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Review Briefs Review Briefs are not detailed, critical reviews; they are mainly brief notes and descriptions of books received for review to enlighten the reader on their general intention and approach. In this way more books can be described to readers than is possible by publishing only critical reviews. The descriptive information should enable interest to be raised beyond that induced by just listing the titles. Of course, a critical review can be far more informative about a book than is attempted with Review Briefs and, accordingly, offers to review any books appearing in Review Briefs are invited. A Book Review should critically examine the contents of a publication as an assessment of whether its stated intentions have been met and whether the way it achieves these intentions is attractive to the reader. It is expected that each review will be 1,000–1,500 words long and will be fully attributed. The reviewer keeps the book but LRP makes no payment. Alternatively, either a single ‘milestone’ publication or several books on a single topic may be worthy of a wider perspective essay review. This would be expected to comprise an article of 3,000–4,000 words, and would have an introduction written by the Review Editor. The usual article contribution payments would apply to the author of such a review. Any readers interested in reviewing a specific book from Review Briefs (or other relevant books) should write to the Review Editor, preferably giving some intimation of why you think your review would be of interest to readers. Book Reviews should be supplied in hard copy and in electronic form on disk. See Notes for Contributors on the inside back cover. Professor Bruce Lloyd, Book Review Editor, South Bank University, 103 Borough Road, London SE1 0AA, UK. E-mail: [email protected]
Broad introductions to the whole subject of strategy The Oxford Handbook of STRATEGY. Two Volumes, Edited by David O. FAULKNER and Andrew CAMPBELL, Oxford University Press (2003), £100.00 for the set. Volume 1: A Strategy Overview and Competitive Strategy (517 pp.,) contains sixteen articles split evenly into two parts. The first covers the various approaches to strategy, including the historic, economic, organizational, as well
doi:10.1016/S0024-6301(03)00080-3
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as knowledge-based approaches while the second half looks in more detail at the different strategic methods, as well as the broader issues of organizational learning and strategy in service organizations. Volume II: Corporate Strategy (527 pp.,) covers four themes: Corporate Strategy (Diversification, The Role of the Centre, Mergers and Acquisitions, Strategic Alliances and Networks); International Strategy (Multinational Enterprises, Globalization); Change (Managing Change, Turnarounds, Organizational Structure, Innovation); and Flexibility (Game Theory, A Real Option Framework, Strategic Flexibility). Probably the most
comprehensive, readable coverage of leading edge issues in strategy today. Valuable for researchers, graduate students and teachers with a serious interest in the subject.
Strategic Management, Philip SADLER, Kogan Page (2003), Second Edition, 272 pp., £17.99. A useful guide through the most important works by academics and consultants in the field of strategy although, perhaps, the vital role of values (as opposed to value!) in determining organizational success over the long term could have been given an even higher priority. Part of a valuable MBA Master
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Class series. Another publication in that series that discusses a key element in success strategy is Intercultural Management, Nina JACOB, Kogan Page (2003), Second Edition, 250 pp., £17.99. Covers the most important concepts required to formulate intercultural management strategies, including a chapter on ’core values’.
Exploring the Tomato: Transformation of Nature, Society and Economy, Mark HARVEY, Steve QUILLEY and Huw BEYNON, Edward Elgar (2002), 320 pp., £55.00. Although primarily an academic study, this volume is a fascinating inter-disciplinary study, and well worth reading. It uses the tomato as the vehicle for exploring major historical, biological and socio-economic changes in twentieth century capitalism. It covers issues such as the genetically modified tomato; the impact of European developments; the role of supermarkets and the impact on other stakeholders, such as growers in various parts of the world. It concludes: "There is nothing permanent or everlasting about capitalism. It has an undecided future. And so does the tomato." Too true, but pity a more strategic perspective was not taken. Also pity the material was not written to appeal to a wider audience.
Various concepts of strategic management Guide to Management Ideas, Tim HINDLE, The Economist (2003), 247 pp., £20.00. Brief coverage of more than 100 of the most significant
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management ideas. Particularly valuable for management students, but pity it is not available as a cheap paperback for a wider, student market.
The Board GAME: A Director’s Companion for winning business, Peter WAINE, Wiley (2002), 210 pp., £18.99. A practical look at life at the top of organizations that offers insights into why companies behave the way they do, where they go wrong and what can be done to put things right. In particular, the relationship between the Chairman & CEO is examined, together with the role of Non-Executive Directors. Essential reading for both senior executives and those aspiring to such positions.
Analytical methods, tools and approaches Making Scorecards Actionable: Balancing Strategy and Control, NilsGoran OLVE, Carl-Johan PETRI, Jan ROY and Sofie ROY, Wiley (2003), 304 pp., £22.50. Evaluates 15 companies where the Balanced Scorecard concept has been used to control changes. Concludes (p. 290): "If managed correctly an organization is able to reap the benefits and realize the potential from its scorecard implementation." This is a key point that also applies to all other management techniques “if managed correctly”. Always easier to write about that than to implement effectively in practice. But the book is essential reading for all those interested in the BS approach.
Thinking Beyond Technology: Creating New Value in Business, Joseph A. DIVANNA, Palgrave (2003), 226 pp., £25.00. Explores the parallel between the value proposition of new technologies, such as the Internet, with some more historic perspectives. Argues that technological innovation should be seen as a continuous process; also provides insights into the influence on social technological adoption.
Why Decisions Fail: Avoiding the Blunders and Traps that Lead to Debacles, Paul C. NUTT, Berrett-Koehler (2002), 332 pp., $22.95. An analysis - in many cases public for the first time - the chains of blunders and bad judgements that led to fifteen now legendary - debacles, including the Firestone tire recall, Brent Spa, Barings Bank, Euro Disney and Quaker’s failed acquisition of Snapple. In each case the author explores how and where the decision-making process went wrong and discusses what managers can learn from these ’monumental fiascos’. Needs to be widely read - urgently – if similar mistakes are to be prevented in the future.
Scenario Planning: the link between future and strategy, Mats LINDGREN and Hans BANDHOLD, Palgrave (2003), 180 pp., £25.00. Uses examples and cases to show how greater strategic flexibility can be achieved by using a new model that more closely integrates scenario planning. Readable and relevant.
Book Reviews and Review Briefs
Organizational Innovations, Peter CLARK, Sage (2003), 225 pp., £60.00 (hard), £19.99 (soft). A useful introduction of organizational innovations for students and academic teaching in this area. Also relevant is Big Ideas: Putting the Zest into Creativity and Innovation at Work, Jonne CESERANI, Kogan Page (2003), 197 pp., £16.99. Creativity is the lifeblood of any organization. This book provides a practical and readable approach to developing an environment that encourages creativity.
Advanced Modeling for Transit Operations and Service Planning, Edited by William H.K. LAM and Michael G.H. BELL, Pergamon Elsevier Science (2003), 354 pp., $90.00. Twelve articles that address a variety of issues relating to how to improve transit operations and service planning. For the specialist.
New Product Development: Successful Innovation in the Marketplace, Michael Z. BROOKE and William Ronald MILLS, International Business Press/Haworth Press Inc. (2003), 219 pp., $34.95. Can help you keep your company on the edge irrespective of industry. Essential reading for anyone with responsibility for this vital, but (surprisingly?) high-risk area.
Assumption-Based Planning: A Tool for Reducing Avoidable Surprises, James A. DEWAR, Cambridge University Press (2002), 248 pp., £47.50 (hard), £16.95 (soft). Argues that all forecasting applications need to be underpinned by understanding
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and theory. Attempts to reduce unwelcome surprises in the life of any organization that can often be traced to the failure of an assumption that was not given the attention it deserved. Useful antidote to the too often over mechanistic approach that tends to dominate too much of the field of forecasting.
Innovation: Harnessing Creativity for Business Growth, Editor Adam JOLLY, Kogan Page (2003), 164 pp., £25.00. Explores the characteristics and processes that distinguish truly innovative companies. Also provides management tools to help companies deliver effective innovation strategies. Based on the findings of a two-year research programme (around the 1000 ’millennium projects’) undertaken by the Design Council and the Innovation Unit of the UK Department of Trade and Industry. Effective innovation is so vital for all organizations that this book should be high on any business reading list. Another readable argument for urgent and radical change is provided by Out of our Minds: Learning to be Creative, Ken ROBINSON, Capstone (2001), 225 pp., £15.99. Argues that the real problem with creativity starts with our schools and universities. A readable exploration with three key questions: Why is it essential to promote creativity?, Why is it necessary to develop creativity?, and, What is involved in promoting creativity? A series of useful, practical guides on the theme of Positive Business are now available, including: Minimize Stress, Maximize Success: How to Rise above it All and Realize your Goals, Clare HARRIS, 160 pp., £9.99 and The Secrets of
Successful Negotiation: Effective Strategies to Improve your Negotiating Skills, Juliet NIERENBERG and Irene S. ROSS, 160 pp., £9.99. Both from Duncan Baird Publishers (2003).
Leadership, change and implementation Multiple Intelligence and Leadership, Edited by Ronald E. RIGGIO, Susan E. MURPHY, and Francis J. PIROZZOLO, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates (2002), 264 pp., £46.95. Twelve (academic) papers that explore whether or not a high IQ is a pre-requisite for a leader. Organized around three themes: Multiple Domains of Intelligence; Models of Leadership and Multiple Intelligences; and Applications of Multiple Intelligences to Leader Effectiveness. For the specialist.
Leadership for Follower Commitment, David J. COOPER, Butterworth-Heinemann (2003), 204 pp., £21.99. Provides analysis of subjects, themes, theories and current thinking concerning leadership and employee commitment. Based on the view that leadership is not leadership unless followers willingly follow. Useful but surprising greater reference was not given to Servant-Leadership ideas.
10 things that keep CEOs Awake and HOW to put them to bed, Elizabeth COFFEY, McGraw-Hill (2003), 218 pp., £19.99. Examines real life issues in chapters: Developing bifocal vision; Getting the organizational structure right; Creating time to maximize CEO impact; Energizing
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the organization through leadership; Delivering strategy through the top team; Managing the board; Communicating with all the stakeholders all of the time; Meeting the diversity challenge; Surviving in the global jungle; and Balancing your work/life demands. Each chapter sets its subject in context, details the specific challenges, defines the desired outcomes and shows how organizations can be guided to achieving them. Full of sound common sense - although it can easily sound bland.
Leadership, Philip SADLER, Kogan Page (2003) Second Edition, 195 pp., £17.99. A subject of continuing intense debate. Another publication in the MBA Masterclass series, which also includes other publications mentioned earlier in this review briefs section.
Leadership Development: Paths to Self-Insight and Professional Growth, Manuel LONDON, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates (2002), 293 pp., £25.50. Explores how leaders can gain and use self-knowledge for continuous improvement and career development. A book for both current and aspiring leaders, as well as a wide range of trainers, researchers and students of the subject.
Wisdom from the Ancients: Enduring Business lessons from Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar and the illustrious Leaders of Ancient Greece and Rome, Thomas J. FIGUEIRA, T. Corey BRENNAN and Rachel Hall STERNBERG, Perseus Publishing (2002), 241 pp., $20.00. A collection of historical exerpts and quotations from the classic
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emperors, philosophers, orators, politicians, warriors, playwrights and other thought leaders of the past. Brings alive timeless insights for today’s mangers. Stimulating and sobering. Also relevant is Pursuit of Destiny: A History of Prediction, Paul HALPERN, Perseus Publishing (2002), 250 pp., $25.00. A fascinating examination of the contribution of the oracles of the ancient past to the predictive machines of today concerned with exploring the future. Effective knowledge management needs to integrate historic wisdom and that is rarely done.
Global strategic management Capitalism is Dead: Peoplism Rules. Creating Success Out of Corporate Chaos, Alec REED, McGraw Hill (2003), 194 pp., £19.99. Outlines the challenges facing businesses which have to adjust to the growing demands of a marketplace where commoditization and globalization continually erode margins. Very readable and thought-provoking. Pity not available as a cheap paperback to reach the wider audience it deserves.
The Changing Face of Chinese Management, Jie TANG and Anthony WARD, Routledge (2003), 234 pp., £19.99. Provides valuable insights into Chinese business today and how it has changed over the last decade. Useful for a wide range of practitioners and students, particularly the increasing number working together with that part of the world.
European Pensions & Global Finance, Gordon L. CLARK, Oxford University Press (2003), 252 pp., £17.99. Discusses the demographic and funding crises that threaten Continental European systems of pension and retirement income. Essential reading for anyone concerned with strategic thinking on this particularly challenging problem area.
Asia Pacific Governance: From Crisis to Reform, Edited by Charles SAMPFORD, Suzanne CONDLLN, Margaret PALMER and Tom ROUND, Ashgate (2002), 353 pp., £55.00. Nineteen, essentially academic, articles that address a number of questions for the post 1997 Asian economic crisis world. How can economic growth be combined with justice and protecting social and cultural values? How can political reforms be embedded within sound public management? How can nations govern within the context of the pressure for greater ethnic and local autonomy? What role for the military? Important questions with no easy answers.
Corporate Responsibility & Labour Rights: Codes of Conduct in the Global Economy, Rhys JENKINS, Ruth PEARSON & Gill SEYFANG, Earthscan (2003), 232 pp., £48.00 (hard), £17.95 (soft). Brings together 17 papers, that reflect the work of academics, practitioners and activists, to provide a broad-based, multidisciplinary and critical assessment of the growth, content and significance of corporate codes of conduct, particularly as they relate to
Book Reviews and Review Briefs
corporate responsibility for working conditions and labour rights. Also includes a list of key websites.
The changing global context of international business, Peter J. BUCKLEY, Palgrave (2003), 371 pp., £55.00. Explores four key issues in the world economy: the changing context of international business; the continuing pace of economic integration; international joint ventures; and knowledge management. Also shows how each of these issues affects the strategies of multinational enterprises, taking into account both the moral basis of global capitalism and the events of September 11th. Additional background to these issues can be found in The West and the Rest: Globalization and the Terrorist Threat, Roger SCRUTON, Intercollegiate Studies Institute (2002), 187 pp., $19.95. And in Making Global Trade Work for People, coordinator and lead author Kamel MALHOTRA, Earthscan (2003), 341 pp., $89.95 (hard), $29.95 (soft). The latter explores questions such as: How can the WTO framework provide the policy autonomy and flexibility that developing countries need in order to benefit from the trade process? Should there be a one-size-fits-all approach to Intellectual Property protection? What trade rules and standards should be developed to allow for diversity across regions and nations?
Global Disorder, Robert HARVEY, Constable & Robinson (2003), 476 pp., £18.99. Written in the wake of September 11th and based on extensive interviews with key US policy makers, in order to
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explore the rise of the US to its dominant position as the world’s first ’mega-power’. Identifies the sources of instability that create global disorder and threaten world peace. Also explores the dangers in the globalization of capitalism free from political control, and how - and where action is needed in order to maintain stability and world peace. Also relevant are the thoughts contained in The Ideas That Conquered the World: Peace, Democracy and Free Markets in the Twenty-first Century, Michael MANDELBAUM, Public Affairs (2002), 496 pp., £19.99. Argues that three ideas dominate the world today: peace, as the preferred basis for relations between and among different countries; democracy, as the optimal way to organize political life and free markets as the indispensable vehicle for the creation of wealth. Also explores how the prospects for these ideas might evolve in the years to come.
Strategic Management for Travel and Tourism, Nigel EVANS, David CAMPBELL and George STONEHOUSE, Butterworth-Heinemann (2003), 412 pp., £19.99. Comprehensive teaching text that uses industry-based case studies. Useful for undergraduate and post-graduate students focusing on strategy in the travel and tourism sectors. Another useful teaching text that covers other issues in the same sector is Cross-Cultural Behaviour in Tourism: Concepts and Analysis, Yvetter REISINGER and Lindsay W. TURNER, Butterworth-Heinemann (2003), 337 pp., £25.99. Provides in-depth insights into the concepts, definitions and measures of the essential cultural
components that encourage tourism.
Happiness & Hardship: Opportunity and Insecurity in New Market Economies, Carol GRAHAM and Stefano PETTINATO, Brookings Institution Press (2002), 174 pp., $42.95 (hard), $17.95 (soft). Attempts to provide a conceptual framework for analyzing the relationship between subjective well-being (or happiness) and the political sustainability of marketorientated growth in countries where markets are newly emerging. Surprising to find no mention of the classic study by Fred HIRSCH, Social Limits to Growth, Routledge & Kegan Paul (1977). Also relevant, Addicted to Unhappiness, Martha Heineman PIEPER and William J. PIEPER, McGraw-Hill (2003), 240 pp., $21.95.
Stock-Market Psychology: How People Value and Trade Stocks, Karl-Erik WARNERYD, Edward Elgar (2001), 339 pp., £25.00. A detailed overview of the relevant literature on the subjects of economics, psychology and finance. A more financial approach is taken in Strategic Financial Decisions, Mattias HAMBERG, Copenhagen Business School Press (2001), 373 pp., £37.00. Explores rationality and market efficiency in both theory and practice. For the specialist. Other global financial issues are considered in Capital Flows and Crises, Barry EICHENGREEN, The MIT Press (2003), 377 pp., £23.50. Discusses the historical, theoretical, empirical and policy aspects of global capital flows. Also explores
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the connection between capital flows, crises and growth.
Strategic Human Resource Management, including values/ethics issues Pipe Dreams: Greed, Ego, and the Death of ENRON, Robert BRYCE, Public Affairs (2002), 394 pp., £9.99. Traces Enron’s evolution from its humble beginnings in the American Southwest, through the business decisions and extramarital affairs, to the broader dimensions of its corruption and its eventual demise. Essential reading for anyone with an interest in contemporary business issues. Those with a very serious interest in governance issue could try Governing as Governance, Jan KOOIMAN, Sage Publication (2003), 249 pp., £65.00 (hard), £22.00 (soft). But the language used does not make for easy reading.
The Ethics of Teaching: A Casebook, Patricia KEITHSPIEGEL, Bernard E. WHITLEY Jr, Deborah Ware BALOGH, David V. PERKINS, and Arno F. WITTIG, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates (2002), Second Edition, 273 pp., £21.50. Uses 195 cases to help review ethical dilemmas that can arise in educational settings, as well as providing tips on how to avoid these predicaments, and how to deal with them when they do occur. Useful as a vehicle for stimulating discussion about important ethical issues in a particularly sensitive area. Ethical dilemmas in another area are explored in The Selfish Altruist:
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Relief work in famine and war, Tony VAUX, Earthscan (2001), 230 pp., £12.00. Eight chapters that review examples in Kosovo, Ethiopia, Sudan, Mozambique, Afganistan, Somalia, Azerbaijan, and Rwanda. Challenging ideas that should be widely read.
Managing Quality, Mihaela L. KELEMEN, Sage (2003), 209 pp., £70.00 (hard), 21.99 (soft). Provides a contemporary review and analysis of relevant techniques by drawing on a number of disciplines. Useful for a wide range of undergraduate and post-graduate courses. Another useful book on the quality theme is Quality Beyond Six Sigma, Ron BASU and J. Nevan WRIGHT, B. Butterworth Heinemann (2003), 188 pp., £19.99. Provides a practical framework for building on Total Quality Management (TQM) and Total Preventative Maintenance (TPM) using the statistical approach of Six Sigma so as to comfortably ’fit’ any size or type of organization.
Evaluating Human Capital: Research Report, Harry SCARBOROUGH and Juanita ELIAS, Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (2002), 66 pp., £20.00 for members and £50.00 for non-members. The results of a programme of work that investigated the link between people management and business performance. It considered the challenges involved in the evaluation of human capital, as well as highlighting common principles on which to build measurement tools. Some useful ideas for those with a special interest in the subject. A more practical approach to many of these
issues is provided by How To get Best Value from HR: The Shared Services Option, Peter REILLY and Tony WILLIAMS, Gower (2003), 160 pp., £45.00. Uses the shared service model, with step-by-step implementation guidance to show how operations can be made more cost-effective and productive. A specialist area of people development is covered in Assessing the Value of Your Training, Leslie RAE, Gower (2002), 240 pp., £49.50.
Debating Organization: Point-Counterpoint in Organization Studies, Robert WESTWOOD and Stewart CLEGG, Blackwell Publishing (2003), 403 pp., £60.00 (hard), £24.99 (soft). Twenty (academic) articles based on five key themes of organisational studies: Foundations; Frames; Structure & Culture; Identity and Relationships. For the specialist reader.
The Cultural Imperative: Global Trends in the 21st Century, Richard D. LEWIS, Nicholas Brealey (2003), 338 pp., £19.99. Explores the link between the cultural dimensions of nations to national competitive advantage. Also presents new explanations for their inter-relationships. The epilogue explores the new post September 11th issues. Another approach that emphasizes the importance of the cultural dimension is Coaching Across Cultures: New Tools for Leveraging National, Corporate & Professional Differences, Philippe ROSINSKI, Nicholas Brealey (2003), 306 pp., £19.99.
Book Reviews and Review Briefs
Marketing strategy Relationship Marketing: Dialogue and Networks in the E-Commerce Era, Richard J. VAREY, Wiley (2002), 217 pp., £24.95. Maintains that Relationship Marketing is a business strategy within a management framework that integrates marketing, ecommerce, corporate communication and knowledge management. Relevant for students on a wide range of marketing programmes.
A Genie’s Wisdom: A fable of How a CEO Learned to be a Marketing Genius, Jack TROUT, John Wiley (2003), 120 pp., £13.95. A brief, fun tour through ’everything the CEO needs to know to become a marketing genius’. A good easy read as long as you don’t get carried way by the label of ’genius’.
Brand New Justice: The Upside of Global Branding, Simon ANHOLT, Butterworth-Heinemann (2003), 180 pp., £24.99. One of the worlds’ leading branding experts shows how the combination of branded exports and ’nation branding’ can create fast-track economic development for emerging markets. Uses case studies of second and third world international brands, combined with detailed advice on international brand development for those parts of the world. Some special aspects of brand development are covered in Brand Child: remarkable insights into the minds of today’s global kids and their relationship with brands, Martin LINDSTROM with Patricia
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B. SEYBOLD, Kogan Page (2003), 320 pp., £25.00. Apparently tweens can be both very easy targets (they desperately need role models) and very difficult ones (they are unpredictable and easily bored) at the same time. Pity no chapter on the long-term social implications of these developments.
Relationship Marketing: Creating Stakeholder Value, Martin CHRISTOPHER, Adrian PAYNE and David BALLANTYNE, Butterworth-Heinemann (2002), 242 pp., £19.99. Reinforces the author’s earlier analysis of the changes in the approaches to marketing in recent years, ending up with a strategy focused on creating long-term profitable relationships with targeted customers. Another publication that addresses the needs of this sector is Customer Relationship Management: Perspectives from the Marketplace, Simon KNOX, Stan MAKLAN, Adrian PAYNE, Joe PEPPARD, and Lynettee RYALS, Butterworth-Heinemann (2003), 302 pp., £24.99. Argues for the relevance of five processes: strategy development, value creation, channel and media integration, information management and performance assessment. Uses a range of case-study material to support the message. A specialist dimension of marketing is covered in Total e-mail Marketing, Dave CHAFFEY, Butterworth-Heinemann (2003) Third Edition, 228 pp., £19.99. A practical approach to e-mail marketing, with cases.
Manufacturing and technology strategy Government, Innovation and Technology Policy: An International Comparative Analysis, Sunil MANI, Edward Elgar (2002), 379 pp., £69.95. An analysis of the changing role of government, with respect to domestic technology development in eight countries split between the creators of new technologies (Japan, Korea and Israel) and those that posses the potential to create new technologies (Singapore, Malaysia, India, South Africa and Brazil). Particularly concerned with the fiscal and non-fiscal policy measures each country employs to stimulate investments in R&D in the enterprise sector, with the most important measure identified as the need to integrate human resource development issues. But more for the academic, than the managerial reader unfortunately.
Harness the Beast! A practical guide for managers everywhere, Chris SELLERS & Anton van der VEGT, Middlesex University Press (2002), 205 pp., £10.99. Uses ’the Beast’ as a metaphor for all the components of business technology and shows how to use this technology to produce improved performance and efficiency by changing people’s thinking. Designed to appeal to busy managers and badly needed.
Changing Gears: The Strategic Implementation of Technology, James CARLOPIO, Palgrave (2003), 200 pp., £25.00. Many (most?) changemanagement programmes
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designed to implement new technology are unsuccessful. This book shows that failure is often (always?) much more to do with people and social factors than with technical factors. Also outlines a practical, readable (and badly needed) approach that should help reduce expensive mistakes.
Future studies and related issues The Change Game: How Today’s Global Trends are Shaping Tomorrow’s Companies, Peter LAWRENCE, Kogan Page (2002), 276 pp., £19.95. Challenging and readable review of ’big picture’ issues that are driving change in business in the West, where it is coming from and where it might be taking us. You might not agree with the comments, but the book should help improve the quality of our thinking about the future.
Up the Down Escalator: Why the Global Pessimists are Wrong, Charles LEADBEATER, Viking (2002), 371 pp., £20.00. Argues that the current pessimism is dangerously overstated and that, as a result, we are talking ourselves into a state of helplessness. The author believes there are good grounds for modest optimism about the state of the world. Unfortunately the case for pessimism appears to have grown in the past year since the book was published. But this does need us to focus even more on the need for (the ’right’) action, if we ever expect things to improve.
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Global Warming & Social Innovation: The Challenge of a Climate-Neutral Society, Edited by Marcel KOK, Walter VERMEULEN, Andre FAAIJ and David de JAGER, Earthscan (2003), £50.00 (hard), £19.95 (soft). Argues that to achieve a climateneutral society, Western societies may need to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases by 80 per cent in order to minimize the risks of climate change. These are issues that are likely to affect us all but, unfortunately, not written for the managerial or general reader.
Futures that Work, Robert REHM, Nancy CEBULA, Fran RYAN and Martin LARGE, Hawthorne Press (2002), 188 pp., £17.99. All about the concept of the search conference - a practical way to build communities of people who want to make positive change happen for their organization or community. These ideas can result in engagement, learning and energy for realizing sustainable solutions.
Smart Mobs: The Next Social Revolution. Transforming Cultures and Communities in the Age of Instant Access, Howard RHEINGOLD, Perseus Publishing (2002), 266 pp., $26.00. For twenty years the author has explored the development of new technologies and its interface with the people who use them. Anyone concerned with where society is going cannot afford to miss this penetrating and original analysis.
World report on violence and health, World Health Organization (2002), 346 pp., $27.00. The first comprehensive review of the problem of violence on a
global scale - what it is, who affects it and what can be done about it. Argues strongly that violence is preventable and it is not an intractable social problem, or an inevitable part of the human condition. But there are no simple solutions and progress needs to address multiple levels and multiple sectors of society simultaneously.
Knowledge Management and Information Technology The Global Internet Economy, Edited by Bruce KNIGHT, The MIT Press (2003), 520 pp., £26.50. Thirteen articles that show how the internet is challenging existing institutions and powerful interests. Focused on comparing the experience of seven countries: France, Germany, India, Japan, Sweden, South Korea and the United States. Pity not a less academic and more strategic/managerial approach.
Digital Strategies in the Pharmaceutical Industry, Leonard LERER and Mike PIPER, Palgrave (2003), 239 pp., £27.50. A review of the current state of digital innovation, internet activity and e-business in the life sciences arena. Uses many examples of current best practice to show how the internet can be used across the pharmaceutical value-chain. Practically written for those who are concerned with taking decisions in these areas, as well as those who are studying the subject.
Book Reviews and Review Briefs
The Economics of Power, Knowledge and Time, Michele JAVARY, Edward Elgar (2002), 179 pp., £49.95. Examines the significance of technological, organizational and institutional change as crucial factors in the analysis of the turnover time of capital. This includes re-exploring the contribution of Marx’s Capital. Some of the issues approached from a different perspective feature in Sticky knowledge; barriers to knowing in the firm, Gabriel SZULANSKI, Sage (2003), £60.00 (hard), £18.99 (soft). Argues that the transfer of practices is a complex process and shows the range of barriers to transferring best practices within the firm. Both for serious students of knowledge management issues.
e-tivities: the key to active online learning, Gilly SALMON, Kogan Page (2002), 223 pp., £19.99. Addresses the key question: how do you really deliver worthwhile learning online? Explores e-tivities that are motivating, engaging, purposeful activities developed and led by an e-moderator. Another approach to this important subject is provided by How to Plan and Manage an Elearning Programme, Roger LEWIS and Quentin WHITLOCK, Gower (2003), 185 pp., £49.50.
Strategic Information Management: Challenges and Strategies in Managing Information Systems, Edited by Robert D. GALLIERS and Dorothy E. LEIDNER, Butterworth-Heinemann (2003) Third edition, 625 pp., £24.99. Draws on a wide range of contemporary articles written by
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leading experts from North America and Europe to review recent thinking on the key issues facing executives in information systems management. Designed as a course text for MBA, Masters & Undergraduate students in information management.
Specialist publications include: Information Technology & the Networked Economy, Patrick MCKEOWN, Thomson (2003), 493 pp., £27.99, and Visual Basic Net: An ObjectOriented Approach, Michael EKEDAHL and William NEWMAN, Thomson (2003), 664 pp., £29.99.
Entrepreneurship and Small Business Anyone Can Do It: Building Coffee Republic from our Kitchen Table. 57 Real-life laws on Entrepreneurship, Sahar and Bobby HASHEMI, Capstone (2002), 198 pp.,£14.99. Offers a number of lessons for aspiring entrepreneurs - and shows how anyone can do it! A great read and teaching tool.
Public Sector How to manage a Voluntary Organization: The Essential Guide for the Not-for-Profit Sector, David HUSSEY and Robert PERRIN, Kogan Page (2003), 306 pp., $67.00. Practical advice on the day-today running of a voluntary organization.
Evaluating Public Management Reforms, George A. BOYNE, Catherine FARRELL, Jennifer LAW, Martin POWELL and Richard M. WALKER, Open University Press (2003), 177 pp., £60.00 (hard), £19.99 (soft). Develops a framework for a theory-based evaluation of
reforms and then uses this framework to assess the impact of new arrangements for public service delivery in the UK. Pity the analysis was not more informed by strategic techniques and strategic thinking.
Reforming Public and Corporate Governance: Management and the Market in Australia, Britain and Korea, Edited by ByongMan AHN, John HALLIGAN and Stephen WILKS, Edward Elgar (2002), 308 pp., £65.00. Twelve articles that provide a detailed comparison of recent developments in public and corporate governance for two of the leading innovators (UK and Australia) and a classic East Asian system (Korea). For the specialist. Also relevant to this market is Success and Failure in Public Governance: A Comparative Analysis, Edited by Mark BOVENS, Paul Hart and B. Guy PETERS, Edward Elgar (2001), 688 pp., £35.00. Thirty-two international articles organized around five areas: Evaluating and Explaining Public Governance: General Introduction; Managing Decline: Public Policy and the Steel Sector; Managing Reform: Public Policy and the Health Sector; Managing Innovation: Public Policy and the Financial Sector; and Managing Crisis: HIV and the Blood Supply.
Other useful information The student’s guide to Exam Success, Eileen TRACY, Open University Press (2002), 184 pp., £9.99;
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How to get a good Degree: Making the most of your time at university, Phil RACE, Open University Press (2002 reprint), 258 pp., £15.99.
How to get a PhD: A handbook for students and their supervisors, Estelle M. PHILLIPS and Derek S. PUGH,
Industrial Relations: Theory & Practice, Edited by Paul EDWARDS, Blackwell Publishing (2002), 538 pp., £65.00 (hard), £24.99 (soft).
Open University Press (2002 reprint), 235 pp., £16.99;
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Book Reviews and Review Briefs
Broad introductions to the whole subject of strategy The Oxford Handbook of STRATEGY. Two Volumes, Edited by David O. FAULKNER and Andrew CAMPBELL, Oxford University Press (2003), £100.00 for the set. Volume 1: A Strategy Overview and Competitive Strategy (517 pp.,) contains sixteen articles split evenly into two parts. The first covers the various approaches to strategy, including the historic, economic, organizational, as well
doi:10.1016/S0024-6301(03)00080-3
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as knowledge-based approaches while the second half looks in more detail at the different strategic methods, as well as the broader issues of organizational learning and strategy in service organizations. Volume II: Corporate Strategy (527 pp.,) covers four themes: Corporate Strategy (Diversification, The Role of the Centre, Mergers and Acquisitions, Strategic Alliances and Networks); International Strategy (Multinational Enterprises, Globalization); Change (Managing Change, Turnarounds, Organizational Structure, Innovation); and Flexibility (Game Theory, A Real Option Framework, Strategic Flexibility). Probably the most
comprehensive, readable coverage of leading edge issues in strategy today. Valuable for researchers, graduate students and teachers with a serious interest in the subject.
Strategic Management, Philip SADLER, Kogan Page (2003), Second Edition, 272 pp., £17.99. A useful guide through the most important works by academics and consultants in the field of strategy although, perhaps, the vital role of values (as opposed to value!) in determining organizational success over the long term could have been given an even higher priority. Part of a valuable MBA Master
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Class series. Another publication in that series that discusses a key element in success strategy is Intercultural Management, Nina JACOB, Kogan Page (2003), Second Edition, 250 pp., £17.99. Covers the most important concepts required to formulate intercultural management strategies, including a chapter on ’core values’.
Exploring the Tomato: Transformation of Nature, Society and Economy, Mark HARVEY, Steve QUILLEY and Huw BEYNON, Edward Elgar (2002), 320 pp., £55.00. Although primarily an academic study, this volume is a fascinating inter-disciplinary study, and well worth reading. It uses the tomato as the vehicle for exploring major historical, biological and socio-economic changes in twentieth century capitalism. It covers issues such as the genetically modified tomato; the impact of European developments; the role of supermarkets and the impact on other stakeholders, such as growers in various parts of the world. It concludes: "There is nothing permanent or everlasting about capitalism. It has an undecided future. And so does the tomato." Too true, but pity a more strategic perspective was not taken. Also pity the material was not written to appeal to a wider audience.
Various concepts of strategic management Guide to Management Ideas, Tim HINDLE, The Economist (2003), 247 pp., £20.00. Brief coverage of more than 100 of the most significant
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management ideas. Particularly valuable for management students, but pity it is not available as a cheap paperback for a wider, student market.
The Board GAME: A Director’s Companion for winning business, Peter WAINE, Wiley (2002), 210 pp., £18.99. A practical look at life at the top of organizations that offers insights into why companies behave the way they do, where they go wrong and what can be done to put things right. In particular, the relationship between the Chairman & CEO is examined, together with the role of Non-Executive Directors. Essential reading for both senior executives and those aspiring to such positions.
Analytical methods, tools and approaches Making Scorecards Actionable: Balancing Strategy and Control, NilsGoran OLVE, Carl-Johan PETRI, Jan ROY and Sofie ROY, Wiley (2003), 304 pp., £22.50. Evaluates 15 companies where the Balanced Scorecard concept has been used to control changes. Concludes (p. 290): "If managed correctly an organization is able to reap the benefits and realize the potential from its scorecard implementation." This is a key point that also applies to all other management techniques “if managed correctly”. Always easier to write about that than to implement effectively in practice. But the book is essential reading for all those interested in the BS approach.
Thinking Beyond Technology: Creating New Value in Business, Joseph A. DIVANNA, Palgrave (2003), 226 pp., £25.00. Explores the parallel between the value proposition of new technologies, such as the Internet, with some more historic perspectives. Argues that technological innovation should be seen as a continuous process; also provides insights into the influence on social technological adoption.
Why Decisions Fail: Avoiding the Blunders and Traps that Lead to Debacles, Paul C. NUTT, Berrett-Koehler (2002), 332 pp., $22.95. An analysis - in many cases public for the first time - the chains of blunders and bad judgements that led to fifteen now legendary - debacles, including the Firestone tire recall, Brent Spa, Barings Bank, Euro Disney and Quaker’s failed acquisition of Snapple. In each case the author explores how and where the decision-making process went wrong and discusses what managers can learn from these ’monumental fiascos’. Needs to be widely read - urgently – if similar mistakes are to be prevented in the future.
Scenario Planning: the link between future and strategy, Mats LINDGREN and Hans BANDHOLD, Palgrave (2003), 180 pp., £25.00. Uses examples and cases to show how greater strategic flexibility can be achieved by using a new model that more closely integrates scenario planning. Readable and relevant.
Book Reviews and Review Briefs
Organizational Innovations, Peter CLARK, Sage (2003), 225 pp., £60.00 (hard), £19.99 (soft). A useful introduction of organizational innovations for students and academic teaching in this area. Also relevant is Big Ideas: Putting the Zest into Creativity and Innovation at Work, Jonne CESERANI, Kogan Page (2003), 197 pp., £16.99. Creativity is the lifeblood of any organization. This book provides a practical and readable approach to developing an environment that encourages creativity.
Advanced Modeling for Transit Operations and Service Planning, Edited by William H.K. LAM and Michael G.H. BELL, Pergamon Elsevier Science (2003), 354 pp., $90.00. Twelve articles that address a variety of issues relating to how to improve transit operations and service planning. For the specialist.
New Product Development: Successful Innovation in the Marketplace, Michael Z. BROOKE and William Ronald MILLS, International Business Press/Haworth Press Inc. (2003), 219 pp., $34.95. Can help you keep your company on the edge irrespective of industry. Essential reading for anyone with responsibility for this vital, but (surprisingly?) high-risk area.
Assumption-Based Planning: A Tool for Reducing Avoidable Surprises, James A. DEWAR, Cambridge University Press (2002), 248 pp., £47.50 (hard), £16.95 (soft). Argues that all forecasting applications need to be underpinned by understanding
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and theory. Attempts to reduce unwelcome surprises in the life of any organization that can often be traced to the failure of an assumption that was not given the attention it deserved. Useful antidote to the too often over mechanistic approach that tends to dominate too much of the field of forecasting.
Innovation: Harnessing Creativity for Business Growth, Editor Adam JOLLY, Kogan Page (2003), 164 pp., £25.00. Explores the characteristics and processes that distinguish truly innovative companies. Also provides management tools to help companies deliver effective innovation strategies. Based on the findings of a two-year research programme (around the 1000 ’millennium projects’) undertaken by the Design Council and the Innovation Unit of the UK Department of Trade and Industry. Effective innovation is so vital for all organizations that this book should be high on any business reading list. Another readable argument for urgent and radical change is provided by Out of our Minds: Learning to be Creative, Ken ROBINSON, Capstone (2001), 225 pp., £15.99. Argues that the real problem with creativity starts with our schools and universities. A readable exploration with three key questions: Why is it essential to promote creativity?, Why is it necessary to develop creativity?, and, What is involved in promoting creativity? A series of useful, practical guides on the theme of Positive Business are now available, including: Minimize Stress, Maximize Success: How to Rise above it All and Realize your Goals, Clare HARRIS, 160 pp., £9.99 and The Secrets of
Successful Negotiation: Effective Strategies to Improve your Negotiating Skills, Juliet NIERENBERG and Irene S. ROSS, 160 pp., £9.99. Both from Duncan Baird Publishers (2003).
Leadership, change and implementation Multiple Intelligence and Leadership, Edited by Ronald E. RIGGIO, Susan E. MURPHY, and Francis J. PIROZZOLO, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates (2002), 264 pp., £46.95. Twelve (academic) papers that explore whether or not a high IQ is a pre-requisite for a leader. Organized around three themes: Multiple Domains of Intelligence; Models of Leadership and Multiple Intelligences; and Applications of Multiple Intelligences to Leader Effectiveness. For the specialist.
Leadership for Follower Commitment, David J. COOPER, Butterworth-Heinemann (2003), 204 pp., £21.99. Provides analysis of subjects, themes, theories and current thinking concerning leadership and employee commitment. Based on the view that leadership is not leadership unless followers willingly follow. Useful but surprising greater reference was not given to Servant-Leadership ideas.
10 things that keep CEOs Awake and HOW to put them to bed, Elizabeth COFFEY, McGraw-Hill (2003), 218 pp., £19.99. Examines real life issues in chapters: Developing bifocal vision; Getting the organizational structure right; Creating time to maximize CEO impact; Energizing
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the organization through leadership; Delivering strategy through the top team; Managing the board; Communicating with all the stakeholders all of the time; Meeting the diversity challenge; Surviving in the global jungle; and Balancing your work/life demands. Each chapter sets its subject in context, details the specific challenges, defines the desired outcomes and shows how organizations can be guided to achieving them. Full of sound common sense - although it can easily sound bland.
Leadership, Philip SADLER, Kogan Page (2003) Second Edition, 195 pp., £17.99. A subject of continuing intense debate. Another publication in the MBA Masterclass series, which also includes other publications mentioned earlier in this review briefs section.
Leadership Development: Paths to Self-Insight and Professional Growth, Manuel LONDON, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates (2002), 293 pp., £25.50. Explores how leaders can gain and use self-knowledge for continuous improvement and career development. A book for both current and aspiring leaders, as well as a wide range of trainers, researchers and students of the subject.
Wisdom from the Ancients: Enduring Business lessons from Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar and the illustrious Leaders of Ancient Greece and Rome, Thomas J. FIGUEIRA, T. Corey BRENNAN and Rachel Hall STERNBERG, Perseus Publishing (2002), 241 pp., $20.00. A collection of historical exerpts and quotations from the classic
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emperors, philosophers, orators, politicians, warriors, playwrights and other thought leaders of the past. Brings alive timeless insights for today’s mangers. Stimulating and sobering. Also relevant is Pursuit of Destiny: A History of Prediction, Paul HALPERN, Perseus Publishing (2002), 250 pp., $25.00. A fascinating examination of the contribution of the oracles of the ancient past to the predictive machines of today concerned with exploring the future. Effective knowledge management needs to integrate historic wisdom and that is rarely done.
Global strategic management Capitalism is Dead: Peoplism Rules. Creating Success Out of Corporate Chaos, Alec REED, McGraw Hill (2003), 194 pp., £19.99. Outlines the challenges facing businesses which have to adjust to the growing demands of a marketplace where commoditization and globalization continually erode margins. Very readable and thought-provoking. Pity not available as a cheap paperback to reach the wider audience it deserves.
The Changing Face of Chinese Management, Jie TANG and Anthony WARD, Routledge (2003), 234 pp., £19.99. Provides valuable insights into Chinese business today and how it has changed over the last decade. Useful for a wide range of practitioners and students, particularly the increasing number working together with that part of the world.
European Pensions & Global Finance, Gordon L. CLARK, Oxford University Press (2003), 252 pp., £17.99. Discusses the demographic and funding crises that threaten Continental European systems of pension and retirement income. Essential reading for anyone concerned with strategic thinking on this particularly challenging problem area.
Asia Pacific Governance: From Crisis to Reform, Edited by Charles SAMPFORD, Suzanne CONDLLN, Margaret PALMER and Tom ROUND, Ashgate (2002), 353 pp., £55.00. Nineteen, essentially academic, articles that address a number of questions for the post 1997 Asian economic crisis world. How can economic growth be combined with justice and protecting social and cultural values? How can political reforms be embedded within sound public management? How can nations govern within the context of the pressure for greater ethnic and local autonomy? What role for the military? Important questions with no easy answers.
Corporate Responsibility & Labour Rights: Codes of Conduct in the Global Economy, Rhys JENKINS, Ruth PEARSON & Gill SEYFANG, Earthscan (2003), 232 pp., £48.00 (hard), £17.95 (soft). Brings together 17 papers, that reflect the work of academics, practitioners and activists, to provide a broad-based, multidisciplinary and critical assessment of the growth, content and significance of corporate codes of conduct, particularly as they relate to
Book Reviews and Review Briefs
corporate responsibility for working conditions and labour rights. Also includes a list of key websites.
The changing global context of international business, Peter J. BUCKLEY, Palgrave (2003), 371 pp., £55.00. Explores four key issues in the world economy: the changing context of international business; the continuing pace of economic integration; international joint ventures; and knowledge management. Also shows how each of these issues affects the strategies of multinational enterprises, taking into account both the moral basis of global capitalism and the events of September 11th. Additional background to these issues can be found in The West and the Rest: Globalization and the Terrorist Threat, Roger SCRUTON, Intercollegiate Studies Institute (2002), 187 pp., $19.95. And in Making Global Trade Work for People, coordinator and lead author Kamel MALHOTRA, Earthscan (2003), 341 pp., $89.95 (hard), $29.95 (soft). The latter explores questions such as: How can the WTO framework provide the policy autonomy and flexibility that developing countries need in order to benefit from the trade process? Should there be a one-size-fits-all approach to Intellectual Property protection? What trade rules and standards should be developed to allow for diversity across regions and nations?
Global Disorder, Robert HARVEY, Constable & Robinson (2003), 476 pp., £18.99. Written in the wake of September 11th and based on extensive interviews with key US policy makers, in order to
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explore the rise of the US to its dominant position as the world’s first ’mega-power’. Identifies the sources of instability that create global disorder and threaten world peace. Also explores the dangers in the globalization of capitalism free from political control, and how - and where action is needed in order to maintain stability and world peace. Also relevant are the thoughts contained in The Ideas That Conquered the World: Peace, Democracy and Free Markets in the Twenty-first Century, Michael MANDELBAUM, Public Affairs (2002), 496 pp., £19.99. Argues that three ideas dominate the world today: peace, as the preferred basis for relations between and among different countries; democracy, as the optimal way to organize political life and free markets as the indispensable vehicle for the creation of wealth. Also explores how the prospects for these ideas might evolve in the years to come.
Strategic Management for Travel and Tourism, Nigel EVANS, David CAMPBELL and George STONEHOUSE, Butterworth-Heinemann (2003), 412 pp., £19.99. Comprehensive teaching text that uses industry-based case studies. Useful for undergraduate and post-graduate students focusing on strategy in the travel and tourism sectors. Another useful teaching text that covers other issues in the same sector is Cross-Cultural Behaviour in Tourism: Concepts and Analysis, Yvetter REISINGER and Lindsay W. TURNER, Butterworth-Heinemann (2003), 337 pp., £25.99. Provides in-depth insights into the concepts, definitions and measures of the essential cultural
components that encourage tourism.
Happiness & Hardship: Opportunity and Insecurity in New Market Economies, Carol GRAHAM and Stefano PETTINATO, Brookings Institution Press (2002), 174 pp., $42.95 (hard), $17.95 (soft). Attempts to provide a conceptual framework for analyzing the relationship between subjective well-being (or happiness) and the political sustainability of marketorientated growth in countries where markets are newly emerging. Surprising to find no mention of the classic study by Fred HIRSCH, Social Limits to Growth, Routledge & Kegan Paul (1977). Also relevant, Addicted to Unhappiness, Martha Heineman PIEPER and William J. PIEPER, McGraw-Hill (2003), 240 pp., $21.95.
Stock-Market Psychology: How People Value and Trade Stocks, Karl-Erik WARNERYD, Edward Elgar (2001), 339 pp., £25.00. A detailed overview of the relevant literature on the subjects of economics, psychology and finance. A more financial approach is taken in Strategic Financial Decisions, Mattias HAMBERG, Copenhagen Business School Press (2001), 373 pp., £37.00. Explores rationality and market efficiency in both theory and practice. For the specialist. Other global financial issues are considered in Capital Flows and Crises, Barry EICHENGREEN, The MIT Press (2003), 377 pp., £23.50. Discusses the historical, theoretical, empirical and policy aspects of global capital flows. Also explores
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the connection between capital flows, crises and growth.
Strategic Human Resource Management, including values/ethics issues Pipe Dreams: Greed, Ego, and the Death of ENRON, Robert BRYCE, Public Affairs (2002), 394 pp., £9.99. Traces Enron’s evolution from its humble beginnings in the American Southwest, through the business decisions and extramarital affairs, to the broader dimensions of its corruption and its eventual demise. Essential reading for anyone with an interest in contemporary business issues. Those with a very serious interest in governance issue could try Governing as Governance, Jan KOOIMAN, Sage Publication (2003), 249 pp., £65.00 (hard), £22.00 (soft). But the language used does not make for easy reading.
The Ethics of Teaching: A Casebook, Patricia KEITHSPIEGEL, Bernard E. WHITLEY Jr, Deborah Ware BALOGH, David V. PERKINS, and Arno F. WITTIG, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates (2002), Second Edition, 273 pp., £21.50. Uses 195 cases to help review ethical dilemmas that can arise in educational settings, as well as providing tips on how to avoid these predicaments, and how to deal with them when they do occur. Useful as a vehicle for stimulating discussion about important ethical issues in a particularly sensitive area. Ethical dilemmas in another area are explored in The Selfish Altruist:
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Relief work in famine and war, Tony VAUX, Earthscan (2001), 230 pp., £12.00. Eight chapters that review examples in Kosovo, Ethiopia, Sudan, Mozambique, Afganistan, Somalia, Azerbaijan, and Rwanda. Challenging ideas that should be widely read.
Managing Quality, Mihaela L. KELEMEN, Sage (2003), 209 pp., £70.00 (hard), 21.99 (soft). Provides a contemporary review and analysis of relevant techniques by drawing on a number of disciplines. Useful for a wide range of undergraduate and post-graduate courses. Another useful book on the quality theme is Quality Beyond Six Sigma, Ron BASU and J. Nevan WRIGHT, B. Butterworth Heinemann (2003), 188 pp., £19.99. Provides a practical framework for building on Total Quality Management (TQM) and Total Preventative Maintenance (TPM) using the statistical approach of Six Sigma so as to comfortably ’fit’ any size or type of organization.
Evaluating Human Capital: Research Report, Harry SCARBOROUGH and Juanita ELIAS, Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (2002), 66 pp., £20.00 for members and £50.00 for non-members. The results of a programme of work that investigated the link between people management and business performance. It considered the challenges involved in the evaluation of human capital, as well as highlighting common principles on which to build measurement tools. Some useful ideas for those with a special interest in the subject. A more practical approach to many of these
issues is provided by How To get Best Value from HR: The Shared Services Option, Peter REILLY and Tony WILLIAMS, Gower (2003), 160 pp., £45.00. Uses the shared service model, with step-by-step implementation guidance to show how operations can be made more cost-effective and productive. A specialist area of people development is covered in Assessing the Value of Your Training, Leslie RAE, Gower (2002), 240 pp., £49.50.
Debating Organization: Point-Counterpoint in Organization Studies, Robert WESTWOOD and Stewart CLEGG, Blackwell Publishing (2003), 403 pp., £60.00 (hard), £24.99 (soft). Twenty (academic) articles based on five key themes of organisational studies: Foundations; Frames; Structure & Culture; Identity and Relationships. For the specialist reader.
The Cultural Imperative: Global Trends in the 21st Century, Richard D. LEWIS, Nicholas Brealey (2003), 338 pp., £19.99. Explores the link between the cultural dimensions of nations to national competitive advantage. Also presents new explanations for their inter-relationships. The epilogue explores the new post September 11th issues. Another approach that emphasizes the importance of the cultural dimension is Coaching Across Cultures: New Tools for Leveraging National, Corporate & Professional Differences, Philippe ROSINSKI, Nicholas Brealey (2003), 306 pp., £19.99.
Book Reviews and Review Briefs
Marketing strategy Relationship Marketing: Dialogue and Networks in the E-Commerce Era, Richard J. VAREY, Wiley (2002), 217 pp., £24.95. Maintains that Relationship Marketing is a business strategy within a management framework that integrates marketing, ecommerce, corporate communication and knowledge management. Relevant for students on a wide range of marketing programmes.
A Genie’s Wisdom: A fable of How a CEO Learned to be a Marketing Genius, Jack TROUT, John Wiley (2003), 120 pp., £13.95. A brief, fun tour through ’everything the CEO needs to know to become a marketing genius’. A good easy read as long as you don’t get carried way by the label of ’genius’.
Brand New Justice: The Upside of Global Branding, Simon ANHOLT, Butterworth-Heinemann (2003), 180 pp., £24.99. One of the worlds’ leading branding experts shows how the combination of branded exports and ’nation branding’ can create fast-track economic development for emerging markets. Uses case studies of second and third world international brands, combined with detailed advice on international brand development for those parts of the world. Some special aspects of brand development are covered in Brand Child: remarkable insights into the minds of today’s global kids and their relationship with brands, Martin LINDSTROM with Patricia
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B. SEYBOLD, Kogan Page (2003), 320 pp., £25.00. Apparently tweens can be both very easy targets (they desperately need role models) and very difficult ones (they are unpredictable and easily bored) at the same time. Pity no chapter on the long-term social implications of these developments.
Relationship Marketing: Creating Stakeholder Value, Martin CHRISTOPHER, Adrian PAYNE and David BALLANTYNE, Butterworth-Heinemann (2002), 242 pp., £19.99. Reinforces the author’s earlier analysis of the changes in the approaches to marketing in recent years, ending up with a strategy focused on creating long-term profitable relationships with targeted customers. Another publication that addresses the needs of this sector is Customer Relationship Management: Perspectives from the Marketplace, Simon KNOX, Stan MAKLAN, Adrian PAYNE, Joe PEPPARD, and Lynettee RYALS, Butterworth-Heinemann (2003), 302 pp., £24.99. Argues for the relevance of five processes: strategy development, value creation, channel and media integration, information management and performance assessment. Uses a range of case-study material to support the message. A specialist dimension of marketing is covered in Total e-mail Marketing, Dave CHAFFEY, Butterworth-Heinemann (2003) Third Edition, 228 pp., £19.99. A practical approach to e-mail marketing, with cases.
Manufacturing and technology strategy Government, Innovation and Technology Policy: An International Comparative Analysis, Sunil MANI, Edward Elgar (2002), 379 pp., £69.95. An analysis of the changing role of government, with respect to domestic technology development in eight countries split between the creators of new technologies (Japan, Korea and Israel) and those that posses the potential to create new technologies (Singapore, Malaysia, India, South Africa and Brazil). Particularly concerned with the fiscal and non-fiscal policy measures each country employs to stimulate investments in R&D in the enterprise sector, with the most important measure identified as the need to integrate human resource development issues. But more for the academic, than the managerial reader unfortunately.
Harness the Beast! A practical guide for managers everywhere, Chris SELLERS & Anton van der VEGT, Middlesex University Press (2002), 205 pp., £10.99. Uses ’the Beast’ as a metaphor for all the components of business technology and shows how to use this technology to produce improved performance and efficiency by changing people’s thinking. Designed to appeal to busy managers and badly needed.
Changing Gears: The Strategic Implementation of Technology, James CARLOPIO, Palgrave (2003), 200 pp., £25.00. Many (most?) changemanagement programmes
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designed to implement new technology are unsuccessful. This book shows that failure is often (always?) much more to do with people and social factors than with technical factors. Also outlines a practical, readable (and badly needed) approach that should help reduce expensive mistakes.
Future studies and related issues The Change Game: How Today’s Global Trends are Shaping Tomorrow’s Companies, Peter LAWRENCE, Kogan Page (2002), 276 pp., £19.95. Challenging and readable review of ’big picture’ issues that are driving change in business in the West, where it is coming from and where it might be taking us. You might not agree with the comments, but the book should help improve the quality of our thinking about the future.
Up the Down Escalator: Why the Global Pessimists are Wrong, Charles LEADBEATER, Viking (2002), 371 pp., £20.00. Argues that the current pessimism is dangerously overstated and that, as a result, we are talking ourselves into a state of helplessness. The author believes there are good grounds for modest optimism about the state of the world. Unfortunately the case for pessimism appears to have grown in the past year since the book was published. But this does need us to focus even more on the need for (the ’right’) action, if we ever expect things to improve.
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Global Warming & Social Innovation: The Challenge of a Climate-Neutral Society, Edited by Marcel KOK, Walter VERMEULEN, Andre FAAIJ and David de JAGER, Earthscan (2003), £50.00 (hard), £19.95 (soft). Argues that to achieve a climateneutral society, Western societies may need to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases by 80 per cent in order to minimize the risks of climate change. These are issues that are likely to affect us all but, unfortunately, not written for the managerial or general reader.
Futures that Work, Robert REHM, Nancy CEBULA, Fran RYAN and Martin LARGE, Hawthorne Press (2002), 188 pp., £17.99. All about the concept of the search conference - a practical way to build communities of people who want to make positive change happen for their organization or community. These ideas can result in engagement, learning and energy for realizing sustainable solutions.
Smart Mobs: The Next Social Revolution. Transforming Cultures and Communities in the Age of Instant Access, Howard RHEINGOLD, Perseus Publishing (2002), 266 pp., $26.00. For twenty years the author has explored the development of new technologies and its interface with the people who use them. Anyone concerned with where society is going cannot afford to miss this penetrating and original analysis.
World report on violence and health, World Health Organization (2002), 346 pp., $27.00. The first comprehensive review of the problem of violence on a
global scale - what it is, who affects it and what can be done about it. Argues strongly that violence is preventable and it is not an intractable social problem, or an inevitable part of the human condition. But there are no simple solutions and progress needs to address multiple levels and multiple sectors of society simultaneously.
Knowledge Management and Information Technology The Global Internet Economy, Edited by Bruce KNIGHT, The MIT Press (2003), 520 pp., £26.50. Thirteen articles that show how the internet is challenging existing institutions and powerful interests. Focused on comparing the experience of seven countries: France, Germany, India, Japan, Sweden, South Korea and the United States. Pity not a less academic and more strategic/managerial approach.
Digital Strategies in the Pharmaceutical Industry, Leonard LERER and Mike PIPER, Palgrave (2003), 239 pp., £27.50. A review of the current state of digital innovation, internet activity and e-business in the life sciences arena. Uses many examples of current best practice to show how the internet can be used across the pharmaceutical value-chain. Practically written for those who are concerned with taking decisions in these areas, as well as those who are studying the subject.
Book Reviews and Review Briefs
The Economics of Power, Knowledge and Time, Michele JAVARY, Edward Elgar (2002), 179 pp., £49.95. Examines the significance of technological, organizational and institutional change as crucial factors in the analysis of the turnover time of capital. This includes re-exploring the contribution of Marx’s Capital. Some of the issues approached from a different perspective feature in Sticky knowledge; barriers to knowing in the firm, Gabriel SZULANSKI, Sage (2003), £60.00 (hard), £18.99 (soft). Argues that the transfer of practices is a complex process and shows the range of barriers to transferring best practices within the firm. Both for serious students of knowledge management issues.
e-tivities: the key to active online learning, Gilly SALMON, Kogan Page (2002), 223 pp., £19.99. Addresses the key question: how do you really deliver worthwhile learning online? Explores e-tivities that are motivating, engaging, purposeful activities developed and led by an e-moderator. Another approach to this important subject is provided by How to Plan and Manage an Elearning Programme, Roger LEWIS and Quentin WHITLOCK, Gower (2003), 185 pp., £49.50.
Strategic Information Management: Challenges and Strategies in Managing Information Systems, Edited by Robert D. GALLIERS and Dorothy E. LEIDNER, Butterworth-Heinemann (2003) Third edition, 625 pp., £24.99. Draws on a wide range of contemporary articles written by
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leading experts from North America and Europe to review recent thinking on the key issues facing executives in information systems management. Designed as a course text for MBA, Masters & Undergraduate students in information management.
Specialist publications include: Information Technology & the Networked Economy, Patrick MCKEOWN, Thomson (2003), 493 pp., £27.99, and Visual Basic Net: An ObjectOriented Approach, Michael EKEDAHL and William NEWMAN, Thomson (2003), 664 pp., £29.99.
Entrepreneurship and Small Business Anyone Can Do It: Building Coffee Republic from our Kitchen Table. 57 Real-life laws on Entrepreneurship, Sahar and Bobby HASHEMI, Capstone (2002), 198 pp.,£14.99. Offers a number of lessons for aspiring entrepreneurs - and shows how anyone can do it! A great read and teaching tool.
Public Sector How to manage a Voluntary Organization: The Essential Guide for the Not-for-Profit Sector, David HUSSEY and Robert PERRIN, Kogan Page (2003), 306 pp., $67.00. Practical advice on the day-today running of a voluntary organization.
Evaluating Public Management Reforms, George A. BOYNE, Catherine FARRELL, Jennifer LAW, Martin POWELL and Richard M. WALKER, Open University Press (2003), 177 pp., £60.00 (hard), £19.99 (soft). Develops a framework for a theory-based evaluation of
reforms and then uses this framework to assess the impact of new arrangements for public service delivery in the UK. Pity the analysis was not more informed by strategic techniques and strategic thinking.
Reforming Public and Corporate Governance: Management and the Market in Australia, Britain and Korea, Edited by ByongMan AHN, John HALLIGAN and Stephen WILKS, Edward Elgar (2002), 308 pp., £65.00. Twelve articles that provide a detailed comparison of recent developments in public and corporate governance for two of the leading innovators (UK and Australia) and a classic East Asian system (Korea). For the specialist. Also relevant to this market is Success and Failure in Public Governance: A Comparative Analysis, Edited by Mark BOVENS, Paul Hart and B. Guy PETERS, Edward Elgar (2001), 688 pp., £35.00. Thirty-two international articles organized around five areas: Evaluating and Explaining Public Governance: General Introduction; Managing Decline: Public Policy and the Steel Sector; Managing Reform: Public Policy and the Health Sector; Managing Innovation: Public Policy and the Financial Sector; and Managing Crisis: HIV and the Blood Supply.
Other useful information The student’s guide to Exam Success, Eileen TRACY, Open University Press (2002), 184 pp., £9.99;
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How to get a good Degree: Making the most of your time at university, Phil RACE, Open University Press (2002 reprint), 258 pp., £15.99.
How to get a PhD: A handbook for students and their supervisors, Estelle M. PHILLIPS and Derek S. PUGH,
Industrial Relations: Theory & Practice, Edited by Paul EDWARDS, Blackwell Publishing (2002), 538 pp., £65.00 (hard), £24.99 (soft).
Open University Press (2002 reprint), 235 pp., £16.99;
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Book Reviews and Review Briefs