Strategy

Game Plan is an excellent read for those who are struggling with their purpose and significance in life.

Among some of the excellent points Buford mentions are:

1. The first half of life is spent on someone else's agenda while the second half is more about your true self.
2. Learn to say no to many good things.
3. We must have time alone with God and let Him speak to us.
4. Eventually, you will have to take a chance in the second half of your life (career, relationships, interests, etc).
5. The second half of your life can be much better than the first half.

All in all, an excellent read for the person who wants to finish well!

For those who have climbed the "ladder of success" and then wondered "is that all there is?", this book will help direct one in their pursuit of real meaning in life. While being driven from the early days of our first career to achieve "success" in line with the secular world, it is helpful to reflect on how our life can move to being of value to others. In redirecting our developed skills and ambitions, we can uncover real satisfaction and meaning from our contributions. Highly recommended for those who have already "achieved" much, but are looking to "significance" for the remaining years.

This book is a gem and will impact the design for the rest of your life. It offers a critical challenge and practical strategies for creating significance in the second half of life. Bob Buford presents a refreshing view for being active in our middle and senior years. He cites that our accumulated experience and wisdom over our first 20 professional years have prepared us to truly take our gifts and talents to another level, to contribute to the lives of many, and to leave a legacy that continues to make a positive difference after we're gone. His insights are valuable. His recommendations work well. His references to God and Christian principles are sensitively presented and make good sense regardless of the reader's stance on faith. I've been using the strategies effectively for the past 6 months. I have an enhanced personal vision and purpose and an expanded set of goals for my next several decades. I highly recommend this book.

...It is refreshing to read this 1992 book in2000. Eight years is a long time, and many concepts de jour haveappeared and cluttered our thought on sourcing/procurement/outsourcing/insourcing/offshoring/supply chain management/ or whatever terms come across your mind. This book is a no-nonsense, yet easy-to-read, academic book. I have been reading Kotabe's work over the years. After reading this book, read his article that appeared in the Nov. 98 issue of the Academy of Management Executive. I'm sure you will rethink the whole issue of sourcing strategy.---A comment from one strategist gainfully employed by a US auto manufacturer. END

Having read this book a while ago, I fully concur with a "Reader from New York". Unlike more recent books on sourcing/outsourcing, there are no hypes in this book. You can get a very straightforward, impartial view. Sure will recommend it for anyone working in this area, practitioners and academics alike.

Global sourcing has become a buzzword in recenty years, thanks to increased outsourcing activities. I purchased this book (published in 1992) in January, 2000. Kotabe examined sourcing issues from an "in-house sourcing" rather than an "outsourcing" point of view. In a way, it is a very refreshing viewpoint as he talks of benefits and costs (long-term risks) of certain in-house sourcing vs. outsourcing. A lot of us who are in charge of "outsourcing" for the sake of being contemporary in our business thinking (and deeds) tend to ignore some fundamental weaknesses of outsourcing that Kotabe points out. Although this is a research book, it has had me do some deep thinking on our corporate sourcing strategy. You can get a lot of food for thought. It got to be a must reading for strategists in charge of sourcing/outsourcing/procurement/supply chain management, whatever you call our jobs.

If you want to try your luck in investing in Common Stock, this book will provide the knowledge you need. It will help you avoid the pitfalls commonly made, even those made by so called experts. Selecting a profitable stock is tricky at best. This book will guide you through the many obstacles to ensure you make a sound choice. It will also explain the role of the broker, how stock is evaluated and the risks associated with ownership. This book is worth the read and will give you the understanding you need to procede with your investments.

What is a stock? What is a stock market? What do brokers do and how do they do it? Market makers, specialists, pit bosses - wass'up wid dat? Mr. Scott explains it all without the usual BS of Wade Cook-ish advanced strategies for people who don't have a fundamental understanding of the market. Mr. Scott tells you how the market operates - not how to play it. It's like the owners manual for a car. He tells you what makes the car work but leaves it up to you as to how fast you want to drive. I bought this book a year or so before I started investing over three years ago. It was a favorite of mine along with Mr. Scott's other books on personal finance, mutual funds, and the stock market in general. I am an aggressive growth investor spending over 20 hours a week on the market. A value investor who buys and forgets about a stock for 20 years will get the same benefit as I did from this book. Knowing how the market and investment vehicles work takes a lot of the old "Did I do the right thing with my money" worries away. This book is a very big step in the direction any investor needs to go before turning over so much as one penny to a world of fantastic dreams and incredible pitfalls. The market is way more fun for those of us who understand it.

As a novice investor I found this book to be just what I was looking for. It explains stocks in a way even I can understand. I recommend this for people who are just getting started with the stock market.

My boss recently asked me to research the first war with Iraq as background for an article. I found that this book, unlike the others I read, was well researched. In addition, the tone was not condescending, which was refreshing. Richard Lowry went beyond the story as told by CNN or CBS, digging deeper and uncovering the real story. Excellent book!

It is now over 13 years since Operation Desert Storm began on January 16, 1991. Given the length of time that has passed, one startling fact is evident in the Desert-Storm Community, there is no single work that provides an accurate day-by-day, hour-by-hour account of Operation Desert-Storm, from the onset of hostilities until the cease-fire declared at Safwan (extensively covered in Ally to Adversary: An Eyewitness Account of Iraq's Fall from Grace by Rick Francona), until now.

Richard Lowry's The Gulf War Chronicles strives to fill this void and to do so in detail, yet still provides a fast-paced read.

...

To begin I found this book by recommendation of a good friend of mine, and as a favor to her I read it.
after the first chapter I realized that this author has done an immense amount of research. the book is well informed and highly accurate. in addition to the attention to truth, this book has some of the most compelling stories from this conflict with Iraq. It presents stories that were not well known, but also sheds light on some that stories in the public view that were obscure. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to know more about what we did in Iraq in the early nineties as well as a precursor to studies about our present situation in Iraq. I also say it is a great documentation of the strategies and real world processes of war.

Mimi Gold has expertise and wisdom...and is willing to share it all! I have had the good fortune of working with Mimi and seeing her put her ideas into action. This book is a phenomenal assistant for anyone working with/living with children who require a little extra help. If offers activities and strategies to help students overcome challenges that can be extremely detrimental if not addressed. I highly recommend this book!!

Although I have no diagnosable learning disabilities, Ms Gold points out that we each learn in our own style, which can translate into stronger and weaker styles. Then she proceeds to inform on how to strengthen our weaker styles. This book is for everyone who is curious about the way we learn and for anyone who would like to strengthen their comprehension and learning speed. Great practical advice. Highly recommend. So interesting.

I have taught children with learning disabilities for many years and yet this book offers ways to reorganize my thinking about any student that struggles. It's not that I haven't thought about some of these things before, but this book reminds me to observe behaviors I sometimes overlook in the press of daily teaching chores. You know how special education teachers are always seeking ways "to change the brain". Well, it is apparent that it is also Ms. Gold's objective and she offers effective examples to get a teacher moving in the right direction to do this.

In this fine book you are given 35 well annotated GM games. The format is similar to the Chessmaster "rate my play". you go through the games, (covering all the moves) and when you begin the critical stages of the games you receive points if you get the correct move. you add them up after a certain stage and you get a good idea of what youre rating is.
concepts covered: centrel control, superior development, positional chess, attacking play, defense, combinations, constriction tecnique, and ending.
the games are from well known players. Tal, botvinik,Keres, bronstein,kotov,spassky, korchoi,larsen, tolush, and others. The players as you can tell have VERY unique styles and i feel that keeps the book fresh because you dont just see posional masters, or only calculative wizards.
if youre looking for some well annotated games you should definetly consider this book. just to figure out youre rating would be fun, although like the other reviewer mentioned it does not consider youre opening expertise. (descriptive)

I wouldn't trust the rating this book gives; my rating seemed a couple hundred points too high. Maybe this is because I didn't employ any time constraints, or maybe it says something about my openings (Barden gives you the first 10-15 moves, so he's not rating your openings.) Regardless, the most helpful part of the book is Barden's summaries. He'll write things such as "If you went wrong on moves 16-20, it indicates you need to rely less on general judgments and more on calculating the exact consequences of each move".

I had a ton of fun going through this book. It's much more engrossing than most other chess books.

While many chess books either show positional play, openings or defensive play, this book has everything. The games that are illustrated show strategic and tactical principles such as center control, positional play, constriction, and so on. All the games are illustrated and explained. The author shows why a move is good or bad and you are quizzed to see what move should be made along with the explanation. A table is given in front of the book to see if you are in master class and how to improve. Dover has come out with a splendid book and it is reasonably priced.

This is a great source for those ambitious folks who are committed to working at this big five firm. I was very curious to see how IBM turned out after the big changes that took place with its merger. Now I feel fully prepared to meet the recruiters when they come to my campus this fall. I strongly recommend this as a great source for interview preparation.

This guide is the best recruiting resource I've found so far. There is no other resource that provides this kind of in-depth information, both the good and the bad, on a single company. Now I have a very clear and detailed picture of the company structure, its business strategy, and the inside culture. I was fully prepared for my interview with intelligent questions. Better yet, if I get the offer (I hope!) I know exactly what I'm stepping into. To anyone interested in working for IBM, I can't recommend this strongly enough.

This guide was a good read--I was wondering what was up with the PwC acquisition! Anyway, it will definitely be helpful for when I interview with IBM. I'm banking on the fact that I've read and re-read this guide and followed up with more in-depth research to give me the inside edge on my competition!

This text is clear, informative and engaging. It is a worthwhile introduction to the field of injury prevention, suitable for a public health professional, graduate student or anyone interested in learning more about this field.

Injury Prevention and Public Health expands upon the current, in vitro, descriptions and analyses of the scientific causes and prevention of injury by showing tested dynamic public health preventive practices ,in vivo.

As a public health and safety researcher, practitioner, historian and archivist , in practice for over 35 years, I especially note the book's excellent chapters on historical timelines and reviews of the injury control field's landmarks. Few other injury control publications report work done more than during the last five years ( many times repeated in each decade ) nor comprehensively build upon any lessons learned of the past personalities, values and activities that can be currently applied to regulatory , legislative, educational and engineering safety. This new book begins that "quantum leap" from normatives for prevention into managing the real world of competing political personal, group and organizational values, interactions, and activities. The authors recognize that limited funding and manpower resources require essential leadership skills and arts to apply data efficiently and effectively so as to actually prevent or reduce a leading cause of death and disability, the injury.

Kudos to the authors whose own basic and applied research has contributed so much to the advancement of the discipline of injury prevention into public health practice. The new or seasoned researcher, practitioner, educator, legislator or attorney needs this new book.

This is the definitive book on the public health approach to injury prevention. It emphasizes the practical skills and strategies necessary to effectively plan, promote, implement, and operate public health injury prevention programs. It contains a thorough background in the magnitude of the problem of unintentional injury and violence and a fascinating review of the evolution of injury prevention ideas. Christoffel and Gallagher provide a detailed, practical approach to the identification and prioritization of problems; implementation of interventions; and assessment of success. Although well-grounded in science, social policy, and the reality of getting things done in a bureaucracy; this book is written in a style that makes it thoroughly enjoyable to read.

David Lawrence, Injury Preveniton Web

My MBA class in Strategic Leadership used this very simple text to develop a Strategic Business plan during our first term in the MBA program. The book is very succinctly written; and, when suggested guidelines are followed, a comprehensive Business Plan is the result. I felt that the plan I wrote was presentable for the implementation of a new business endeavor. Dan Geller has a gift for making a seemingly complex subject / project seem simple to accomplish.

A must-have book for anyone interested in developing an e-strategy and/or starting a new business. It really helped me turn my vision into a viable business. You cannot write an effective business plan without reading this book first!

My MBA class in Strategic Leadership used this very simple text to develop a Strategic Business plan during our first term in the MBA program. The book is very succinctly written; and, when suggested guidelines are followed, a comprehensive Business Plan is the result. I felt that the plan I wrote was presentable for the implementation of a new business endeavor. Dan Geller has a gift for making a seemingly complex subject / project seem simple to accomplish.

A clearly written, conceptually lucid, practical guide to leading self-organizing organizations which can respond effectively to the demands of their environment. McMaster emphasizes that changed thinking and speaking precede changed organizations. Mechanical thinking won't make it in an age which demands organically structured organizations utilizing every ounce of intelligence of every member. Leaders who want control will wind up with no organization to lead; leaders who want to enable everyone in the organization to operate at their own maximum of creativity, freedom and productivity (no contradiction here) will survive and thrive. Amen. Applicable to non-profits and other organizations as well as businesses

This is one of the unique and powerful works on living organizations. It should be read by everyone who likes original contributions to the literature.

Arie de Geus, whose view of The Living Company appears in Harvard Business Review M/A 1997 says of this book: "We will fail to realise the potential of organisations until we see them as organisms in their own right and intelligence is the source of an organisation's capacity for survival. These are the basic hypotheses in Mike McMaster's thinking which, then, leads towards his illuminating ideas on organisational design and away from much of the mechanistic thinking of recent management theory". Sample David's view on innovation (page 133): "Corporations that are known for innovation are specifically designed to create occasions for innovation and support innovative activities. They include reward systems, communication practices, investment, blending people and ideas and appropriate reporting structures. In corporations not specifically designed for innovation, the innovative capacity is mostly displayed by individuals who are sufficiently powerful to get their ideas accepted. Given the lack of design to support such activity, the relative organisational innovative expression in such corporations is quite low." McMasters goes on to define innovation but notice some carefully chosen nuances in the words he uses; "Our operational definition of innnovation is THAT ACTIVITY WHICH RESULTS IN A CHANGE THAT HAS USEFULNESS BEYOND A CURRENT APPICATION AND THAT ALTERS THE ABILITY OF THE SYSTEM AS A WHOLE". Innovation increases the flexibility, complexity or computational ability of the larger system." Innovation is not therefore a natural thing for corporate boards to direct if they are paying too much attention to counting up last quarter's figures or downsizing your future. Anyway, McMasters goes on to discuss many other subtleties regarding creativity. For example : "In a group or team, creativity occurs in dialogue itself. An individual may have originated and be indentified with a creative idea. Yet, if an idea is a group creation, it is the result of the interplay of the participants, both for and against the idea. Each individual has contributed to the thinking, the creative process and the creation itself in ways that are not always obvious." If you feel passionately about questioning the value of constructs like these - would you like to join a worldwide e-mail summit on ORGANISING CREATIVITY? To do so e-mail me, Chris Macrae, editor of Brand Chartering Handbook & MELNET www.brad.ac.uk/branding/ E-mail me at wcbn007@easynet.co.uk