checklists. Another incredibly useful tool is a sample "Shopper’s Report." Usually in the domain of classified information, this one form alone may be worth the cost of the book to students, consultants, and operators. "There is a lot to like in this book, but the section that I particularly appreciate is on how to orient and train new employees. Since checklists specify exactly which procedures should be followed, and often in which order, it is easy to provide new workers with all the information they need to perform their jobs knowledgeably and confidently. The checklists are designed in such a manner that they can be applied instantly. Most do not need modification to fit specific needs of individual operations. "In short, this book contains hundreds of checklists, not rehashed from other sources but intelligently compiled, prioritized and updated to meet the current and immediately foreseeable needs of food service operations. Many operators do not use checklists either because they do not know how to develop one or because they do not have time for such an objective and detailedanalysis of their operations. This book is the answer. The operator can simply lift applicable items from selected sections and integrate them into a management system. Once readers become familiar and comfortable with checklists and procedures, they can go on to develop their own. As the author himself states, this is a book that is meant to be used rather than read. I did not just read this book; I devoured it. Food Service Management by Checklist is destined to become a classic." —Edward G. Sherwin Chairman, Hotel-Motel/Restaurant-Club Management Department Essex Community College

Go to: Organizational Architecture or An Occupational Perspective of Health

Financial Accounting: Study Guide

Author: Belverd E Jr Belverd E Needles Jr

Building on the flexible, balanced approach that made this text a market leader, Financial Accounting, 7th Edition is designed to ensure student success, provide a strong real-world emphasis, integrate performance measurement, and emphasize technology. The system of learning by objectives enhances the role of the textbook by achieving complete and thorough communication between instructor and student. Ideal for the first semester of a two-semester sequence of financial and managerial accounting, the text is the most accurate on the market, with accuracy reviewers reading every line and working through every exercise, problem, and case in the text and supplements.

Comprehensive and flexible exercises, problems, and cases at the end of every chapter allow students to build a knowledge foundation, apply the material covered in the chapter, and develop critical thinking, communication, and interpersonal skills. By placing the more procedural learning objectives at the end of every chapter and listing them as supplemental objectives, instructors can choose how much procedural detail to assign in their course.

Chapter 1 is annotated to introduce students to the pedagogy used throughout the text. Student annotations are introduced in the first chapter and appear throughout to help students explore and reinforce concepts.
There will be two new video cases in this edition, for a total of five. All will include real company logos and will be accompanied by an icon indicating to reference the company's web site.
The Ready Notes supplement provides PowerPoint slides in a printed format.
Blackboard and WebCT online learning technologies are available.

The Economics of War or Historical Archaeologies of Capitalism

The Economics of War

Author: Paul Poast

With the costs of war dominating our economic news and discussions, Paul Poast's new text is a needed, relevant and thought-provoking new offering. Written in an extremely accessible manner, the book is an interesting addition to a course at any level. The book's low price makes it a perfect complement to a Principles text, a Social Issues book, or any upper-level course on war or international security into which an instructor would like to add some economic data or theory.

Interesting book: Micro Politics of Capital or Managing the Guest Experience in Hospitality

Historical Archaeologies of Capitalism (Contributions to Global Historical Archeology

Author: Mark P Leon

American things, American material culture, and American archaeology are the themes of this book. The authors use goods used or made in America to illuminate issues such as tenancy, racism, sexism, and regional bias. Contributors utilize data about everyday objects - from tin cans and bottles to namebrand items, from fish bones to machinery - to analyze the way American capitalism works. Their cogent analyses take us literally from broken dishes to the international economy. Especially notable chapters examine how an archaeologist formulates questions about exploitation under capitalism, and how the study of artifacts reveals African-American middle class culture and its response to racism.

Booknews

Archaeologists look at the material culture of capitalism to help understand how issues such as class, race, and gender in the past has led to the current conditions. Six of the nine studies focus on the US from such perspectives as identity in modern America; race, repression, and resistance in New York City; later capitalism in the 19th-century west; capitalist farm tenancy, African America and consumer culture; and measuring time routines and work discipline in the ceramics industry in Annapolis, Maryland. The other contributions discuss theoretical issues. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Pt. I	Issues in a Historical Archaeology Devoted to Studying Capitalism	1
Ch. 1	Setting Some Terms for Historical Archaeologies of Capitalism	3
Pt. II	Where the Questions Come from	21
Ch. 2	Why Should Historical Archaeologists Study Capitalism? The Logic of Question and Answer and the Challenge of Systemic Analysis	23
Ch. 3	Historical Archaeology and Identity in Modern America	51
Ch. 4	The Contested Commons: Archaeologies of Race, Repression, and Resistance in New York City	81
Pt. III	Integration into Capitalism and Impoverishment	111
Ch. 5	Ex Occidente Lux? An Archaeology of Later Capitalism in the Nineteenth-Century West	115
Ch. 6	Archaeology and the Challenges of Capitalist Farm Tenancy in America	143
Ch. 7	"A Bold and Gorgeous Front": The Contradictions of African America and Consumer Culture	169
Ch. 8	Ceramics from Annapolis, Maryland: A Measure of Time Routines and Work Discipline	195
Pt. IV	Beyond North America	217
Ch. 9	Historical, Archaeology, Capitalism	219
	Index	233

A Living Wage or STAT

A Living Wage: American Workers and the Making of Consumer Society

Author: Lawrence B Glickman

"A Living Wage," the rallying cry of union activists, is a concept with a revealing history, here documented by Lawrence B. Glickman. The labor movement's response to wages shows how American workers negotiated the transition from artisan to consumer, opening up new political possibilities for organized workers. At the same time, however, they created contradictions that continue to haunt the labor movement today. Nineteenth-century workers saw wages as dangerous, Glickman reveals, because workers hoped to become self-employed artisans rather than permanent employees. In the decades after the Civil War, organized workers began to view wage labor differently. Redefining working-class identity in consumerist terms, unions demanded a wage that would reward workers commensurate with their needs as consumers. Glickman brings the story of the living wage up to the present, clearly demonstrating how a historical perspective on the concept of a living wage can inform our understanding of current controversies.

Ralph Nader

If history is to instruct, if history is to motivate, then Lawrence Glickman's interpretative study on the nexus between the worker as employee and the worker as consumer, from the late nineteenth century to the New Deal, fulfills the promise. Active workers, unions and writers in those turbulent decades asked bigger questions about their political economy and challenged the illegitimacy of corporate control far beyond the horizons of their successors today. -- Ralph Nader

Book review: Manufacturing Revolution or Playing for Dollars

STAT: Special Techniques in Assertiveness Training for Women in the Health Profession

Author: Melodie Chenevert

This text not only teaches readers how to develop assertiveness skills, but it also provides motivation for them to pursue self-improvement and advancement. Directed especially toward women, the book describes the differences between assertiveness and aggression and provides a basis for ongoing improvement in assertiveness skills.

Of Chickens and Eagles * Which came first - the chicken or the complex? * Chicks and Roosters * Ugly Ducklings into Swans * The Right Wing * Learning to Fly * How to tell a Turkey to Stuff it * Peacocks * Pigeons * What's good for the goose... * Nest Eggs * From Barnyard to Mountaintop * Annotated Bibiolography

Sunday, December 28, 2008

Professional Selling or Auditing

Professional Selling: A Trust-Based Approach

Author: Thomas N Ingram

This text provides comprehensive coverage of contemporary professional selling by integrating recent sales research with leading personal selling practices. Professional Selling's chapters can be mixed and matched with sales management chapters from Ingram's Sales Management, Fifth Edition to create an outstanding customized sales course. This highly experienced author team draws on their industry and academic experience to blend the most recent research findings with illustrated best practices in professional selling.

Book about: Book of Spam or Sophisticated Olive

Auditing: Assurance and Risk

Author: W Robert Knechel

Learn how to think like an auditor with AUDITING: ASSURANCE AND RISK! This text outlines the standards and practices of today's auditors and prepares you to perform the Integrated Audit. Written from a conceptual and global perspective, this text provides the tools you need to be successful in this course including examples, questions, problems, and cases for each chapter.

An Introduction to Auditing and Assurance. The Role of Auditing and Assurance in a Market Economy. An Overview of Financial Statement Audits. Client Acceptance and Initial Engagement Planning. Understanding the Client"s Business: Strategic Analysis. Understanding the Client"s Business: Management of Strategic Risks. Process Analysis and Risk Assessment. Evaluating Internal Process Controls. Business Measurement and Analytical Evidence. Planning the Audit of Financial Statement Assertions. Auditing Marketing, Sales and Distribution Management. Auditing Supply Chain and Production Management Processes. Auditing Resource Management Processes. Completing the Audit and Reporting. Auditor Decision Making: Judgement, Ethics, and Legal Liability. Statistical Evidence for Auditing. Assurance Services Beyond the Financial Statement Audit

Principles of Management or Comparative Economic Systems

Principles of Management

Author: Ricky W Griffin

Student Achievement Series: Principles of Management is an innovative textbook program developed in partnership with professors and students to meet the learning, study, and assessment goals necessary for student success. Through extensive research and focus groups conducted with a diverse cross-section of participants, Houghton Mifflin presents a groundbreaking solution for skills mastery and retention. Feedback from instructors, and students in particular, has been instrumental in all key aspects of development--from design and layout to testing and assessment to title and packaging. These ideas culminate in a final product that students prefer, because it accurately reflects the way they learn and study best. Each text in the Student Achievement Series incorporates concise, to-the-point coverage; eliminates extraneous material; integrates pedagogy that reinforces key concepts; features a strong, supporting web component for review, testing, and assessment purposes; and provides students with real value for their educational dollar. Student Achievement Series: Principles of Management delivers a comprehensive--yet concise--introduction to management skills. Author Ricky Griffin combines up-to-date coverage of key functional areas, new research and examples, and a strong theoretical framework. The flexible, user-friendly format allows instructors to integrate their own case studies, exercises, and projects.

Interesting book: Creating Documents with Business Objects XI CBT or Joomla A Users Guide

Comparative Economic Systems: Culture, Wealth and Power in the 21st Century

Author: Steven Rosefield

Comparative Economic Systems: Culture, Wealth and Power in the 21st Century explains how culture, in various guises, modifies the standard rules of economic engagement, creating systems that differ markedly from those predicted by the theory of general market competition. This analysis is grounded in established principles, but also assumes that individual utility seeking may be culturally determined, that political goals may take precedence over public well being, and that business misconduct may be socially detrimental.

	List of Figures
	List of Tables
	Acknowledgments
	Preface
	Introduction	1
Pt. I	Systems	5
1	Comparative Economic Systems	7
2	Classification and Principles	16
3	Culture, Politics, and Economic Misconduct	45
4	Power	54
Pt. II	Perfect Economic Mechanisms	57
5	Perfect Competition	62
6	Perfect Governance	69
Pt. III	Great Powers	77
7	America	81
8	Continental Europe	106
9	Japan	123
10	China	143
11	Russia	162
12	Transition	182
13	Comparative Potential	191
Pt. IV	Performance	197
14	Measurement	199
15	Global Performance	207
Pt. V	International Relations	235
16	Security	237
17	Military Balance	249
18	Interplay of Systems: Efficiency and Power	259
	Glossary	266
	Index	274

Managerial Breakthrough or Human Resource Management in Government

Managerial Breakthrough

Author: Joseph M Juran

Juran contends that the manager's basic function is to create change ("breakthrough") or prevent it ("control"), and demonstrates that each process is unvaryingly governed by a universal sequence of events. You'll learn the issues that arise, virtually without fail, whenever organizations introduce change; how to master an unvarying sequence of events that will enable you to overcome resistance to change, and break through to ever higher levels of performance; how to control any action or project under your supervision; how to achieve breakthrough in every area that determines a company's success - from attitudes ... to knowledge... to action; and when it's better to initiate change and when it's better to prevent it. Regardless of your field or product - whether you are a company president, superintendent, department head, foreperson, or a supervisor - this book will prove to be of immeasurable value to you. It is a book written for everyone who must achieve results, whether through the efforts of other people or through their own efforts.

Booknews

Introduces the principles of quality improvement as pioneered in the early 1960s. Juran contends that the manager's basic function is to create or prevent change, and demonstrates that each process is governed by a specific sequence of events. This edition features new material on quality planning and expands the author's views of quality improvement. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

	Preface to the Revised Edition
	Preface to the First Edition
	Foreword: An Immigrant's Gift
	A Note from the Publisher
1	Breakthrough and Control - A Contrast	1
2	Breakthrough - A Panoramic View	17
3	Breakthrough in Attitudes	31
4	The Pareto Principle	47
5	Mobilizing for Breakthrough in Knowledge	59
6	The Steering Arm	75
7	The Diagnostic Arm	99
8	Breakthrough in Knowledge - Diagnosis	119
9	Resistance to Change - Cultural Patterns	155
10	Breakthrough in Performance - Action	175
11	Transition to the New Level	189
12	Control - A Panoramic View	197
13	Choosing the Control Subject	215
14	The Unit of Measure	239
15	The Standard	255
16	The Sensor	281
17	Mobilizing for Decision Making	301
18	Interpretation	327
19	Decisions on the Difference	351
20	Taking Action	363
21	Managers, Breakthrough and Control	373
22	Completing the Trilogy: Quality Planning	401
	Appendix A. Technical Addendum to Control - A Panoramic View	425
	Appendix B. The Juran Trilogy	429
	Suggested Readings	431
	Index	435

Interesting textbook: Marketing to the Social Web or Excel 2003 Formulas

Human Resource Management in Government: Hitting the Ground Running

Author: Jonathan Tomkins

Human Resource management in government serves to develop job related competencies for students preparing for public service careers as well as for current public servants. Special attention is given to how the practice of human resource management contributes to the attainment of the government's objectives.

Saturday, December 27, 2008

European Union Enlargement or Rumors and Rumor Control

European Union Enlargement

Author: Neill Nugent

Since its first enlargement in 1973, expansion has become a way of life for the EU. The current round of enlargement is, however, unprecedented in its scale, in the diversity of applicants, and in the impact on EU structures and policies. This major new text brings together specially commissioned chapters to provide a coherent and comprehensive assessment of the historical and theoretical context of enlargement and its implications for the identity, governance, economics, policies and international role of the EU.

Rumors and Rumor Control: A Manager's Guide to Understanding and Combatting Rumors

Author: Allan J Kimmel

This book offers a thorough examination of rumors and proposes strategies for organizations to use in combatting rumors that occur both internally and externally. Author Allan J. Kimmel explores the rumor phenomenon and distinguishes it as a distinct form of communication. He looks at psychological and social processes underlying rumor transmission to understand the circumstances under which people invent and circulate rumors. In addition, he examines how rumors are spread--both interpersonally and through mediated processes--and offers strategies for organizations to respond to rumors when they surface and methods for preventing their occurrence. Numerous examples are provided of actual rumor cases for which managers either successfully or unsuccessfully coped, including such companies as Procter & Gamble, McDonald's, Snapple, Pepsi-Cola, and Gerber.

Intended to serve as a comprehensive compendium of strategies, this book was written with two objectives in mind. The first is to shed light on the often perplexing phenomenon of rumor by integrating disparate approaches from the behavioral sciences, marketing, and communication fields. The second is to offer a blueprint for going about the formidable tasks of attempting to prevent and neutralize rumors in business contexts. With these dual goals in mind--one theoretical, the other applied--this book will be of equal interest to both academics and managers in a wide range of professional contexts. In addition, it will guide organizational and marketing managers in their efforts to combat the potentially destructive consequences of rumors.

	Preface
1	Introduction: Identifying Rumors and Related Forms of Communication	3
2	Understanding Rumor: The Dynamics of Rumor Transmission and Belief	32
3	Commercial Rumors and Organizational Grapevines	59
4	How Information Spreads: Word-of-Mouth, Opinion Leadership, and the Media	88
5	Managing Commercial Rumors: How Can Marketplace Rumors Be Prevented?	123
6	Managing Commercial Rumors: Strategies and Tactics for Neutralizing Rumors	157
7	Managing the Organizational Grapevine	203
	References	233
	Author Index	247
	Subject Index	253

Essentials of Economics or Classroom Manual plus Shop Manual Package

Essentials of Economics

Author: N Gregory Mankiw

With an easy-to-understand writing style, ESSENTIALS OF ECONOMICS is the most popular and widely used economics textbook in college Economics classes. Author Greg Mankiw has created a textbook that's accessible to everyone, particularly students encountering economics for the first time—emphasizing real-life scenarios and engaging facts on the economy and its fundamental principles.

Classroom Manual plus Shop Manual Package

Author: Joe Communal

For decades the Chek Chart automotive series has been known for its comprehensive coverage of theory and its detailed presentation of diagnostic and service procedures. The series features a two book format—a Classroom Manual and a Shop Manual that covers service & diagnostics. Chek Chart gives you THE most complete coverage of automotive brake systems on the market today. High Degree of Detail - Thorough explanations on how Parts and Systems are constructed and operate including coverage of materials and processes. NATEF Correlated - Book and Shop Manual are both correlated to the NATEF task list. Automotive technicians.

Leading Organizations or So You Want to Be a Professor

Leading Organizations: Perspectives for a New Era

Author: Gill Robinson Hickman

Organizations are shifting from hierarchical structures to more open networks of people cooperating to achieve interrelated goals. A major role of leadership in this context is to engage participants in the work of identifying, developing, and employing a foundation of values that are responsive and accountable to participants, stakeholders, and society. This calls for students and professionals to develop an understanding of the role of leadership across the organization. Leading Organizations provides a framework for examining and integrating issues pertaining to organizational leadership and helps prepare the student and professional for leading and participating in these new era organizations.

Booknews

Some 65 contributors express their views of and visions for the new structure of organizations operating under recent developments in the theory and practice of leadership. Most authors are academics with a large minority representing management and consulting.

Choice

This volume provides comprehensive views of leadership from a number of notable authors, with a key focus on determining what is needed in terms of leadership for the rapidly changing business landscape. Technology, political and economic systems, and societal demands are changing at unprecedented rates, and organizations must adapt to be competitive and survive. The authors report that the right kind of leadership must be available to develop an organization's human capacity, structure, and functions in order to effectively operate in the turbulent business environment of tomorrow, balancing the organization's purpose with the needs of other institutions and social responsibility. Despite multiple authorship, the book's overall presentation is one of coherence, continuity, and excellent organization. Valuable references add to the utility of this work for the student. Recommended for upper-division undergraduate through professional collections.

Books about: Firehouse or To Sleep with the Angels

So You Want to Be a Professor?: A Handbook for Graduate Students

Author: P Arne Vesilin

Maybe you'd like to combine the two loves of your life, teaching and scholarship, and perhaps build a satisfying and profitable academic career, but you're not sure if this is really what you want or how to go about it. Or maybe you've made up your mind but need some good advice on how to succeed. If so, this book is written for you. So You Want To Be a Professor begins with a discussion of jobs in academia and how to find them. Chapters cover a wide range of political skills for future academic success, including lecturing, organizing a course, meeting your first class, testing, maintaining a research program, and writing for publication. No other book provides such a practical overview of essential career-building skills. Even junior faculty will benefit from the advice in this engaging, comprehensive book.

Friday, December 26, 2008

The Economics of Microfinance or Toward a Comparative Institutional Analysis

The Economics of Microfinance

Author: Beatriz Armendariz de Aghion

The microfinance revolution, begun with independent initiatives in Latin America and South Asia starting in the 1970s, has so far allowed 65 million poor people around the world to receive small loans without collateral, build up assets, and buy insurance. This comprehensive survey of microfinance seeks to bridge the gap in the existing literature on microfinance between academic economists and practitioners. Both authors have pursued the subject not only in academia but in the field; Beatriz Armendariz founded a microfinance bank in Chiapas, Mexico, and Jonathan Morduch has done fieldwork in Bangladesh, China, and Indonesia.

The authors move beyond the usual theoretical focus in the microfinance literature and draw on new developments in theories of contracts and incentives. They challenge conventional assumptions about how poor households save and build assets and how institutions can overcome market failures. The book provides an overview of microfinance by addressing a range of issues, including lessons from informal markets, savings and insurance, the role of women, the place of subsidies, impact measurement, and management incentives. It integrates theory with empirical data, citing studies from Asia, Africa, and Latin America and introducing ideas about asymmetric information, principal-agent theory, and household decision making in the context of microfinance.

The Economics of Microfinance can be used by students in economics, public policy, and development studies. Mathematical notation is used to clarify some arguments, but the main points can be grasped without the math. Each chapter ends with analytically challenging exercises for advanced economicsstudents.

Book about: The Ultimate Calorie Counter or Dangerous Doses

Toward a Comparative Institutional Analysis

Author: Masahiko Aoki

Markets are one of the most salient institutions produced by humans, and economists have traditionally analyzed the workings of the market mechanism. Recently, however, economists and others have begun to appreciate the many institution-related events and phenomena that have a significant impact on economic performance. Examples include the demise of the communist states, the emergence of Silicon Valley and e-commerce, the European currency unification, and the East Asian financial crises.

In this book Masahiko Aoki uses modern game theory to develop a conceptual and analytical framework for understanding issues related to economic institutions. The wide-ranging discussion considers how institutions evolve, why their overall arrangements are robust and diverse across economies, and why they do or do not change in response to environmental factors such as technological progress, global market integration, and demographic change.

France in an Age of Globalization or Development and Social Change

France in an Age of Globalization

Author: Hubert Vedrin

This Provocative Book takes the form of a dialogue between French foreign minister Hubert Vedrine and international relations expert Dominique Moisi. In this frank conversation, Vedrine spells out his vision of the U.S. "hyperpower," France's role in the world, Europe's future, the current structure of the international system, and the role of ethics in international affairs.

An earlier, French-language version of this work was published under the title Les cartes de la France a l'heure de la mondialisation (France's assets in an age of globalization) in spring 2000. This English-language version adds extensive new material and covers many important developments, including Vedrine's assessments of the 2000 U.S. presidential election; the July-December 2000 French presidency of the European Union; the breakdown of the Middle East peace process; and developments in Russia, Africa, and Asia.

Look this: 101 Things To Do With Gelatin or Between the Lakes

Development and Social Change (Sociology for a New Century Series): A Global Perspective

Author: Philip McMichael

The distribution of the world's material wealth is far from even. And while most of the western world may be accustomed to a commercial culture, there are other cultures (e.g., Amish, Islamic, peasant) that are not commercial or are uncomfortable with commercial definition. Because cultural meaning is not universally defined through the market, "globalization," as it is currently understood, is not necessarily a universal aspiration.

Why then, is there so much talk of globalization? In this Third Edition of Development and Social Change: A Global Perspective, author Philip McMichael provides a narrative of how development came to be institutionalized as an international project, pursued by individual nation-states in the post-colonial era. This new edition has been updated and revised to incorporate the treatments of fundamentalism, terrorism, the AIDS crisis, and the commercialization of services via the World Trade Organization.

The evident failure of many countries to fulfill this promise of development and the world's growing awareness of environmental limits have forced a reevaluation of the development enterprise. Development and Social Change traces the changing fortunes of development efforts, the shortcomings of which have produced two responses. One is to advocate a thoroughly global market to expand trade and spread the wealth. The other is to reevaluate the economic emphasis and to recover a sense of cultural community.

Features of this book:

A world-historical perspective that situates globalization in the declining fortunes of the postwar developmentproject.
A political perspective that views development and globalization as practices managed by historic elite groupings, as mechanisms of power and world ordering.
An emphasis on resistance and social movements as actors shaping the meaning and direction of both development and globalization, as they impact societies around the world.
A series of case studies that allow in-depth examination of development/globalization dilemmas and paradoxes.

Development and Social Change is the first book to present students with a coherent explanation of how "globalization" took root in the public discourse and how "globalization" represents a shift away from development as a way to think about non-western societies. This is an ideal text for undergraduate and graduate students studying globalization, social development, and social change in Sociology, Political Science, Anthropology, and International Studies.

To read a sample chapter from Development and Social Change click on "Additional Materials" in the left column under "About This Book" or simply click here.

	About the Author
	Foreword
	Preface to Third Edition
	A Timeline of Developmentalism and Globalism
	Acknowledgments
	Introduction: Development and Globalization
Pt. I	The Development Project (Late 1940s to Early 1970s)
1	Instituting the Development Project	2
2	The Development Project: International Dimensions	39
Pt. II	From National Development to Globalization
3	The Global Economy Reborn	74
4	Demise of the Third World	116
Pt. III	The Globalization Project (1980s-)
5	Implementing Globalization as a Project	152
6	The Globalization Project: Disharmonies	201
Pt. IV	Rethinking Development
7	Global Development and Its Countermovements	238
8	Whither Development?	284
	Notes	309
	References	317
	Glossary/Index	342
	Supplementary Web Site Guide	357

Selling em by the Sack or Total Productive Maintenance

Selling 'em by the Sack: White Castle and the Creation of American Food

Author: David Gerard Hogan

In Selling 'em by the Sack, David Gerard Hogan traces the history of the hamburger's rise as a distinctive American culinary and ethnic symbol through the prism of one of its earliest promoters. The first to market both the hamburger and the "to go" carry-out style to American consumers, White Castle, rising from humble origins, quickly established itself as a cornerstone of the fast food industry. Its founder, Billy Ingram, shrewdly marketed his hamburgers in large quantities at five cents apiece, telling his customers to "Buy 'em by the Sack." The years following World War II saw the rise of great franchised chains such as McDonald's, which challenged and ultimately overshadowed the company that Billy Ingram founded. Yet, White Castle stands as a charismatic pioneer in one of America's most formidable industries, a company that drastically changed American eating patterns and American life. Arguably Billy Ingram did for the hamburger and eating what Henry Ford did for the car and transportation.

Booknews

Hogan (American history, Heidelberg College) traces the history of the hamburger's rise as a distinctive American culinary and ethnic symbol through the exploits of one of the pioneers in the fast food industry, Billy Ingram of the White Castle chain. Comparing Ingram to the Henry Ford of eating, Hogan traces the chain's history from its founding in 1921 until it was overshadowed by McDonald's and other franchises after WWII. Includes over 20 pages of b&w photographs. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

Leibovich

Before the golden arches graced America, fast food's faзade was a turreted white palace, where five-cent hamburgers were flipped late into the night by young men in immaculate, starched uniforms. White Castle burgers -- mini steam-grilled patties served on warm buns and smothered with grilled onions -- were America's first "fast food." How did a relatively small, Midwestern burger joint founded in the 1920s help christen the hamburger as America's own "ethnic" food? How did White Castle eventually usher in the age of sprawling fast food franchises? David Gerard Hogan's Selling 'Em by the Sack intends to be a culinary, social and corporate history -- one tall order.

White Castle did not invent the hamburger, Hogan writes, but made it palatable to Americans wary of ground meat in the age of Upton Sinclair's "The Jungle." White Castle co-founder Billy Ingram reassured customers that White Castle served quality burgers by situating grills in full view of customers; by stressing cleanliness and only hiring men with "high personal hygiene"; and by proving the nutritional value of the burgers through commissioned "studies." (In one, a student lived for 13 weeks on only White Castle burgers and water -- he ate about 20 burgers a day and thrived.)

Hogan, an associate professor of American history at Heidelberg College in Ohio, is clearly enamored with his subject -- at times his prose sounds like PR for the home office -- but amidst the gushing he makes a strong case for Ingram as a corporate pioneer, initiating such enduring business practices as keeping in touch with employees through spirited company newsletters, offering workers generous bonuses and benefits to inspire company loyalty and making sure that all his restaurants looked identical. It is when Hogan strays from his role as corporate historian to cultural one that he gets into hot water. "The hamburger is all around us on a daily basis consumed by many millions," he writes. "The fact that it is so close, so mundane, so unextraordinary is exactly what makes it so important and central to who we are as people."

Hogan's biggest blunder, though, may be his skimpy analysis of White Castle's discriminatory hiring policies. "Despite the constant labor shortage ... White Castle never tapped the abundant supply of available African American workers with the exception of one cleaning woman hired during World War II," Hogan writes in one of the only passages to examine White Castle's racist past. While White Castle never segregated its restaurants, the company was criticized for not hiring the blacks who overwhelmingly populated the city centers where most White Castles were located. "[After] a brief boycott in New York City in July 1963, White Castle actively started recruiting more black workers and soon achieved an acceptable racial balance." Hogan never defines "acceptable racial balance," or the repercussions of the boycott. White Castle has survived the McDonald's-ization of America -- more than 300 restaurants remain. Hogan's most provocative claim -- that White Castle's longevity and success are due in part to its "cult" status (he likens White Castle devotees to Trekkies and Deadheads) -- comes at the end of the book and is backed with little evidence. Don't look for any interviews or quotes from these burger fanatics, because they're not here. We just have to take Hogan's word for it. --SALON Jan. 21, 1998

Business Week

Excellent.

Minneapolis Star Tribune

Full of fascinating details, not only for devotees of the ubiquitous 'slider,' but also for pop-culturists interested in American fast food and how it all got started.

Kirkus Reviews

A scholar's lively account of how White Castle, now a largely overlooked but still profitable also-ran in the domestic restaurant trade, made the once-scorned hamburger a US institution and launched the fast-food industry.

Drawing on a variety of sources, historian Hogan (Heidelberg Coll.) first reviews the ethnic and regional character of America's food preferences prior to the 1920s. He goes on to document the accomplishments of the two men who founded White Castle late in 1921 in Wichita, Kans.: Walt Anderson, inventor of the hamburger, and Billy Ingram, whose marketing genius helped make Anderson's creation a staple of American diets. On the strength of standardization, quality control, a commitment to cleanliness, and conservative financial practices, they soon had a lucrative national network of faux-citadel outlets vending tiny ground-meat patties served with an abundance of pungent onions on diminutive buns for a nickel apiece; enjoining customers to "buy em by the sack," the partners also pioneered the take-out business. Although it survived the Great Depression in fine style, White Castle was hard hit by WW II's home-front price controls, shortages, and restrictions. Having staggered through the 1940s, however, the company retained its fanatically loyal clientele in the cities while formidable new rivals (Big Boy, Gino's, Hardee's, Howard Johnson, McDonald's, et al.) preempted fast-growing suburban markets. Although no longer a leader in the field of franchising giants it helped create, White Tower occupies a rewarding niche that, thanks to effective management practices, promises to provide worthwhile returns for years to come.

Informed and engaging perspectives on an often ignored aspect of cultural and commercial Americana. The 20 illustrations include contemporary photos of White Castle outlets and the company's early advertisements.

What People Are Saying

Johathan Yardley
Interesting. . . . Hogan makes a convincing case for White Castle's influence.
— Jonathan Yardley, Washington Post

New interesting book:

Total Productive Maintenance

Author: Terry Wireman

Completely revised and updated, this new edition of a classic reference focuses on the financial approach to the subject -- a methodology that produces quantifiable results allowing a TPM program to be sustainable. And while clarifying what TPM is and what it is not, it clearly presents the economic value of TPM and shows how to calculate the Return on Investment (ROI) that a company can expect. It is the perfect resource for anyone who is considering implementing TPM or looking for ways of improving their current process.

Essential Mathematics for Economic Analysis or Careers in Health Physical Education and Sports

Essential Mathematics for Economic Analysis

Author: Knut Sydster

Essential Mathematics for Economic Analysis, third edition

The market leading European text, Essential Mathematics for Economic Analysis, third Edition, continues to provide an invaluable introduction to the mathematical tools that undergraduate economists need

New to this edition:

· New: Economic concepts, definitions and topics covered in the book are listed on the inside front cover.

· New: Short answers to almost all of the more than 1000 problems in the book for students to self check.

· New Students Manual with extended worked answers to selected problems in the book.
• New sections on elementary differential equations and difference equations included in this volume for the first time.

· New and improved figures in colour for the first time.
• New Instructor’s Manual now contains a large range of additional supplementary problems, simple to advanced, suitable for use in examinations.

Knut Sydsæter is an Emeritus Professor of Mathematics in the Economics Department at the University of Oslo, where, since 1965, he has had extensive experience in teaching mathematics for economists. He has also given graduate courses in dynamic optimization at Berkeley and Gothenborg. He has written and co-authored a number of books, of which several have been translated into many languages. In recent years he has been engaged in an attempt to improve the teaching of mathematics for economists in several African universities.

Peter

Hammond is currently the Marie Curie Professor ofEconomics at the University of Warwick, where he moved in 2007 after becoming an Emeritus Professor at Stanford University. During the 1970s he was a Lecturer, then Professor in Economics at the University of Essex. He completed a BA in Mathematics and a PhD in Economics at the University of Cambridge. He has been an editor of the Review of Economic Studies, of the Econometric Society Monograph Series, and has served on the editorial boards of Social Choice and Welfare and the Journal of Public Economic Theory. He has published more than 100 academic papers in journals and books, mostly on economic theory and mathematical economics.

Also available:

Further Mathematics for Economic Analysis published in a new 2^ND EDITION

by Sydsæter, Hammond, Seierstad and Strøm (ISBN 9780273713289)

Further Mathematics for Economic Analysis is a companion volume to Essential Mathematics for Economic Analysis intended for advanced undergraduate and graduate economics students whose requirements go beyond the material found in this text.

Do you require just a couple of additional further topics? See the front of this text for information on our Custom Publishing Programme.

'The book is by far the best choice one can make for a course on mathematics for economists. It is exemplary in finding the right balance between mathematics and economic examples.'

Dr. Roelof J. Stroeker, Erasmus University, Rotterdam.

‘I have long been a fan of these books, most books on Maths for Economists are either mathematically unsound or very boring – or both! Sydsaeter & Hammond certainly do not fall into either of these categories.’

Ann Round, University of Warwick

Visit www.pearsoned.co.uk/sydsaeter to access the companion website for this text including:

• Student Manual with extended answers broken down step by step to selected problems in the text.
• Excel supplement
• Multiple choice questions for each chapter to self check your learning and receive automatic feedback.

	Preface
1	Introductory Topics, I: Algebra	1
2	Introductory Topics, II: Equations	37
3	Introductory Topics, III: Miscellaneous	55
4	Functions of One Variable	83
5	Properties of Functions	135
6	Differentiation	163
7	Derivatives in Use	215
8	Single-Variable Optimization	269
9	Integration	305
10	Financial Topics: Interest Rates and Present Value	349
11	Functions of Several Variables	377
12	Tools for Comparative Statics	413
13	Multivariable Optimization	463
14	Constrained Optimization	501
15	Matrix and Vector Algebra	547
16	Determinants and Inverse Matrices	589
App	Geometry	627
	The Greek Alphabet	629
	Answers: Odd-Numbered Problems	630
	Index	679

Books about:

Careers in Health, Physical Education, and Sports

Author: Patricia A Floyd

Unique to Thomson Wadsworth. This booklet takes students through the complicated process of picking the type of careers they want to pursue, how to prepare for the transition into the working world, and insight to different types of career paths, education requirements, and reasonable salary expectations. Included is also a designated chapter that discusses some of the legal issues that surround the workplace, including discrimination and harassment. This supplement is complete with personal development activities designed to encourage the students to focus and develop better insight into their future.

Thursday, December 25, 2008

Economic Justice and Democracy or Service Operations Management

Economic Justice and Democracy: From Competition to Cooperation

Author: Robin Hahnel

In Economic Justice and Democracy Robin Hahnel argues that progressives need to go back to the drawing board and rethink how they conceive of economic justice and economic democracy. He presents a coherent set of economic institutions and procedures that can deliver economic justice and democracy through a "participatory economy." But this is a long-run goal; he also explores how to promote the economics of equitable cooperation in the here and now by emphasizing ways to broaden the base of existing economic reform movements while deepening their commitment to more far reaching change.

Book review:

Service Operations Management: Improving Service Delivery

Author: Robert Johnston

"Johnston and Clark's Service Operations Management is an extraordinary textbook that immediately brings operations management to life for all managers."

Thomas Christiansen, Assistant Professor, Centre for Technology, Economics and Management, Technical University of Denmark

This international market-leading book, aimed at both students and practising managers, provides a comprehensive and balanced introduction to service operations management. Building on the basic principles of operations management, the authors examine the operations decisions that managers face in controlling their resources
and delivering services to their customers.

Combining a unique practical approach with a detailed theoretical underpinning, the authors provide tools, frameworks and techniques for operational analysis and improvement and set operations management within the wider business context, bringing a valuable 'real world' perspective to this growing area.

Each chapter includes definitions of key terms, real-world examples and case studies with exercises, questions to test both understanding and application together with
recommended further reading and suggested web sites to deepen your knowledge.

New features for this 3rd edition include:

A variety of new international case studies, covering the key service sectors
Greater business-to-business coverage
Increased analysis of the balance between quality, efficiency and productivity

Information about web sites which provide either more information or practical examples of material in the book
More extensive exploration of the links between strategy, operations and performance

Service Operations Management is an invaluable guide to students and managers confronting operational issues in service management, whether from a general management perspective or focused in specific sectors, such as tourism and leisure or business services. This book is ideal for undergraduates, postgraduates or executives wishing to gain a deeper understanding of managing service operations and improving service delivery.

1	Introduction to service operations management	3
2	The service concept	37
3	Customers and relationships	71
4	Customer expectations and satisfaction	104
5	Managing supply relationships	141
6	Service processes	171
7	Service people	220
8	Resource utilisation	256
9	Networks, technology and information	291
10	Performance measurement	331
11	Linking operations decisions to business performance	359
12	Driving operational improvement	386
13	Service strategy	423
14	Service culture	445
15	Operational complexity	470

Negotiating Globally or Evaluating Public Relations

Negotiating Globally: How to Negotiate Deals, Resolve Disputes, and Make Decisions Across Cultural Boundaries, Vol. 1

Author: Jeanne M Brett

When it was first published in 2001, Negotiating Globally quickly became the basic reference for managers who needed to learn how to negotiate successfully across boundaries of national culture. This thoroughly revised and expanded second edition preserves the structure of the acclaimed first edition and improves upon it, making it even easier to learn how to navigate national culture when negotiating deals, resolving disputes, and making decisions in teams. Rather than offering country-specific protocol and customs, Negotiating Globally provides a general framework to help negotiators anticipate and manage cultural differences. This new edition incorporates the lessons of the latest research with new emphasis on executing a negotiation strategy and negotiating conflict in multicultural teams. The well-received chapter on “Government At and Around the Table” has been expanded and updated with new examples that span the globe.

In this comprehensive resource, Jeanne M. Brett describes how to develop a negotiation planning document and shows how to execute the plan. She provides a model that explains how the cultural environment affects negotiators’ interests, priorities, and strategies. She provides benchmarks for distinguishing good deals from poor ones and good negotiators from poor ones. The book explains how resolving disputes is different from making deals and how negotiation strategy can be used in multicultural teams. Negotiating Globally challenges negotiators to expand their repertoire of strategies so that they will be able to close deals, resolve disputes, and get teams to make decisions.

Booknews

Brett (dispute resolution and organizations, Northwestern U.) offers advice for negotiators on successfully crossing national and cultural barriers. Rather than focusing on protocol or customs, the book provides information and strategies that apply to any cross-cultural negotiation. Based on a systematic study of negotiators from Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and the Americas, it offers suggestions for managing cultural differences whenever they appear at the negotiating table. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Evaluating Public Relations: A Best Practice Guide to Public Relations Planning, Research and Evaluation

Author: Paul Nobl

Evaluating Public Relations advises PR practitioners at all levels how to demonstrate clearly and objectively to their clients and managers the impact that their work has. The authors draw on both their practical and academic experience to discuss a diverse range of evaluation methods and strategies, illustrating them throughout with award winning case studies and interviews. Fully revised and updated, the second edition of this book allows practitioners to more closely monitor and evaluate their campaigns and helps them develop more robust campaign strategies. This edition includes new information on: online evaluation; measuring relationships; practitioner culture, evaluation procedures and structures; payment by results; econometrics; word of mouth. Covering both theory and practice, Evaluating Public Relations is a handbook for both students and experienced practitioners.

The Paradox of Plenty or Why Globalization Works

The Paradox of Plenty

Author: Terry Lynn Karl

The Paradox of Plenty explains why, in the midst of two massive oil booms in the 1970s, oil-exporting governments as different as Venezuela, Iran, Nigeria, Algeria, and Indonesia chose common development paths and suffered similarly disappointing outcomes. Meticulously documented and theoretically innovative, this book illuminates the manifold factors--economic, political, and social--that determine the nature of the oil state, from the coherence of public bureaucracies, to the degree of centralization, to patterns of policy-making.
Karl contends that oil countries, while seemingly disparate, are characterized by similar social classes and patterns of collective action. In these countries, dependence on petroleum leads to disproportionate fiscal reliance on petrodollars and public spending, at the expense of statecraft. Oil booms, which create the illusion of prosperity and development, actually destabilize regimes by reinforcing oil-based interests and further weakening state capacity.
Karl's incisive investigation unites structural and choice-based approaches by illuminating how decisions of policymakers are embedded in institutions interacting with domestic and international markets. This approach--which Karl dubs "structured contingency"--uses a state's leading sector as the starting point for identifying a range of decision-making choices, and ends by examining the dynamics of the state itself.

Wilson Quarterly

[Karl discusses] the way the oil boom of the 1970s effected five previously poor nations: Venezuela, Iran, Nigeria, Algeria, and Indonesia. . . . A wealth of natural resources, the author suggests, can enfeeble a nation's institutions and ultimately bring about economic decline. Conversely, some of today's newly industrialized nations, especially those in Asia, may have had success in part because they lacked natural resources. . . .[A] valuable book.

Middle East Quarterly

Finding inadequate the existing explanations [for the economic deterioration of oil exporting developing countries] that focus almost exclusively on economic disruption . . . [Karl] notes the deep social and political roots of the problems and adds these much-needed dimenstions to the discussion. . . . Though a Latin American specialist, Karl understands the Algerial and Iranian encounters with oil and has insights to offer all those who study Middle Eastern oil states (as well as those who lead them.

Modern African Studies

What the oil boom shows, and Karl clearly understands and explains, is that a period of very high prices can be just as damaging as a period of very low ones. Unless institutions can adapt quickly and constructively to rapidly changing economic realities, the opportunities which the latter present may produce more disappointments than achievements.

Latin American Studies

This is a stimulating and thought provoking book in which the author has tried to explain that single commodity-led economic growth induces similar development strategies in countries with different cultural backgrounds and political regimes.

Middle East Journal

This important book promises to redefine the debate on the rentier state and to draw wide attention in the field of comparative politics.

MESA Bulletin

The Paradox of Plenty . . . deserves to be placed at the top of our reading lists and should become a staple in courses on political and economic development.

	List of Figures and Tables
	Preface
1	The Modern Myth of King Midas: Structure, Choice, and the Development Trajectory of States	3
2	Spanish Gold to Black Gold: Commodity Booms Then and Now	23
3	The Special Dilemma of the Petro-State	44
4	The Making of a Petro-State	71
5	Oil and Regime Change: The Institutions of Pacted Democracy	92
6	The Instant Impact of a Bonanza	116
7	The Politics of Rent Seeking	138
8	From Boom to Bust: The Crisis of Venezuelan Democracy	161
9	Petro-States in Comparative Perspective	189
10	Commodities, Booms, and States Revisited	222
	Research Note	243
	Statistical Appendix	245
	Statistical Appendix Citations	274
	Notes	275
	Bibliography	299
	Index	333

Why Globalization Works

Author: Martin Wolf

A distinguished international economist here offers a powerful defense of the global market economy. Martin Wolf explains how globalization works, critiques the charges against it, argues that the biggest obstacle to global economic progress has been the failure not of the market but of governments, and offers a realistic scenario for economic internationalism in the post-9/11 age. For this paperback edition, Wolf provides a new introduction to update the debate.

“Splendid. . . . The definitive treatment of the subject, and an absorbing read.”—Economist
“Accessible and clearly argued. . . . A wealth of material on every page.”—Bruce Bartlett, Wall Street Journal
"[Written by] one of the world’s most respected economic journalists, . . .this elegant and passionate defense of trade liberalization is essential reading."—Arvind Panagariya, Foreign Affairs
"A powerful book."—Sebastian Mallaby, Washington Post
“No one has summarised more coherently the recent, voluminous research. . . . Elegantly and persuasively, Wolf marshals the facts.”—Niall Ferguson, Sunday Telegraph
“A necessary and compelling read for all who want to understand the logic of unfolding events.”—Robert Skidelsky, New Statesman

Publishers Weekly

The author, a Financial Times editor, makes a conventional economist's argument for globalization that is not likely to convince many skeptics. His faith is that growth and everything else good comes from "the market," while any problems with globalization must be the fault of governments. Wolf doesn't consider that economic processes redistribute power and therefore transform politics and the possibilities of government action. Like so many economists, he analyzes primarily aggregate statistics: gray averages. For example, using aggregate figures he argues that workers in rich countries are paid more because they are much more productive than workers in poor countries are. Thus high-paid workers need not fear that competition from low-paid workers will undermine their economic security. The reason, he explains, is that workers in developed countries work, on average, with far less capital per worker. While this is true in aggregate, for a particular transnational firm deciding whether to locate a new factory in Shanghai or Chicago, the difference in productivity will rarely be as great as the wage differential. Therefore, as long as other costs and risks do not overwhelm the benefit of cheaper labor, there is a long-term tendency for investment and jobs to flow toward low-wage countries. Wolf neglects the profound consequences of relative labor immobility (because of immigration restrictions and cultural barriers) compared with the mobility of products, many services and capital, one of the characteristic features of contemporary globalization. Agent, Felicity Bryan, U.K. (May) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Foreign Affairs

By the early 1980s, a number of distinguished economists had amassed compelling evidence that outward-oriented trade policies were far more likely than protectionism to lead to economic growth. The evidence was contained in two multi-country research projects-one at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), led by Ian Little and others, and the other at the National Bureau of Economic Research, directed by Jagdish Bhagwati and Anne Krueger-and in a series of studies at the World Bank.

Today, however, advocates of globalization are gaining the upper hand again. Bhagwati's strikingly successful defense of open markets in his recent book In Defense of Globalization has been bolstered by another influential pro-globalization voice, that of Martin Wolf of the Financial Times. Wolf's weekly columns have already established him as one of the world's most respected economic journalists. Now his ambitious new book, Why Globalization Works, offers a patient and persuasive refutation of many of the arguments most frequently marshaled by critics of trade liberalization.

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Emergency Psychiatry or Moser on Music Copyright

Emergency Psychiatry

Author: Michael H Allen

The field of emergency mental health care is evolving rapidly. In addition to continued widespread use of the traditional consultation model, in which psychiatrists provide on-call assistance to emergency department physicians, specialized psychiatric emergency services (PESs) are available in many cities, and newer models of integrated community psychiatric emergency care are being developed and implemented. With the spread of AIDS, the aging of the population, and the popularity of recreational substances of abuse, the scope and complexity of the field have increased as well. Emergency Psychiatry provides a snapshot of the current state of the art of this fast-paced discipline.

Readers of this volume will find

• Survey of the major service models used in emergency psychiatry: the consultation model, the specialized PES model, and newer community models (crisis hospitalization, mobile teams, crisis residences)
• Principles of triage of patients presenting to an emergency department with psychiatric problems, including a discussion of instruments used to assess psychosocial and cognitive functioning
• Guidelines for assessing risk of suicide or violence
• Standards for behavioral management of agitation and aggression aimed at reestablishing inner and outer controls for the patient in the least coercive manner
• Discussion of legal and regulatory issues affecting emergency room practice
• Guidance on application of psychotherapeutic technique to interviewing patients in crises so as to communicate concern, elicit cooperation and essential information about the patient& rsquo;s state, and foster an alliance thatfacilitates appropriate treatment

Psychiatric emergencies can occur at any time and in any setting; for this reason, every mental health clinician should be familiar with the principles of crisis management and the cutting-edge issues surrounding the provision of emergency psychiatric care. Intended for psychiatrists, psychiatric and emergency medicine residents, and all mental health practitioners, this book offers an accessible guide to current practice and thought in this exciting field.

Doody Review Services

Reviewer: Nishad J. Nadkarni, MD (Rush University Medical Center)
Description: This book, part of the Review of Psychiatry series, attempts to delineate principles of emergency psychiatric management.
Purpose: The author feels that a strong and thorough understanding of psychiatric emergencies in various contexts is essential for safe and effective medical care.
Audience: A variety of mental health professionals are targeted, according to the authors, including psychiatrists, psychiatric social workers, and others involved in direct patient care.
Features: A chapter-by-chapter examination of various treatment strategies, ranging from psychopharmacology to behavioral interventions, is presented in the context of the emergency psychiatry service. A fair number of pertinent and relevant references support the material. A relative paucity of algorithmic approaches, however, mars this effort.
Assessment: A number of serious shortcomings characterize much of the material presented in this book. Specifically, medicolegal issues in the context of emergency care are extremely important, and yet are not addressed to any significant degree here. In addition, there is an overemphasis on management of psychiatric emergencies in a hospital setting, and little elaboration on management strategies in other contexts such as the community or consultation settings is offered.

Booknews

Allen (psychiatry, U. of Colorado School of Medicine) presents five chapters that provide an overview of the state of the field of emergency psychiatry. Chapters cover the structure and function of emergency services; medical, psychiatric, and cognitive assessment in the services; assessment and treatment of suicidal patients; treatment of agitation and aggression; and psychosocial interventions. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Rating

2 Stars from Doody

Interesting textbook: Canon EOS 40D Guide to Digital Photography or The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 Book

Moser on Music Copyright

Author: David Moser

Knowledge of copyright law is essential to anyone who hopes to have a career in music. It fosters an environment where musicians and songwriters can share their creations with the public and know that their music will not be manipulated or misused without their consent, and, most importantly, that they will be paid for their work. Without copyright law, there would be far less incentive for anyone to make music, and almost no incentive for record labels to produce, market, and sell it. Understanding copyright law is particularly relevant today, as Internet file sharing and CD burning have made music copyright law front-page news.
In Moser on Music Copyright, David J. Moser, one of the foremost authorities on the subject, provides students, educators, lawyers, and anyone in the music industry with a thorough understanding of copyright law, what it protects, the benefi ts of registering a copyright, and what to do when your copyright has been infringed. Controversies involving copyright and online music are also discussed in detail, with case studies of the recent blockbuster cases in this area, including the lawsuits against Napster, Grokster, and more.
Although written in clear and readable language, Moser on Music Copyright is an in-depth resource providing detailed explanations of copyright law's application to music and has been used as a text by institutions such as Fordham University Law School, Loyola University, New York University, Northeastern University, and UCLA.

1. What is Copyright? 2. The History of Copyright 3. What Can Be Protected by Copyright? 4. Ownership of Copyright 5. The Reproduction Right 6. The Derivative & Distribution Rights 7. Public Performance and Display Rights 8. Duration of Copyright 9. Copyright Formalities 10. Infringement of Copyright 11. Defenses to Infringement 12. Remedies for Copyright Infringement 13. International Copyright Protection 14. Copyright and Digital Technology 15. The Online Music War

Engineers Guide to the National Electrical Code or Management

Engineer's Guide to the National Electrical Code

Author: H Brooke Stauffer

Electrical engineers responsible for designing, specifying, and maintaining premises wiring systems must have a thorough understanding of the National Electrical Code (NEC[Registered]). The purpose of this guide is to introduce electrical engineering students to the Code rules that govern installation of electrical power, communications, and control systems. Engineer's Guide to the National Electrical Code[Registered] introduces the reader to the technical content of the NEC. It explains: What the Code is intended to do, How the Code is organized, The safety rationales that underlie Code rules for installing electrical systems, How the NEC is used for regulatory purposes, How the NEC relates to other industry codes and standards that impact the design process. This guide assembles information from many different parts of the Code in logical groupings. This will help electrical engineers understand the complexity and interrelationships among different sections of the NEC itself, and develop a comprehensive view of this global regulatory code.

Introduction     iv
NEC Structure, Organization, and Language     1
General Considerations     11
Conductors, Circuits, and Wiring Methods     47
Electrical Equipment     75
Other Systems     113
How the NEC Is Related to Other Codes and Standards     125
Making the NEC     147
Electrical Design Standards     157
Index     163
Credits     174

Books about:

Management: Inventing and Delivering Its Future

Author: Thomas A Kochan

The MIT Sloan School of Management, as conceived by the legendary General Motors chairman Alfred P. Sloan, was founded in 1952 to draw on the scientific and technical resources of MIT and approach the problems of management with the rigorous research practices for which MIT was famous. Fifty years later, the Sloan School gathered international leaders in business and management, MIT faculty, students, and alumni to address again the basic principles that should guide business and management. This book presents the papers prepared by student-faculty teams, speeches by business and world leaders, and summaries of the discussions from this special convocation; taken together, they offer a guide to the future of management based on the hallmarks of MIT and Sloan--creativity and innovation.

The topics considered coalesced around three main themes. First, and paramount, is the necessity of building and maintaining trust by means of openness, transparency, and accountability; this was addressed in speeches by Kofi Annan and Carly Fiorina and exemplified by the case study presented of Nike's efforts to rebuild the trust of customers. The increasingly complex conditions of the modern global economy emerged as another recurring theme, as the participants considered the effect of the growing spectrum of stakeholders on issues of corporate governance. The third common theme was the inescapability of technological and scientific change, from the Internet as a marketing tool to the organizational impact of information technology.

Corporate Community Relations or Domesticating Revolution

Corporate Community Relations: The Principle of the Neighbor of Choice

Author: Edmund M Burk

Burke challenges the current thesis that companies should act responsibly toward communities and societies. Instead, he shows that changes in society mandate that companies must develop strategies and programs that foster a reputation of trust in local communities in order that they preserve their license to operate. Burke describes strategies and programs of action that enable companies to develop trust and thus maintain their license to operate. He also describes ways to use philanthropy and volunteer programs to achieve a competitive advantage.

Booknews

The author illustrates how a company's community reputation also affects the behavior of consumers and employees. He argues that to be a neighbor of choice a company has to pursue three strategies: build sustainable and ongoing relationships with key community individuals, groups, and organizations; institute procedures that anticipate and respond to community expectations, concerns, needs, and issues; and focus the company's community programs on ways that promote and strengthen quality of life and also support the business goals of the company. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

Foreword: Why Merck Needs to Be a Neighbor of Choice by Raymond V. Gilmartin
Introduction: The New Expectations for Today's Corporation
The Principle of the Neighbor of Choice
The Psychological Contract
From Balloons and T-Shirts to Neighbor of Choice
How to Achieve a Competitive Advantage
Implementing Neighbor of Choice
The Company Assessment
Who Are the Corporation's Communities?
The "Shadow Constituencies"
The Community Assessment
The Three Strategies
The First Strategy: Building Relationships of Trust
The Second Strategy: Managing Community Issues and Concerns
The Third Strategy: Using Community Programs to Build Trust
...And Achieve a Competitive Advantage
The Social Vision
Shaping a Social Vision: The Value Premise of the Neighbor of Choice
Index

Domesticating Revolution: From Socialist Reform to Ambivalent Transition in a Bulgarian Village

Author: Gerald Creed

The collapse of state socialism in 1989 focused attention on the transition to democracy and capitalism in Eastern Europe. But for many people who actually lived through the transition, the changes were often disappointing. In Domesticating Revolution, Gerald Creed explains this unexpected outcome through a detailed study of economic reforms in one Bulgarian village.

Booknews

A study of one Bulgarian village's experience with socialism and the transition to capitalism during the 1980s and 1990s, analyzing contradictions and paradoxes such as the success of industry in an agricultural community and the role of the successes of socialism in its own collapse. Shows how villagers went from resisting collectivization in the 1950s to defending their cooperative farm in the 1990s, taking into account factors such as changes in agricultural production, population decline, growth of nonagricultural enterprises, and decollectivization. Includes b&w photos of village life from a perspective not usually seen in the West. Paper edition (unseen), $19.95. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Evaluating Mineral Projects or Applied Process Design for Chemical and Petrochemical Plants

Evaluating Mineral Projects: Applications and Misconceptions

Author: Thomas F F Torries

Designed to complement traditional engineering texts, this book emphasizes the concepts of mineral project evaluation rather than computational details. It describes various economic evaluation techniques, their pluses and minuses, their uses and their relationship with geological, technological and financial evaluations. This is one of the few text that provides detailed coverage of the meanings and application of merit measures.

Booknews

Describes various economic evaluation techniques typically employed for making investment decisions about mineral projects (including conventional cost analysis, discounted cash flow, and option analysis), their uses, their strengths and weaknesses, and their relationships with geological, technological, and financial evaluations. The connections between evaluations and decision procedures are examined in detail. Also discussed are the meanings and applications of merit measures, such as net present value and internal return rate of return, as well as analytic methods such as probabilistic analysis. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

Interesting textbook: Classroom in a Book or The Complete Guide to Light Lighting in Digital Photography

Applied Process Design for Chemical and Petrochemical Plants: Volume 3

Author: Ernest E Ludwig

This third edition of Applied Process Design for Chemical and Petrochemical Plants, Volume 3, is completely revised and updated throughout to make this standard reference more valuable than ever. It has been expanded by more than 200 pages to include the latest technological and process developments in heat transfer, refrigeration, compression and compression surge drums, and mechanical drivers. Like other volumes in this classic series, this one emphasizes how to apply techniques of process design and how to interpret results into mechanical equipment details. It focuses on the applied aspects of chemical engineering design to aid the design and/or project engineers in rating process requirements, specifying for purchasing purposes, and interpreting and selecting the mechanical equipment needed to satisfy the process functions. Process chemical engineering and mechanical hydraulics are included in the design procedures.

Includes updated information that allows for efficiency and accuracy in daily tasks and operations
Part of a classic series in the industry

Booknews

The first of a three-volume guide for process engineers and designers that emphasizes how to apply techniques of process control and interpret results into mechanical equipment details. Volume 1 covers a range of basic day-to-day operation topics such as the latest ASME code requirements; design and assembly of piping systems; selection of mechanical equipment; manpower requirements; pump types, ratings, and selections; separation of liquid and solid particles from vapor; and methods for liquid and gas flow and pumping of liquids. This expanded edition introduces new design methods and includes examples, design charts, tables, and performance diagrams. A new chapter covers process safety and pressure relief devices that incorporate industrial safety design considerations. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Masterpieces in Health Care Leadership or Becoming an Advanced Healthcare Practitioner

Masterpieces in Health Care Leadership: Cases and Analysis for Best Practices

Author: Vincent Pelot

Masterpieces in Healthcare Leadership describes in vivid detail how leaders from nine successful healthcare organizations engage their staff to achieve extraordinary results. Insightful and revealing, the editors use stories to provide a real-world framework for building and sustaining high quality of care. The voices and the passion from the stories will captivate the reader and reveal key behaviors that set these leaders apart. The result is an environment in which leaders nurture and reward their staff and provide support structures that lead to high patient satisfaction and continuous quality improvement.

Features: Includes a practical ten-step process for leaders to implement. Provides a researched-based approach to assessing successful leadership profiles. Describes for senior leaders the differentiating behaviors that enable success. Contains practical implementation strategies geared toward middle managers. Defines the prerequisites for deploying healthcare leadership across a variety of settings. The health systems profiled include The Brigham and Women's Hospital, (a Member of Partners HealthCare System), The Cathedral Foundation, Clinton Hospital (a Member of UMass Memorial Health Care), Fairview Hospital (a Cleveland Clinic Hospital), Geisinger Health System, Greenwich Hospital, (a Member of the Yale New Haven Health System), Mountain States Health Alliance, Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Hamilton, Sharp HealthCare.

Doody Review Services

Reviewer:Patricia Kelly, EdD, PA-C(Nova Southeastern University)
Description:The authors' intent was to expose thoughtful readers and students of healthcare leadership to the stories of individuals involved with ""exemplary healthcare organizations."" These are not case studies per se, but purely narrative accounts containing considerable personal opinion and value statements.
Purpose:The ultimate goal of the authors, in their own words, was to explore these questions: How can we help others? How can we have an impact in healthcare? They sought answers in the personal recollections and stories of leaders at various levels of successful healthcare organizations. The authors describe this as a book of ""power...powerful actions that positively impact others..."" and a book about leadership. Although the many anecdotes and recollections certainly would be helpful to the thoughtful reader, the book lacks coherence and focus in the approach to this goal.
Audience:The book is written largely by independent consultants, for healthcare leaders and potential leaders. It clearly springs from an organizational coaching and personal development perspective rather than an academic research or learning perspective. The authors have broad experience in organizational consulting and less recent experience in the leadership of healthcare organizations.
Features:One of the book's more interesting points is its interpretation of leaders and leadership. Narratives from employees ranging from environmental service workers to physician CEOs are presented, emphasizing the many faces of healthcare organizations. The use of this type ofdiverse, storytelling format is quite innovative. However, it does make it difficult for readers to clearly sort out ""key leadership behaviors,"" one of the main missions of the authors.
Assessment:The authors themselves, at the editing stage, felt that they were left with ""a collection of stories and statements that had no particular rhyme or reason,"" and therefore created topic headings to guide the reader. This was less useful than likely intended. This is an interesting compilation of narrative, with less than compelling underpinnings of academic research and assessment.

Introduction     xi
Foreword     xiii
Preface     xvii
Acknowledgments     xxi
Background     1
Masterpieces in Healthcare Leadership     1
Exemplars     1
Identifying Masterpiece Organizations     3
Inviting Contributors     3
Determining Participants and Interview Subjects     4
Designing the Research Methods     5
Masterpiece Summit     6
Research Methods     9
Healthcare Causal Flow Leadership Model     9
Behavioral Competencies     10
Data Collection     12
Interviews     12
Healthcare Leadership Inventory     15
Healthcare Climate Survey     17
Data Analysis     19
Behavioral Event Interviews Analysis     19
BEI Conclusion 1     20
BEl Conclusion 2     21
BEI Conclusion 3     21
BEI Conclusion 4     21
BEI Conclusion 5     22
Leadership Style Analysis     22
Dominant Leadership Styles     23
Backup Leadership Styles     23
Seldom-Used Leadership styles     24
Climate Survey Analysis     24
Conclusions     26
How to Read The Stories     29
Story Selection     29
The Focus Area     30
The Voices     31
The Pilot     33
Clinton Hospital     34
Work-Life Balance     34
Patients First     35
Underlying Needs of Patients     37
Follow-Up Telephone Calls     40
Family     42
Employee Selection     43
Orientation Welcome     44
Leadership Sets the Tone     46
Coaching and Being Coached     49
Teamwork     51
Rewards and Recognition     53
Extending to Community     54
Above and Beyond     56
Warm Blanket     58
Editor Commentary     60
The Listening Business     63
Fairview Hospital: A Cleveland Clinic Hospital     63
People First     63
Believing in People     64
Extended Family     66
Being Present     68
Leadership Sets the Tone     69
Best in Nation     70
Touching Lives and Hearts      75
Ministry of Caring     77
Accountability     79
Voices of the Patients     80
Heart and Soul of Housekeeping     81
Editor Commentary     84
A Culture of Coaching and Developing Others     87
Geisinger Health System     87
Role Model     87
House Calls     89
Patients First     91
Shared Vision     94
Integrated Team Approach     96
Believing in People     99
Peak Experiences     100
Developing Others     104
Coaching and Being Coached     106
Loyalty to the Patient     107
Service Hero Stories     109
Work Family     110
Editor Commentary     112
The Power of Storytelling     115
Mountain States Health Alliance     115
The Power of Storytelling     115
Connecting with Patients     119
Patients Supporting Each Other     121
Patients First     122
New Employees     124
Doing it Better     125
Soul Stories     126
The Unexpected     128
Believing in People     130
Work Family     133
Seizing the Moment     135
Coaching and Being Coached     136
Going Out of the Way     139
Editor Commentary     140
Lead or Get Out of the Way     143
The Cathedral Foundation     143
The Future of Aging     143
The Nonmission     144
Partnerships     145
Seizing the Defining Moment     146
Constancy of Purpose     148
Engaging Staff     149
The Right Fit     151
Get it Done     153
Positive Focus     155
Believing in People     156
The Unexpected     158
Respecting Diversity     161
Elder Angels     163
Near as Home     165
Editor Commentary     168
Establishing Trust Through Consistency     171
Greenwich Hospital: A Member of the Yale New Haven Health System     171
Service Journey     171
The Essence of Leadership     174
The Patient First     177
Developing People     180
First-Class Service     184
Employee Initiative and Engagement     186
Defining Moments     188
Believing in People     191
Editor Commentary     194
Connecting to a Vision     197
Sharp Healthcare     197
Communicating the Vision     197
Leadership Sets the Tone     199
The Right Fit     200
Five-Star Journey     203
Coaching and Being Coached     207
Believing in People     208
Work Family     210
Thanking Patients     211
Spirit of Caring     212
Editor Commentary     215
Meritocracy     219
Brigham and Women's Hospital, Member of Partners HealthCare System     219
Becoming a Doctor     219
Selection     225
Meritocracy     227
Fierce Loyalty     230
Enduring Relationships     230
Dedication to Patients     232
Blame-Free Culture     236
Traditions     238
Nurturing Others     241
Editor Commentary     244
Thinking Strategically     247
Robert Wood Johnson University Hamilton     247
Leadership Sets the Tone      247
Strategic Thinking     250
Doing it Better     253
Managing Up     254
Believing in People     256
Coaching and Being Coached     261
Acting Independently     263
New Employees     265
Engaging Staff     267
Healthy Community     269
Shapedown     272
Patients First     274
Editor Commentary     275
Thematic Summary     277
High Patient Satisfaction     277
Patient Comments     277
Favorable Healthcare Climate     278
Employee Comments     278
Supporting Artifacts     279
Definition     279
Function     281
Examples     281
Successful Leadership     282
References     285
Editor and Contributing Editor Bios     289
Contributor Bios     293
Index     297

Interesting textbook: Youth Participation and Community Change or The Handbook of Large Group Methods

Becoming an Advanced Healthcare Practitioner

Author: Susan Ryan

This text examines advanced practice in the health professions and the importance of evidence-based practice, continuing professional development, using theory to inform practice, being reflective, ethical, and organized, and proactively planning a career as an advanced practitioner.

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Managing Workplace Negativity or Heavens Door

Managing Workplace Negativity

Author: Gary S Topchik

The symptoms: increased customer complaints, high turnover, low quality of work, increased absences, loss of morale and motivation, lack of creativity and innovation, loss of loyalty to the organization. The diagnosis: workplace negativity. The cure: Managing Workplace Negativity . Workplace negativity may seem like an intangible problem—but it has very tangible consequences for the companies it afflicts. In fact, the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that U.S. companies lose $3 billion a year to the effects of negative attitudes and behaviors at work.

Managing Workplace Negativity gives managers, team leaders, trainers, and other human resources professionals much-needed help in treating the negativity bug. It will help readers:

Identify the 14 types of negative individuals, from the "not-my-jobber" to the "rumor monger"

Confront their own negativity

Recognize negativity "trigger points"

Overcome entrenched, ongoing negativity

Deal with group or company-wide negativity problems

Create a positive environment that enhances morale and productivity.

Go to: Naked Chef or Olive Oil Baking

Heaven's Door: Immigration Policy and the American Economy

Author: George J Borjas

The U.S. took in more than a million immigrants per year in the late 1990s, more than at any other time in history. For humanitarian and many other reasons, this may be good news. But as George Borjas shows in Heaven's Door, it's decidedly mixed news for the American economy--and positively bad news for the country's poorest citizens. Widely regarded as the country's leading immigration economist, Borjas presents the most comprehensive, accessible, and up-to-date account yet of the economic impact of recent immigration on America. He reveals that the benefits of immigration have been greatly exaggerated and that, if we allow immigration to continue unabated and unmodified, we are supporting an astonishing transfer of wealth from the poorest people in the country, who are disproportionately minorities, to the richest.

In the course of the book, Borjas carefully analyzes immigrants' skills, national origins, welfare use, economic mobility, and impact on the labor market, and he makes groundbreaking use of new data to trace current trends in ethnic segregation. He also evaluates the implications of the evidence for the type of immigration policy the that U.S. should pursue. Some of his findings are dramatic:

Despite estimates that range into hundreds of billions of dollars, net annual gains from immigration are only about $8 billion.

In dragging down wages, immigration currently shifts about $160 billion per year from workers to employers and users of immigrants' services.

Immigrants today are less skilled than their predecessors, more likely to re-quire public assistance, and far more likely to have children who remain in poor, segregated communities.

Borjasconsiders the moral arguments against restricting immigration and writes eloquently about his own past as an immigrant from Cuba. But he concludes that in the current economic climate--which is less conducive to mass immigration of unskilled labor than past eras--it would be fair and wise to return immigration to the levels of the 1970s (roughly 500,000 per year) and institute policies to favor more skilled immigrants.

Washington Post - Peter Skerry

But if immigration doesn't much affect the size of the national economic pie, it does affect how it is cut up. Borjas demonstrates that immigration generates enormous wealth for employers and the highly skilled at the expense of unskilled and disadvantaged natives. Specifically, he estimates that "almost half of the decline in the relative wage of high school dropouts may be attributed to immigration." Black Americans in particular are big losers, with immigration reducing the income of the average native black person about $300 per year. Borjas's policy proposals follow from this analysis. He argues against the present system of awarding visas overwhelmingly on the basis of ties to family members already here and for a new system based on immigrant skills. He also argues for a reduction in overall numbers, to around 500,000 legal immigrants annually. Yet in addition to these, he favors generous refugee admissions.

Futurist - Cynthia G. Wagner

Recognizing that immigration is an emotional and moral issue as well as an economic one in the United States, Borjas recommends a point system, similar to Canada's, for helping decide who should receive visas. The point system attempts to match skills with labor-market needs; it also emphasizes such characteristics as age, education, and experience. English proficiency might be another point-winning skill for U.S. immigrants. The bottom line, Borjas says, is that an immigration policy must be formed, or else interest groups in the near future may succeed in closing the borders altogether.

Irwin M. Stelzer

At last, the emotional subject of immigration has been addressed by a scholar who does four things right: he asks the appropriate questions; he is scrupulous in his use of complicated data on immigrants' performance and behavior; he carefully considers opposing interpretations of those data; and he sets out policy proposals that constitute the basis around which future debates should resolve. —Commentary

Library Journal

Borjas is the leading American economist conducting research and writing about immigration policy today. A Cuban refugee who greatly benefited from the political privileges and economic opportunities associated with living in the United States, he provides a comprehensive account of the economic impact of immigration on this country. In framing his argument that U.S. immigration policy needs to be changed, he considers the skills of the immigrants, their national origin, the impact on the labor market, the costs and benefits associated with immigration, welfare use, economic mobility, ethnic segregation, and the need for cultural and economic assimilation. He highlights his discussion by pointing out that the key issues to be addressed are how many immigrants should be admitted to the United States each year and what skills they should have. A marvelous read that should be useful in both academic and public libraries.--Norman B. Hutcherson, Kern Cty. Lib., Bakersfield, CA Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

Commentary - Irwin M. Stelzer

Lamar Smith

Heaven's Door breaks important new ground...No one interested in the consequences of American immigration policy, present or proposed, should be without a well-worn copy.

Times Literary Supplement - Stephan Thernstrom

Heaven's Door is a thoughtful, sophisticated and richly informative book that merits close attention.

What People Are Saying

Alan Simpson
The steady, thoughtful work of George Borjas has had a profound impact on the always emotional debate over immigration policy in the United States. The present nature of the national immigration debate would be different indeed were it not for Borjas's work. This book may well be controversial, but its clarity, sincerity, and relevance for anyone fascinated with immigration issues is rock solid.

William Julius Wilson
This provocative and carefully researched book will create a lot of waves. In well written and engaging prose, George Borjas addresses some difficult questions and bravely provides some difficult answers to issues that America as a nation must confront. Heaven's Door will be controversial, but it will be by far the best and most important source document for the coming national debate on the Second Great Migration.

Alan Simpson
The steady,thoughtful work of George Borjas has had a profound impact on the always emotional debate over immigration policy in the United States. The present nature of the national immigration debate would be different indeed were it not for Borjas's work. This book may well be controversial,but its clarity,sincerity,and relevance for anyone fascinated with immigration issues is rock solid.

John Isbister
Borjas is the leading American economist today writing about immigration policy. I do not share all of his views,but they have to be taken seriously by everyone in the field,and indeed his research has shaped the field more than that of any other writer.

Orley Ashenfelter
George Borjas has nearly single-handedly turned the economic study of immigration into a respectable and heavily researched topic. Like all his other work on the subject,this book is important reading and maybe even more valuable because it is accessible to anyone with a serious interest in the subject.

Lamar Smith
A new book by George Borjas always provides original and honest insights that help us better understand immigration's impact on our country.Heaven's Door breaks important new ground on the social mobility of immigrants and their children and on the causes of the recent decline of immigrants' skills relative to those of natives. At the same time,it updates Borjas's work of the past decade on the costs and benefits of immigration. No one interested in the consequences of American immigration policy,present or proposed,should be without a well-worn copy.

William Julius Wilson
This provocative and carefully researched book will create a lot of waves. In well written and engaging prose,George Borjas addresses some difficult questions and bravely provides some difficult answers to issues that America as a nation must confront. Heaven's Door will be controversial,but it will be by far the best and most important source document for the coming national debate on the Second Great Migration.

James J. Heckman
George Borjas has written a well-reasoned and well-documented book on the costs and benefits of immigration for the American economy. He offers imaginative proposals for reforms in immigration policies that deserve serious attention.

	Preface
	Acknowledgments
Ch. 1	Reframing the Immigration Debate	3
Ch. 2	The Skills of Immigrants	19
Ch. 3	National Origin	39
Ch. 4	The Labor Market Impact of Immigration	62
Ch. 5	The Economic Benefits from Immigration	87
Ch. 6	Immigration and the Welfare State	105
Ch. 7	Social Mobility across Generations	127
Ch. 8	Ethnic Capital	146
Ch. 9	Ethnic Ghettos	161
Ch. 10	The Goals of Immigration Policy	174
Ch. 11	A Proposal for an Immigration Policy	189
Ch. 12	Conclusion	211
	Notes	213
	Index	257

Labor Economics or Principles of Cost Accounting

Labor Economics

Author: Pierre Cahuc

This landmark graduate-level text combines depth and breadth of coverage with recent, cutting-edge work in all the major areas of modern labor economics. Labor Economics is the only textbook available for advanced graduate students in the field, and it will be widely used; because of its command of the literature and the freshness of the material included, it will also prove to be a valuable resource for practicing labor economists.

The book moves back and forth between factual data and theoretical reasoning. The space devoted to theory reflects the profound theoretical restructuring in the field that has taken place in the last thirty years; the authors present these developments within a unified pedagogic framework. The teaching methods are based on mathematical models, with the mathematical analyses laid out clearly, and the derivation of most results given in five mathematical appendixes that provide a toolkit for understanding the models.

The book is divided into four parts: "Supply and Demand Behaviors" examines the determinants of labor supply and demand; "Wage Formation" discusses wage determinants, including the influences of the wage policies of firms and collective bargaining; "Unemployment and Inequality" considers these problems in a macroeconomic setting; and "Institutions and Economic Policy" treats labor market policies and the impact of institutions on labor market performance.

	Introduction
	Acknowledgments
Pt. 1	Supply and Demand Behaviors	1
Ch. 1	Labor Supply	3
Ch. 2	Education and Human Capital	59
Ch. 3	Job Search	107
Ch. 4	Labor Demand	171
Pt. 2	Wage Formation	243
Ch. 5	Compensating Wage Differentials and Discrimination	245
Ch. 6	Contracts, Risk-Sharing, and Incentive	305
Ch. 7	Collective Bargaining	369
Pt. 3	Unemployment and Inequality	441
Ch. 8	Unemployment and Inflation	443
Ch. 9	Job Reallocation and Unemployment	503
Ch. 10	Technological Progress, Globalization, and Inequalities	563
Pt. 4	Institutions and Economic Policy	633
Ch. 11	Labor Market Policies	635
Ch. 12	Institutions and Labor Market Performance	713
App. A	Static Optimization	791
App. B	Dynamic Optimization	794
App. C	Basic Notions Concerning Random Variables	798
App. D	The Poisson Process and the Value of an Asset	801
App. E	Systems of Linear Difference Equations	803
	Notes	811
	Name Index	823
	Subject Index	831

Go to: Edge in the Kitchen or Complete Guide to Reducing Sodium and Fat in Your Diet

Principles of Cost Accounting

Author: Edward J VanDerbeck

Save time with PRINCIPLES OF COST ACCOUNTING! This cost accounting textbook provides a thorough but concise understanding of cost concepts, cost behavior, and cost accounting techniques as applied to manufacturing and service businesses. Studying and reviewing the material is made easy with built-in textbook tools, including demonstration problems at the end of each chapter and integrated learning objectives. And the textbook makes it easy to see how you will use the content in the business world through its inclusion of real-world examples and trends.

Booknews

This textbook introduces cost concepts, cost behavior, and cost accounting techniques, applying them to manufacturing and service businesses. It provides instruction on calculating the cost of products and services, setting prices, bidding on contracts, and analyzing profitability. It also describes the evaluation of management and subunit performance within an organization, and the use of accounting to move managers toward the organization's goals. Specific chapters cover materials, labor, factory overhead, process cost accounting, standard cost accounting, budgeting, service businesses, and management decision making. VanDerbeck teaches accounting at Xavier University. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Monday, December 15, 2008

Keeping up with the Joneses or Fundamentals of Economic Development Finance

Keeping up with the Joneses: Envy in American Consumer Society, 1890-1930

Author: Susan J Matt

Keeping Up with the Joneses traces how attitudes about envy changed as department stores, mail-order catalogs, magazines, movies, and advertising became more prevalent, and the mass production of imitation luxury goods offered middle- and working-class individuals the opportunity to emulate the upper-class life. Between 1890 and 1910 moralists sought to tame envy and emulation in order to uphold a moral economy and preserve social order. They criticized the liberal-capitalist preoccupation with personal striving and advancement and praised the virtue of contentment. They admonished the bourgeoisie to be satisfied with their circumstances and cease yearning for their neighbors' possessions. After 1910 more secular commentators gained ground, repudiating the doctrine of contentment and rejecting the notion that there were divinely ordained limits on what each class should possess. They encouraged everyone to pursue the objects of desire. Envy was no longer a sin but a valuable economic stimulant.

Interesting textbook: Preston Baileys Design for Entertaining or Complete Asian Cookbook

Fundamentals of Economic Development Finance

Author: Susan L Giles

Public sector orientations to planning, community and social development, or local economic development often overlook the money end of the project and focus almost exclusively on the social good. Unfortunately, plans do not materialize without money.

This book takes a 'hands-on" approach as it guides the reader through the steps of securing the funds necessary to meet community needs for cost effective services and facilities. It examines the fundamentals of financing local economic development from the perspectives of both the private and public sector. It shows how to link public community funding and private marketplace funding and describes how private development can incorporate community programs as an asset to a development project or programs. Reader-friendly, the book includes numerous examples, eight real world cases, a glossary of terms, and a model local economic development business plan.

Booknews

Authors who have collaborated for some 20 years provide a total resources approach to financing local economic development, "the act of combining values and perceptions," now that government's role in meeting community needs has been downsized. They cover the elements of strategic planning, organizing for the venture, finding the market, accessing the money, and putting the plan together. Includes checklists, a sample business plan, glossary of terms, and additional resources. Giles heads her own business consulting firm. Blakely is dean of the graduate school of management and urban policy at New York U. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Freedom and Accountability at Work or Industrial Organization

Freedom and Accountability at Work: Applying Philosophic Insight to the Real World

Author: Peter Koestenbaum

Peter Koestenbaum and Peter Block offer you a new perspective for viewing the workplace through the lens of philosophy so that you may have a better understanding of how to reclaim your freedom and accountability and encourage the same in others. They provide a radical new approach to your work-a-day life that will bring true meaning and power to your work.

Freedom and Accountability at Work offers you the information you need to:

• Gain strength and meaning by transforming your thinking on how you view anxiety, doubt, death, and guilt

• Find new ways to bring spiritual and ethical values into your workplace

• Engage in profound change that will help you overcome cynicism that comes from superficial change

• Replace your loss of organizational loyalty and safety with a sense of freedom and accountability

"Both Koestenbaum and Block are such passionate men who bring together what we all seek in our work life-meaning, insight, and humanness. Bless them for this book."

--Joyce DeShano, board chair, Ascension Health

	Note to the Reader
	Prologue: The Time Is Right
	Introduction: The Philosophic Insight	1
Pt. I	The Power and Structure of Freedom	19
1	The Experience of Freedom	29
2	Choice, Reality, and Will	49
3	Determinism and the Case Against Freedom	67
4	The Existential Understanding	81
	Implications	103
Pt. II	The Potential of Anxiety	113
5	The Faces of Anxiety	123
6	Some Revelations of Anxiety	141
7	Coping with the Anxiety of Rebirth and Freedom	159
	Implications	183
Pt. III	Speaking of Death and Evil	191
8	The Vitality of Death	203
9	Some Revelations of Death and Failure	219
10	The Reality of Evil	243
11	Standing Up to Evil	255
	Implications	271
Pt. IV	Fully Human Organizations	281
12	Two Kinds of Guilt	295
13	The Problem of Meaning	315
14	Constituting the Workplace	347
	Implications	369
	Afterword: Peroration and Reminiscence	377
	A Short Glossary	403
	Notes and Credits	415
	Further Reading	419
	Acknowledgments	421
	About the Authors	423
	Index	427
	About Designed Learning	440

Industrial Organization: Theory and Applications

Author: Oz Shy

This upper-level undergraduate text provides an introduction to industrial organization theory along with applications and nontechnical analyses of the legal system and antitrust laws. Using the modern approach but without emphasizing the mathematical generality inherent in many of the arguments, it bridges the gap between existing nontheoretical texts written for undergraduates and highly technical texts written for graduate students. The book can also be used in masters' programs, and advanced graduate students will find it a convenient guide to modern industrial organization.

The treatment is rigorous and comprehensive. A wide range of models of all widely used market structures, strategic marketing devices, compatibility and standards, advertising, R&D, as well as more traditional topics are considered in versions much simplified from the originals but that retain the basic intuition.

Shy first defines the issues that industrial organization addresses and then develops the tools needed to attack the basic questions. He begins with perfect competition and then considers imperfectly competitive market structures including a wide variety of monopolies, and all forms of quantity and price competitions. The last chapter provides a helpful feature for students by showing how various theories may be related to particular industries but not to others.

Topics include: the basics needed to understand modern industrial organization; market structure (monopoly, homogenous products, differentiated products); mergers and entry; research and development; economics of compatibility and standards; advertising; quality and durability; pricing tactics; marketing tactics;management, compensation, and information; price dispersion and search theory; and special industries.

Creole Economics or Quantitative Risk Management

Creole Economics: Caribbean Cunning under the French Flag

Author: Katherine E Brown

"In this innovative work, Browne pierces the silence that has hidden the world of creole economics in the literature on the Antilles. The men's social world of creoleness has been much written about. But the ways that creoleness infuses everyday economic life, the ways that these practices that were built up in resistance (first to slavery, later to colonialism) actually operate, has never before been laid bare. A fine example of how anthropology still has something original to teach us."

—Richard Price, Dittman Professor of American Studies, Anthropology, and History at the College of William & Mary

What do the trickster Rabbit, slave descendants, off-the-books economies, and French citizens have to do with each other? Plenty, says Katherine Browne in her anthropological investigation of the informal economy in the Caribbean island of Martinique. She begins with a question: Why, after more than three hundred years as colonial subjects of France, did the residents of Martinique opt in 1946 to integrate fully with France, the very nation that had enslaved their ancestors? The author suggests that the choice to decline sovereignty reflects the same clear-headed opportunism that defines successful, crafty, and illicit entrepreneurs who work off the books in Martinique today.

Browne draws on a decade of ethnographic fieldwork and interview data from all socioeconomic sectors to question the common understanding of informal economies as culture-free, survival strategies of the poor. Anchoring her own insights to longer historical and literary views, the author shows how adaptations of cunning havebeen reinforced since the days of plantation slavery. These adaptations occur, not in spite of French economic and political control, but rather because of it. Powered by the "essential tensions" of maintaining French and Creole identities, the practice of creole economics provides both assertion of and refuge from the difficulties of being dark-skinned and French.

This powerful ethnographic study shows how local economic meanings and plural identities help explain work off the books. Like creole language and music, creole economics expresses an irreducibly complex blend of historical, contemporary, and cultural influences.

New interesting textbook: Home Prepared Dog and Cat Diets or Best Low Fat No Sugar Bread Machine Cookbook Ever

Quantitative Risk Management: Concepts, Techniques, and Tools

Author: Alexander J McNeil

The implementation of sound quantitative risk models is a vital concern for all financial institutions, and this trend has accelerated in recent years with regulatory processes such as Basel II. This book provides a comprehensive treatment of the theoretical concepts and modelling techniques of quantitative risk management and equips readers--whether financial risk analysts, actuaries, regulators, or students of quantitative finance--with practical tools to solve real-world problems. The authors cover methods for market, credit, and operational risk modelling; place standard industry approaches on a more formal footing; and describe recent developments that go beyond, and address main deficiencies of, current practice.

The book's methodology draws on diverse quantitative disciplines, from mathematical finance through statistics and econometrics to actuarial mathematics. Main concepts discussed include loss distributions, risk measures, and risk aggregation and allocation principles. A main theme is the need to satisfactorily address extreme outcomes and the dependence of key risk drivers. The techniques required derive from multivariate statistical analysis, financial time series modelling, copulas, and extreme value theory. A more technical chapter addresses credit derivatives. Based on courses taught to masters students and professionals, this book is a unique and fundamental reference that is set to become a standard in the field.

CHAPTER 1: Risk in Perspective 1
1.1 Risk 1
1.1.1 Risk and Randomness 1
1.1.2 Financial Risk 2
1.1.3 Measurement and Management 3
1.2 A Brief History of Risk Management 5
1.2.1 From Babylon to Wall Street 5
1.2.2 The Road to Regulation 8
1.3 The New Regulatory Framework 10
1.3.1 Basel II 10
1.3.2 Solvency 2 13
1.4 Why Manage Financial Risk? 15
1.4.1 A Societal View 15
1.4.2 The Shareholder's View 16
1.4.3 Economic Capital 18
1.5 Quantitative Risk Management 19
1.5.1 The Nature of the Challenge 19
1.5.2 QRM for the Future 22

CHAPTER 2: Basic Concepts in Risk Management 25
2.1 Risk Factors and Loss Distributions 25
2.1.1 General Definitions 25
2.1.2 Conditional and Unconditional Loss Distribution 28
2.1.3 Mapping of Risks:Some Examples 29
2.2 Risk Measurement 34
2.2.1 Approaches to Risk Measurement 34
2.2.2 Value-at-Risk 37
2.2.3 Further Comments on VaR 40
2.2.4 Other Risk Measures Based on Loss Distributions 43
2.3 Standard Methods for Market Risks 48
2.3.1 Variance -Covariance Method 48
2.3.2 Historical Simulation 50
2.3.3 Monte Carlo 52
2.3.4 Losses over Several Periods and Scaling 53
2.3.5 Backtesting 55
2.3.6 An Illustrative Example 55

CHAPTER 3: Multivariate Models 61
3.1 Basics of Multivariate Modelling 61
3.1.1 Random Vectors and Their Distributions 62
3.1.2 Standard Estimators of Covariance and Correlation 64
3.1.3 The Multivariate Normal Distribution 66
3.1.4 Testing Normality and Multivariate Normality 68
3.2 Normal Mixture Distributions 73
3.2.1 Normal Variance Mixtures 73
3.2.2 Normal Mean-Variance Mixtures 77
3.2.3 Generalized Hyperbolic Distributions 78
3.2.4 Fitting Generalized Hyperbolic Distributions to Data 81
3.2.5 Empirical Examples 84
3.3 Spherical and Elliptical Distributions 89
3.3.1 Spherical Distributions 89
3.3.2 Elliptical Distributions 93
3.3.3 Properties of Elliptical Distributions 95
3.3.4 Estimating Dispersion and Correlation 96
3.3.5 Testing for Elliptical Symmetry 99
3.4 Dimension Reduction Techniques 103
3.4.1 Factor Models 103
3.4.2 Statistical Calibration Strategies 105
3.4.3 Regression Analysis of Factor Models 106
3.4.4 Principal Component Analysis 109

CHAPTER 4: Financial Time Series 116
4.1 Empirical Analyses of Financial Time Series 117
4.1.1 Stylized Facts 117
4.1.2 Multivariate Stylized Facts 123
4.2 Fundamentals of Time Series Analysis 125
4.2.1 Basic Definitions 125
4.2.2 ARMA Processes 128
4.2.3 Analysis in the Time Domain 132
4.2.4 Statistical Analysis of Time Series 134
4.2.5 Prediction 136
4.3 GARCH Models for Changing Volatility 139
4.3.1 ARCH Processes 139
4.3.2 GARCH Processes 145
4.3.3 Simple Extensions of the GARCH Model 148
4.3.4 Fitting GARCH Models to Data 150
4.4 Volatility Models and Risk Estimation 158
4.4.1 Volatility Forecasting 158
4.4.2 Conditional Risk Measurement 160
4.4.3 Backtesting 162
4.5 Fundamentals of Multivariate Time Series 164
4.5.1 Basic Definitions 164
4.5.2 Analysis in the Time Domain 166
4.5.3 Multivariate ARMA Processes 168
4.6 Multivariate GARCH Processes 170
4.6.1 General Structure of Models 170
4.6.2 Models for Conditional Correlation 172
4.6.3 Models for Conditional Covariance 175
4.6.4 Fitting Multivariate GARCH Models 178
4.6.5 Dimension Reduction in MGARCH 179
4.6.6 MGARCH and Conditional Risk Measurement 182

CHAPTER 5: Copulas and Dependence 184
5.1 Copulas 184
5.1.1 Basic Properties 185
5.1.2 Examples of Copulas 189
5.1.3 Meta Distributions 192
5.1.4 Simulation of Copulas and Meta Distributions 193
5.1.5 Further Properties of Copulas 195
5.1.6 Perfect Dependence 199
5.2 Dependence Measures 201
5.2.1 Linear Correlation 201
5.2.2 Rank Correlation 206
5.2.3 Coefficients of Tail Dependence 208
5.3 Normal Mixture Copulas 210
5.3.1 Tail Dependence 210
5.3.2 Rank Correlations 215
5.3.3 Skewed Normal Mixture Copulas 217
5.3.4 Grouped Normal Mixture Copulas 218
5.4 Archimedean Copulas 220
5.4.1 Bivariate Archimedean Copulas 220
5.4.2 Multivariate Archimedean Copulas 222
5.4.3 Non-exchangeable Archimedean Copulas 224
5.5 Fitting Copulas to Data 228
5.5.1 Method-of-Moments using Rank Correlation 229
5.5.2 Forming a Pseudo-Sample from the Copula 232
5.5.3 Maximum Likelihood Estimation 234

CHAPTER 6: Aggregate Risk 238
6.1 Coherent Measures of Risk 238
6.1.1 The Axioms of Coherence 238
6.1.2 Value-at-Risk 241
6.1.3 Coherent Risk Measures Based on Loss Distributions 243
6.1.4 Coherent Risk Measures as Generalized Scenarios 244
6.1.5 Mean-VaR Portfolio Optimization 246
6.2 Bounds for Aggregate Risks 248
6.2.1 The General Fréchet Problem 248
6.2.2 The Case of VaR 250
6.3 Capital Allocation 256
6.3.1 The Allocation Problem 256
6.3.2 The Euler Principle and Examples 257
6.3.3 Economic Justification of the Euler Principle 261

CHAPTER 7: Extreme Value Theory 264
7.1 Maxima 264
7.1.1 Generalized Extreme Value Distribution 265
7.1.2 Maximum Domains of Attraction 267
7.1.3 Maxima of Strictly Stationary Time Series 270
7.1.4 The Block Maxima Method 271
7.2 Threshold Exceedances 275
7.2.1 Generalized Pareto Distribution 275
7.2.2 Modelling Excess Losses 278
7.2.3 Modelling Tails and Measures of Tail Risk 282
7.2.4 The Hill Method 286
7.2.5 Simulation Study of EVT Quantile Estimators 289
7.2.6 Conditional EVT for Financial Time Series 291
7.3 Tails of Specific Models 293
7.3.1 Domain of Attraction of Fréchet Distribution 293
7.3.2 Domain of Attraction of Gumbel Distribution 294
7.3.3 Mixture Models 295
7.4 Point Process Models 298
7.4.1 Threshold Exceedances for Strict White Noise 299
7.4.2 The POT Model 301
7.4.3 Self-Exciting Processes 306
7.4.4 A Self-Exciting POT Model 307
7.5 Multivariate Maxima 311
7.5.1 Multivariate Extreme Value Copulas 311
7.5.2 Copulas for Multivariate Minima 314
7.5.3 Copula Domains of Attraction 314
7.5.4 Modelling Multivariate Block Maxima 317
7.6 Multivariate Threshold Exceedances 319
7.6.1 Threshold Models Using EV Copulas 319
7.6.2 Fitting a Multivariate Tail Model 320
7.6.3 Threshold Copulas and Their Limits 322

CHAPTER 8: Credit Risk Management 327
8.1 Introduction to Credit Risk Modelling 327
8.1.1 Credit Risk Models 327
8.1.2 The Nature of the Challenge 329
8.2 Structural Models of Default 331
8.2.1 The Merton Model 331
8.2.2 Pricing in Merton's Model 332
8.2.3 The KMV Model 336
8.2.4 Models Based on Credit Migration 338
8.2.5 Multivariate Firm-Value Models 342
8.3 Threshold Models 343
8.3.1 Notation for One-Period Portfolio Models 344
8.3.2 Threshold Models and Copulas 345
8.3.3 Industry Examples 347
8.3.4 Models Based on Alternative Copulas 348
8.3.5 Model Risk Issues 350
8.4 The Mixture Model Approach 352
8.4.1 One-Factor Bernoulli Mixture Models 353
8.4.2 CreditRisk +356
8.4.3 Asymptotics for Large Portfolios 357
8.4.4 Threshold Models as Mixture Models 359
8.4.5 Model-Theoretic Aspects of Basel II 362
8.4.6 Model Risk Issues 364
8.5 Monte Carlo Methods 367
8.5.1 Basics of Importance Sampling 367
8.5.2 Application to Bernoulli-Mixture Models 370
8.6 Statistical Inference for Mixture Models 374
8.6.1 Motivation 374
8.6.2 Exchangeable Bernoulli-Mixture Models 375
8.6.3 Mixture Models as GLMMs 377
8.6.4 One-Factor Model with Rating Effect 381

CHAPTER 9: Dynamic Credit Risk Models 385
9.1 Credit Derivatives 386
9.1.1 Overview 386
9.1.2 Single-Name Credit Derivatives 387
9.1.3 Portfolio Credit Derivatives 389
9.2 Mathematical Tools 392
9.2.1 Random Times and Hazard Rates 393
9.2.2 Modelling Additional Information 395
9.2.3 Doubly Stochastic Random Times 397
9.3 Financial and Actuarial Pricing of Credit Risk 400
9.3.1 Physical and Risk-Neutral Probability Measure 401
9.3.2 Risk-Neutral Pricing and Market Completeness 405
9.3.3 Martingale Modelling 408
9.3.4 The Actuarial Approach to Credit Risk Pricing 411
9.4 Pricing with Doubly Stochastic Default Times 414
9.4.1 Recovery Payments of Corporate Bonds 414
9.4.2 The Model 415
9.4.3 Pricing Formulas 416
9.4.4 Applications 418
9.5 Affine Models 421
9.5.1 Basic Results 422
9.5.2 The CIR Square-Root Diffusion 423
9.5.3 Extensions 425
9.6 Conditionally Independent Defaults 429
9.6.1 Reduced-Form Models for Portfolio Credit Risk 429
9.6.2 Conditionally Independent Default Times 431
9.6.3 Examples and Applications 435
9.7 Copula Models 440
9.7.1 Definition and General Properties 440
9.7.2 Factor Copula Models 444
9.8 Default Contagion in Reduced-Form Models 448
9.8.1 Default Contagion and Default Dependence 448
9.8.2 Information-Based Default Contagion 453
9.8.3 Interacting Intensities 456

CHAPTER 10: Operational Risk and Insurance Analytics 463
10.1 Operational Risk in Perspective 463
10.1.1 A New Risk Class 463
10.1.2 The Elementary Approaches 465
10.1.3 Advanced Measurement Approaches 466
10.1.4 Operational Loss Data 468
10.2 Elements of Insurance Analytics 471
10.2.1 The Case for Actuarial Methodology 471
10.2.2 The Total Loss Amount 472
10.2.3 Approximations and Panjer Recursion 476
10.2.4 Poisson Mixtures 482
10.2.5 Tails of Aggregate Loss Distributions 484
10.2.6 The Homogeneous Poisson Process 484
10.2.7 Processes Related to the Poisson Process 487

Appendix 494
A.1 Miscellaneous Definitions and Results 494
A.1.1 Type of Distribution 494
A.1.2 Generalized Inverses and Quantiles 494
A.1.3 Karamata's Theorem 495
A.2 Probability Distributions 496
A.2.1 Beta 496
A.2.2 Exponential 496
A.2.3 F 496
A.2.4 Gamma 496
A.2.5 Generalized Inverse Gaussian 497
A.2.6 Inverse Gamma 497
A.2.7 Negative Binomial 498
A.2.8 Pareto 498
A.2.9 Stable 498
A.3 Likelihood Inference 499
A.3.1 Maximum Likelihood Estimators 499
A.3.2 Asymptotic Results:Scalar Parameter 499
A.3.3 Asymptotic Results:Vector of Parameters 500
A.3.4 Wald Test and Confidence Intervals 501
A.3.5 Likelihood Ratio Test and Confidence Intervals 501
A.3.6 Akaike Information Criterion 502

References 503
Index 529

Reporting Vietnam or Consumer Driven Health Care

Reporting Vietnam: American Journalism 1959-1975 (Library of America)

Author: Milton J Bates

A unique collection captures a dramatic and controversial war and the brilliant generation of American journalists who reported it.

This one-volume selection, drawn from the original newspaper and magazine reports and contemporary books collected in the acclaimed two-volume hardcover edition, brings together the work of over fifty remarkable writers to create a powerful mosaic view of America's longest war. Reporting Vietnam follows events from the first American fatalities in 1959 through the Tet Offensive in 1968 to the fall of Saigon in 1975, recording the shifting course of the fighting, its impact on an increasingly fractured America, and the changing texture of American journalism.

Here are Homer Bigart, David Halberstam, Stanley Karnow, and Neil Sheehan on South Vietnam in the 1960s; Thomas Johnson and Wallace Terry examining the changing attitudes of black soldiers; Sydney Schanberg on the fall of Phnom Penh; Philip Caputo on the last days of South Vietnam. Included as well are Norman Mailer at the March on the Pentagon, Doris Kearns on Lyndon Johnson's anguished decision-making, and James Michener's meticulous reconstruction of the Kent State shooting.

The volume includes a detailed chronology of the war, historical maps, biographical profiles of the journalists, notes, a glossary of military terms, and an index.

"Not simply a riveting collection of first-rate writing about the war, Reporting Vietnam is also an epic retelling of an American tragedy." --The Oregonian

"This splendid collection testifies to the courage, endurance and swallowed anger of an extraordinarily brave group of writers who, by sharing the agony, earned their rights to report it." --John Le Carre

Nation - Tom Engelhardt

Reading Reporting Vietnam is an addictive experience.... No body of journalism since has made such use of the vivid image.... .There are also discoveries or rediscoveries to be made.... For all its bulk, this collection represents a kind of tunnel vision: the war as never-ending story, more and more of the same.

Thomas Powers

The sad truth that confronts the serious reader at the end of 1,500 pages...we lost....Mostly...the war in Reporting Vietnam...[is] the war that kids had been drafted to fight for 12-month tours of duty...and the war that newspaper correspondents visited in the field....What [Reporting Vietnam delivers] is a sense of what the war was like, and why so many people feel about it the way they do. -- The New York Times Book Review

Tom Engelhardt

What People Are Saying

John Le Carre
This splendid collection testifies to the courage, endurance and swallowed anger of an extraordinarily brave group of writers who, by sharing the agony, earned their right to report it.

John Le Carre
This splendid collection testifies to the courage, endurance, and swallowed anger of an extraordinarily brave group of writers who, by sharing the agony, earned their right to report it.

Roger Rosenblatt
First-rate. . .as vivid a picture of the rich, tormented country as any novel has given us.

Books about marketing: Feeding the Ten Billion or International Business Law and Its Environment

Consumer-Driven Health Care: Implications for Providers, Payers, and Policy-Makers

Author: Regina E Herzlinger

Professor Herzlinger documents how the consumer-driven health care movement is being implemented and its impact on insurers, providers, new intermediaries, and governments. With additional contributions by health care’s leading strategists, innovators, regulators and scholars, Consumer-Driven Health Care presents a compelling vision of a health care system built to satisfy the people it serves.

This comprehensive resource includes the most important thinking on the topic and compelling case studies of consumer-driven health care (CDHC) in action, here and abroad, including new consumer-driven intermediaries for information and support; types of insurance plans; focused factories for delivering health care; personalized drugs and devices; and government roles.

Sunday, December 14, 2008

Certified Professional Secretary or The Wealth of Nations

Certified Professional Secretary (CPS) and Certified Administrative Professional (CAP) Examination Review for Office Systems and Technology

Author: Diane Routhier Graf

Professional certification opens opportunities for career advancement.

The Certified Professional Secretary (CPS^®) and the Certified Administrative Professional (CAP^®) Examination Review Series provides valuable assistance to anyone preparing for the CPS and CAP Examinations. The Series focuses on key topics test-takers must know in order to pass the exams. It is the only examination preparation series produced in conjunction with the International Association of Administrative Professionals^® (IAAP^®). Take the next step toward increasing your confidence and earning respect from your employers and peers.

These books are designed to help you prepare for the new test outline to be offered beginning November 2004. The Series guides effective study techniques:

Key examples are emphasized.
Difficult concepts are illustrated.
New Feature: "Checkpoint" sections within each chapter offer practice as readers work through new material.
"For Your Review," end-of-chapter, exam-like questions offer you a chance to assess your own performance on the exam.
Term review, with text page references, reinforces essential vocabulary.
Glossaries at the end of each book provide accessible reference.
A comprehensive practice exam simulates the testing environment and provides even more practice.

NEW!

You can also purchase all three books in an interactive online format that includes all material found in the CPS and CAP Examination Seriestexts plus automated assessment feedback.

Go to: Fashion Sales Promotion or Analyzing Investment Properties

The Wealth of Nations

Author: Adam Smith

The Wealth of Nations
by Adam Smith

It is symbolic that Adam Smith’s masterpiece of economic analysis, The Wealth of Nations, was first published in 1776, the same year as the Declaration of Independence.

In his book, Smith fervently extolled the simple yet enlightened notion that individuals are fully capable of setting and regulating prices for their own goods and services. He argued passionately in favor of free trade, yet stood up for the little guy. The Wealth of Nations provided the first--and still the most eloquent--integrated description of the workings of a market economy.

The result of Smith’s efforts is a witty, highly readable work of genius filled with prescient theories that form the basis of a thriving capitalist system. This unabridged edition offers the modern reader a fresh look at a timeless and seminal work that revolutionized the way governments and individuals view the creation and dispersion of wealth--and that continues to influence our economy right up to the present day.

The Visual Factory or Training Manual for Health Care Central Service Technicians

The Visual Factory: Building Participation Through Shared Information

Author: Michel Greif

If you're aware of the tremendous improvements achieved in productivity and quality as a result of employee involvement, then you'll appreciate the great value of creating a visual factory. This book explains why conventional work areas, where fragmented information flows from "top to bottom," must be replaced by the "visual workplace," where information flows in every direction. It details how visual management can make the factory a place where workers and supervisors freely communicate so that every employee can take improvement action.

The author's year-long worldwide research resulted in an abundance of practical recommendations. The communication techniques he suggests will:

Foster cohesion within groups of employees.
Turn fault-based into fact based communication.
Overcome such problems as absenteeism and high defect rates.
Stimulate an unending flow of suggestions from employees.

A valuable resource for plant, operations, and human relations managers, this text discusses how successful companies develop meeting and communication areas, communicate work standard production controls such as kanban, and make goals and progress visible. Over 200 diagrams and photos illustrate the numerous visual techniques discussed.

New interesting book: Simply Ming or Dutch Oven Cookbook

Training Manual for Health Care Central Service Technicians

Author: ASHCSP American Society for Healthcare Central Services Professionals

The Training Manual is the premier reference and review publication for individuals preparing for examinations given by The Certification Board for Sterile Processing and Distribution. It is a concise, applicable tool that can be used for orientation, training, and instructional programs in health care facilities and in institutions for learning. The Fifth Edition of the manual is the largest and most comprehensive to date.

Saturday, December 13, 2008

Escaping the Resource Curse or Management of Human Service Programs

Escaping the Resource Curse

Author: Macartan Humphreys

The wealth derived from natural resources can have a tremendous impact on the economics and politics of producing countries. In the last quarter century, we have seen the surprising and sobering consequences of this wealth, producing what is now known as the "resource curse." Countries with large endowments of natural resources, such as oil and gas, often do worse than their poorer neighbors. Their resource wealth frequently leads to lower growth rates, greater volatility, more corruption, and, in extreme cases, devastating civil wars.

In this volume, leading economists, lawyers, and political scientists address the fundamental channels generated by this wealth and examine the major decisions a country must make when faced with an abundance of a natural resource. They identify such problems as asymmetric bargaining power, limited access to information, the failure to engage in long-term planning, weak institutional structures, and missing mechanisms of accountability. They also provide a series of solutions, including recommendations for contracting with oil companies and allocating revenue; guidelines for negotiators; models for optimal auctions; and strategies to strengthen state-society linkages and public accountability.

The contributors show that solutions to the resource curse do exist; yet, institutional innovations are necessary to align the incentives of key domestic and international actors, and this requires fundamental political changes and much greater levels of transparency than currently exist. It is becoming increasingly clear that past policies have not provided the benefits they promised. Escaping the Resource Curse lays out a path for radicallyimproving the management of the world's natural resources.

Foreword   George Soros     xi
Acknowledgments     xvii
Introduction: What Is the Problem with Natural Resource Wealth?   Macartan Humphreys   Jeffrey D. Sachs   Joseph E. Stiglitz     1
Dealing with Oil Corporations     21
What Is the Role of the State?   Joseph E. Stiglitz     23
How to Evaluate the Fiscal Terms of Oil Contracts   David Johnston     53
How to Negotiate an Oil Agreement   Jenik Radon     89
How Best to Auction Oil Rights   Peter Cramton     114
Managing the Macroeconomy     153
Are Oil Producers Rich?   Geoffrey Heal     155
How to Handle the Macroeconomics of Oil Wealth   Jeffrey D. Sachs     173
The Political Economy of Natural Resource Funds   Macartan Humphreys   Martin E. Sandbu     194
Handling the Politics     235
How Mineral-Rich States Can Reduce Inequality   Michael L. Ross     237
Ensuring Fairness: The Case for a Transparent Fiscal Social Contract   Terry Lynn Karl     256
Critical Issues for a Revenue Management Law   Joseph C. Bell   Teresa Maurea Faria     286
Future Directionsfor the Management of Natural Resources   Macartan Humphreys   Jeffrey D. Sachs   Joseph E. Stiglitz     322
Appendices     337
Abridged Sao Tome and Principe Oil Law     339
Abridged Timor-Leste Oil Law     367
Glossary of Oil Terms     375
Web Site References     389
Contributors     391
Index     397

Interesting textbook: ORGB 2008 Edition or Certified Professional Secretary

Management of Human Service Programs

Author: Judith A Lewis

Practical in its approach, this book introduces students to the theory and practice of managerial and leadership functions and provides important guidelines for working within agencies. The authors provide an overview of the managerial and leadership functions that a successful manager or administrator in the human services needs to understand.

Booknews

Written by both counselors and social workers, this guide covers the theory and practice of contemporary human service management, illustrated with case studies and examples. The authors discuss the problems facing managers in the context of a human service organization. They stress planning and program design, organizational theory, and the design and use of information systems. They also offer advice on building supervisory relationships, managing finances, evaluating programs, and the role of leadership. An appendix provides a model questionnaire for a management audit. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Friday, December 12, 2008

Industrial Revolution in World History or Fire Department Interview Tactics

Industrial Revolution in World History

Author: Peter N Stearns

The industrial revolution is generally recognized as a major development in world history. Even so, the study of it is routinely handled as simply part of Western European history or as part of individual national histories. Peter N. Stearns offers a genuinely world-historical approach, looking at the international factors that touched off the industrial revolution and at its global spread and impact. In this revised third edition, The Industrial Revolution in World History begins with an examination of industrialization in the West, but it also treats later cases in other societies-including Japan, Russia, and the United States, as well as newly revised sections on Asia and Latin America-providing the comparative analysis usually lacking in single-nation treatments.

Although the text defines the essence of industrialization in terms of technology and economic organization, it pays substantial attention to larger social results, especially changes in the experience of work and shifts in family functions and gender roles. Including a new chapter on global environmental impact, The Industrial Revolution in World History seeks to build on recent scholarly advances to include a more fully international and human perspective in our understanding of the industrial revolution. The third edition also features fully revised sections on globalization, causation, and non-Western societies, further strengthening Stearns' discussion of complex industrial and international trends.

	List of Illustrations
	Introduction: Defining the Industrial Revolution	1
1	The First Phase, 1760-1880: The West Leads the Way
1	Britain's Revolution: New Processes and Economic Transformation	17
2	New Causes: Why Did the Industrial Revolution Happen, and Why Did It Happen in Eighteenth-Century Britain?	33
3	The Industrial Revolution in Western Society	43
4	The Social Impact of the Industrial Revolution	57
5	The Industrial Revolution Outside the West	73
2	The Second Phase, 1880-1950: The New International Cast
6	The Industrial Revolution Changes Stripes	89
7	The Industrial Revolution in Russia	99
8	The Industrial Revolution in Japan	115
9	New Developments in Western Societies: Redefinitions of the Industrial Economy	133
10	The Industrial Revolution in International Context	149
3	The Third Phase, 1950s-1990s: The Industrialization of the World
11	The Industrial Revolution in the Past Half Century	169
12	A New Range of Initiatives: Industrial Revolutions and Rapid Evolution	177
13	The New Spectrum in the Less Industrial World: Evolution and Exploitation	195
14	A Postindustrial Revolution?	207
15	International Industry and the Complexities of Industrial Trends	223
16	Conclusion	235
	Suggestions for Further Reading	241
	Index	251

Book review: Semi Homemade Money Saving Meals or Mario Batali Holiday Food

Fire Department Interview Tactics

Author: Gene Mahoney

Actively participate in each phase of the interview process outlined in this book and you?ll be on your way to achieving success on your fire department interview! Focused on both the entrance, as well as the promotional interview, this training manual features a thorough explanation of the fire department oral interview process -- from the examination announcement and eligibility list to resume guidelines and post-interview procedures. Helpful methods for fielding firefighting questions and developing problem-solving skills are also highlighted. A valuable practice section at the end of the book arms readers with the ?do?s? and ?don?ts? they need to make a good first impression while avoiding common pitfalls during the interview process.

The Fundraising Planner or Entrepreneurship

The Fundraising Planner: A Working Model for Raising the Dollars You Need

Author: Doug Schaff

A good fundraising plan can make a vital difference in the quality of a nonprofit organization's programs and services. It can be the map by which the organization charts and secures its future. This step-by-step guide is designed to help you and your organization construct an operational fundraising plan that is appropriate to your specific funding needs. From meeting deadlines and scheduling special events to creating an overall plan for fundraising activities, The Fundraising Planner ensures that all activities fit together as a whole and support each and every program.
The model presented in this workbook is flexible and suited to multiple purposes. Use The Fundraising Planner and learn how to:

• Create an effective overview plan
• Formulate a calAndar of events, mailings, and strategies to attract contributions
• Draw fundraising ideas from financial data
• Strengthen your donor and prospect lists
• - Survey your board to refine its mission
• Produce a basic funding proposal and press kit
• Prepare clear status reports for the board, development staff, and key fundraising participants
• Track progress towards your funding goal

The authors have organized the workbook into four sections corresponding to the main stages of designing a fundraising plan:

• Understanding the Big Picture
• Deciding Plan Inputs
• Putting the Plan Together
• Monitoring the Plan

Within each section, chapters detail how to master an essential fundraising skill and offer "To Do" exercises to reinforce learning. The exercises allow you to build a cogent,practical fundraising plan. Additionally, there are real-life examples reflecting current fundraising issues across the country. The Fundraising Planner provides easy-to-follow advice to fundraisers from organizations of all sizes. With this valuable guide, you and your team can achieve greater efficiency in the day-to-day challenges of fundraising.

Booknews

A step-by-step guide designed to help nonprofit organizations construct an operational fundraising plan. Material is presented in sections on the seeing the big picture, deciding plan inputs, putting the plan together, and monitoring the plan. Within each section, chapters detail how to master an essential fundraising skill, and an appendix lists and explains the use of Internet resources. Completion of exercises and worksheets results in a practical fundraising plan. Real-life examples reflect current fundraising issues across the country. The model is flexible and suited to multiple purposes. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Go to: International Project Management or Regionalism and Globalization in East Asia

Entrepreneurship: Starting and Operating a New Business w/ BizBuilderCD & BusPlanPro Pkg.

Author: Steve Mariotti

Build Your Future Today!

This fourteen-chapter text and supplementary package is designed for a college-level, one-term Entrepreneurship course. Written by Steve Mariotti, Founder and President of the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE), this text takes you step-by-step through the process of starting and operating a new small business. Here’s what leaders in the educations and business community have to say about this book:

“This is the book we’ve been waiting for — the essentials of how to start and operate a small business taught clearly and energetically for the college student by Steve Mariotti, who has built a national and international movement in entrepreneurship education.” — Tommy Goodrow, Vice President of Economic and Business Development, SpringfieldTechnicalCommunity College

“Entrepreneurship is the engine of our economy, but its true purpose lies in building community. Through the businesses we create, we become of service to our community and the world. In Entrepreneurship: Starting and Operating a Small Business, Steve Mariotti teaches not only the nuts and bolts of how to start and operate a small business, but also energizes that knowledge with a strong sense of purpose that will inspire students to go forth and make a difference.” - John Whitehead, former co-chairman of Goldman Sachs

“The best entrepreneurs are people who understand the financials and economics of business. Entrepreneurship: Starting and Operating a Small Business provides students with a thorough education in the nuts and bolts of building a business from the ground up, while helping them develop into leaders who can energize and inspire others.” — Alan Patricoff, Co-founder, Apax Partners

Models of Proposal Planning Writing or Salaula

Models of Proposal Planning & Writing

Author: Jeremy T Miner

This book illustrates, in intimate detail previously unpublished, an integrated process of planning and writing persuasive proposals. The grantseekers will see the questions that the authors asked of themselves and those asked of sponsors before they developed a complete grant application. Grantseekers will read the actual proposals the authors submitted to private and public sponsors, including paragraph-by-paragraph analyses of the key features that made them persuasive. The authors provide an examination of the verbatim reviewer comments and grant award notification letters they received back from the sponsors. As a whole, these annotated models serve as a springboard from which grantseekers can begin to develop their own fundable proposals.

Go to: Products Liability in a Nutshell or Geography and Trade

Salaula: The World of Secondhand Clothing and Zambia

Author: Karen T Hansen

When we donate our unwanted clothes to charity, we rarely think about what will happen to them: who will sort and sell them, and finally, who will revive and wear them. In this fascinating look at the multibillion dollar secondhand clothing business, Karen Tranberg Hansen takes us around the world from the West, where clothing is donated, through the salvage houses in North America and Europe, where it is sorted and compressed, to Africa, in this case, Zambia. There it enters the dynamic world of Salaula, a Bemba term that means "to rummage through a pile."

Essential for the African economy, the secondhand clothing business is wildly popular, to the point of threatening the indigenous textile industry. But, Hansen shows, wearing secondhand clothes is about much more than imitating Western styles. It is about taking a garment and altering it to something entirely local, something that adheres to current cultural norms of etiquette. By unraveling how these garments becomes entangled in the economic, political, and cultural processes of contemporary Zambia, Hansen also raises provocative questions about environmentalism, charity, recycling, and thrift.

Economist

Karen Hansen's fascinating book charts the relationship between the clothes discarded by prosperous westerners and the longing of fashion-conscious Africans to dress stylishly on very slender means. It's particular focus, which Ms. Hansen, an American anthrolopogist, knows well.

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Foundations in Strategic Management or Risk and Decision Analysis in Projects

Foundations in Strategic Management

Author: Jeffrey S Harrison

FOUNDATIONS IN STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT, 4E, embraces recent business changes by now including strategizing in the global arena, the challenges of the increased globalization, and a more dedicated coverage of ethics along with the more traditional teachings. Although much more concise than its competitors, it remains a well-rounded and indispensable source covering the foundations of strategic management.

Risk and Decision Analysis in Projects

Author: John R Schuyler

Is there anything more important to the success of a project than making good decisions? This skill is certainly at or near the top of the list. Yet, few of us have had formal training in decision making. Decision analysis is the discipline that helps people choose wisely under conditions of uncertainty. This book introduces risk and decision analysis applied to project management. Probability is the language of uncertainty. Fortunately, a few basic concepts in probability and statistics go a long way toward making better decisions.

The evaluation calculations are straightforward, and many everyday problems can be solved with a handheld calculator. Schuyler also explains and demystifies key concepts and techniques, including expected value, optimal decision policy, decision trees, the value of information, Monte Carlo simulation, probabilistic techniques, modeling techniques, judgments and biases, utility and multi-criteria decisions, and stochastic variance.

Some of Schuyler's tried-and-true tips include:

The single-point estimate is almost always wrong, so that it is always better to express judgments as ranges. A probability distribution completely expresses someone's judgment about the likelihood of values within the range.

We often need a single-value cost or other assessment, and the expected value (mean) of the distribution is the only unbiased predictor. Expected value is the probability-weighted average, and this statistical idea is the cornerstone of decision analysis.

Some decisions are easy, perhaps aided by quick decision tree calculations on the back of an envelope. Decision dilemmas typically involve risky outcomes, many factors, and the best alternatives having comparable value. We only need analysis sufficient to confidently identify the best alternative. As soon as you know what to do, stop the analysis!

Be alert to ways to beneficially change project risks. We can often eliminate, avoid, transfer, or mitigate threats in some way. Get to know the people who make their living helping managers sidestep risk. They include insurance agents, partners, turnkey contractors, accountants, trainers, and safety personnel.

John Schuyler established Decision Precision® in 1988 to train and assist clients in project risk management, project and corporate economic modeling, and decision policy. He holds BS and MS degrees in mineral engineering physics from the Colorado School of Mines and an MBA from the University of Colorado at Boulder.

July 1, 2003 - CIO Magazine

Comprehensive overview of several types of methodologies including Monte Carlo simulation and decision tree analysis. Technical but accessible, it's more focused on concept, less focused on practice than Savage's book.

PMI LOS ANGELES chapter newsletter, Aug. 2003 - Bob Feldman

Good decision-making is obviously top priority, but few of us have had significant formal training in the process and many tend to take an intuitive swipe at the data, trust our gut, and call the shot. Schuyler attempts to correct this situation by laying out a formalized, statistical based, decision analysis methodology...and he does a pretty good job. The coordinated demonstration models are very helpful in seeing the effectiveness of these tools. Schuyler's text pulled it all together and glued the concepts in my mind.

Fred M. Seidell III - Cost Engineering Magazine

This text is thoroughly complete in the technical approaches, tools, and practices available to manage risk and make informed, thoroughly considered decisions. This text is recommended for every project professional's library.

Booknews

Schuyler has over 25 years of experience in economic evaluation, training, and management. Here he presents a text on decision analysis (DA), the discipline which aids decision makers in making sound choices under conditions of uncertainty. Coverage includes an overview of the concept of decision analysis; how DA applies to project risk management; a general problem-solving process; details about project modeling; the use of probability distributions for uncertain inputs; some emerging techniques including critical chain project management, optimization, and expert systems; and a brief tutorial about probability rules. The text is based on articles contributed by the author to the magazine, , from 1992 through 2000. Written for project managers. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Hospitality and Restaurant Management or Management Fundamentals

Hospitality and Restaurant Management

Author: Staff of National Restaurant Assoc Educational Foundation

Appropriate for Hospitality Management and Restaurant Management courses within Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management departments.
A competency guide (with examination) which is focused on Management practice and Leadership. Designed to support a core textbook and provide students with marketable management skills for a career within the Culinary Arts and Foodservice industry.
Part of the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation (NRAEF) ManageFirst certification program. The competency guide includes an examination sheet.

Books about marketing: Executing SOA or Security Analysis

Management Fundamentals: Concepts, Applications, Skill Development

Author: Robert N Lussier

With its three-pronged approach of concepts, applications, and skill development, MANAGEMENT FUNDAMENTALS gives you a solid foundation of management concepts and real skills you can use in the workplace. Through a variety of thought-provoking applications, Lussier challenges you to think critically and apply concepts to your own experiences. Proven skill-building exercises, behavioral models, self-assessments, and group exercises throughout the text will help you realize your own managerial potential.

Microeconomics or Globalization and Labor

Microeconomics

Author: William Boyes

Boyes and Melvin have developed the Sixth Edition of Microeconomics to enhance its central features: direct and accessible writing, proven pedagogy, and thorough integration of global economic issues.

Chapter 17, Financial Markets: Institutions and Recent Events provides a detailed description of how U.S. stock and bond markets work, as well as their role in the global economy to reinforce the application of economic principles to business.
Chapter 14, Government and Market Failure, discusses the circumstances under which markets might fail, including externalities, public goods, the lack of private property rights, and asymmetric information—as well as approaches to solving the problem.
Chapter 13, Antitrust and Regulation, covers all the forms of regulation (economic, social, and financial markets regulation) in one, convenient place.
Powered by Blackboard, Eduspace is a customizable, powerful, and interactive platform that provides instructors with text-specific online content.

I. Introduction to the Price System
1. Economics: The World Around You
Why Study Economics?
The Definition of Economics
The Economic Approach
Economic Insight: "'Free' Air?"
Economically Speaking: "Choice of Major, Years of College Influence Student Debt"
Appendix to Chapter 1. Working with Graphs
Reading Graphs
Constructing a Graph
Slopes
2. Choice, Opportunity Costs, and Specialization
Opportunity Costs
Specialization and Trade
Economically Speaking: "Guns and Butter"
3. Markets, Demand and Supply, and the Price System
Markets
Demand
Supply
Equilibrium: Putting Demand and Supply Together
Global Business Insight: "The Foreign Exchange Market"
Economically Speaking: "A Sleuth for Landlords with Eviction in Mind"
4. The Market System and the Private Sector
The Market System
Households
Business Firms
The International Sector
Linking the Sectors
Economic Insight: "Adam Smith"
Economic Insight: "The Successful Entrepreneur (Sometimes It's Better to Be Lucky Than Good)"
Economical Speaking "Report: Ramsey Friend Sold Information to National Enquirer"
5. The Public Sector
The Circular Flow
The Role of Government in the Market System
Overview of the United States Government
Government in Other Economies
Global Business Insight: "Government Creates a Market for Fishing Rights"
Economically Speaking: "A Big "Nein" toDeutsche Telekom; Telecommunications: Germany Still Doesn't Have a Completely Open Market"
II. Product Market Basics
6. Elasticity: Demand and Supply
The Price Elasticity of Demand
The Use of Price Elasticity of Demand
Determinants of the Price Elasticity of Demand
Other Demand Elasticities
Supply Elasticities
Global Business Insight: "Dumping"
Economically Speaking: "Higher Gas Prices Make Future Murky for Big SUVs: Impact of Rising Fuel Costs Could Be Bigger in Canada Than U.S."
7. Consumer Choice
Decisions
Utility and Choice
The Demand Curve Again
Economic Insight: "Does Money Buy Happiness?"
Economically Speaking: "Why Sudden Wealth Will Not Make You Happy"
Appendix to Chapter 7. Indifference Analysis
Indifference Curves
Budget Constraint
Consumer Equilibrium
8. Supply: The Costs of Doing Business
Firms and Production
From Production to Costs
Cost Schedules and Cost Curves
The Long Run
Economic Insight: "Overhead"
Economically Speaking: "Merge or Die"
III. Product Markets
9. Profit Maximization
Profit Maximization
Marginal Revenue and Marginal Cost
Selling Environments or Market Structure
Global Business Insight: "Brisk Business in Measuring Economic Profit"
Economically Speaking: "Business Ethics Guarantee Value to All Interested Parties"
10. Perfect Competition
The Perfectly Competitive Firm in the Short Run
The Long Run
Economically Speaking: "Avoid 'Commoditization'"
11. Monopoly
The Market Structure of Monopoly
The Demand Curve Facing a Monopoly Firm
Profit Maximization
Market Power and Price Discrimination
Comparison of Perfect Competition and Monopoly
Economically Speaking: "Conflict Diamonds; Americans Can Stop the Damage They Do"
21. Monopolistic Competition and Oligopoly
Monopolistic Competition
Oligopoly and Interdependence
Summary of Market Structures
Economic Insight: "The Prisoner's Dilemma"
Economically Speaking: "Authorities Gather to Combat Warring Drug Cartels"
13. Antitrust and Regulation
Antitrust Policy
Regulation
The Securities and Exchange Commission
Global Business Insight: "The California Debacle"
Economically Speaking: "Don't Let It Happen Again: Why Didn't the Post-'65 Fixes Stop This Blackout?"
14. Government and Market Failure
Externalities
Private Property Rights
Public Goods
Asymmetric Information
Government Failure
Global Business Insight: "Why Aren't Cows and Chickens on the Endangered Species List?"
Economically Speaking: "Bates College Students Retire Air Pollution Permit Worth a Ton of Sulphur Dioxide"
IV. Resource Markets
15. Resource Markets
Buyers and Sellers of Resources
The Market Demand for and Supply of Resources
How Firms Decide What Resources to Buy
Economic Insight: "The Company Town"
Economically Speaking: "Agent: Eagles, McNabb Agree to Deal Worth up to $115 Million"
16. The Labor Market
The Supply of Labor
Wage Differentials
Discrimination
Wage Differentials and Government Policies
Economic Insight: "The Overworked American"
Economically Speaking: "Higher Apathy"
17. Financial Markets: Institutions and Recent Events
Equity
The Equity Market
Fraud and Accounting Shenanigans
Bonds
Economic Insight: "The P/E Ratio"
Global Business Insight: "Stock Market Booms and Busts"
Global Business Insight: "Country Bond Ratings"
Economically Speaking: "Accountants Figure Law to Benefit Them"
18. The Land Market and Natural Resources
Land
Nonrenewable Resources
Renewable Resources
Economically Speaking: "Debate: Is Anti-Sprawl Really 'Smart' Growth?"
19. Aging, Social Security, and Health Care
Aging and Social Security
Health Economics
Global Business Insight: "The World Is Aging"
Economic Insight: "Myths About Social Security"
Global Business Insight: "Health-Care Spending in Various Nations"
Economically Speaking: "Many Travel a Painful Circuit for Their Managed Health Care"
20. Income Distribution, Poverty, and Government Policy
Income Distribution and Poverty
The Poor
Government Antipoverty Policies
Income Distribution Among Nations
Global Business Insight: "Economic Development and Happiness"
Economically Speaking: "Zimbabwe: Income Distribution and Policy"
V. Issues in International Trade and Finance
21. World Trade Equilibrium
An Overview of World Trade
An Example of International Trade Equilibrium
Sources of Comparative Advantage
Global Business Insight: "The Dutch Disease"
Economically Speaking: "China Trade Will Come Back to Haunt Us"
22. International Trade Restrictions
Arguments for Protection
Tools of Commercial Policy
Preferential Trade Agreements
Global Business Insight: "Smoot-Hawley Tariff"
Economically Speaking: "Bull in a China Shop"
23. Exchange Rates and Financial Links Between Countries
Past and Current Exchange-Rate Arrangements
Fixed or Floating Exchange Rates
Prices and Exchange Rates
Interest Rates and Exchange Rates
Global Business Insight: "The IMF and the World Bank"
Economically Speaking: "The European Union"

Books about economics: Strategic Management or Organizational Behavior

Globalization and Labor: Democratizing Global Governance

Author: Dimitris Stevis

In this clear and compelling narrative, Dimitris Stevis and Terry Boswell explore the past accomplishments and the formidable challenges facing global union politics. Outlining the contradictions of globalization and global governance, they place this key social movement in a political economy framework as they argue that social movements can be fruitfully compared based on their emphases on egalitarianism and internationalism. Applying these concepts across time, the authors consider whether global union politics has become more active and more influential or has failed to rise to the challenge of global capitalism. All readers interested in global organizations, governance, and social movements will find this deeply informed work an essential resource.

About the Author:
Dimitris Stevis is professor in the Department of Political Science at Colorado State University

About the Author:
Terry Boswell (1955-2006) was professor in the Department of Sociology at Emory University

In Memoriam: Terry Boswell, 1955-2006     vii
Acknowledgments     ix
List of Abbreviations     xi
Introduction     1
Globalization and Global Governance     7
Societal Politics and Global Governance     29
Engaging Each Other, 1864-2006: The Weight of History     45
Regulating the Global State: Beyond the Social Clause?     79
Regulating Capital: Beyond Corporate Social Responsibility?     111
Conclusion: The Challenges of the Present     143
Notes     157
Selected Bibliography     195
Index     199
About the Authors     207

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Doing Action Research in Your Own Organization or Beyond Budgeting

Doing Action Research in Your Own Organization

Author: David Coghlan

This book is an excellent primer on action research and how to use it to understand organizations.Clearly structured in two parts, part 1 covers the foundations of action research, including the research skills needed to undertake research, while part 2 covers the implementation of an action research project. This book provides a unique resource for those undertaking action research in their own organization. It addresses the advantages and potential pitfalls, the politics and ethics of researching your organization. The authors provide invaluable practical advice from framing and selecting your project, through to implementation and writing up action research. Each chapter has exercises and examples and summary boxes are used throughout.

1	Understanding action research	3
2	Enacting the action research cycle	21
3	Learning in action	32
4	Researching your own organization	47
5	Preunderstanding, role duality and access	61
6	Managing organizational politics and ethics	70
7	Framing and selecting your project	82
8	Implementing your action research project	93
9	Interleval dynamics in action research	108
10	Using frameworks to study organizations in action	117
11	Writing your action research dissertation	124
App	Notes for supervising action research	149

Book review: Understanding and Managing Organizational Behavior or 101 Creative Problem Solving Techniques

Beyond Budgeting: How Managers Can Break Free from the Annual Performance Trap

Author: Jeremy Hop

It's no secret that annual budgeting processes are time-consuming, add little value, and prevent managers from responding quickly to changes in today's business environment. In addition, traditional budgeting's focus on fixed targets and performance incentives often leads to dysfunctional, even unethical, management behavior. In their groundbreaking book, authors Jeremy Hope and Robin Fraser show how organizations can break free from the annual budget trap once and for all. Beyond Budgeting is not a new financial-planning process -- it is an alternative, coherent management model that enables companies to manage performance through processes specifically tailored to today's volatile marketplace. Hope and Fraser spent five years studying a wide range of international companies -- from a global corporation to a small charity, from a bank to a ball-bearings manufacturer -- that have already abandoned traditional budgeting to varying degrees. From these pioneering experiences, the authors have distilled a set of guiding principles that will take any company beyond budgeting to a whole new level of competitiveness.

Based on the decision-making needs of front-line managers, Beyond Budgeting enables readers to take advantage of two major opportunities: 1) a set of adaptive management processes that replace centrally controlled, predetermined goals with self-regulating, relative competitive benchmarks, and 2) the transfer of power and decision-making authority from the center of the organization to the front line. Detailed international case studies illustrate the beyond budgeting model in action -- from selling the vision to creating adaptive processes to devolving responsibility to changing recognition and rewards systems. Hope and Fraser also highlight the obstacles to making the process work, and include a litmus test against which to measure success as companies step away from the dependency culture of budgeting toward a new culture of personal responsibility, mutual trust, and continuous improvement. A call to action for every individual with P&L responsibility, this book unveils a powerful guiding framework for building a lean, adaptive, and ethical enterprise.

Issue #29, September 23, 2003 - Planning Perspectives

Beyond Budgeting is a must-read for anyone interested in seeing the future of performance management.

Publishers Weekly

This concise and cogent management study focuses on reforming the traditional annual budgeting process. The authors, both experienced consultants, argue persuasively that the "fixed-performance contract" mode of conventional budgeting increases costs and delays and centralizes decision-making to the point of reduced flexibility and adaptability. In the current rapidly changing business environment (particularly international business), where there's less of a demand for strictly hierarchical models of management, decentralized budgeting and devolved authority are quite simply survival issues for businesses. The authors focus on reforms made at Swedish wholesaler Ahlsell and Swedish bank Svenska Handelsbanken, as well as the British truck manufacturer Leyland. But they also cast the net over the chemical firm Borealis and the operating model of household furnishings company IKEA. Inevitably, the authors cannot get too far beyond summaries, and their reliability depends somewhat on the credibility of their in-house sources. But in an information age when branch offices can maintain adequate data files, and in the post-Enron milieu when everyone seeks barriers to fraud, this is a persuasively argued starting point. (May) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Soundview Executive Book Summaries

It's no secret that annual budgeting processes are time-consuming, add little value and prevent managers from responding quickly to changes in today's business environment. Traditional budgeting's focus on fixed targets and performance incentives often leads to dysfunctional, even unethical, management behavior. But organizations can break free from the annual budget trap once and for all.

In Beyond Budgeting, Jeremy Hope and Robin Fraser, directors of the Beyond Budgeting Round Table, present an alternative management model that enables companies to manage performance through processes specifically tailored to today's volatile marketplace. Based on the decision-making needs of front-line managers, this model lets you take advantage of two major opportunities. The authors write that your company can create a set of adaptive management processes that replace centrally controlled, predetermined goals with self-regulating, relative competitive benchmarks, and transfer the power and decision-making authority from the center of the organization to the front line.

The authors point out that everyone has an opinion about budgets. CEOs like the warm feeling they get when they see the year-end profit forecasts, but they might be anxious about the reliability of the assumptions and the firm's ability to respond to change. CFOs like the way they are able to tie operating managers to fixed performance contracts, but they also know that the process takes too long and adds little value. Operating managers like "knowing where they stand," but they are also concerned about the time wasted and that fixed performance contracts lead to decision paralysis and cosmetic accounting rather than decisive action and ethical reporting.

According to the authors, the consensus in American business circles is that the budgeting process isn't all it could be. Dissatisfaction is rampant. There are three main reasons for this:

Budgeting is cumbersome and too expensive. The budgeting process is a deeply embedded annual ritual. It absorbs huge amounts of time for an uncertain benefit. Typically, it starts with a mission statement that sets out the aims of the business followed by a group strategic plan that sets the direction and high-level goals of the firm. These form the framework for a budgeting process that grinds its way through countless meetings.
Budgeting is out of kilter with the competitive environment and no longer meets the needs of either executives or operating mangers. The authors explain that the pressure on corporate performance has become intense. Shareholders demand that firms be at or near the top of their industry peer group. Intellectual capital, such as brands, loyal customers and proven management teams, drives shareholder value. Product and strategy cycles have shortened. Prices and margins are under pressure and customers are becoming fickle. The old command-and-control management style is out of tune with the new need for agile and adaptive leadership and the need to transfer more power and authority to people closer to the customer. According to the authors, few of the innovative management tools of the past decade have been used to fundamentally transform the performance management process. At best they have made marginal improvements to a broken system.
"Gaming the numbers" has risen to an unacceptable level. Budgets started life in the 1920s as tools for managing costs and cash flows in large organizations. By the 1960s they had mutated into fixed performance contracts. By then companies were using accounting results like costs, net income and return-on-investment (ROI) to do more than keep score but also to motivate operations personnel at all levels. By the 1970s, financial indicators were being used to manage the business. This led to the increased use of the fixed performance contract as the basis for setting fixed targets against which performance was evaluated and rewarded. The fixed performance contract begins with an "earnings" contract between senior executives and external parties, and then cascades down the organization in the form of "budget" contracts between senior executives and operating managers.

One problem with this management method is that it may lead to fraud. When senior executives and operating managers commit to overly aggressive targets, they may fudge the numbers to meet them.

Breaking Free
The authors point out that there are organizations that have eliminated the annual cycle of preparing, submitting, negotiating and agreeing on a budget by department, function, business unit, division or even the whole organization. The result has been to save months of work. The budget no longer represents an annual fixed performance contract that defines what subordinated must deliver or how resources are allocated or what business units must make and sell. The authors write that the budget no longer determines how the performance of those units and their people will be evaluated and rewarded.

The essence of the adaptive and decentralized management model, the authors write, is that by giving capable and committed people the authority to make fast decisions in their local markets, they will act responsibly, respond appropriately to the threats and opportunities confronting them, and with an eye on competitive performance, deliver consistent results. The focus of the model has moved from central to local control. This means that it is the local team that engages in planning and execution. The authors point out that they are the ones in touch with customer needs and the ones who have the freedom and capability to act. Copyright © 2003 Soundview Executive Book Summaries

What People Are Saying

Gregor Pillen
Beyond Budgeting distills the new management model for the Information Age. This is a book for leaders with the courage and insight to sweep away an enervating management dogma and release the latent wealth in their organizations."
—EMEA Head of Financial Management Solutions, IBM Business Consulting Services

Michel J. Lebas
Hope and Fraser blast away the 'old' budget approach in Beyond Budgeting. Their thorough analysis and synthesis of many successful business cases writes the blueprint for competitive success in the current turbulent hypercompetitive economic environment.
—Professor of Management Accounting, H.E.C. School of Management, France

Steve Morlidge
Hope and Fraser brilliantly expose what lies at the heart of most failed attempts to foster corporate agility and innovation-the 'fixed performance contract' and the low trust mindset in which it is set. Beyond Budgeting is a true paradigm shift!
—Unilever Bestfoods UK

Peter Thurneysen
Beyond Budgeting has inspired UBS not only to shift its focus away from traditional, detailed budgets but also to take the next steps and implement plans with adequate levels of detail; and further redirect its focus toward trend analysis, scenario planning, and rolling forecasts.
—UBS AG, Head Group Controlling & Accounting

	Foreword
	Acknowledgments
	Introduction: Toward a New General Management Model
Pt. I	The Promise of Beyond Budgeting
Ch. 1	The Annual Performance Trap	3
Ch. 2	Breaking Free	19
Pt. II	The Adaptive Process Opportunity: Enabling Managers to Focus on Continuous Value Creation
Ch. 3	How Three Organizations Introduced Adaptive Processes	47
Ch. 4	Principles of Adaptive Processes	69
Ch. 5	Insights into Implementation	95
Pt. III	The Radical Decentralization Opportunity: Enabling Leaders to Create a High Performance Organization
Ch. 6	How Three Organizations Removed the Barriers to Change	119
Ch. 7	Principles of Radical Decentralization	143
Ch. 8	Insights into Changing Centralized Mind-Sets	161
Pt. IV	Realizing the Full Promise of Beyond Budgeting
Ch. 9	The Roles of Systems and Tools	177
Ch. 10	The Vision of a Management Model Fit for the Twenty-First Century	197
	Glossary	211
	Notes	217
	Index	221
	About the Authors	231

Business Data Networks and Telecommunications or Construction Management

Business Data Networks and Telecommunications

Author: Raymond R Panko

Panko teaches students about the technologies that are being used in the marketplace.

This text covers market-driven content such as wireless LANs, security and network management, TCP/IP, and application layers.

This text would be suitable for business professionals looking for the most recent developments in data communications and networking.

Booknews

A modular textbook about all forms of electronic communication involving computers, with 11 core chapters and 10 advanced topic chapters. Topics include the basic communication model, standards agencies and architectures, the computer (transport) layer, Internet access via CSLIP and PPP, terminal emulation, telephone transmission, asynchronous ascii transmission, IEEE LAN standards, Nupools, SCMA/CS and the 802.3 Mac layer frame, the 802.5 token-ring network, local internets, network management, and the OSI architecture. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

Ch. 1	An introduction to networking	1
	Case study : Pat Lee's Home network	42
	Hands-on : configuring Windows XP Home for networking	59
	Case study : XTR consulting : a SOHO network with dedicated servers	77
Ch. 2	Network standards	94
Ch. 3	Physical layer propagation : UTP and optical fiber	140
	Hands-on : cutting and connectorizing UTP	180
Ch. 4	Ethernet LANs	187
	Token-ring networks	227
Ch. 5	Wireless LANs (WLANs)	233
Ch. 6	Telecommunications	278
Ch. 7	Wide area networks (WANs)	311
	Case study : First Bank of Paradise's wide area networks	342
Ch. 8	TCP/IP Internetworking	346
	Hands-on : packet capture and analysis with winDUMP and TCPDUMP	389
Ch. 9	Hands-on : Windows XP Home security	439
Ch. 10	Network management	469
Ch. 11	Networked applications	499
Module A	More on TCP and IP	531
Module B	More on modulation	556
Module C	More on telecommunications	560

Books about economics: Ralph Brennans New Orleans Seafood Cookbook or Two Dudes One Pan

Construction Management

Author: Daniel W Halpin

Get the skills and knowledge you need to be a successful construction manager with the thoroughly updated new edition of Halpin's Construction Management. The book reflects the most recent developments in industry practice, introduces you to the complex business of developing and constructing a major facility or structure, and examines the skills needed to be a successful construction manager.

You'll learn how to manage resources (money, machines, material, and men), contracts, changing conditions, and unforeseen events as well as about new safety procedures and the most recent industry statistics and practices.

This edition features:

• New information on value engineering, earned value, product delivery systems, and the difference between purchasing construction and purchasing manufactured speculative products.

• New material on scope of work, defining the project, and how to break the project into work packages in the context of a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS).

• A companion Web site that allows you to simulate construction operations.

• Chapters on estimating, cost control, and analysis of construction operations that provide relevant information for actual practice.

• The physical systems approach to construction management.

Order your copy today.

Civil Engineering

Developed to introduce students to the discipline of construction management, this updated edition features new chapters on estimating, cost control, and the analysis of construction operations. Other chapters focus on the history and basic concepts of the field; preparing the bid package; issues that evolve during the construction phase; construction contracts; legal structures; time planning and control; project cash flow and funding; equipment ownership and safety.

Ch. 1	History and basic concepts	1
Ch. 2	Preparing the bid package	19
Ch. 3	Issues during construction phase	47
Ch. 4	Construction contracts	61
Ch. 5	Legal structure	78
Ch. 6	Project planning	90
Ch. 7	Project scheduling	101
Ch. 8	Scheduling - PERT networks and linear operations	128
Ch. 9	Project cash flow	147
Ch. 10	Project funding	159
Ch. 11	Equipment ownership	169
Ch. 12	Equipment productivity	185
Ch. 13	Estimating process	204
Ch. 14	Construction labor	225
Ch. 15	Cost control	251
Ch. 16	Materials management	275
Ch. 17	Safety	290

Elements of Petroleum Geology or Critial Chain Project Management

Elements of Petroleum Geology

Author: Richard C Selley

In the fifteen years since the highly successful first edition of Elements of Petroleum Geology was written, there have been many advances in the concepts and technology of petroleum geoscience. The second edition has been extensively rewritten and updated to reflect these advances. Nonetheless it has the same objective as the first edition: to serve as an introductory text for university courses in petroleum geoscience, and as a primer for professional petroleum geoscientists and engineers who wish to expand their knowledge base beyond their own specialist area.

(Fouad Michael, Western Geophysical, Houston, Texas, U.S.A.) - Fouad Michael

This comprehensive, stimulating book conveys information with intelligence, clear illustrations, and marvelous wit. The author writes with clarity and authority and with a grasp of the subject matter that is lightly presented.

Booknews

An introductory text for university courses in petroleum geoscience, also useful as a reference for professional petroleum geoscientists and engineers. Emphasis is on petroleum geology, with additional material on geophysics and petroleum reservoir engineering. Coverage includes methods of exploration, the subsurface environment, generation and migration of petroleum, sedimentary basins and petroleum systems, and nonconventional petroleum resources. Includes b&w photos, many tables, maps, and diagrams, a glossary, and an appendix of units and conversion factors. This edition takes into account advances in concepts and technology over the past 15 years. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

What People Are Saying

Mario R. Mello
Overall, this book is extremely well written and easy to read. Naturally, with such a diverse number of complex topics to cover, specialists in particular areas of petroleum geology might find the coverage a little superficial. However, I would highly recommend this book as an excellent introduction to the field in university courses, to those new to petroleum industry, to nongeoscientists working with geologists, and those interested in a review of petroleum geology. I recommend Selley's text for its easy and clear text and 332 illustrations, especially for college students and those interested in a concise review. This text will carry forward aspects of petroleum geology into the XXI century.
— (Mario R. Mello, Center of Excellence of Geochemistry, Petrobras)

	Preface
	Acknowledgments
1	Introduction
2	The Physical and Chemical Properties of Petroleum
3	Methods of Exploration
4	The Subsurface Environment
5	Generation and Migration of Petroleum
6	The Reservoir
7	Traps and Seals
8	Sedimentary Basins and Petroleum Systems
9	Nonconventional Petroleum Resources
10	Conclusions
App. A	Standard Units and Conversion Factors
	App. B: Glossary
	Index

Go to: Top Secret Restaurant Recipes or Weight Watchers Take Out Tonight

Critial Chain Project Management

Author: Lawrence P Leach

The Artech House bestseller Critical Chain Project Management now builds on its own success in a second edition packed with fresh, field-tested insights on how to plan, lead, and complete projects with unprecedented efficiency. It provides project managers with expanded coverage on critical chain planning, multiple project selection and management, critical change project networks, new Agile and Lean techniques related to critical chain project management (CCPM), and effective strategies for bringing about the organizational change required to succeed with this breakthrough method. This cutting-edge work spells out all the CCPM techniques, tools, and theory managers need to develop critical chain solutions and apply them to their challenging projects. Moreover, the book helps managers master key project skills not covered in other critical chain books, such as scope control and risk management.

Market
Project managers; senior managers; consultants; and university students in related courses.

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Business Organizations for Paralegals or Multinational Finance

Business Organizations for Paralegals

Author: Deborah E Bouchoux

This comprehensive textbook guides you through each legally recognized form of business enterprise and offers simple, yet enlightening, tips on the laws governing the creation and operation of businesses. Each chapter of the book includes useful exhibits, sample forms, and web resources that enhance the author's accessible text.

	Preface
	Acknowledgments
1	Introduction to Business Organizations and Agency Law
2	Sole Proprietorships
3	General Partnerships
4	Limited Partnerships
5	Registered Limited Liability Partnerships
6	Limited Liability Companies
7	Other Unincorporated Organizations
8	Introduction to Corporations
9	Formation of Corporations
10	Corporate Finances
11	Corporate Management
12	Corporate Dividends
13	Securities Regulation and the Stock Exchanges
14	Changes in the Corporate Structure and Corporate Combinations
15	Qualification of Foreign Corporations
16	Termination of Corporate Existence
17	Corporate Variations
18	Employee Compensation and Employment Agreements
19	Special Topics in Business Law
App. A	Secretaries of State and State Corporations Statutes
App. B	Uniform Partnership Act (1914)
App. C	Revised Uniform Partnership Act (1997)
App. D	General Partnership Agreement
App. E	Revised Uniform Limited Partnership Act (1976) with 1985 Amendments
App. F	Model Business Corporation Act
App. G	Corporate Bylaws
App. H	Written Consent in Lieu of the Organizational Meeting
App. I	Shareholders' Buy-Sell Agreement
App. J	Letter of Intent
	Glossary
	Index

Look this: Econometrics or Global Shift

Multinational Finance

Author: Kirt Butler

Multinational Finance assumes the viewpoint of the financial manager of a multinational corporation with investment or financial operations in more than one country. The text provides a framework for evaluating the many opportunities, costs, and risks of multinational operations in a manner that allows readers to see beyond the algebra and terminology to the general principles of multinational financial management.

Multinational Finance includes coverage of traditional topics such as foreign exchange and Eurocurrency markets, multinational treasury management, management of currency risk exposures (transaction, operating, and translation), country risk, multinational capital structure and cost of capital, taxation of foreign source income, and international portfolio diversification. Also included are distinctive chapters on the economic rationale for hedging currency risks, derivatives markets (with separate chapters on currency futures, opt ions, and swaps), real options in international markets, international corporate governance, and international asset pricing.

Intended for MBA and advanced undergraduate classes, the text requires only a single preparatory course in finance. Chapters that extend material from the first course begin with a brief review of the fundamentals. Numerous graphs and figures assist the reader in understanding key financial concepts and techniques are used in practice. Advanced material is placed in chapter appendices, so that study can be tailored to each individual's objectives.

Principles of Macroeconomics or Recruiting Interviewing Selecting and Orienting New Employees

Principles of Macroeconomics

Author: Karl E Cas

Reviewers tell us that Case/Fair is one of the all-time bestselling principles of economics texts because they trust it to be clear, thorough and complete. This well-respected author team is joined for the 9^th edition by a new co-author, Sharon Oster. Sharon’s research and teaching experience brings new coverage of modern topics and an applied approach to economic theory, as demonstrated in the new Economics in Practice feature.

Introduction to Economics; Concepts and Problems in Macroeconomics; The Core of Macroeconomic Theory; Further Macroeconomic Issues; The World Economy

For those looking for a trusted and authoritative principles of macroeconomics text that focuses on international econmies as well as the Keynesian Cross. Case/Fair/Oster believe strongly, that a text should use the Keynesian Cross carefully and systematically, to build up to the AD/AS model. One of the great benefits of this approach, is that students of economics won’t mistakenly apply what they learned about simple demand and supply to aggregate demand & supply. (A detailed summary of this approach can be found in the preface).

Booknews

Comprises the first five introductory chapters, 16 macroeconomics chapters, and the four international chapters form the cloth bound textbook Principles of economics. A companion volume contains the micro chapters. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Recruiting, Interviewing, Selecting and Orienting New Employees

Author: Diane Arthur

Nothing is more important to the productivity of an organization than its hiring program. For almost 20 years, this book has been the go-to reference on every aspect of the employment process.

Known for its practical and down-to-earth approach and jargon-free tone, Recruiting, Interviewing, Selecting & Orienting New Employees is now in its Fourth Edition, with fresh information on today's recruitment challenges, interview methods such as peer interviewing and video interviews, documentation issues, reference-checking guidelines, and new orientation programs. Readers will also find expanded coverage of electronic recruiting and other recruitment sources, applicant testing, and much more.

The book comes packed with a full complement of step-by-step guidelines, ready-to-use interview questions and scripts, forms and checklists, and other valuable hiring tools that will help get great employees on board quickly and effectively.

Booknews

Arthur offers a fully updated version of her 1986 guide to answer the questions of recruiters in the 90s. She includes a greatly expanded list of recruitment sources, questions to ask (and not ask) in an interview, selection guidelines, recent developments in employment legislation, and ready-to-use forms. Distributed by Gale. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Ch. 1	Recruitment challenges	3
Ch. 2	Recruitment sources	22
Ch. 3	Electronic recruiting	55
Ch. 4	Interview preparation	75
Ch. 5	Interviewing and legal considerations	102
Ch. 6	Competency-based questions	127
Ch. 7	Additional types of questions	147
Ch. 8	Interview components	166
Ch. 9	Types of employment interviews	185
Ch. 10	Documenting the interview	209
Ch. 11	Preemployment testing	232
Ch. 12	Background and reference checks	253
Ch. 13	The selection process	271
Ch. 14	The fundamentals of employee orientation	289
Ch. 15	Beyond the fundamentals of employee orientation	309

Monday, December 8, 2008

Principles of Managerial Finance or Contracts

Principles of Managerial Finance

Author: Lawrence J Gitman

Gitman’s proven Learning Goal System—a hallmark feature of Principles of Managerial Finance—weaves pedagogy into concepts and practice, providing readers with a road map to guide them through the text and supplementary tools. The Twelfth Edition now includes an emphasis on personal finance issues to add currency and relevance to the already cohesive learning framework.

Introduction to Managerial Finance: The Role and Environment of Managerial Finance; Financial Statements and Analysis; Cash Flow and Financial Planning. Important Financial Concepts: Time Value of Money; Risk and Return; Interest Rates and Bond Valuation; Stock Valuation. Long-Term Investment Decisions: Capital Budgeting Cash Flows; Capital Budgeting Techniques; Risk and Refinements in Capital Budgeting. Long-Term Financial Decisions: The Cost of Capital; Leverage and Capital Structure; Dividend Policy. Short-Term Financial Decisions: Working Capital and Current Asset Man agement; Current Liabilities Management. Special Topics in Managerial Finance: Hybrid and Derivative Securities; Mergers, LBOs, Divestitures, and Business Failure; International Financial Management; Financial Institutions and Markets.

For all readers interested in managerial finance.

I. INTRODUCTION TO MANAGERIAL FINANCE
1. The Role and Environment of Managerial Finance
2. Financial Statements and Analysis
3. Cash Flow and Financial Planning

II. IMPORTANT FINANCIAL CONCEPTS
4. Time Value of Money
5. Risk and Return
6. Interest Rates and Bond Valuation
7. Stock Valuation

III. LONG-TERM INVESTMENT DECISIONS
8. Capital Budgeting Cash Flows
9. Capital Budgeting Techniques
10. Risk and Refinements in Capital Budgeting

IV. LONG-TERM FINANCIAL DECISIONS
11. The Cost of Capital
12. Leverage and Capital Structure
13. Dividend Policy

V. SHORT-TERM FINANCIAL DECISIONS
14. Working Capital and Current Asset Management
15. Current Liabilities Management

VI. SPECIAL TOPICS IN MANAGERIAL FINANCE
16. Hybrid and Derivative Securities
17. Mergers, LBOs, Divestitures, and Business Failure
18. International Financial Management

Web Chapter 19: Financial Institutions and Markets

APPENDIXES
A. Financial Tables
B. Solutions to Self-Test Problems
C. Answers to Selected End-of-Chapter Problems
Online Appendix: Excel Tutor

Sources
Index

Look this: Economy and Society or PeopleSoft HRMS Reporting

Contracts

Author: E Allan Farnsworth

Steer your students through the complexities of Contract Law with this leading textbook from E. Allan Farnsworth. Farnsworth's CONTRACTS, Third Edition, continues to provide students with an emphasis on those topics that figure prominently in most contracts courses, while it presents the most up—to—date information available. The book also offers a real—world focus which applies to all the major topics of the book: enforceability of promises, scope and effect of promises, rights of third parties, and remedies. CONTRACTS, Third Edition, is even more user—friendly, with fewer yet more specific footnotes, valuable citations, and a convenient index.

Revealing the entire context of contract law, Farnsworth:

explains the rule that governs a particular contractual situation

illustrates it with noteworthy examples of the rule in effect

poses thought—provoking questions

provides thorough answers to the questions

offers examples a nd references throughout the text which incorporate many recent cases

Reflecting the major developments in the field, CONTRACTS, Third Edition, addresses:

the Vienna Sales Convention (Convention on the International Sale of Goods)

UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts

new issues in pre—contractual liability

ongoing employment law contract issues: at—will contracts, handbooks, and public policy exception

remedies and lost opportunities

For a textbook that is as effective as it is authoritative, there is no substitute for Farnsworth's CONTRACTS,Third Edition.

The Age Curve or Team Building

The Age Curve: How to Profit from the Coming Demographic Storm

Author: Kenneth W Gronbach

In business, one thing is certain: What worked 15 years ago won't work today, and what works today will at some point in the future fall flat.

Every 20 years or so a new generation is born, bound together by common wants, needs, motives, and events. As each generation ages, we all recognize that its members become ripe for consuming a changing array of products and services. But what most organizations fail to consider is that today's demand cannot be projected from yesterday's successes, because the one unchangeable and most dominant determinant of consumer demand is the size of the generation that is ripe for a given product or service.

This groundbreaking book lets you in on the best ways to position your business to roll with changing populations of ripe consumers—including how to succeed despite the looming challenges posed by the relatively small Generation X, and leverage the explosive opportunities afforded by massive young Generation Y.

With its simple yet profound insights (along with eye-opening examples of companies who succeeded or failed spectacularly in leveraging or weathering the demographic storm), The Age Curve will forever change the way you look at your business, and how you perceive the generational impact on the entire commercial (and political!) landscape. It will help you forecast far into the future with unprecedented clarity and accuracy and propel your business to entirely predictable long-term success.

Foreword     XI
Introduction     XV
A Word from the Author     XVIII
The Parade of Generations: Why Aren't Marketers Paying Attention?
The Generational Impact on Supply and Demand     3
Who Are These People?     11
Bell Curves, Pies, and Your "Best Customer"     19
Case Study: Detroit, Japan, and the Best Customers for Cars     25
The Older Generations
Silent Virtues: A Small Group with Its Own Impact     37
Case Study: How the "Graying Of America" Myth Will Take Down the Assisted-Living Industry     43
The Baby Boomers: The Radical-Change Generation and its Impact on Today and Tomorrow
The Boomers: Mass, Money, and Motivation     57
What Boomers Will Buy &n bsp;   65
Boomers Will Not Get Old     69
The Boomer Economy: Of Credit Cards and Gift Cards     75
Of Course You Can Afford It!     81
Social Security and Private Health Care: Dead But Not Buried     89
Wal-Mart Hits a Wall-A Great Wall     97
Media's Slow Death: The End of Marketing As We Know It     105
Generation X: The Outsize Expectations of a Small Generation
Quit Picking on the Xers!     111
The Cause and Effect of a Small Generation     117
The X Factor: Where Have All the Workers Gone?     123
The Gen X Labor Shortage and the Impact on Direct Mail     137
Case Study: How Generation X Drove Motorcycle Sales off the Cliff     141
Case Study: Pl anes Stuck on the Ground-A Business Traveler's Tale     153
Case Study: The Death of a Discount Store     159
Generation Y: The Giant on the Horizon
Stop Looking in the Rearview Mirror!     165
The Great Y Ahead: More of Everything     179
Marketing to Generation Y     185
Case Study: No Leg to Stand On-A Levi's Footnote     195
Schools, Taxes, and the Future     201
Generation Y's Leading Legacy     209
The Generation Impact of Social Issues
The Bigotry Is Almost Gone-A Boomer's Perspective     219
Coming to America: Melting Into the World's Melting Pot     227
Macro and Micro Conclusions     237
Appendix A     243
Appendix B  & nbsp;  247
Appendix C     255
Appendix D     259
Index     263
About the Author     269

Look this: Corporate Finance or Racism without Racists

Team Building: Proven Strategies for Improving Team Performance

Author: Edgar H Schein

This book is filled with the concepts, ideas, and practical suggestions that are needed for any manager to have at hand if he or she is a member or creator of a committee, team, task-force, or any other activity involving collaboration among several people. The ideas are proven by several decades of experience and well-supported in the text with numerous examples.

Foreword (Edgar H. Schein).

Introduction.

The Authors.

Part One: The Four Cs of Team Development.

1 The Search for the High-Performing Team.

2 Context: Laying the Foundation for Team Success.

3 Composition: Getting the Right People on the Bus.

4 Competencies: Developing Team Skills for High Performance.

5 Change: Devising More Effective Ways of Working Together.

6 Bringing the Four Cs Together: Designing a Team-Building Program.

Part Two: Solving Specific Problems Through Team Building.

7 Managing Conflict in the Team.

8 Overcoming Unhealthy Agreement.

9 Reducing Conflict Between Teams.

Part Three: Team Building in Different Kinds of Teams.

10 Managing the Temporary Team.

11 High-Performing Virtual Teams.

12 Ma naging Interorganizational (Alliance) Teams.

Part Four: The Challenge of Team Building for the Future.

13 Challenges for Building Effective Teams.

Notes.

Index.

Sunday, December 7, 2008

Auditing or Wiley IFRS

Auditing: A Business Risk Approach (with CD-ROM)

Author: Larry E Rittenberg

Gain the thorough understanding of today's auditing process with the hands-on practice that's critical for your business success with AUDITING: A BUSINESS RISK APPROACH, 6th Edition. This book introduces the audit process within the context of business risk--teaching you why it is important to first understand the organization's business environment and how you can apply the risk model. An emphasis on the integrated audit in this edition guides you through how to perform it effectively as well as what decisions and management commitments are necessary to complete it. You gain first-hand experience in using the well-known professional ACL Audit software, which accompanies each new book, as you practice audit techniques and work with specialized cases. AUDITING, 6th Edition prepares you to succeed amidst today's numerous auditing changes with the latest look at audit regulations, concepts, and practices as they apply in today's technological, systems-oriented environ ment.

1. Auditing: Integral to the Economy. 2. Corporate Governance, Audit Standards. 3. Ethics: Meeting and Understanding Ethical Expectations. 4. Audit Risk and a Client's Business Risk. 5. Audit Evidence: A Framework. 6. Internal Control over Financial Reporting. 7. Performing an Integrated Audit. 8. Computerized Systems: Risks, Controls, and Opportunities. 9. Auditing for Fraud. 10. Audit Sampling. 11. Auditing Revenue and Related Accounts. 12. Audit of Acquisitions Cycle and Inventory. 13. Audit of Cash and Other Liquid Assets. 14. Audit of Long-Lived Assets and Related Expense Accounts. 15. Audit of Acquisitions, Related-Entity Transactions, Long-Term Liabilities, and Equity. 16. Completing the Audit. 17. Communicating Audit and Attestation Results. 18. Professional Liability. 19. Internal Auditing and Outsourcing. Appendix: ACL.

Wiley IFRS: Practical Implementation Guide and Workbook

Author: Abbas Ali Mirza

Wiley IFRS: Practical Implementation Guide and Workbook is a quick reference guide on IFRS/IAS that includes easy-to-understand IFRS/IAS standards outlines, practical insights, cases studies with solutions, illustrations and multiple-choice questions with solutions. The book greatly facilitates understanding of the practical implementation issues involved in applying these complex "principles-based" standards.

1. Introduction to International Financial Reporting Standards.

2. IASB Framework.

3. Presentation of Financial Statements (IAS 1).

4. Inventories (IAS 2).

5. Cash Flow Statements (IAS 7).

6. Accounting Policies, Changes in Accounting Estimates and Errors (IAS 8).

7. Events After the Balance Sheet Date (IAS 10).

8. Construction Contracts (IAS 11).

9. Income Taxes (IAS 12).

10. Segment Reporting (IAS 14).

Appendix: Operating Segments (IFRS 8).

11. Property, Plant, and Equipment (IAS 16).

12. Leases (IAS 17).

13. Revenue (IAS 18).

14. Employee Benefits (IAS 19).

15. Accounting for Government Grants and Disclosure of Government Assistance (IAS 20).

16. The Effects of Changes in Foreign Exchange Rates (IAS 21).

17. Borrowing Costs (IAS 23).

18. Related-Party Disclosures (IAS 24).

19. Accounting and Reporting by Retirement Benefit Plans (IAS 26).

20. Consolidated and Separate Financial Statements ( IAS 27).

21. Investments in Associates (IAS 28).

22. Financial Reporting in Hyperinflationary Economies (IAS 29).

23. Interests in Joint Ventures (IAS 31).

24. Financial Instruments: Presentation (IAS 32).

25. Financial Instruments: Recognition and Measurement (IAS 39).

26. Earnings Per Share (IAS 33).

27. Interim Financial Reporting (IAS 34).

28. Impairment of Assets (IAS 36).

29. Provisions, Contingent Liabilities, and Contingent Assets (IAS 37).

30. Intangible Assets (IAS 38).

31. Investment Property (IAS 40).

32. Agriculture (IAS 41).

33. First-Time Adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS 1).

34. Share-Based Payments (IFRS 2).

35. Business Combinations (IFRS 3).

36. Insurance Contracts (IFRS 4).

37. Noncurrent Assets Held for Sale and Discontinued Operations (IFRS 5).

38. Exploration for and Evaluation of Mineral Resources (IFRS 6).

39. Financial Instruments: Disclosures (IFRS 7).

Index.

	List of Exhibits
	Preface
	Acknowledgments
	The Author
1	Negotiation and Culture: A Framework	1
2	Negotiating Deals	24
3	Resolving Disputes	78
4	Making Decisions and Managing Conflict in Multicultural Teams	136
5	Social Dilemmas	167
6	Government At and Around the Table	177
7	Culture Matters	203
	Notes	211
	Glossary	233
	Index	239

Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Locating Renaissance Art, Vol. 2

Management Accounting

Value Engineering: A Plan for Invention

Booknews

Table of Contents:

Total Quality Service: Principles, Practices, and Implementation

Booknews

Cityscapes and Capital: The Politics of Urban Development

Booknews

Study Guide to Accompany Lippincott Williams and Wilkins' Administrative Medical Assisting

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Manager's Guide to Financial Statement Analysis

Booknews

Table of Contents:

Dollars and Events: How to Succeed in the Special Events Business

A Survival Guide for Restaurant Professionals

Table of Contents:

Public Relations Worktext: A Writing and Planning Resource, Second Edition

Communication and Negotiation, Vol. 2

Cases in Alliance Management: Building Successful Alliances

Table of Contents:

Monday, December 29, 2008

Food Service Management by Checklist: A Handbook of Control Techniques

Financial Accounting: Study Guide

The Economics of War

Historical Archaeologies of Capitalism (Contributions to Global Historical Archeology

Booknews

Table of Contents:

A Living Wage: American Workers and the Making of Consumer Society

Ralph Nader

STAT: Special Techniques in Assertiveness Training for Women in the Health Profession

Table of Contents:

Sunday, December 28, 2008

Professional Selling: A Trust-Based Approach

Auditing: Assurance and Risk

Table of Contents:

Principles of Management

Comparative Economic Systems: Culture, Wealth and Power in the 21st Century

Table of Contents:

Managerial Breakthrough

Booknews

Table of Contents:

Human Resource Management in Government: Hitting the Ground Running

Saturday, December 27, 2008

European Union Enlargement

Rumors and Rumor Control: A Manager's Guide to Understanding and Combatting Rumors

Table of Contents:

Essentials of Economics

Classroom Manual plus Shop Manual Package

Table of Contents:

Leading Organizations: Perspectives for a New Era

Booknews

Choice

So You Want to Be a Professor?: A Handbook for Graduate Students

Table of Contents:

Friday, December 26, 2008

The Economics of Microfinance

Toward a Comparative Institutional Analysis

France in an Age of Globalization

Development and Social Change (Sociology for a New Century Series): A Global Perspective

Table of Contents:

Selling 'em by the Sack: White Castle and the Creation of American Food

Booknews

Leibovich

Business Week

Minneapolis Star Tribune

Kirkus Reviews

What People Are Saying

Total Productive Maintenance

Essential Mathematics for Economic Analysis

Table of Contents:

Careers in Health, Physical Education, and Sports

Thursday, December 25, 2008

Economic Justice and Democracy: From Competition to Cooperation

Service Operations Management: Improving Service Delivery

Table of Contents:

Negotiating Globally: How to Negotiate Deals, Resolve Disputes, and Make Decisions Across Cultural Boundaries, Vol. 1

Booknews

Table of Contents: