Top Corporate & Business History eBooks

21 Dog Years: Doing Time @ Amazon.com eBook by Daisey, Mike

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 47:11:33 GMT

"Boy meets dot-com, boy falls for dot-com, boy flees dot-com in horror. So goes one of the most perversely hilarious love stories you will ever read, one that blends tech culture, hero worship, cat litter, Albanian economics, venture capitalism, and free bagels into a surreal cocktail of delusion. In 1998, when Amazon.com went to temp agencies to recruit people, they gave them a simple directive: send us your freaks. Mike Daisey -- slacker, onetime aesthetics major, dilettante -- seemed perfect for the job. His ascension from lowly temp to customer service representative to business development hustler over the course of twenty-one dog years is the stuff of both dreams and nightmares. With lunatic precision, Daisey describes the lightless cube farms in which book orders were scrawled on Post-its while technicians struggled to bring computers back online; the fourteen-hour days fueled by caffeine, fanaticism, and illicit day-trading from office desks made from doors; his strange compulsion to send free books to Norwegians; and the fevered insistence of BizDev higher-ups that the perfect business partner was Pets.com -- the now-extinct company that spent all its assets on a sock puppet. In these pages, you'll meet Warren, the cowboy of customer service, capable of verbally hog-tying even the most abusive customer; Amazon employee #5, a reclusive computer gamer worth a cool $300 million, who spends at least six hours a day locked in his office killing goblins; and Jean-Michele, Mike's girlfriend and sparring partner, who tries to keep him grounded, even as dot-com mania seduces them both. At strategic intervals, the narrative is punctuated by hysterically honest letters to CEO Jeff Bezos -- missives that seem ripped from the collective unconscious of dot-com disciples the world over. 21 Dog Years is an epic story of greed, self-deception, and heartbreak, a wickedly funny anthem to an era of bounteous stock options and boundless insanity. "

Corporate Survival: The Critical Importance of Sustainability Risk Management eBook by Anderson, Dan R

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 47:11:33 GMT

Corporate Survival: The Critical Importance of Sustainability Risk Management thoroughly examines the rising sustainability risks that affect thriving businesses, the environment, various societies, people in foreign lands, and our children.

Author Dan Anderson, a professor of risk management and insurance, has been observing sustainability risk management issues for his entire career. In Corporate Survival he presents guidelines for various professionals in the risk management and insurance industries. In his view, corporations need to establish sound sustainability risk management systems in order to survive potentially major financial and professional damages. These damages can arise from liability suits, customer boycotts, shareholder actions, new regulations, and international pressures.

Anderson provides well-timed direction for establishing risk management systems, as well as numerous examples of how companies successfully employ sustainability risk management strategies. He also demonstrates the advantages of following his advice for corporate survival, including reducing sustainability risk costs, improving competitive advantage, attracting both reliable customers and productive employees, augmenting the firm's reputation and community image, and increasing profits.

Corporate Survival will help all corporations and those in the fields of risk management and insurance improve business systems while enhancing environmental quality and social justice conditions.

Avoiding Project Disaster: Titanic Lessons for IT Executives eBook by Kozak-Holland, Mark

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 47:11:33 GMT

Customer Review: It is a good a analysis of the project from a risk management perspective.

Costco's Dirty Little Secrets eBook by Klein, Peter, F.

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 47:11:33 GMT

Customer Review: I terrorized the Dallas employees and now I am fired. I got what I deserve.

Avon : Building The World's Premier Company For Women eBook by Klepacki, Laura

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 47:11:33 GMT

A colorful look at Avon's journey to the top Avon is the world's largest direct sales company, with a record four million representatives in more than 140 countries worldwide. Its product line has expanded from cosmetics to vitamins, weight control products, clothing, and jewelry. In The Avon Story, author Laura Klepacki offers an in-depth look at how Avon grew from a small business selling books door-to-door to one of the world's leading cosmetics companies. Through exclusive interviews with company executives - both past and present--as well as analysts and other experts in the beauty and cosmetics industry, Klepacki reveals how Avon has built a global empire by addressing the needs and customs of women around the world as well as how it has managed to thrive in all economies even in tough times. Readers will also discover how this cosmetics powerhouse has maintained and increased its market share through new product introductions, the use of technology, appealing to different customers, including men and teens, rewarding its best performers, and giving back to society with financial support for such causes as domestic violence and breast cancer. The Avon Story also takes a look at the leadership principles that have allowed Avon to prosper over the years. Engaging and entertaining, The Avon Story offers readers a well-rounded account of one of America's most respected and successful companies. Laura Klepacki (West Caldwell, NJ) is an experienced journalist who has covered beauty, marketing, and other consumer issues. She is the mass-market beauty editor for Women's Wear Daily, where she specializes in articles on the multibillion-dollar health and beauty care industry in the United States. She frequently travels to industry conferences to meet with senior executives and has close contacts with consultants and analysts in the cosmetics and fashion business.

Creating Shareholder Value: A Guide for Managers and Investors eBook by Rappaport, Alfred

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 47:11:33 GMT

Be prepared. This book weighs in at nearly 3.MB in size. You'll need to make sure you've got plenty of room on your PDA before you try to sync up this one. It's the perfect book for anyone with one of the new generation Palms or a Sony Clie. Store this book on an expansion card and you won't have any worries about running out of memory!

The ultimate test of corporate strategy, the only reliable measure, is whether it creates economic value for shareholders. Now, in this substantially revised and updated edition of his 1986 business classic, Creating Shareholder Value, Alfred Rappaport provides managers and investors with the practical tools needed to generate superior returns.

After a decade of downsizings frequently blamed on shareholder value decision making, this book presents a new and in-depth assessment of the rationale for shareholder value. Further, Rappaport presents provocative new insights on shareholder value applications to: (1) business planning, (2) performance evaluation, (3) executive compensation, (4) mergers and acquisitions, (5) interpreting stock market signals, and (6) organizational implementation.

Readers will be particularly interested in Rappaport's answers to three management performance evaluation questions: (1) What is the most appropriate measure of performance? (2) What is the most appropriate target level of performance? and (3) How should rewards be linked to performance?

The recent acquisition of Duracell International by Gillette is analyzed in detail, enabling the reader to understand the critical information needed when assessing the risks and rewards of a merger from both sides of the negotiating table.

The shareholder value approach presented here has been widely embraced by publicly traded as well as privately held companies worldwide. Brilliant and incisive, this is the one book that should be required reading for managers and investors who want to stay on t

AC/DC: The Savage Tale of the First Standards War eBook by McNichol, Tom

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 47:11:33 GMT

AC/DC tells the little-known story of how Thomas Edison wrongly bet in the fierce war between supporters of alternating current and direct current. The savagery of this electrical battle can hardly be imagined today. The showdown between AC and DC began as a rather straightforward conflict between technical standards, a battle of competing methods to deliver essentially the same product, electricity. But the skirmish soon metastasized into something bigger and darker. In the AC/DC battle, the worst aspects of human nature somehow got caught up in the wires; a silent, deadly flow of arrogance, vanity, and cruelty. Following the path of least resistance, the war of currents soon settled around that most primal of human emotions: fear. AC/DC serves as an object lesson in bad business strategy and poor decision making. Edison's inability to see his mistake was a key factor in his loss of control over the 'operating system' for his future inventions'not to mention the company he founded, General Electric.

Born to Steal: When the Mafia Hit Wall Street eBook by Weiss, Gary

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 47:11:33 GMT

This account of the Mafia's infiltration of Wall Street uses as its chief source a fast-talking Staten Island kid named Louis Pasciuto who, from age l9-25, moved stocks for l7 different brokerage houses-most of that time without even a fake license. Louis was the consummate liar, selling overpriced and phantom stocks to naive Americans and leading a lifestyle worthy of Caligula. To avoid a long prison sentence, he ultimately became a witness for the state. Among the book's scenes: morning pep rallies filled with Dr. Seuss poetry and "Rocky" theme music; tie-'em-up-in-knots cold-call sessions that netted for each hood-broker as much as $500,000 per month; 36-hour cocaine binges; orgies; and tussles with Mafia thugs toting Mac l0 machine pistols.

Channel Management eBook by Forsyth, Patrick

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 47:11:33 GMT

The fast track route to effective channel management. Covers key channel management techniques, from deciding the mix and ensuring customer focus to monitoring performance and channel innovation. Examples and lessons from benchmark companies, including Sharp and Sanwa and ideas from the smartest thinkers. Includes a glossary of key concepts and a comprehensive resources guide.

A Double Scotch: How Chivas Regal and the Glenlivet Became Global Icons eBook by Pacult, F., Paul

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 47:11:33 GMT

An inside look at two brands that made Scotland's national drink a global phenomenon

A Double Scotch tells the intertwined success stories of Chivas Regal and The Glenlivet-two Scotch whisky brands recognized the world over for their unparalleled quality. Founded by Scottish grocers on Aberdeen, Chivas Regal stands as the world's most popular prestige blended Scotch. First distilled by a pistol-packing Highlander, The Glenlivet is today the top-selling single-malt Scotch in America. F. Paul Pacult explores these two iconic spirits, and tells a compelling business story of the remarkable and resourceful families who endured government interference, the threat of physical violence from illicit distillers, wars and Prohibition, and fierce competition to build two winning brands. A Double Scotch is a business book and historical account that goes down easy. Told against the backdrop of Scotland's intriguing distilling history, A Double Scotch also tells the story of a nation that's inextricably linked to its national beverage.

F. Paul Pacult (Wallkill, NY) is one of the most accomplished and respected authorities on beverage alcohol. Currently, he is Publisher/Editor of F. Paul Pacult's Spirit Journal, Special Projects Editor of the New York Times Magazine, judging director for the San Francisco World Spirits Competition, and spirits-tasting coordinator for Wine Enthusiast magazine. He is also the author of American Still Life (0-471-44407-3), from Wiley.

Blinded by the Right eBook by Brock, David

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 47:11:33 GMT

In a powerful and deeply personal memoir in the tradition of Arthur Koestler's The God That Failed, David Brock, the original right-wing scandal reporter, chronicles his rise to the pinnacle of the conservative movement and his painful break with it.David Brock pilloried Anita Hill in a bestseller. His reporting in The American Spectator as part of the infamous "Arkansas Project" triggered the course of events that led to the historic impeachment trial of President Clinton. Brock was at the center of the right-wing dirty tricks operation of the Gingrich era -- and a true believer -- until he could no longer deny that the political force he was advancing was built on little more than lies, hate, and hypocrisy.In Blinded By the Right, Brock, who came out of the closet at the height of his conservative renown, tells his riveting story from the beginning, giving us the first insider's view of what Hillary Rodham Clinton called "the vast right-wing conspiracy." Whether dealing with the right-wing press, the richly endowed think tanks, Republican political operatives, or the Paula Jones case, Brock names names from Clarence Thomas on down, uncovers hidden links, and demonstrates how the Republican Right's zeal for power created the poisonous political climate that culminated in George W. Bush's election.Already making national headlines, David Brock writes with stunning candor about a fascinating but deeply disturbing period of American politics. Blinded By the Right is a classic political memoir of our times.

Backfire: Carly Fiorina's High-Stakes Battle for the Soul of Hewlett-Packard eBook by Burrows, Peter

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 47:11:33 GMT

Backfire: Carly Fiorina's High-Stakes Battle for the Soul of Hewlett-Packard

Allianz and the German Insurance Business, 1933-1945 eBook by Feldman, Gerald

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 47:11:33 GMT

This history of the internationally prominent insurance corporation Allianz AG in the Nazi era is based largely on new or previously unavailable archival sources. Feldman takes the reader through varied cases of collaboration and conflict with the Nazi regime with fairness and a commitment to informed analysis. He touches on issues of damages in the Pogrom of 1938, insuring facilities used in forced labor camps, and the problems of de-Nazification and restitution. The broader issues examined in this study - cooperation with Nazi policies, the way in which profit, ideology, and opportunism played a role in corporate decision making, and the question of how Jewish insurance assets were expropriated - are particularly relevant today given the ongoing international debate about restitution for Holocaust survivors. This book joins a growing body of scholarship based on free access to the records of German corporations in the Nazi era.

Balanced Scorecard eBook by Olve, Nils-Goran, Sjstrand, Anna

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 47:11:33 GMT

Fast track route to understanding and implementing the balanced scorecard in your business. Covers the key aspects of the balanced scorecard, from basing the balanced scorecard on the company's strategy and relating it to existing control systems to setting goals and monitoring progress. Examples and lessons from some of the world's most successful businesses, including Ricoh, Xerox and Ericsson Enterprise and ideas from the smartest thinkers including Robert S. Kaplan and David P. Norton. Includes a glossary of key concepts and a comprehensive resources guide

Beer School: Bottling Success at the Brooklyn Brewery eBook by Hindy, Steve / Potter, Tom

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 47:11:33 GMT

What do you get when you cross a journalist and a banker? A brewery, of course. ""A great city should have great beer. New York finally has, thanks to Brooklyn. Steve Hindy and Tom Potter provided it. Beer School explains how they did it: their mistakes as well as their triumphs. Steve writes with a journalist's skepticism-as though he has forgotten that he is reporting on himself. Tom is even less forgiving-he's a banker, after all. The inside story reads at times like a cautionary tale, but it is an account of a great and welcome achievement."" -Michael Jackson, The Beer Hunter(r) ""An accessible and insightful case study with terrific insight for aspiring entrepreneurs. And if that's not enough, it is all about beer!"" -Professor Murray Low, Executive Director, Lang Center for Entrepreneurship, Columbia Business School ""Great lessons on what every first-time entrepreneur will experience. Being down the block from the Brooklyn Brewery, I had firsthand witness to their positive impact on our community. I give Steve and Tom's book an A++!"" -Norm Brodsky, Senior Contributing Editor, Inc. magazine ""Beer School is a useful and entertaining book. In essence, this is the story of starting a beer business from scratch in New York City. The product is one readers can relate to, and the market is as tough as they get. What a fun challenge! The book can help not only those entrepreneurs who are starting a business but also those trying to grow one once it is established. Steve and Tom write with enthusiasm and insight about building their business. It is clear that they learned a lot along the way. Readers can learn from these lessons too."" -Michael Preston, Adjunct Professor, Lang Center for Entrepreneurship, Columbia Business School, and coauthor, The Road to Success: How to Manage Growth ""Although we (thankfully!) never had to deal with the Mob, being held up at gunpoint, or having our beer and equipment ripped off, we definitely identified with the challenges faced in those early days of cobbling a brewery together. The revealing story Steve and Tom tell about two partners entering a business out of passion, in an industry they knew little about, being seriously undercapitalized, with an overly naive business plan, and their ultimate success, is an inspiring tale."" -Ken Grossman, founder, Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.