The Book Corner offers reviews by Graziadio School faculty on a variety of books on business topics.
In this issue:
Driving Growth Through Innovation: How Leading Firms Are Transforming Their Futures
By Robert Tucker
Berrett-Koehler, 2008Reviewed by Edward Rockey, PhD, Professor of Applied Behavioral Science
This is a rather comprehensive summary of key innovation concepts culled from a broad spectrum and clumped under the umbrella of “growth.
Professor Michael Kinsman,CPA, PhD, Professor of Finance and Accounting, takes a close look at three new books on surviving and thriving in today’s real estate market:
Emerging Real Estate Markets: How to Find and Profit from Up-and-Coming Areas
By David Lindahl
Wiley, 2008
By David Petrovich
Wiley, 2008
The ForeclosureS.com Guide to Advanced Investing Techniques You Won’t Learn Anywhere Else
By Alexis McGee
Wiley, 2008
Managing Brand You: 7 Steps to Creating Your Most Successful Self
By Jerry S. Wilson and Ira Blumenthal
AMACOM, 2008Reviewed by Leo A. Mallette, EdD,
Adjunct Professor of Decision Sciences and Marketing
This book should be used by people who want to reinvent or rebrand themselves, but haven’t been exposed to personal branding in the last decade.
Judgment: How Winning Leaders Make Great Calls
By Noel M. Tichy and Warren G. Bennis
Penguin Group, 2007Reviewed by Sean D. Jasso, PhD,
Practitioner Faculty of Economics
The book effectively accomplishes its stated goal: to explore and understand why some leaders have much greater success in exercising good judgment than others.
Marketing to Hispanics: A Strategic Approach to Assessing and Planning Your Initiative
By Terry J. Soto
Kaplan Publishing, 2006Reviewed by Dave McMahon, DBA,
Associate Professor of Marketing
With U.S. Hispanic purchasing power projected to hit one trillion dollars by 2010, Marketing to Hispanics is a timely guide on how to approach this market opportunity.
The New Paradigm for Financial Markets: The Credit Crisis of 2008 and What it Means
By George Soros
Public Affairs, 2008Reviewed by Davide Accomazzo, MBA,
Adjunct Professor of Finance
In light of the recent market turmoil, Soros revisits his theory of reflexivity to try to explain the historical forces behind such crises.
Social Intelligence: The New Science of Human Relationships
By Daniel Goleman
Bantam, 2007Reviewed by Esther Bleuel, MA, MFT, MDR,
and William Bleuel, PhD, Professor of Decision Sciences
The most important take-away of this book is the impact of our social interaction on our health.
The Age Curve: How to Profit from the Coming Demographic Storm
By Kenneth W. Gronbach
AMACOM, 2007Reviewed by Jody Brightman, PhD,
Adjunct Faculty in Marketing
The Age Curve has a single message that is so powerful, it bears telling and re-telling in myriad forms.
The Execution Premium: Linking Strategy to Operations for Competitive Advantage
By Robert S. Kaplan and David P. Norton
Harvard Business School Press, 2008Reviewed by John Oppenheim,
Adjunct Professor of MIS
According to the authors, the “execution premium” is the value and benefits that come from the concepts put forth in their wildly popular first book, The Balanced Scorecard.
The Nonverbal Advantage: The Secrets and Science of Body Language at Work
By Carol Kinsey Goman
Berrett-Koehlers, 2008Reviewed by Paul Gift, PhD,
Assistant Professor of Economics
The author emphasizes five C’s for deciphering the real meanings behind nonverbal signals: context, clusters, congruence, consistency, and culture.
The Trillion Dollar Meltdown: Easy Money, High Rollers, and the Great Credit Crash
By Charles R. Morris
Public Affairs, 2008Reviewed by John J. Scully, PhD, CPA, Practitioner Faculty of Accounting and Finance
Author Charles Morris offers several interesting insights into the origins of the U.S. credit market meltdown.
