Book Description

It's a story about entrepreneur, and risk, and hard work, and knowing where you want to go and being willing to do what it takes to get there. And it's a story about believing in your idea even when maybe some other folks don't, and about sticking to your guns. Sam Walton. Meet a genuine American folk hero cut from the homespun cloth of America's heartland: Sam Walton, who turned a single dime store in a hardscrabble cotton town into Wal-Mart, the largest retailer in the world. The undisputed merchant king of the late twentieth century, Sam never lost the common touch. Here, finally, Sam Walton tells his extraordinary story in his won inimitable words. Genuinely modest, but always sure of his ambitious and achievements, Sam shares his thinking in a candid, straight-from-the-shoulder style. In a story rich with anecdotes and the "rules of the road" of both Main Street and Wall Street, Sam Walton chronicles the inspiration, heart, and optimism that propelled him to lasso the American Dream. " ... Read more

Reviews (47)

Great Retail Formula!
An interest in how discount shops work triggered my reading of the book. Sam Walton, a prominent figure in the field, with his phenomenon success in Wal-Mart, had openly revealed his secrets and strategies in his empire building. Being well-organised, this book takes one step-by-step through the whole process of the business setup, enlightening with reasons behind each move he'd made, e.g. taking the company to public. Hence, if you wanna be or are presently a retailer, you probably wouldn't want to miss this great book. Highly recommended!

Great Business Strategies Book
Sam Walton truely gives us a great model on how to run a business in Made in America. It is not so much the autobiography of Sam but the autobiograph of the Wal-Mart Corporation. This book give a great model for how to try to get big in business and still remain small. Sam Walton used his knowledge along with many ideas from other companies to form what Wal-Mart is today. These and many other strategies for running a business are all included in this book. I feel that this would be a great book for a class on general business. It gives great ideas on how to run a business weather it is big or small.

The Most Valuable Book in the World
I can say without doubt that I have come across the most valuable book ever published in the whole of history, which is estimated to be worth around $80 Billion... encouraging, inspiring, insightful, interesting, modest... SIMPLY SUPERB!!!

Hillarious propaganda
This is so stupid. Wal mart was "Made in america" by sam walton and now everything in wal mart says "Made in china." Wal amrt pays its emplotyees next to nothing and breaks strikes and prevents union formations. These pigs and this dead guy are so stupid that they think they can get away with breaking every labor law on the books and get away with it.

DONT GO TO WAL MART ANF BUY AMERICAN.
JOHN KERRY FOR PRESIDENT!!!!!

Ghost written in India?
My copy of this book has many spelling and grammatical errors. It is if this was ghost written in another language and then put through a translator who had no idea of how American English sounds. Also, when I went to my local Wal Mart to fact check the book, all the American flags were made in countries other than the US!
What a disgrace!! ... Read more

Book Description

In 1983, Michael Dell, a freshman at the University of Texas at Austin, drove away from his parents' Houston home in a BMW he'd bought selling subscriptions to his hometown newspaper.  In the backseat were three personal computers.  Today, he is the chairman and CEO of Dell Computer Corporation, a $30 billion company and the second largest manufacturer and marketer of computers in the world.

Founded on a deceptively simple premise-to deliver high-performance computer systems directly to the end user-Dell Computer is the envy of its competition.  It has consistently grown at two to three times the industry rate, its stock went up more than 90,000 percent in the last decade, and Dell is now selling more than $35 million worth of systems per day over  In Direct from Dell, you will learn

Reviews (110)

Great read for Business & Economics Studnets
I can understand the criticism of this book that perhaps Mike Dell should have gone more in depth about the dynamics of his company and industry. However, this being his first book that I know of I can understand why he choose to keep it short and simple, and to his credit.

A great peak into the mind of a business man and leader who in my opinion deserves to be mentioned in the same sentence with Henry Ford, Bill Gates, Lee Iacocca et al.

One part in particular that caught my attention was Chapter 7 where on page 95&96 he talks about his "Know The Net" initiative in order to familiarize his employees with the Internet.

I personally liked when he stated that: "Some might argue that if you give employees access to the World Wide Web, they will spend all their time surfing the Net. But that's like saying, We don't want to teach our people how to read because they might spend all their time reading."

Fabulous insight into Michael Dell's view of the Internet's future as a conduit for Economic Efficiency in business, school, and life.

Great piece of literature especially for beginning Business& Economics students. Peace :-)

"Stalled Thinking" has not been a problem at Dell!
Given Dell's track record, success and innovation, this is a book that should be read by all business executives. It should also be read by all students to provide encouragement for trying the things one wants to do and is passionate about. As a strategy book, it is well written. I was hoping to learn more of the Dell secrets, the "how tos" behind this very successful approach. I also believe the market has over reacted to Dell's recent announcement of slower (38%) earnings growth. That is still superb performance and Dell is likely to outperform and continue to meet customers' need for many years. The usual problems that stall companies: The Communications Stall, The Bureaucratic Stall, The Disbelief Stall (we can't do that here), The Misconception Stall (it's too hard to do and won't work becuase), The Unattractiveness Stall, The Procrastination Stall and The Tradition Stall (this is how we have always done it) seem not to be strong issues at Dell because the company continues to ask the right questions. This is the key to progress at a much faster rate, and/or at a much lower cost. The focus on customers and selling direct helps to make this possible. Dell can continue to do many things right in the future. It will be fun to watch them. They are poised to be a prototype company of the future.

FAST-PACED AND INSIGHTFUL SKIM, BUT HINTS OF NARCISSISM
Whether you're an entrepreneur, a manager, a marketer, or a passionate loyalist of the compelling and always competitive offerings from the star PC firm, this semi-memoir will let you in on the madly tight ship that's known as Dell.

It's a fairly compact fluently-written book that distills Dell's lessons for business (p.s. it's NOT a biography of Michael Dell) that lends itself to some pacy in-flight reading.

But thinking back, I have a couple of gripes.

In recounting the company's meteoric rise from a college dorm to the multi-million dollar company in a short couple of decades, the book advocates a fanatical belief in the power of the Internet and how it is vital to every business's survival. If you don't provide access from every one of your users' desktops, you'll be gone. I find this a bit hard to digest as a categorical generalization, and I am a net evangelist myself. But I would not have expected anything different from Dell.

Secondly, the tone of the author(s?) occasionally takes on a doting note, and they seem to imply that Dell veritably invented the direct selling approach. This is patently misguided. A corollary that stems from this is the novel way that Dell came up with to segment customers. Somewhat cloying, this self-absorption.

Yet, in terms of good business insights, it's a fascinating read good enough to be devoured in a day or two. Recommended, especially as a business gift.

Very inspirational
As a young entrepreneur it helped me to believe that one can achieve their goals by having a plan and a burning desire to succeed.

Great story with practical advice!
The story of Dell Computers is an enjoyable story of how an entrepreneurial young Michael Dell couldn't contain his enthusiasm for his business idea and took it all the way. Without much to guide him beyond his instincts he made some mistakes, but he admits to these and describes them so readers can learn from them as he did. Of course, far more can be learned from what he did right. One of the more noteworthy approaches he mentions is that Dell rewards success by *reducing* the responsibilities of the successful manager- an act many use as a negative disciplinary measure in other companies. The reasoning is that after a division grows from a $10 million market to $200 million, by cutting it back to $25 million, it will be easier for the manager to focus on this smaller block, understand it better, and again grow it to $200 million or more. ... Read more

Book Description

The winner of the National Book Award and now considered a classic, The House of Morgan is the most ambitious history ever written about an American banking dynasty. Acclaimed by The Wall Street Journal as "brilliantly researched and written," the book tells the rich, panoramic story of four generations of Morgans and the powerful, secretive firms they spawned. It is the definitive account of the rise of the modern financial world. A gripping history of banking and the booms and busts that shaped the world on both sides of the Atlantic, The House of Morgan traces the trajectory of the J. P. Morgan empire from its obscure beginnings in Victorian London to the crash of 1987. Ron Chernow paints a fascinating portrait of the private saga of the Morgans and the rarefied world of the American and British elite in which they moved. Based on extensive interviews and access to the family and business archives, The House of Morgan is an investigative masterpiece, a compelling account of a remarkable institution and the men who ran it, and an essential book for understanding the money and power behind the major historical events of the last 150 years. ... Read more

Reviews (34)

The House of Morgan
Chernow vividly portrays the influence that the Morgan banks have had on the history of the Western economy since the late 18th century. The epic story of the development of the American industrial experience is inextricably related to the history of the Morgan banks. Though this fascinating story is virtually the same as that told by Kathleen Bunk in Morgan Grenfell 1838-1988 ( LJ 12/89), Chernow adds color and personality with an emphasis on the 20th-century development of the bank. Working with recently discovered Morgan archives, he reveals institutional details long hidden by the protective secrecy of the family. This superb history will be an important book. BOMC, Fortune, and History Book Club featured alternates.

Chernow's best work
The House of Morgan is a book that must be read by any and all people who have a significant interest in the early stages of American capitalism and its place in modern global economic history. Chernow demonstrates assiduous research and presents a wonderful review of the nascent stages of a economic and financial clearinghouse at Morgan. He writes quite cogently on the Morgan family and it's inner circle of elite and well groomed senior management's ability to harness this power to the benefit of both the firms parners and the U.S. economy at large. Further, Chernow does a admirable job discussing the more evolved stages of captial formation in the early to mid 20th Century that greatly increased competition and radically diminished the power at Morgan.

Where I believe he fell short, as was the case in his Titan tome as well, was in the integration of his specific thesis into a more general historical and socio-economic context. While some may agrue that this would be too much to conquer in one book, I would argue that improved editing of certain repitions would make room for this improvement and make this work a true treasure.

Consistently fascinating
A consistently fascinating account of the rise of modern finance and its relationship to the development of large scale and multinationalindustry and modern government. The portraits of the Morgan family and associates are sharp and illuminating, both in their public and private dimensions. Two reservations. It would have been helpful to have a chart/timeline of the leading figures of the related Morgan banks to supplement the chart of the organizational changes in the House of Morgan. Second,too often the author relies on a rather shorthand explanation of the financial techniques and stratagems involved in his accounts of the Morgan banking and investment empire. A little more explanation would have added to the appreciation and understanding of readers without a serious background in finance.

Stick With it, You'll Be Pleased
"The House of Morgan" is one of the best business biography books I've ever read. It is an unbelievably comprehensive piece of research work on an important banking history in the United States. The stories of the people behind JP Morgan & Co give readers so much hopes and belief that anything is possible in your life. Mr. Chernow covers the company's historical and current background in great detail. He also presents a more technical view on what happen in the cycles of US economy that spans over many decades. What I like most about the book is the coverage of individuals involved in building and leading the firms (JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley). These groups of talented individuals are amazing leaders whose stories are worth reading.

I thought that the first 40 pages were pretty slow, but the actions did pick up real soon. By the 700th page, I was hoping there would be a second book written on the House of Morgan. I was especially impressed with Mr. Thomas Lamont that I proceeded to read a separate biography on him. I loved the book so much that I went on to buy some other books related to it - (RJR Nabisco story on Leverage Buyout and The Chief: The Life of William Randolph Hearst). It's a thick book but it's really worth the time to read. You'll be pleased with yourself!

A remarkable achievement
Ron Chernow is arguably the best business historian writing today. His ambitious attempt to tell the story of the famed banking dynasty of J.P Morgan could not have succeeded more brilliantly. Here is a story not of just a bank. It is even more than simply the story of the financial services industry. It is, in fact, the story of the modern era, where everyone from Teddy Roosevelt and Benito Mussolini to Paul Volker and Ivan Boesky figure prominently.

At the heart of this epic is a great paradox: the rise of modern global finance ushered in the demise of the banker. In J.P. Morgan's day, a small group of bankers held sway over giant corporations and the governments of global powers, serving as intimate advisors and self-regulating their industry with a strict but unwritten gentleman banker's code of conduct. The institutions that banks like Morgan created ultimately grew too powerful to control. Whereas once governments and companies were at the mercy of their bankers, today the reverse is true. Chernow tells the story of this transformation in exquisite detail and with admirable clarity.

As interesting and well written as this book is, some may still find it to be a challenge to finish. For those who like to read a few pages before bed every night, you should expect the "House of Morgan" to be on the nightstand for several months. However, if you have the time and commitment, you'll likely find the experience of reading this book to be a worthwhile and fulfilling one. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Ever since a forward-thinking bottle-cap salesman named King Camp Gillette first grew tired of shaving with a dull razor more than 100 years ago, the company he then founded has prospered impressively--despite ongoing threats of hostile takeovers and downsizing--by continuing to explore new geographic markets and introduce fresh consumer products. Cutting Edge: Gillette's Journey to Global Leadership, by long-time business journalist Gordon McKibben, is a scrupulous, behind-the-scenes examination of the firm's history with an emphasis on the modern period that began around 1975 and solidified Gillette's deserved reputation as a worldwide powerhouse. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

A very interesting history for anyone interested in Gillette
I enjoy reading books about successful companies, their founders and the principle people in the company history. I have read many books of this type and found this one on Gillette to be well worth adding to my library. The author does an excellent job of telling the history or Gillette in an interesting way. He also does a good job of describing the men who were influential in the company's direction. Well worth reading!

A Must Read for Anyone Wondering How Gillette Does It
This book is essential for anyone who wants to understand how a company builds brand image and then maintains that image for years and even decades. This book, while some times dry, dramatically demonstrates how Gillette never rested, but constantly sought to improve its products. Gillette's constant R&D have paid dividends not just to employees and stock holders, but also to our late 20th century society. This book is great!!! ... Read more

Book Description

In easy-to-understand language, Howe answers the most common questions and concerns of prospective board members, and details their rights, obligations, and liabilities.

Drawing on a lifetime of experience on nonprofit boards, Howe details the seven key responsibilities of a nonprofit board member--including how to go about the process of approving the mission, long-range planning, fundraising, and selecting and evaluating a chief executive. Additionally, Howe explores the leadership role each board member must assume if their organization is to excel.

... Read more

Book Description

This bestselling business classic of more than twenty-five years' duration is a dead-on account of why boredom, bungling, and bad management are built into every organization. Through hilarious case histories and cartoons adapted from Punch, Dr. Peter shows how America's corporate career track drives employees relentlessly upward -- until they get promoted into jobs they just can't do and wind up desperately treading water, driving their colleagues crazy, and dragging down productivity and profit. ... Read more

Reviews (15)

the peter principle
I read this book in the '70s when it first came out. It says it all!!! NEVER, did I know, how many times I would see this principle be exhibited; from the supreme court justices to the lowliest worker. It's so frightening it me nauseas. This small book is absolutely the most important book ever written.If all people could learn from "the peter principle" and "the road less travelled" and put the knowledge to practice, we would be a 100% different world than we are today. By all intensive purposes, I am a well read person, however, these two texts, make all things learned, viewed with a greater awareness.

You will be the Peter Principle if we don't read this book.
"The Peter Principle; why things always go wrong" by Dr. Laurence J. Peter and Raymond Hull, William Morrow & Company, Inc., New York, 1969, 179 pages in paperback. The Peter Principle: In a Hierarchy Every Employee Tends to Rise to His Level of Incompetence. The author provides an insightful analysis of why so many positions in so many organizations seem to be populated by employees who exhibit signs of incompetence. A most disturbing concept since we all tend to all rise to our own level of incompetence. This concept is likely to be ignored by most senior managers and consultants since to admit it is to admit that we may also be at our own level incompetence. Ignorance is bliss? The end result is that non-growing companies are more likely to have incompetent employees at many levels of the organizational structure whereas growing companies add new positions and employees so fast that the inevitable results of the Peter Principle may be forestalled as long as growth continues. "Employees", as the author points out, "do not want to be incompetent", but when management offers promotions that put the employees into their level of incompetence, the employees have no way of knowing that ahead of time. After all, if the offer is made it is because management "knows" the employee can do the job competently. Many managers are at their level of incompetence thus they make these poor selections.

Good until the end
I read this book with great enthusiasm, having heard so much about it. And sure enough, the first few chapters were great. But the ending was kind of a letdown. I feel that Dr. Peter built up my expectations and then failed to deliver what I really needed: how to avoid the P.P.

JD
The Peter Principle is an excellent book, if you want to know the secret to FAILURE.

Laurence Peter's self-proclaimed principle that "each person rises to their highest level of incompetence" only serves to demonstrate Peter's dislike for people and his own failure in life. It has been said that it takes no more than to read the first chapter of any book to determine whether or not the author likes people, meaning that the author is truly interested in telling a story, sharing facts regarding an issue or teaching a new-found knowledge to the reader. Peter on the other hand, begins assuming that people are inherently failures, and it is only a matter of time and effort before they become that. Peter's self-fulfilling prophesy, eeerrr, theory, is no better demonstrated than in his own book, the Peter Principle. It was the transition to his highest level of incompetence.

I would not recommend this book to anyone who believes in leadership, success, the trail and tribulations on the road to success and the richness and diversity of people and the endurance of the human spirit.

Napoleon Hill wrote in his book: Think and Grow Rich and I will paraphrase: The difference between those who are truly successful and those who are not is this, there are those who fail, fail and fail, then give up; they are the unsuccessful in life. Then there are those who fail, fail and fail, then get up; they are the truly successful. Unfortunately, Peter didn't realize the importance of encouraging people to succeed, instead he chose only to present the scenario that if you've done well, stop at that, you couldn't possibly get any better?!

I suggest to the Amazon.com readers to save their time and money from this book.

The bell-curve proves this book is right!
Look at the bell-curve. Not the controvertial book by Herrnstein and Murray, but the statistical bell curve used in grading and whatnot. The bell curve proves two things:

1) One half of the people you meet--that is every other person you meet--is below average.

2) Only 1/4 of the people you meet are really smart--those of the upper quartile--and in a democracy they will always be out voted.

Our hope is in that upper 25%, yet they will always be in a minority, with the lesser 75% of us misunderstanding them, or dragging them down.

Now you see how this book makes sense!

Keep in mind that a theory is only as good as it's data. Luckily, we can verify the Peter Principle rather easily. Just look around your workplace, and look at what goes on. You will see the Peter Principle in al it's glory.

A painfully true book! ... Read more

Book Description

The Evolution of a Brand Powerhouse

The candles that lit the nights of Union soldiers during the Civil War. The synthetic detergent that eradicated hours of toil for women in the 1940s. The disposable diapers that added convenience to the lives of busy parents.

All of these breakthrough "firsts" and a host of others came from the same source: consumer goods giant Procter & Gamble. Rising Tide chronicles this company's extraordinary 165-year climb from a small, family-operated soap and candle company to a global powerhouse whose market-leading brands improve the lives of consumers everywhere.

Authors Davis Dyer, Frederick Dalzell, and Rowena Olegario were granted unprecedented access to P&G's corporate archives and exclusive interviews with key executives and employees. They describe the introduction and evolution of such household brands as Ivory, Tide, Crest, and Pampers and illustrate how P&G learned to satisfy consumers and compete in markets all over the world. They also recount insightful lessons about product innovation, global expansion, leadership transformation, business reinvention, and brand building.

Compelling and candid, Rising Tide is a fascinating journey through business history and material culture from colonial times through the Industrial Revolution and into the Information Age. ... Read more

Book Description

Over the last 150 years the corporation has risen from relative obscurity to become the world's dominant economic institution. Eminent Canadian law professor and legal theorist Joel Bakan contends that today's corporation is a pathological institution, a dangerous possessor of the great power it wields over people and societies.

In this revolutionary assessment of the history, character, and globalization of the modern business corporation, Bakan backs his premise with the following observations:

• The corporation's legally defined mandate is to pursue relentlessly and without exception its own economic self-interest, regardless of theharmful consequences it might cause to others.

• The corporation's unbridled self-interest victimizes individuals, society, and, when it goes awry, even shareholders and can cause corporations to self-destruct, as recent Wall Street scandals reveal.

• Governments have freed the corporation, despite its flawed character, from legal constraints through deregulation and granted it ever greater authority over society through privatization.

But Bakan believes change is possible and he outlines a far-reaching program of achievable reforms through legal regulation and democratic control.

Featuring in-depth interviews with such wide-ranging figures as Nobel Prize winner Milton Friedman, business guru Peter Drucker, and cultural critic Noam Chomsky, The Corporation is an extraordinary work that will educate and enlighten students, CEOs, whistle-blowers, power brokers, pawns, pundits, and politicians alike. ... Read more

Reviews (25)

A coolheaded call to action
This is a very readable exploration of the characteristics of the corporation as an institute. The author contends that the modern corporation "can neither recognize nor act upon moral reasons to refrain from harming others. Nothing in its legal makeup limits what it can do to others in pursuit of its selfish ends, and it is compelled to cause harm when the benefits of doing so outweigh the costs." As stated in the book's introduction, the book is intended for the layperson. I found the author's exposition clear, and the examples he used to back his arguments compelling.

Despite the fact that the book discusses a dry topic the book has attracted popularity. This may be due to the documentary based on the book, but in my opinion can be ultimately attributed to the author's idea of giving a face to the abstract entities that are corporations. In a chapter the author pointedly asks a renowned psychologist (Robert Hare) to diagnose the characteristics of the corporation as if a person. The psychologist likened the corporation to a psychopath (The passage I quoted in the preceding paragraph should be read in this vein).

Shocking the amoral characteristics of corporations the author exposes may be, the critique against them is hardly new. The core-periphery theory in social sciences placed the harms of multinational corporations at the center of its argument. In fact it may be argued that the entirety of the author's criticism lies within the sphere of Marxist theory.

The strength of the book lies in its accessibility and updated, relevant examples. Inclusion of passages from interviews the author conducted with eminent scholars ranging from the far right (as Milton Friedman) to the far left (as Noam Chomsky), as well as with current business executives makes sets for an animated tone. However what I found most original and interesting was the author's legalistic viewpoint:

"No one would seriously suggest that individuals should regulate themselves, that laws against murder, assault, and theft are unnecessary because people are socially responsible. Yet oddly, we are asked to believe that corporate persons -- institutional psychopaths who lack any sense of moral conviction and who have the power and motivation to cause harm and devastation in the world -- should be left free to govern themselves."

"One premise of democracy is that, as citizens, all people are equal, at least within the political sphere. Everyone has one vote, regardless of his or her wealth or social position, and that means, in relation to corporations, that every citizen has an equal say about how these powerful entities must behave. Moving regulation of corporations from government to the market immunizes them to the effects of citizen's participation in the political process and leaves their control to an institution where one dollar -- not one person -- equals one vote."

And this incidentally is where the personification of corporations appeared most poignant.

The Omnipotent Corporation
The Corporation - The Pathological Pursuit of Power and Profit, has public relation firms scrambling to re-engineer their "good will" strategies.

Joel Balkin takes you on a timeline tour of the corporation from its humble beginnings when proprietors were responsible for the day-to-day management of the business and shared jointly in liability,tomodern day corporations whose majority stockholders are shielded by layers of management and laws so that they are neverlegally responsible for any damages.

Balkin unveils the modern day corporation as essentially taking little to no responsibility for any wrong doing and being primarily motivatedto increase the interests of its shareholders at any cost.Today's corporations only obey the law when the cost of the crime exceeds the profits and the only social responsibility that they project is that which the public relation firms are paid top dollars to formulate.

This novel was both insightful and disturbing.The comparison and similarities of the psychopathic individual to the corporation seemed to be a stretch at the beginning and grew to be disturbingly real the more you read. Considering that psychopathic individuals do not show remorse after a crime or have any social conscience, the definition of the corporation as a clinical psychopath, considering the harm they inflict on the environment and people, seems to be a logical one.

The Corporation is essential reading for anyone whois tired of keeping their heads in the sand.

Civilizing Capitalism? Taming Corporate Weasels? Good Luck!
"The Corporation" is one of my dream books come true. It is a well researched bare knuckles expose of the structure and structural defects of the for-profit corporate entity. Prof. Bakan has expertly exposed why corporations are so often seen as parasitic and predatory- like maladjusted children or glitch-ridden robotic programs, set loose like the proverbial bull-in-a-china-shop, trashing anything that gets in the way of their blind, rabid, selfish lust for profit at all costs.

One should know, however, that Bakan is not an anti-capitalist zealot. Rather, he only takes issue here with what he sees as the central corporate problem and that is a defective operating blueprint in dire need of a serious, rapid overhaul- top to bottom. He sees the corporate entity as easily brought into conformity with a new civilized operating structure- a structure based on public benefit, responsibility and concern for sustainable resource use, environmental sensitivity and most importantly, a humane and fair distribution of corporate profits.

Sounds like a pipe-dream? While I am more skeptical than most about the success probabilities of trying to potty-train irresponsible parasites like the infamous "capitalist-corporate pigs", Bakan certainly appears to understand the fundamental need ofcorporations and that is: the obsessive, pathological desire to stay in business and keep making money at all costs- even if that means being hemmed into civility for their very survival. And shareholders are well-advised to take note of this, continued stock value depends on sustainable, lawful conduct.

With a carrot of continued profits dangling in their sights, and convinced by the success of other corporations that have seen the light and profit in applying sustainable/regenerative practices, it is still a crap-shoot, but Bakan seems to have an abundance of guarded faith that a corporate structural overhaul will save the day.

This same guarded optimism is seen in the writings of one of the most famous government and corporate critics of them all, Prof. Noam Chomsky, who also holds no punches when pointing-out the nefarious schemes and skullduggery of corporations and government alike and this can be seen in his book, "Hegemony or survival...", et al.

In their book, "Natural Capitalism", authors Lovins and Hawken are very enthusiastic also about the success of those corporations who have made a remarkable turn-around in their refined, socially responsible operating methods and profits are soaring for them. All they needed was a little, OK, a lot of guidance to get on the right track, but their current growth-rate demonstrates that, a) It can be done, and, b) success is the reward for doing the right thing.

In his book "The Great Work", Thomas Berry is also onboard with Bakan and Chomsky in pointing out from top to bottom, the defects of current corporate structure along with the environmentally, unsustainable, resource depleting life styles of the general public and does not mince words in chastising this foolhardy, un-Godly dead-end existence, but with an abundance of positive guidance to a more sane relationship with all life.

Can corporations change for the good? They must! Their survival, let alone common decency and civility demand it, so here is a simple, but profound ancient Chinese Proverb they can chew on for motivation: "If we do not change our direction, we are likely to end up where we are headed." ...and in this case, that is the chaos of a corporate shark frenzy- and there are no winners there. (Proverb borrowed from Duane Elgin's book, "Promise Ahead").

Corporations arewell advised to take seriously Joel Bakan's message and the `profit' in doing so will undoubtedly be rewarding. I highly commend and thank him for this potent piece of work!

Accessible, Bold, and Topical
Very few books cause you to stop and think and re-evaluate your view of the world. "The Corporation" is one of those books.

Bakan argues that a corporation's singular (legal) responsibility is to generate profits. Consequently, any other interests - its workers' welfare, the environment, its affects on society or culture, etc. - can, and often are, disregarded in the corporation's quest for profits. Moreover, this single-mindedness (with no regard to moral or ethical concerns) makes the corporation a textbook example of a psychopath.

Bakan's writing is very fluid and his arguments well organized and researched, drawing from historical and legal examples as well as numerous quotations or interviews from leading business leaders, economists, politicians, and activists.

The book does a good job of articulating the topical issues of the corporation's role and its consequences for society. Ultimately, his conclusions may be unappealing to some, but his arguments and examples reach the crux of the problem and capture the position of those troubled by the corporation in precise manner which cannot be ignored.

How Do Humans Kill Psychotic Corporations Maximizing Profit?
1.Corporations Rise to Dominance
a)1865-1885 Railroads cause corporations to become huge.
b)1886 Clerk (ex railroad president) misinterpreted US Supreme case of Santa Clara County v (Stanford's) Southern Pacific Railway to mean corporations were "persons" under 14th amendment (i868) with full constitutional rights
c)1890-1910 Delaware and New Jersey start race to bottom to remove restrictions on growth of corporations (e.g., OK to merge)
d)1908 AT&T start good corporate citizen PR campaign to counter fear of monopolies.
e)1933 US Supreme Court Justice Brandeis believed corporations were evil Frankenstein monsters .

2. Business as Usual
According to Nobelist Milton Friedman, the sole purpose of corporations is to maximize profits for its stockowners.

3.Externalizing Machine
To maximize profits, corporations will dump any costs on others and avoid, understaff, or underfund any law.

4.Democracy Limited
Corporations have no morals or loyalty to the USA.
a)1934-35 Wall Street's richest (e.g. JP Morgan, Pitcairn, Mellon,Rockefeller, Hutton, GM, Pew) plotted to replace FDR with fascist dictator. Plot was thwarted by honest patriotic General Butler. No rich traitors were hanged for treason.
b)1933-1945 GM, Ford, Rockefeller's Standard Oil,IBM and others did profitable business with the Nazi state and Nazi corporations both before and during war in violation of no trading with enemy laws. No rich traitors were hanged for treason.

5.Corporations Unlimited
Corporations exploit everything on planet to maximize profits. Public sectors are being shrunk to open new profit centers.

6.Reckoning or Solutions
a)Bakan empasizes stronger regulations, more political democracy and robust public sphere. This method will fail becuase as economist Stigler noted the House, Senate, and federal agencies with revolving doors have been captured by the rich via the corporations they own.
b)This reviewer has more hope in the courts.
Citizens should follow Luther's example of nailing his theses on church doors. Citizens should nail the 1886 US Supreme Court case of Santa Clara County v (Stanford's) Southern Pacific Railway on every courthouse door. It would be a massive protest of real people against fake persons.
c)The 50 state attorney generals.
Corporate charter cancelation laws are a well-kept secret. This reviewer suggests spreading the word. Spitzer's view of these laws is also inspiring (p 157):
"If a corporation is convicted of repeated felonies that harm or endanger human beings or destroy our environment, the corporation should be put to death, its corporate existence ended, and its assets taken and sold at public auction." ... Read more

Reviews (27)

Good, entertaining reading about finance issues in the 80's
This book, Liars Poker, Den of Thieves and Barbarians at the Gate are the books that define Wall Street in the 1980's. This book was an outstanding coverage of the age of the junk bond raiders. Junk bonds were the favorite financial tool of corporate raiders everywhere. The junk bond was also used to finance many new businesses (Donald Trump,Atlantic City and MCI are the most memorable to me). This book also covers Michael the driving force behind Drexel Burnham and the King of the junk bond.

The book is focused on the rise and fall of Drexel and the associated personalities of the firm. The author does a very good job of illustrating the power Milken had within Drexel, how his office on the West Coast went from being a backwater to accounting for the bulk of the firms revenue, and how Milken's subsequent removal left Drexel crippled past the point of healing. I felt that the book does a good job of explaining the brilliance of Milken and the high-yield bond market that he created and nurtured, and the catch-22 that led to his criminalization.

At the end of the day I find these kind of books to be financial humor more than anything because 1) these guys worked their butts off (2) made tons of money and then (3) a lot of them lost their shirts, ran into difficulties or (3) ended up in jail. Yes, they are rich by the boat load but it isn't the way I want to make a living.

Interesting book about Michael Milken
Intertesting book about the mega-acquisition wave triggered by the creation of the junk-bond market. It will give you some info about the social-working atmosphere at Drexel and those who along with Milken surfed the biggest financial wave in the 80's. It is an easy-reading novel. Don't expect a thorough analysis about the Junk-Bond Market and its creation.

Compelling Stuff that Leaves You Shaking Your Head
The book is great but it leaves you shaking your head in disbelief. One must conclude that there is no effective control by the SEC over companies on the NYSE and NADAQ.

I found this to be just a riveting book to read. It reminded me of the movie Wall Street although from what I gather Michael Milken at Drexel Burnham was not as good looking as Michael Douglas and he wore a hair piece and drove an older Oldsmobile, not a Ferrari.

Milken while reading the Wall Street Journal and similar material on the bus going to business school in Philadelphia came up with this idea of selling the junk bonds. Once he graduated and was employed he pushed that idea, similar to the way Fred Smith pushed Fed.Ex. - another college idea. It comes clear in the book, just shouting out at you, that he had lots of help. Banks helped him, brokers helped him, other companies helped him, he opened a new office for Drexel in LA and in general just took over that company - all because people knew and appreciated that he was going to make buckets of money. His whole scheme was in fact similar to a pyramid scheme with everyone getting fat fees that were supposed to be re-paid down stream by the successful company. The Predator's Ball did exist as real annual social get together where the bankers, brokers, and the borrowing companies got together for a night of partying. The victims - the shareholders - were not invited.

Like every Ponzi scheme at some point reality had to set in and it failed. That is what this book is about. Sure we can learn but apparently we are immune or unable to learn from history because the market over inflated itself and the Nasdaq went to 5000+ a decade later, and we had World Com and Enron. It is also remarkable that after taking so much money he got off with a light jail sentence and a big fine ($500. million) that Millken could pay.

Entertaining read.

4 stars.

Jack in Toronto

A must read for all interested in the markets
From his humble roots to his 15 minutes of fame to his downfall, this book spans the entire career of the Junk Bond King. Memories of the 87 market crash & the SnL scandals of the 80s came back to me while reading this book. A definite must read for those interested in banking, financial history, american history & especially for business students. I found this book very helpful as background info for many of my undergraduate economics courses.

Sketchy reviewers
How can I trust these reviews if two of the featured reviewers here use almost the exact same sentences in their supposedly "independent" reviews?

Fredlybrand from Chapel Hill, NC and Dan Ross from Allen, Tx are apparently the same person.

What gives? ... Read more

Book Description

IN 1945, FORTUNE MAGAZINE named Betty Crocker the second most popular American woman, right behind Eleanor Roosevelt, and dubbed Betty America's First Lady of Food. Not bad for a gal who never actually existed.

"Born" in 1921 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to proud corporate parents, Betty Crocker has grown, over eight decades, into one of the most successful branding campaigns the world has ever known. Now, at long last, she has her own biography. Finding Betty Crocker draws on six years of research plus an unprecedented look into the General Mills archives to reveal how a fictitious spokesperson was enthusiastically welcomed into kitchens and shopping carts across the nation.

The Washburn Crosby Company (one of the forerunners to General Mills) chose the cheery all-American "Betty" as a first name and paired it with Crocker, after William Crocker, a well-loved company director. Betty was to be the newest member of the Home Service Department, where she would be a "friend" to consumers in search of advice on baking -- and, in an unexpected twist, their personal lives.

Soon Betty Crocker had her own national radio show, which, during the Great Depression and World War II, broadcast money-saving recipes, rationing tips, and messages of hope. Over 700,000 women joined Betty's wartime Home Legion program, while more than one million women -- and men -- registered for the Betty Crocker Cooking School of the Air during its twenty-seven-year run.

At the height of Betty Crocker's popularity in the 1940s, she received as many as four to five thousand letters daily, care of General Mills. When her first full-scale cookbook, Betty Crocker's Picture Cook Book, or "Big Red," as it is affectionately known, was released in 1950, first-year sales rivaled those of the Bible. Today, over two hundred products bear her name, along with thousands of recipe booklets and cookbooks, an interactive website, and a newspaper column.

What is it about Betty? In answering the question of why everyone was buying what she was selling, author Susan Marks offers an entertaining, charming, and utterly unique look -- through words and images -- at an American icon situated between profound symbolism and classic kitchen kitsch. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Superchefblog review:Finding Betty Crocker
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Superchefblog reviews Finding Bettry Crocker at http://www.superchefblog.com/2005/05/mothers-day-gift-finding-betty-crocker.html.
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Loved This Book!
There's quite a bit of historical information in this book, but for the most part Marks keeps it a fun read. The letters she's chosen to include from Crocker's fans are funny and sometimes touching, and tell much about the power of this corporate icon.

Remarkably interesting and engaging "biography".
Betty Crocker may hold the distinction of being the first "virtual" corporate employee in American history.She has been seen and heard by millions on radio and TV.She has corresponded with uncounted thousands of America's 20th centaury housewives.In 1945, she was voted in a survey as the second most admired woman in the US after Eleanor Roosevelt.All pretty heady stuff for someone who doesn't actually exist.

Betty Crocker was the invention of a corporate marketing effort.This is the story of how and why she was created and how, once created, she became one of the most successful marketing campaigns in American corporate history.

One wouldn't think on the face of it that this story would make much of a book.One would be wrong.This is a fascinating story that chronicles not only the Betty Crocker story but also the development of corporate marketing in the US in the 1900's in general. The book also, along the way, provides a lot of insight into the mechanics of a modern food processing conglomerate as well as the ways in which American's were convinced to include a lot of processed foods into their diet by these conglomerates.

It is an interesting, entertaining and somewhat nostalgic story.The times and issues that were the crucible for the creation of Betty are unimaginably bucolic in nature by today's standards.This is not only a book about Betty, but about our parents and grandparents as well.

There are some shortcomings-the author tends to skip over things and becomes a bit too folksy at times, but these are quibbles-this, against all my expectations, proved to be a very enjoyable read.Highly recommended to one and all.
... Read more

Book Description

Apple Confidential examines the tumultuous history of America’s best-known Silicon Valley start-up – from its legendary founding almost 30 years ago, through a series of disastrous executive decisions, to its return to profitability, and including Apple’s recent move into the music business. Linzmayer digs into forgotten archives and interviews the key players to give readers the real story of Apple Computer, Inc. This updated and expanded edition includes tons of new photos, timelines, and charts, as well as coverage of new lawsuit battles, updates on former Apple executives, and new chapters on Steve Wozniak and Pixar. ... Read more

Reviews (78)

The inside story on an Amazing Company....
I just finished reading Apple Confidential 2.0 in two days because I literally could not put the book down. The inspiring, heartbreaking, insane, and magical story of Apple Computer is pretty incredible in its own right, but Linzmayer adds the extra level of knowledge and expertise about the subject matter that makes this book so enjoyable. It is filled with pictures, timelines, and a real attention to detail. I also really liked the asides in the margins of the book that provide all the geeky tidbits like code names, and the little aside "What ever happened to..." bios of people who come into the story. It was neat to see how many people who were only briefly a part of the Apple story ended up doing amazing things in their own right. Apple Computer truly was and is a launch pad for so many amazing people and technologies - read all about it in this very current and up-to-date book. Can't wait to read version 3.0!

Good history, but is lacking in current developments
The other reader reviews all accurately state the positives of this book: the pre-2000 history of Apple is a very interesting read. I picked the book up, however, for a different reason. I wanted to learn more about the current generation of Apple products. Unfortunately, there isn't any detailed information about the development of OS X, the iPod, the G5, or Apple's new business stance as the 'hub of digital life'. (These are all mentioned briefly in the book, but there is no detail about how they came into being.) Surely there are some interesting stories to be told about how the iPod came out of a [then] struggling computer company that only had roughly 5% of the personal computer market. How about the decision to base the next-generation operating system on Linux? (To be fair, the book chronicles the influence of the NeXT and Be operating systems, but it doesn't connect the dots to OS X.) What sorts of decisions were made to develop a 64-bit processor? Who made these decisions and what technological challenges were faced in the process? These are all topics for version 3.0, I suppose. (And I imagine that I will be charged for this upgrade.) Bottom line: an interesting read for those interested in pre-iPod/G4 Apple. However, you shouldn't buy this book if you are mainly interested in their recent technological developments.

A must have book for any Apple enthusiast.
I eagerly bought Apple Confidential 2.0 after reading a positive article about it on a well known computer news web site. This book doesn't disappoint - I read the entire thing cover to cover in about three days, although in retrospect, it would have been fun to spread it out a bit more to enjoy it longer.

The book is well written and easy to read, and very importantly in this often heated subject matter, it appears to be genuinely unbiased. Featuring the story of Apple Computer Inc. from its inception to the present, the book not only gives a general overview of the good and bad times at Apple, but also presents many juicy tidbits. Sidebars throughout the text present numerous quotes from well known players - Steve Jobs, Wozniak, and many others. Pictures of some of the early machines are provided as well as timelines for various products and CEO's.

As another bonus, the resignation letters of several of Apple's CEO's are included in the text.

On the downside, the latter part of the book is not quite as good with several omissions such as mention of the wildly popular XServe and the Virginia Tech supercomputer cluster made with XServe's. This seems like a fairly glaring oversight considering how important the enterprise market is to Apple these days.

Overall, I think any Apple history buff would find the book fascinating, and I can even imagine that the book would be interesting to people who don't know much about Apple at all. The history of Apple is quite interesting and should provide engaging reading material for nearly anyone.

What are you waiting for? Buy the book!

Apple unpeeled
This is primarily a history of the computer company, not the Macintosh operating system. It's a catalogue of the trials and tribulations of a set of computer pioneers who were then and are still now miles ahead of their peers.

It is a compulsive read because although you may think you know the story, the deeper you get into the book the less you know.

We have come a long way in 30 years of computer history, and Apple has always been at the cutting edge. This is what makes this an exciting read, and the story is still unfolding. Another edition is assured.

Good Book! But i expected more!
Well i will say that this book is much better than the first one and does supply much information about Apple. The onle thing that i was dissapointed in was that it did not really talk much about any operating systems prior to System 6. It also never talked about the Cameras Apple use to make the Apple Quicktakes. Apple also made a huge series of printers and scanners and NONE of them are mentioned at all in this. Apple also and still does make servers too and all these thing provide or provided apple with a big market in the past! ... Read more

Amazon.com

Was IBM, "The Solutions Company," partly responsible for the Final Solution? That's the question raised by Edwin Black's IBM and the Holocaust, the most controversial book on the subject since Daniel Jonah Goldhagen's Hitler's Willing Executioners. Black, a son of Holocaust survivors, is less tendentiously simplistic than Goldhagen, but his thesis is no less provocative: he argues that IBM founder Thomas Watson deserved the Merit Cross (Germany's second-highest honor) awarded him by Hitler, his second-biggest customer on earth. "IBM, primarily through its German subsidiary, made Hitler's program of Jewish destruction a technologic mission the company pursued with chilling success," writes Black. "IBM had almost single-handedly brought modern warfare into the information age [and] virtually put the 'blitz' in the krieg."

The crucial technology was a precursor to the computer, the IBM Hollerith punch card machine, which Black glimpsed on exhibit at the U.S. Holocaust Museum, inspiring his five-year, top-secret book project. The Hollerith was used to tabulate and alphabetize census data. Black says the Hollerith and its punch card data ("hole 3 signified homosexual ... hole 8 designated a Jew") was indispensable in rounding up prisoners, keeping the trains fully packed and on time, tallying the deaths, and organizing the entire war effort. Hitler's regime was fantastically, suicidally chaotic; could IBM have been the cause of its sole competence: mass-murdering civilians? Better scholars than I must sift through and appraise Black's mountainous evidence, but clearly the assessment is overdue.

The moral argument turns on one question: How much did IBM New York know about IBM Germany's work, and when? Black documents a scary game of brinksmanship orchestrated by IBM chief Watson, who walked a fine line between enraging U.S. officials and infuriating Hitler. He shamefully delayed returning the Nazi medal until forced to--and when he did return it, the Nazis almost kicked IBM and its crucial machines out of Germany. (Hitler was prone to self-defeating decisions, as demonstrated in How Hitler Could Have Won World War II.)

Black has created a must-read work of history. But it's also a fascinating business book examining the colliding influences of personality, morality, and cold strategic calculation. --Tim Appelo ... Read more

Reviews (54)

A Detailed But Imperfect Examination of Organizing Genocide
Other reviewers have already pointed out that, contrary to the book's title, in the 1930s and 40s IBM was not "America's most powerful corporation." Edwin Black admits that "the dynamics and context of IBM's alliance with Nazi Germany changed throughout the 12-year Reich"; indeed, the book shows that the firm's German subsidiary Dehomag was trying to break free from its parent early in World War II, that the Nazis were trying to build their own automation center of excellence based on the French firm Bull and others, and that IBM executives likely knew little of Dehomag's involvement in the Nazi concentration camp system.

However, the most interesting part of the book for many readers is not the relations between IBM, Dehomag, and the Nazi regime, but how punch-card automation technology, the precursor to modern computing, supported the Nazi policies of persecution and extermination and the German war effort. Dehomag's IBM-designed Hollerith machines were found in government ministries throughout Nazi-occupied Europe and in the Labor Service Office in each concentration camp.

Black shows how the Holleriths were used to support Nazi policies from the initial census to identify the German Jewish population to supporting the Final Solution. As he states, "People and asset registration was only one of the many uses Nazi Germany found for high-speed data sorters. Food allocation was organized around databases, allowing Germany to starve the Jews. Slave labor was identified, tracked and managed largely through punch cards. Punch cards even made the trains run on time and cataloged their human cargo." One of Dehomag's directors, Edmund Veesenmayer, acted as a Nazi troubleshooter in southeastern Europe and participated in the deportation of Serbian, Slovakian and Hungarian Jews.

Black states up front that genocide would have taken place without IBM technology. However, automation played a crucial role in murdering so many millions of Jews, members of other ethnic groups, political prisoners, Christians, and homosexuals. Black compares the highly automated Netherlands, where 73% of the Jewish population was killed, with France, which was poorly automated and whose census head was working secretly for the Resistance, resulting in the deaths of 25% of French Jews.

Holleriths also scheduled movements of troops and war materiel throughout Europe, organized military manpower, and tracked aircraft sorties, ammunition useage, and other vital statistics.

While Dehomag was meeting the automation needs of the Axis, IBM's own Holleriths were supporting the Allied war effort. This included the detailed US Strategic Bombing Survey conducted at the end of the war, at the same time as IBM officials returned to Europe to reclaim Dehomag's machines and the profits made from Nazism.

Canadian philosopher Mark Kingwell notes that Nazism, with its "mass manipulation, armored Panzer divisions and systematic racial murder", marks an apotheosis of the "peculiar logic of techno-modernity". IBM and the Holocaust contributes to our understanding of totalitarianism and technology, although this topic awaits a definitive treatment.

THINK about it!
An exceptional book!!! Hidden profits, endless patent infringement litigation, inappropriate dealings with government officials, and ultimate re-assimilation of subsidiaries and their blood-tainted earnings from blocked accounts all combine to portray a company that not only destroyed its competition, but actively assisted the Nazis in automating their establishments (census bureaus, railroads, SS offices, and concentration camps, to name a few) which colluded in the extermination of millions of Jews, gypsies, and social undesirables. Moreover, unlike such companies as Ford and Standard Oil that simply sold a product, IBM leased its Holleriths and had a vested interest in keeping the equipment functioning and the royalties flowing, providing the Nazis with on-site service and maintenance visits as well as specially-tailored punch card supplies throughout much of the war. A must read for anyone who is interested in the tragic consequences that occur when corporate and national self-interest collide.

First Rate Research--Even a Widget has its Evil Side
Who would have anticipated that a speedy card-sorter, the Hollerith machine, would evolve into a tool of one of the most evil schemes of all time? Yet, this patented machine, devised by a little-known man of German descent, made it possible to conduct a census in a short time period, and turned counting into a tool useful on a mass scale. Black's book is a page-burner, containing information that will surprise the reader paragraph by paragraph. In my generation, the "Do Not Spindle, Fold, or Mutilate" written on each IBM punchcard was the introduction to the computer and information age (and often the butt of jokes). A scant 25 to 30 years earlier, similar punch cards became the currency on which the Holocaust was based. A truly groundbreaking piece of research that, fortunately, has already appeared in German translation. In the days where vast amounts of personal information are being reduced to a series of ones and zeros carried electronically and stored digitally, this saga may be the harbinger of horrors much worse than were conceived by the progenitors of the 1000-year Reich. We should pay close attention to the uses of such personal information, lest humans lose complete control of their humanity. Here we find a true fable (that's an oxymoron) with much more to teach than Aesop could have imagined.

A Sober, Courageous Look at IBM's Sordid WW II Past
To what end should profit be more important than morality? This is the main question readers should ask after reading Edwin Black's thoughtful, thorough look at IBM's economic history with Nazi Germany before - and especially, during - World War II. Although Black is not the most lyrical of writers, he does make a very persuasive case for IBM's primary role in mechanizing Hitler's Holocaust agains the Jews, Gypsies and other racial, religious and sexual minorities in Nazi-occupied Europe. One important unanswered question from World War II has been the extent of IBM's involvement in Nazi genocide; judging from Black's evidence that involvement was substantial, to say the least. Indeed, it is Black's premise that IBM's counting machines made it possible for Germany to perfect the crime of genocide as a mere matter of industrial mechanization. Black shows how IBM's Hollerith counting machines were used to identify, round up, and then deport hundreds of thousands of Jews from Poland to Holland into the Nazi regime's nightmarish network of labor and death camps.

Black's book is also a fascinating look into corporate politics. One wonders how much IBM's New York office knew of its German affiliate's activities. Without gaining access to IBM's archives, Black shows that IBM was aware and choose not to know, concerning itself only with the profits earned by Dehomag, its German affiliate, throughout Nazi-occupied Europe.

Gripping, Chilling Documentation IBM Complicity
I am astonished that Holocaust research has advanced so far and no one has yet detailed or even mentioned the involvement of IBM in organizing the Holocaust--from identification to extermination, 1933 to 1945. Not until IBM and the Holocaust. Author Edwin Black has produced a powerful, gripping, chilling and magnificently documented volume. The correspondance of IBM officials juxtaposed against NYT headlines offers a horrid insight into their mindsets as they were designing applications to further oppress the Jews and help Hitler conquer Europe. The author's website is filled with worldwide praise for this work, and yet it stands alone. I can find no other follow-up volumes to this excellent book. ... I cannot recommend enough this important achievement. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Birth of the Chaordic Age is a compelling manifesto for the future, embedded within the intriguing story of a personal odyssey. An engaging narrator, Dee Hock is the man who first conceived of a global system for the electronic exchange of value, becoming the founder and CEO of VISA International. He looks critically at today's environment of command-and-control institutions and sees organizations that are falling apart, failing to achieve their own purposes let alone addressing the diversity and complexity of society as a whole. The solution, Hock claims, lies in transforming our notion of organization; in embracing the belief that the chaos of competition and the order of cooperation can and do coexist, succeed, even thrive; and in welcoming in the chaordic age.

The underlying tenets of Hock's ideas are well illustrated by the incredible story of the birth of VISA International, an organization formed on chaordic principles that now links in excess of 20,000 financial institutions, 14 million merchants, and 600 million consumers in 220 countries. Hock deplores an age where ingenuity and effort are wasted on circumventing the rules and regulations of insular, hierarchical bureaucracies. In a bold-type subtext interspersed throughout the book, he examines how this situation is stunting our potential as individuals and communities and contemplates what can be changed. This rumination is propelled onward by "Old Monkey Mind" (Hock's own thoughts).Though the technique allows the reader to engage in stimulating mental discovery along with the author, its New Age spiritual tone is sometimes a bit saccharine. His insights, however, are clear and provocative. In the Chaordic Age, he contends, "success will depend less on rote and more on reason; less on the authority of the few and more on the judgment of many; less on compulsion and more on motivation; less on external control of people and more on internal discipline." Hear, hear. --S. Ketchum ... Read more

Reviews (20)

A book that will change our world. A must read!!!!
Sorry, but is not a another book on how to make more money in business. This book is a must read for all. It changed my life. Dee Hock is a true visionary and leader for the new millennium. Certainly everyone who feels that there must be a better way to approach the myriad of problems our world is experiencing will delight at the liberating possibilities that Hock presents here. Please read it and know that there is a path to bring our collective societal behavior into harmony with our values by employing the very organizing principles that are found throughout nature. I deeply thank Dee Hock for having the courage and perseverance it took to bring this message to the world.

The Right Stuff for Maximum Human Progress
If you are interested in the best way for people to work together in organizations, you must read Dee Hock's account of the founding and development of Visa. His thinking has played a key role for those who are trying to apply chaos and complexity theory to organizations, and to seminal thinkers like Peter Senge and Arie de Geus. Now, you can read the simple, humble thoughts that can turn ordinary people into extraodinary combinations of effectiveness. I loved the aphorisms interspaced through the book and the down-to-earth way that Dee Hock shared his experiences and thoughts. Think of this as the opposite of Chainsaw Al, and with greater results. Anyone who wants to move beyond the command and control culture that tends to dominate in most organizations should read Dee Hock's account of Chaordic Organizations in the new Chaordic Age. If you liked The Fifth Discipline, The Dance of Change, or The Living Company, this is must reading for you.

Stick to the article.
Like many others, I bought this book because of the outstanding article written about Dee Hock in one of the first issues of "Fast Company." So I waited...and waited...and waited for Hock to come out with this long-planned volume (replete with many publishing delays).

The result. Yeech. I couldn't stomach more than 10 pages or so. In the future, let's keep the writing to others writing *about* Mr. Hock. This book reads like someone who's been cooped up in the study a bit too long. In the original article, there was an exciting thesis about creating organizations in which power was pushed away from the center. And Visa, Hock's brainchild, was a brilliant manifestation of that principle.

But the book is about...ummmm, what? "Old Monkey Mind" musings? Who can follow these meanderings? Readers of the article are bound to be disappointed. At least we get a little insight as to why the author is no longer at Visa. Tough to imagine that a man with this sort of obvious brilliance could function trying to run the nuts-and-bolts of an increasingly static (and less chaordic) organization.

A Must Read Book
The Birth of the Chaordic Age is the most exciting and hope filled secular book I've read in my 80 years of political life.

Lack of response
I cannot review this book which I purchased simply because even though my credit card has been debited I have not received the merchandise of my last and first shipment. I have been repeatedly trying to tell you are using the wrong postal address but cannot seem to get through. You are so automated but took no provision for cases like this one.

Hellooooooooooooo! ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Highly Recommended!
This book differs from most other Six Sigma guides in that it identifies, by name, companies that failed at Six Sigma. So many authors have presented Six Sigma as something magical that it is refreshing to see its warts. Make no mistake - the authors are not out to debunk or dethrone Six Sigma, a management philosophy and method that has been their professional life for many years. They clearly believe that Six Sigma is worth the investment of time, brain power, leadership and political capital that it requires. But they aren't afraid to point out the fact that it does require serious investment, and that management must sustain its commitment for years to unlock the full benefit of the Six Sigma approach. The book is a tolerably good read, albeit dry. It mercifully spares the reader any puffery or promotion, and it lays out the axioms of Six Sigma life in a very lucid format. Occasionally, it stoops to cliché, but not terribly often. We recommend it to those who need to know what it really takes to achieve Six Sigma performance, and how to begin.

Six Sigma for Those Who Read Books for CEOs
This is a book about getting your organization to adopt Six Sigma. This book focuses on excellent techniques that are needed for convincing upper management of the value of Six Sigma. The target audience seems to be CEOs and their top assistants. In fact the authors pretty much concede that implementing Six Sigma is impossible without CEO intervention. Little can be found to help line managers implement a culture appropriate for Six Sigma. This fine book would have been even better had they addressed