The Top Business Books,
September and October, 2002

The Business Reader Review is a free, editorially-independent publication written by Theodore Kinni, and sponsored by The Business Reader. Ted is a member of The National Book Critics Circle and he has been reviewing business books on assignment for over a decade. He has reviewed books for a varied group of magazines and newspapers including Training, IndustryWeek, Quality Digest, Workforce Training News, and Amacom's Presidents. Ted is also an author and ghostwriter of business books and articles.

"Every person works within or deals with the business system and therefore needs to understand its nature and foundations," writes Wheeling Jesuit University's Younkins. In the best book of the month, this noted advocate of free markets offers the vehicle to that understanding -- a comprehensive overview of the philosophical basis for, and the moral and ethical rights and responsibilities that underlie, the capitalist system.

"Winning organizations are explicitly designed to be Teaching Organizations," proclaims Tichy, co-author of the bestseller The Leadership Engine. In this book, he focuses on the leader's critical role as a teacher. It describes a mutual, interactive process called the "virtuous teaching cycle," a key tool in the creation of an organization that features "leaders at all levels."

Consultant Slywotzky's new book describes a series of twenty-three fictional meetings (between a frustrated manager and a guru), each covering a distinctive "profit pattern." Put yourself in the student's role -- do the homework and the recommended reading -- and you've got a complete toolbox of strategic models for profit-making.

This practical handbook explains the basics of systems thinking and shows how to construct causal loop diagrams and computerized dynamics modeling. UK consultant Sherwood explores how these tools are used to analyze common business issues, such as stimulating growth and establishing policy and strategy.

PM Consultant Bolles explains how to drive project management expertise into every corner of the organization using centers of excellence. Half of the book describes how to create the centers; half describes Project Management Institute's Methodology Guidelines. A CD-ROM includes all of the book's tools and templates in MS Word and Excel files.

Accountability requires a switch from control-based to freedom-based organizations, says this Lebow Company author team. The book, wrapped in a fictional train trip, describes three activities for establishing freedom: granting individual freedom as a right; asking employees to take personal responsibility; and having faith that they can -- and will -- do great things.

"Deviation is the ultimate source of growth and innovation," proclaim futurists Mathews and Wacker. They describe the process through which deviant ideas become social conventions and offer guidelines for capturing the "devox," that is, the voice, spirit, or incarnation of deviant ideas, products, and individuals.

In order to prosper, businesses need to switch their primary focus from shareholders to customers, says Claremont Graduate University b-school's Ellsworth. He finds that shareholder-focused purpose disenfranchises other stakeholders and customers, while a customer-focused purpose enhances strategy and management, supports global operations, and provides a worthy motivation for employees.

Stevens Institute profs Lynn and Reilly studied 700 new product development teams to distill their five keys to successful product innovation. The five are active involvement by top leaders, a clear and stable product vision, prototyping and market testing-- early and often, open communication, and effective teamwork

Consultant Marconi makes the case for cause marketing  in which corporate philanthropy and marketing are mixed. The book offers advice for choosing causes and managing campaigns, as well as a chapter on corporate responses to 9-11 and an extensive "casebook" that analyzes real life examples.

The technology has been refined and travel is expensive, so more and more companies are turning to videoconferencing, according to this consultant team. They deliver a practical planning and participant's guide that is organized around four habits: how to leverage your choices, think prime time, make technology your friend, and maximize your presence.

Cambridge Group CEO Kash introduces the consulting firm's latest performance booster  "Demand Strategy," in which companies are advised to concentrate on producing what customers want and will pay a premium for. The book describes the six "very complete and easy-to-understand steps" to implementing such a strategy.

Toronto-based Lechem's overview of the chairman's role effectively covers the basic responsibilities of the position - board leadership, selection and evaluation, organizational oversight, and agenda setting. In general terms, it also explores some of the legal liabilities and ethical issues that are making front-page news these days.

Giuliani was not the first name that came to mind as a model leader prior to the events of Sept. 11, 2001, but then NYC's mayor delivered what may well become the classic example of effective crisis leadership. The best book of the month is organized into three sections that cover Giuliani's view of the events of Sept. 11, the post-attack recovery effort, and his autobiographical take on the principles of leadership.

Jennings traveled the globe in his quest to identify and study companies that create business success by maximizing output and minimizing costs. The ten finalists - including Nucor, IKEA, Ryanair, Yellow Freight, and Springfield Remanufacturing - illustrate this accessible primer to focusing, streamlining, digitizing, motivating, and embodying your way to a highly productive workplace.

The Responsibility Virus is a cycle of failure driven by people who take too much or too little responsibility for results. University of Toronto b-school head Martin offers four tools for curing the disease: a group decision process, a relationship re-framing exercise, a "ladder" for responsibility development, and a more balanced definition of leader/follower responsibility.

Consultant Tucker delivers a practical guide to weaving the development of new products and services into the daily fabric of your company. He describes strategies and tactics for stimulating innovation through leadership action, cultural traits, idea generation and management, customer focus, and new product development and business strategies.

Momentum (mass x speed x direction) is the primary characteristic that successful digital product companies share, say this pair of high tech execs. Their book describes how to create it by building "mass" in terms of value, gaining "speed" in terms of technological leadership, and setting the "direction" of future market development.

FusionBrands depend on "everyday operational excellence, customer equity, and accountability," says "brand futurist" Wreden. The book is a wide-ranging overview and synthesis of the subject, describing ten core principles of building brands and devoting over half the text to exploring three types of brand drivers -- emotional, experiential, and functional.

The director of E&Y's Entrepreneur Award program collects the best practices of the award winners in this guide to successfully growing a business. The primary elements are the ability to provide visionary and strategic leadership, create a cohesive team culture, innovate and adapt, and manage financial performance.

Stuff breaks and the way to minimize downtime is an organized program of preventive maintenance (PM). Plant engineer Gross offers a seven-step, incremental implementation process (scheduling, facility mapping, equipment lists, PM instructions, equipment manuals, parts inventory, and performance monitoring) that results in a comprehensive PM program. Includes a CD-ROM.

Consultant Broom envisions organizations in which power is an abundant and unlimited commodity that is shared by all employees. He describes how managers can tap into their unrealized personal power, use it to galvanize employees to harness their power, and create team-based structures where all that power is leveraged for maximum impact.

In this big-picture view of the current state of capitalism, Zuboff and Maxmim claim that today's "managerial capitalism," which is based on production and is inner-focused, cannot efficiently respond to its markets. In its place, they envision "distributed capitalism," which is based on federations of businesses and provides "deep support" to individual consumers.

"Bliss" is replacing more traditional needs (such as power, sex, etc.) as the primary human motivator, according the findings of Futurist Davis' ongoing Human Desire Project. In this book, she describes five strategies - "the five most insistent needs of the twenty-first century" - that marketers and their companies should understand during this period of transformation from old motivators to this new desire for bliss.

Web services, an emerging technology which is capable of automating connections between business applications and data, promises a fast, economical way of creating added value from IT investments, according to consultant Hagel. Based on the principles of "loose" coupling and open architecture, Web services enable operational cost reduction, process network opportunities, and organizational flexibility.