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Recommended Books
The E-Myth by Michael E. Gerber
ISBN: 0887307280, Paperback- $9.60 BUY
Michael Gerber's The E-Myth Revisited should be required reading for anyone thinking about starting a business or for those who have already taken that fateful step. The title refers to the author's belief that entrepreneurs--typically brimming with good but distracting ideas--make poor business people. He establishes an incredibly organized and regimented plan, so that daily details are scripted, freeing the entrepreneur's mind to build the long-term success of the business. You don't need an M.B.A. to understand or follow its directives; Gerber takes time to explain buzzwords and complex theories. Read in a clear and well-paced manner, listening to The-E Myth is like receiving advice from an old friend.
Who Says Elephants Can't Dance? Inside IBM's Historic Turnaround by Louis V. Gerstner
SBN: 0060523794, Hardcover- $17.61 BUY
Gerstner quarterbacked one of history's most dramatic corporate turnarounds. For those who follow business stories like football games, his tale of the rise, fall and rise of IBM might be the ultimate slow-motion replay. The book's opening section snappily reports Gerstner's decisions in his first 18 months on the job-the critical "sprint" that moved IBM away from the brink of destruction. The following sections describe the marathon fight to make IBM once again "a company that mattered."
One of Gerstner's first tasks was to redirect the company's attention to the outside world, where a marketplace was quickly changing and customers felt largely ignored. He succeeded mightily. Upon his retirement this year, IBM was undeniably "a company that mattered." Who Says Elephants Can't Dance? is a well-rendered self-portrait of a CEO who made spectacular change on the strength of personal leadership.
Execution - The Discipline of Getting Things Done by Larry Bossidy, Ram Charan, Charles Burck (Contributor)
ISBN: 0609610570, Hardcover- $17.33 BUY
Disciplines like strategy, leadership development, and innovation are the sexier aspects of being at the helm of a successful business; actually getting things done never seems quite as glamorous. But as Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan demonstrate in Execution, the ultimate difference between a company and its competitor is, in fact, the ability to execute.
Execution is "the missing link between aspirations and results," and as such, making it happen is the business leader's most important job.
Get Better or Get Beaten by Robert Slater
ISBN: 0071373462, Hardcover- $22.95 BUY
Do business like Jack Welch! When Jack Welch took the reins of General Electric in 1981, he reformulated GE in his own image -- tough, smart, competitive, and relentless. First published in 1994, Get Better or Get Beaten became a bestseller as managers sought to understand and mimic the success of the man lauded by Fortune as "...perhaps the most admired CEO of his generation."
Now, on the eve of his planned April retirement, the new Get Better or Get Beaten, Second Edition shows you how to compete "Welch style" in today's techologically advanced business arena.
Look to this fast-paced book for:
- Jack Welch's latest views on management and leadership
- Examples of how Welch transformed GE into an e-business
- Insights into Six Sigma and other successful GE quality initiatives
- and More...
Jack - Straight from the Gut by Jack Welch, John A. Byrne
ISBN: 0446528382, Hardcover- $18.87 BUY
It's hard to think of a CEO that commands as much respect as Jack Welch. Under his leadership, General Electric reinvented itself several times over by integrating new and innovative practices into its many lines of business.
In Jack: Straight from the Gut, Welch, with the help of Business Week journalist John Byrne, recounts his career and the style of management that helped to make GE one of the most successful companies of the last century. Beginning with Welch's childhood in Salem, Massachusetts, the book quickly progresses from his first job in GE's plastics division to his ambitious rise up the GE corporate ladder, which culminated in 1981. What comes across most in this autobiography is Welch's passion for business as well as his remarkable directness and intolerance of what he calls "superficial congeniality"--a dislike that would help earn him the nickname "Neutron Jack."
First, Break All the Rules - What the World's Greatest Managers Do Differently by Marcus Buckingham, Curt Coffman
ISBN: 0684852861, Hardcover- $18.90 BUY
Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman expose the fallacies of standard management thinking in First, Break All the Rules: What the World's Greatest Managers Do Differently. In seven chapters, the two consultants for the Gallup Organization debunk some dearly held notions about management, such as "treat people as you like to be treated"; "people are capable of almost anything"; and "a manager's role is diminishing in today's economy." "Great managers are revolutionaries," the authors write. "This book will take you inside the minds of these managers to explain why they have toppled conventional wisdom and reveal the new truths they have forged in its place."
Good to Great - Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don't by Jim Collins
ISBN: 0066620996, Hardcover- $16.50 BUY
Jim Collins asked the question, "Can a good company become a great company and if so, how?" In Good to Great, Collins concludes that it is possible, but finds there are no silver bullets. Collins and his team of researchers began their quest by sorting through a list of 1,435 companies, looking for those that made substantial improvements in their performance over time. They finally settled on 11--including Fannie Mae, Gillette, Walgreens, and Wells Fargo--and discovered common traits that challenged many of the conventional notions of corporate success.
Making the transition from good to great doesn't require a high-profile CEO, the latest technology, innovative change management, or even a fine-tuned business strategy. At the heart of those rare and truly great companies was a corporate culture that rigorously found and promoted disciplined people to think and act in a disciplined manner. Good to Great is one of those books that managers and CEOs will be reading and rereading for years to come.
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Learn how the Social Security Administration can help with your retirement, medicare, disability, survivorship and other benefit questions.
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A thorough overview of the Commerce Department and the organizations under its banner
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Not only a catalog of free and low-cost federal publications of consumer interest, but also a wealth of information on other subjects such as product recalls, the latest scams and frauds, and more.
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