Enterprise-Value Books

Governance is one of many buzzwords floating around the corporate and information technology worlds today. For many people, it may rank right down there with compliance. But the reality is that governance has been traditionally viewed as essential to corporate viability and survival. But the question is whether strong governance should be the end game, or the starting point for a new model. In Beyond Governance: Creating Corporate Value through Performance, Conformance and Responsibility (John Wiley and Sons, 2005, 336 pages), Martin Fahy, Jeremy Roche, and Anastasia Weiner argue that governance alone will not cut the mustard, and that a new model is needed.

In this book, which should challenge most readers' conventional thinking, the authors set out to set governance on its ear. They do this by arguing that governance alone is not the answer, and that the new model needs to be built on performance, conformance, and corporate responsibility. The succeed on many levels that, if their model is accurate, has many implications for companies, customers and vendors alike.

What readers need to take from this book is that traditional roles such as finance and accounting have changed and are constantly evolving. For people in these professions, they need to understand this and adapt. For software vendors, the paradigm has to shift from one of lowering costs, because corporations are past that stage, and focus on how their products need to demonstrate how they add to strategic, integrated value. For Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) and internal auditors, the authors discuss risk assessment and risk management at length.

What I found most interesting is that the authors are writing what IBM and Lotus Software have been saying for going on 20 years now: collaboration and workflow are an essential cog in this model. In fact, as much as IBM has been criticized by Industry analysts and their own business partners for their Workplace strategy, it is clear from my reading of this book is that they "got it" a long time ago, and many of their competitors still do not "get it". Their challenge now is to clearly articulate it in relation to the model presented.

I do not know if I was comfortable with the authors' discussion of corporate responsibility as it represents a very Euro-centric view of corporate responsibility through the promotion of sustainable economic development in the Third World. I am not saying I disagree with their views, it is just that this might be a harder sell in the United States.

Who Should Read This Book?

This book has many potential audiences who really should read it. CEOs, CFOs and CIOs should read it an embrace at least some of the concepts in their strategic thinking and planning. Internal and external auditors should read it to better understand the big picture. And finally, software vendors should read it to understand what they need to do and where they need to go to create strategic value with their products.

The Scorecard

An Eagle on a Long Par 5

Have you ever wondered exactly what you were born to do? Have you ever asked yourself what is your purpose in life? According to Lucy Ford in CHOSEN TO REIGN: Understanding your Purpose in Life, each of us has a specific assignment to fulfill from God. We were each put here for a purpose. That purpose was predetermined by God and when we fulfill it, it brings us to the place God has chosen for us to reign. At this point our lives will then be put in its proper perspective. A few of the interesting chapters in the book dealt with many of the common fallacies people have about spiritual gifts, knowing when it's time to step into your season and having a legacy that lives on.

Ford has written an easy to follow and thoroughly exhaustive scriptural approach to discovering one's God-given gifts or talents and how they should be used for the glory of God. She uses biblical examples as well as a few ordinary examples to show how living a life with Godly purpose is important. I love that she started the book with Jesus and how He was also given a purpose to fulfill on Earth. Once his earthly assignment was complete, he was able to reign with God in heaven. This is a small book, but it packs a ton of information.

Reviewed by Brenda M. Lisbon
of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers

At last - clear, concise and practical advice on the thorny issue of defining the purpose, vision and supporting values of an organisation. The Committed Enterprise is a thoughtful, thoroughly researched and well-presented book, which captures the experience of 125 organisations in private and public sectors. It is a practical necessity for those companies who would like to do `better' as well as for the consultants advising them.

This book is an extensive rework of the authors' "The Adaptive Enterprise", and in my opinion supersedes that earlier book.

Like the first book this one borrows heavily from the software engineering community to employ proven techniques, such as layered design, patterns and a component-based approach to infrastructure. Where this book extends and builds upon the earlier work is the emphasis on extending the corporate infrastructure into a meta infrastructure that is characterized by B2B and supply chains. As such it lives up to the title because the goal of the extended infrastructure is to enrich the value chain - or at least support the underlying business goals.

What I like about this book is what the authors propose is not only attainable, but makes good business sense. It starts with a 22-page introduction that clearly defines what is and is not infrastructure, and the concept of an adaptivity. These are important to understanding the approach that follows. Chapter 2, Laying the Foundation, quickly gives the basics for a layered infrastructure, develops a model for associated services that are needed to make the infrastructure adaptable, and drills down into service-related issues. I am not in complete agreement with the impact that this approach has on IT organizational structures; however, I am not willing to write it off as unfeasible until I have a chance to carefully think it through. The ideas do have merit (on paper) and are better developed in the first book.

Much of the rest of the book is a rehash of "The Adaptive Enterprise", but the material is slanted towards the extended infrastructure. What is important is the emphasis on patterns and components as frameworks and building blocks. Where the first book brought infrastructure management to a new level, this book extends it in a manner that reflects the realities of connected enterprises defined by supply chain management and business partners. Please see my review of "The Adaptive Enterprise" for specifics that apply to this book, and if you're deciding between the two books, this is the one to get.

One of the best books on Ethics I have read. This book explains why Enron, Worldcom, Adelphia, etc. happened better than any book I have read.

Celeste Messer's The Adventures Of Andi O'malley is a five volume series of chapter books for young readers where the stories showcase the concept that by doing a good deed for one person, that person will then do a good deed for another, and so on. Andi O'Malley, her family and friends, the eccentric Miss Bluebonnet, Jelly Roll (Andi's guardian angel), and an assortment of other angels and villains will both entertain and inform boys and girls on handling sensitive issues all children will eventual face in real live. The individual titles composing this unique, superbly written, and very highly recommended series include: Angel Experiment J134 (0970217102); The Broken Wing (0970217110); The Gift (0970217137); The Circle Of Light (0970217129); and last but not least, Three Miracles (0970217145).

I bought ...Power Tools for Girls in an effort to educate myself about the things our girls within the city need to know. I read through the book in a day and it made a tremendous difference in my ability to help. The book covered everything from becoming more self-assured, taking care of your body (exercise), developing social skills, finding your place in society, to great fashion tips and learning about various drugs that destroy the body (including hotlines and other resources). I find it being easy to follow for girls 8 and older, and very interactive. Janice has set out to change the way of thinking for everyone interested in bettering themselves, I recommend getting this book as a present, a gift, a reward, or just because. It's well worth it and you can't go wrong...

A very timely book addressing real issues we all face: lonelines, sorrow, anger, addiction, temptation and more. Lombard applies Biblical wisdom to the human struggle.

Maximizing profit is the goal of all businesses because it is the peak of the point of it all: making money. "How to Value & Sell your Business: The essential guide to preparing, valuing and selling a company for maximum profit" is a guide to doing just that for the final time with a company. Even if it is far off, it outlines how to plan for the future to maximize your profit. Including instructions on identifying potential buyers, creating a solid exit strategy, managing your paid advisors, and surviving the lock in period. Practically written, "How to Value & Sell Your Business: The essential guide to preparing, valuing and selling a company for maximum profit" is highly recommended for business library collections everywhere.

In The Human Value of Enterprise, Andrew Mayo proposes a quantitative methodology that attempts to bring the rigors of financial accounting to human resources management. Mayo sets forth a series of formulas designed to reveal how much each individual is contributing to the overall value that any company creates for its stakeholders. Of course, these formulas are limited by the subjective process through which managers assign values to the activities and results of their employees. That said, the procedures that Mayo outlines can be used as the foundation for a fairly rigorous system of human resource cost accounting that we from getAbstract recommend to all professionals in the field.