Financial-innovation Books

I have just read the first three chapters and it looks like I'll finish it soon. Key Financial Instruments is the only readable book on derivatives that I have come across.

This book is both enjoyable and informative. I will find time to read it again.

not only does the author illustrate the book with real world examples but he communicates his thoughts in a lively manner.

incredibly well written - like JK Rowling of Harry Potter and Michael Lewis of Liar's Poker combined

Key financial instruments goes beyond the normal "how to" textbook. It helped me to understand "why" and "when" certain financial instruments should be used and when they should not.

Webs Of Innovation by Internet expert and global business consultant Alexander Loudon is a clearly forward-looking and progressive book about the future of business in the age of the Internet. A practical-minded approach to taking advantage of globalization and changing technology is the hallmark of this adventurous tour through the evolution of the Internet, the process of acquiring corporate venture capital, and generally gearing one's enterprise to make the most of today's changing and highly interdependent markets. Anecdotes and examples pepper this exciting and useful guide to taking charge of one's entrepreneurial destiny. Webs Of Innovation is highly recommended reading for entrepreneurs wanting to utilize the Internet and the World Wide Web in their mercantile and corporate ventures.

Whereas most management books tend to focus on US cases this book is different. Loudon uses cases from both Europe and the US. In addition to that he writes in a European clear and down to earth style. Thay way a very readable and convincing book.

There are dozens of excellent books on this subject and Loudon has written one of the best. At a time when global initiatives continue to increase and expand as well as accelerate, it is especially significant that Loudon does not limit himself to national perspectives (such as those from the USA) which tend to exclude or subordinate all others. He carefully organizes his material within seven chapters, following an Introduction in which he observes: "There seem to be three strategies currently pursued by large companies. First, some are trying to enter webs of innovation by starting a separate -- often competitive division [e.g. Procter & Gamble and Wal-Mart]....The second strategy is mergers and acquisitions [e.g. Healtheon merged with WebMD and Ahold acquired Peapod]....The third way is venture capital." Loudon goes on to acknowledge that each of the three approaches can work "but it is critical to know which suits your company. This book will tell you." And it does.

These brief remarks correctly suggest that Loudon's book will be of greatest value to decision-makers in larger organizations; however, it can also be of substantial value to those who do business with those organizations (especially on an outsource basis) or who provide professional services to them such as financial and legal. Change remains the only constant in the contemporary marketplace. This is especially true of the technical environment within which webs of innovation are established and developed. Years ago, former president of Harvard University Derek Bok suggested that "If you think education is expensive, try ignorance." This is especially true of organizations (including the larger non-profits) now struggling to leverage their assets in the online world.

At some point during his tenure as CEO of GE, Jack Welch explained why he admires small, entrepreneurial companies:

"For one, they communicate better. Without the din and prattle of bureaucracy, people listen as well as talk; and since there are fewer of them they generally know and understand each other. Second, small companies move faster. They know the penalties for hesitation in the marketplace. Third, in small companies, with fewer layers and less camouflage, the leaders show up very clearly on the screen. Their performance and its impact are clear to everyone. And, finally, smaller companies waste less. They spend less time in endless reviews and approvals and politics and paper drills. They have fewer people; therefore they can only do the important things. Their people are free to direct their energy and attention toward the marketplace rather than fighting bureaucracy."

I include Welch's remarks for two reasons. First, they articulate the spirit of entrepreneurial innovation which Loudon insists is now absolutely essential to business success in the networked economy. Moreover, because in such a economy there are constant demands for newer and better innovations, there are simultaneously constant demands for newer and better ways to produce them. If I understand Loudon's book, these are among his most important points. They offer great encouragement to precisely the same companies which Welch admires so much and which the most innovative of larger organizations now work so hard to emulate.

Those who share my high regard for this brilliant book are urged to read Borgmann's Holding On to Reality, Nielsen's Designing Web Usability, Cairncross' recently published The Company of the Future, and Markides' All the Right Moves.

Many books have been written about the importance of innovation. Think of Clayton Christensen's 'The Innovators Dilemma' or Gary Hamel's 'Leading the Revolution'. Where most of these book end with an understanding of the problem of established companies and innovation Loudon's book starts. He walks you through this problem in just one chapter and spends the rest of the seven chapters on how established companies can organize and structure for innovation. Each chapter has several questions at the end allowing you to apply the things learned to your company. A must read !

The book discusses how businesses must find new ways to innovate while maintaining the core business that is already successful. For established companies to get involved in the new technologies, they must either acquire start ups, introduce cooperatives efforts either partnering or investing in internal new departments, or uses corporate venture capital to invest in start ups.

Established companies are striving to become dotcorps via networked innovation. Loudon explains how each method works, the advantages and drawbacks, and the many reasons for doing this.

The book is well organized, easy to read and follow. Key points are emphasized with questions at the end of each chapter, which provide a guide for companies dealing with innovation with its use of shades of gray and statements of key points. Case studies from Europe and the US provide examples of the different strategies and how they work. It focuses more on problem solving than on the problems offering detailed methods for companies to organize for innovation.

While VC (venture capital) was the catch phrase of the late `90s, the authors explores the different types and ways of using VC. What companies did right. What companies did wrong.

The index lists all of the companies covered in the book to help the reader immediately find those that interest her. Boo.com's failure is mentioned, of course, as a first mover that did not become a prover. There are examples of everything including partnerships, buy-outs, corporate venture capital, B2C, B2B, and more.

While this book is aimed at companies and purports to be a road map to follow in pursuit of innovation and in preparation for what's next on the Internet, it's good reading for individuals interested in business tactics, in plotting change that keeps coming, and in investing in the companies that show the most creativity and openness to deal with the future.

Loudon reminds the reader that everything doesn't happen overnight. While the Internet has become the wave of the future, its present is no yet what it was hoped for. Sound business practices, profitability, ability to attract and keep good employees still remain watchwords for success along with creativity and innovation.

Michael Gollin has written the definitive work on intellectual property, and it will be the leader in the field for many years to come due to both its comprehensiveness and readability. You can assess the comprehensiveness by looking at the table of contents, and you can verify the readability by reading the sample pages on amazon.com.

Don't expect this book to be either pro- or anti-IP. IP principles and laws all have advantages and disadvantages, and Gollin objectively presents and discusses them all.

This book is a must-read for every IP lawyer, and you shouldn't hire an IP lawyer who hasn't studied it. And you should replace your IP lawyer if you already have one and they don't devour this book.

Nevertheless, this book is not just for lawyers. The writing style is suitable for a general audience, and every business executive worth their salt should read and re-read this book until they master the strategic concepts Michael presents.

The author has done a fantastic job. He has made what most think a dull, boring subject alive and interesting.

While not readily apparent from the title, this comprehensive book should be read by all in-house counsel in technology and other companies with IP assets. It covers IP basics and addresses history, public policy and strategic management from a global perspective. I did not expect to come across so many practical insights.

Nick has done a nice job of summarizing the current new, new technologies and matching them to business issues. Solid read for managers and technologists alike.

The best business books develop a core concept or respond to a question of compelling importance. Nicholas Evans does so in this volume, responding to two separate but related questions:

1. Which emerging and disruptive technologies will not only be the next differentiators and sources of competitive advantage but also be the next sources of solid business value for enterprise operations?

2. How to identify and exploit these technologies to design more competitive and agile companies and markets?

Evans organizes his material within nine chapters. In the first, he explains the need for enterprise innovation; in the last, be examines the current stage of the evolution of information technology and suggests what the impact of developments during the next several years may have on businesses. In between, he covers "the strategy, process, and technology aspects behind some of today's most promising emerging technologies with a focus on how to achieve real-world results that benefit the top and bottom line for an organization. One of the goals of this book is to help executives maximize their value from these technologies, to reshape their business, not just their business processes."

Readers will especially appreciate Evans' provision of a Summary and an "Extending the Radar Lessons" section at the end of Chapter 1, and then at the conclusion of each of the next eight chapters (Chapters 2- 9), provision of an "Extending the Radar Lessons" section followed by an "Extending the Radar Considerations" section. These and other reader-friendly devices offer three substantial value-added benefits: they specify key points within the given chapter and context, they suggest correlations between and among them, and they facilitate, indeed accelerate frequent review of those key points later.

I was especially interested in what Nicholas has to say about business process management in Chapter 5. He begins with an especially apt observation by W. Edwards Demming: "If you can't describe what you are doing as a process, you don't know what you're doing." Presumably Deming would agree that what cannot be measured cannot be managed. (He may have been the first to make that assertion. To date, I have been unable to locate its source.) I agree with Nicholas that businesses considering integration of applications within their enterprise, or integration of applications with those of their partners, "should consider business process management as a key emerging technology, alongside Web services, which can help to deliver new forms of enterprise agility and reduction of cost and complexity." This is a key point, one which Nicholas explores with depth and precision. Readers will then welcome the "Extending the Radar Lessons" and "Extending the Radar Considerations" sections which follow.

When concluding his book, Nicholas suggests that the "first wave" of applications (i.e. essentially a force fit on top of a powerful but vulnerable framework) is now giving way to an era of combinations, one during which "killer applications are built from combinations of killer technologies, where computers can start to serve their uses rather than command their users, where information and transaction are able to move seamlessly across logical boundaries, device boundaries, and physical and virtual boundaries." Whether creating and/or responding to others' "killer applications, organizations must have a "radar" system to guide and inform their initiatives to generate revenue, reduce costs, and improve performance. The question he poses to his reader -- "How prepared is your radar?" -- serves as a challenge to all decision-makers who must understand "new rules" if their organizations are to prevail in what is undeniably a "new game."

As co-founder of Human Capital Technology Inc. and active in the area of Knowledge Management, this book provides an essential history of information and knowledge management. By providing an historical perspective, the book clearly and simply explains the relationships between those who have information and those who want information and how that relationship has and continues change.

While the authors use the Investment Banking industry to make their point, the information is applicable to all areas of business. A must read for those who are concerned with the acquisition of information and the management of corporate knowledge.

Excellent book that describes the fundamental structure of the securities industry then overlays practical (and readily observable) elements of intellectual property/capital. One of the few intellectual capital books I have ever read that includes detailed analysis on J.P. Morgan, one of the all-time titans of capital.

Do not be turned off by the greek (mathematical) equations in the chapter about IPO allocations.

The authors have a very strong framework that holds up well in the real world, even in the post internet bubble world.

I especially enjoyed the chapter about the Goldman Sachs IPO and ECNs.

Twenty-first century is the age of innovation.It is important to know how to meet the challenges posed to innovation management.Felix Janszen in this trendsetting book tells you how to do it.The most brillint spot of the book is that it is based on the latest research in the fields of biotechnology,information technology,bio- informatics and combinatorial chemistry.The book describes the concepts of new product development(NPD) and new business development(NBD) with great clarity and takes the reader to the basic processes of innovation through these concepts.It illustrates graphically the seven generic processes .Starting with the management and decision making process,it goes to prototyping to knowledge generation,acquisition and exploitation process.It then moves on to the generation of ideas process,team building and finally to the two stages of implementation I was quite fascinated by the four phases of team formation which are forming,storming,norming and performing. It was interesting to know how the generation of new ideas is hindered by a critical attitude while generation of new knowledge is facilitated by the same.The book has opened new frontiers of knowledge for me and for the first time ,I have been able to understand the need,meaning and importance of innovation in business and life.IT IS A MUST READ FOR ANYONE INTERESTED IN DEVELOPING THE COMPETENCE OF INNOVATION IN BUSINESS AND PROFESSION.

Ever since reading 'Winning the Innovation Game' & also listening to the audio compilation, 'Innovative Secrets of Success', at the tail end of the eighties or so, I have always been impressed by the work of innovation strategist Robert Tucker.

In fact, I even had a brief fax correspondence with the author during the early nineties, during which he had generously offered me some additional valuable information.

I had also read his subsequent book, 'Managing the Future: 10 Driving Forces of Change', & its audio version, 'How to Profit from Today's Rapid Changes', as well as many of his other interesting articles in magazines, newsletters or on the web since then.

For me, after a perusal, 'Driving Growth through Innovation' seems more like an intellectual expansion of his earlier work, 'Winning the Innovation Game', with substantial refinement of the stuff he has spent the last twenty years in studying, researching & consulting.

From my personal perspective, 'Winning the Innovation Game' was a broad-brush of his findings from some 50 innovative companies during the early years.

In contrast, 'Driving Growth through Innovation' is a more in-depth analysis of the success factors of what he has designated as the 23 Innovation Vanguard companies. BMW is one of them.

What I like about the book so fondly is his artful blending & skillful machinations on how to master innovation as a "disciplined, systematic & repeatable process" in an organisation.

I certainly like his expressed belief in the Introduction, that "you'll grow as an individual in the process of mastering innovation".

That's to say, what applies in an organisational setting also works well in the personal setting, as far as the pursuit of innovation is concerned.

The author writes very eloquently & succinctly. The book is spiced with provoking questions & relevant strategy checklists.

In fact, I dare to say that very, very few innovation authors have adopted his innovative presentation style.

There are only 10 chapters, but he followed up - & peppered - each chapter of the book with "magical numbers", as follows:

Chapter 1: What It takes to Drive Growth: 5 essential practices that undergird business growth;

Chapter 2: Leading Innovation: 3 types of innovation; assessing your firm's Innovation Adeptness against 10 criteria; 6 most important leadership functions in building an all-enterprise innovation capability;

Chapter 3: Cultivating the Culture: 11 strategies designed to guide you in improving your firm's culture for greater innovation effectiveness;

Chapter 4: Fortifying the Idea Factory: 7 distinct methods of idea management, plus 7 suggestions to guide you in designing & implementing a system; plus 10 guidelines to keep in mind as you consider how best to empower the process;

Chapter 5: Mining the Future: 6 strategies innovation-adept firms are using to analyse trends; 3 critical components to developing your own future scan system;

Chapter 6: Filling the Idea Funnel: 6 strategies to ensure a steady stream of good ideas;

Chapter 7: Producing Powerful Products: 6 strategies to master the art of deriving business value from innovation;

Chapter 8: Generating Growth Strategies: 6 places to jump start your search for imaginative new business models for your firm;

[I like what he wrote: "Strategy innovation is, first & foremost, an act of imagination - the ability to see how something could work better from the customer's standpoint, in a way that in turn profits the sponsoring firm".]

Chapter 9: Selling New Ideas: 7 strategies for selling new ideas;

[Another good point from the author: "Innovation has always been about selling ideas".]

Chapter 10: Taking Action in Your Firm: 7 areas to look at prior to preparing an Innovation Initiative;

How do you like that? For me, that really makes perusal - & digestion - a breeze as you can zero into the brass tacks very quickly.

The author has focused primarily on what actually works, not fancy theories. Just pure insights from the battlefield trenches of 21st century innovators!

In spite of his two-decades' experience working with companies to improve innovation, the author has rightly admitted that he "rode on the shoulders of giants" in writing the book.

In this respect, I reckon that the author has fashioned his thinking as well as rethinking about strategy innovation from the work of Peter Drucker, who was the first among all the gurus out there to assert that "innovation is a disciplined, systematic & repeatable process".

To end this review, I would strongly recommend reading Peter Drucker's 'Innovation & Entrepreneurship' as well as Michel Robert's 'Innovation Formula' as thought companions. They will certainly be worth your while.

The book is an interesting compilation of essays on financial innovation and the convergence of markets. It takes the reader through diverse structures and strategies to take advantage of capital and insurance markets, and shows the benefits of globalization and disintermediation. I found it very useful for practitioners in finance and risk management and for academics.

We recently started a full-service brokerage firm in Canada. Starting "carte-blanche" meant that we could apply many of the ideas in this book cheaply and quickly. We have had amazing growth that we can directly attribute to the technology that we implemented.

This book is a must for companies in the financial services arena wishing to know what is possible in this day and age.

The theories in this book are spectacular. A well written book with great potential for future and current investors looking to expand their portfolios and make some serious money.