Book Description

An engaging, informative look at one of the most popular products in the world. Jammed full of facts, figures, cartoons, and commentary, The Coffee Book covers coffee from its first use in Ethiopia in the 6th century A.D. to the dramatic rise of Starbucks and other specialty retailers in the 1990s. Written with verve and filled with little-known facts, the book explores the process of cultivation, harvesting, and roasting from bean to cup; surveys the social history of caf society from the first coffeehouses in Constantinople to Renaissance French cafs to beatnik havens in Berkeley and Greenwich Village; and tells the dramatic story of international trade and speculation for a product that can make or break entire national economies.The book also examines the industry's major players -- General Foods, Nestl, Proctor & Gamble -- revealing how they have systematically reduced the quality of the bean and turned a much-loved product into a lifestyle. Finally, The Coffee Book considers the exploitation of labor and damage to the environment that mass cultivation causes, and explores the growing "conscious coffee" market and "fair trade" movement.

Facts about the coffee industry:
* Coffee is the second most valuable legal item of international trade in the world (after oil)
* More than twenty million people around the world are employed by the coffee industry
* Coffee is the largest food import to the United States ... Read more

Reviews (12)

Surprisingly interesting, entertaining and compelling
I picked this book up at the library, thinking it was about kinds of coffee and how to brew it. I was mildly disappointed to find out that it was about the coffee industry, but I read every word. If you want to know how to minimize ecological damage in choosing your coffee, here's where to find out. The history was also fascinating. A great read!

Fun, informative, and well-written
If, while drinking a pot of Joe, you have ever wondered to yourself "What the hell is this stuff, and how did it get here?" then you need to read this wonderfully entertaining book. Incidentally, by "Joe" I mean "coffee."

Yawwwwwwn...
I had hoped to read a thoughtful and measured history of coffee/the coffee trade. Instead, I found The Coffee Book to be heavy-handed, one-sided and didactic. Big Business Bad! Imperialism and Colonialism responsible for the Ills of the World! I had to force myself to finish it, and recently sold it for 50 cents at a garage sale. I feel a wee bit guilty; I think that the buyer paid too much...

Boy, what a disappointment THAT was.
Here I thought I was getting a book having something to do with coffee, all I got was a militant greenie screed against any business bigger than a lemonade stand.

Coffee makes rare and infrequent appearances in this book, which was written to reveal the evils of colonialism, how terrible slavery was, how underpaid Third World workers are, how awful America is in just about every way possible and to harrangue readers with straight doctrinaire party-line anti-business anti-WTO liberal international geopolitics. Coffee's just a stage prop for the authors' political rantings.

The authors clearly know nothing about coffee itself apart from the geopolitical ramifications of its trade as a commodity, what there is in the book pertaining to actual coffee is perfunctory, sketchy and cribbed from far better books.

Even on the book's real subject, which is to serve as a tract for liberal free-trade politics they can't get their facts straight. They mindlessly repeat the canards about Starbucks "imperialism" and how they're driving all independent shops out of business. Bushwa. Every study that's been done shows that wherever there's a Starbucks established, local coffee shops thrive and business for everyone goes up.

If you're into reading in-house literature for the free trade movement this book won't challenge your prejudices. But if you want to know something about coffee you won't learn it here.

Coffee could be worse than cattle!
Mr.Dicum and Ms.Luttinger have writtne a phenomenal book. From their obsure historical facts to their pinpointing the origin of coffee, 6th century Ethiopia, you will be riveted to your seat as if you were reading a fictional novel.

They put coffee, the coffee industry, and global coffee politics under a microscope and often times it fails to hold up to the scrutiny. No matter what your political affiliation is you can't help but be immediately shocked and awed and the incredible amount of sociopolitical machinations that go on for you to have that morning sip of java.

For 11 years I have been a futures investor, broker, and author. One of the preferred futures contracts that I trade is coffee. This book has provided me with an indepth background and perspective on coffee that I never had before. This is now one of my reference books. For those that are interested in investing in coffee either actual grounds or in futures this book is for you and for those that can go a day without the original "liquid gold" you have got to read it. At the end of the day you will appreciate that Starbuck's "venti mocha grande" just a little bit more. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Coca-Cola has become such a ubiquitous American symbol such that it's often hard to distinguish where mere substance ends (its formula is a secret as closely held as military stealth technology) and its seductively overwhelming marketing begins. But in the 1980s and '90s, Coke's new corporate management evolved it from a reliable, if sometimes stodgy, icon of American industry into one of the hottest stocks in a notoriously overheated bull market. That explosive corporate evolution is the focus of veteran NY Times beverage industry reporter Constance Hays' cautionary business history. Eschewing strict chronology in favor of skillfully weaving in appropriate pieces of the company's complex legacy and unique coporate culture to underscore their impact on the contemporary story at hand, Hays carefully dissects a company billed in boom years as a virtual perpetual profit machine of boundless potential. Coke's growth was largely the product of Roberto Goizueta, the methodical, Cuban-born chemist who'd risen through the company's ranks and outflanked fellow veteran executive/personable "super salesman" Don Keough to become its CEO. Goizueta may have been able to rise above the hubris-fueled "New Coke" reformulation fiasco of the mid-80s, but his penchant for ruthless market expansion, corporate rejiggering and tight control of the company's operating details and financial numbers would also sow the seeds for the inevitable collapse that halved Coke's value. That implosion quickly took down successor CEO Doug Forrester--ironically the original financial architect of much of the company's remarkable boom. While this is largely a business history and not a cultural one, it's filled with a wealth of telling human details: corporate pressures exerted on family-owned Coke bottlers to sell out; an obscure academic/stock analyst whose curiosity helped unravel the company's financial secrets; Machiavellian corporate politics where one era's loser becomes another's cautious victor. --Jerry McCulley ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Coca-Cola Unexpected Summer
I received this book in an unexpected summer package that arrived courtesy of coke-gps, a business that deals with the coca-cola gps contest. I decided to read it and find out what coke cell phone products and gps receivers were doing to the us market.

Coca-Cola Unexpected Summer Sweepsteaks and other marketing campaigns have a stronghold on the market right now and the fact that they now have their hands on GPS receivers and Coke Can Cell phones is somewhat scary. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the Coke GPS and Coke Cell phones.

Misbranded
Douglas Ivester may have been the top Number 2 in U.S. corporate history. Yet his disastrous tenure as CEO of Coke shows once again why the winners of the Best Supporting Actor don't necessarily all go on to be top stars. Some people who are invaluable in the second chair prove to lack what it takes to run the show.

Roberto Goizueta who led Coke to unprecedented riches was the first executive of an established Fortune 500 company to become a billionaire. The handpicked successor of Robert W. Woodruff drove the price of Coke stock to new highs. Goizueta died unexpectedly in 1997 and Ivester assumed the reins of the Coca-Cola Company.

The Real Thing is a book that is promoted as a history of an American institution. It is not. It is a tale told more from Ivester's perspective than any other. As such it gives too much credit to Ivester for the success of the Goizueta Era and too little blame for the rapid collapse during Ivester's tenure.

On the whole, it is a disappointing and mislabeled business school case study.

A jumble of stories
First of all, I have to recommend a far superior history of coke's first 100 years, Mark Pendergrast's "For God, Country and Coca-Cola..." Pendergrast's well researched (over researched?) book neatly and clearly tells the story of how the company started and ended up in the late 80s.

In some ways Hays book is a sequel. At its best it tells the story of what happened to the giant syrup manufacturer after 1990. But the main problem with the book is Hays insistence on a non-linear style that works poorly when presenting history. She often starts a story and then stop--moving on to pick up another thread. Sometimes she comes back to finish the first thread, often she just mentions it in passing in another thread. The result is a convoluted, hard to follow story of Coke in the 1990s. Perhaps it is a refreshing change from the straight forward "and then this happened" approach, but it makes for difficult reading.

Hays does a good job researching, she obviously spoke with many key people in Coke's world (or used other sources). Often though the book reads like a magazine article, long on colorful quotes and interesting asides, short on a central narrative drive.

If you have read Pendergrast and want to get updated (through the turn of the century at least) then Hays will do the job. But if you know only vague details about Coke then you should start with For God, Country and Coca-Cola.

A Rigorous Analysis of Real Crises
Many of those who are already familiar with the long and colorful history of the Coca-Cola Company may share my own curiosity about the problems it has struggled with in recent years. What happened? A question of greater interest to me, what caused all the problems after a century of increasingly greater sales and profits? In this volume, Hays provides a brief but sufficient review of the company's history through 1980 before focussing the bulk of her attention on Robert C. Goizueta's 17 years as CEO until his unexpected death in 1997, and then on M. Douglas Ivester who succeeded Goizueta for only two years until being forced out. In certain respects, Hays resembles a cultural anthropologist as she rigorously analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of the two CEOs as they struggled (with mixed success) to sustain the Coca-Cola Company's market dominance, both domestically and internationally. As she presents her material, I was convinced that many of the problems they faced and some of which they inherited are similar to those which Louis V. Gerstner encountered when he became CEO of IBM. Specifically, a highly political corporate culture, well-entrenched resistance to change, estrangement from customers, and contempt for early-warning signs of imminent deterioration of both prestige and profits.

To her credit, Hays demonstrates meticulous care and commendable circumspection when explaining that several of the problems which the Coca-Cola Company encountered during the past two decades were by no means unique as its globalization initiatives proceeded, given internal upheavals in emerging markets and currency devaluations over which it had little (if any) control. It was also among the corporate victims of anti-Americanism which, if anything, has become even more virulent during the last 12-18 months. Nonetheless, one of her central themes is that the Coca-Cola Company was as relentlessly committed to a defective "formula" for growth worldwide as it was protective of its super-secret formula for syrup. Meanwhile, the company weakened long-term, mutually beneficial relationships with many of its independent bottlers. Some of the most engrossing material in her book examines a number of executive-suite dramas (and melodramas) which suggest, to me at least, an inability and/or unwillingness among senior managers to affirm in their conduct certain values with which the company had once been so closely identified, notably in areas such as corporate good citizenship and strategic partnerships based on trust.

Recent developments suggest that current CEO Douglas N. Daft and his senior management team continue to struggle with many of the aforementioned problems and, through their determined efforts, the Coca-Cola Company is beginning to solve them. Hays observes that "They knew the formula. They had done it before. They would just have to do it again." Hopefully they will succeed, guided and informed by lessons learned during recent years...lessons which are specified or implied in this riveting account by Hays of "truth and power" in a company which, for more than a century, has been synonymous with so many of the "best and brightest" achievements in the history of American free enterprise.

Outdated on arrival
New York Times reporter Constance Hays is an excellent business journalist, but her book is already so dated that it is no more than a mundane history book. Unfortunately, it pretends to be a contemporary analysis of The Coca Cola Company's management practices. And, in this regard it just fails.

The book spends a long time on the origin of this all American company. It also develops well the very successful 16 year tenure of Roberto Goizeta from 1981 until his surprising death in 1997. It does a good job of covering the miserable and short tenure of Douglas Ivester from 1997 to 1999. He made so many mistakes within such a short time, that he was forced out before he could do any more damage.

Unfortunately, Hays hardly covers the valiant efforts of Daft, CEO from 1999 until February 2004 to turnaround the company. Thus, her criticism of Coke's management leadership is already two CEOs and nearly four years behind as the book just hits the stores. For this explicit reason, I would pass it up.

Instead, I recommend a similar but far superior book written by another top notch NY Times journalist: The End of Detroit: How the Big Three lost their grip on the American Car Market written by Micheline Maynard. Maynard's analysis is far sharper, current, and relevant than is Hays' in The Real Thing. ... Read more

Book Description

A well-understood tenet exists among the FDA and other regulatory bodies: if you didn't write it down, it didn't happen! And if it didn't happen, your company stands to lose time, money, and perhaps its competitive edge. This book provides writers with the tools they need to put effective documentation in place. It offers a broad range of documents representative of the types of writing in the healthcare industry, from the laboratory and QA to manufacturing and regulatory affairs. The book offers valuable insights into managing systems and producing documentation that meets the requirements of the binding regulations. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

thecnology and environmental history
To know what happens in and out of the black box is to know what is the thecnological change not only like a cuantitative or monetarian problem but like a problem in relation with the natural resources and the environmental problems. The Rosenberg's concept have had a great acceptacion all over the historical and economical research -by Deborah Fitgerald, on the study of the relationship betwen science and agriculture (the animals are more thecnoeconomics than real animals), or by Naredo, on the study of the relationship between fertilitzers, food and consumers. The book also is in the line of Kranzberg's laws, and the reflexions of the environmental history (LAtour, Merchant, Haraway, Keller, etc.) -the thecnology travel by packages, it depends of the political and institutional factors and his failure or acceptation depens on the reception context -investigation and difusion. ... Read more

Book Description

There is a big difference between an "Executive Protection Professional" and a "Bodyguard." This book separates truth from myth. Two authors, both experts in their respective fields, give you the facts and critical knowledge about the field of executive protection. Together they provide a wealth of knowledge about this unique and exciting field.

This book not only explains what it takes to be an executive protection specialist but gives other valuable information as well. This includes, tips on defensive tactics, bomb search, searching for bugging devices, firearms training tips, defensive and evasive driving, and advance reconnaissance. This unique book also covers how to select the area of executive protection that you would like to work in, what you should make, the interview, and stories from real life experiences of an executive protection professional.

Philip Holder is the creator of the Six Zone Safeguard System of Self Defense
(Sometimes called the Sidewinder System after his "Sidewinder Executive Protection Consultants"). He is also the chief Instructor and Grandmaster of the North American Wing Chun Association and its Ying Gi Ga method of Wing Chun Kung Fu. His many years as an executive protection professional (EPP), his work as an executive protection consultant, and as a personal trainer, along with his 35 years in the martial arts and his experience in full contact fighting all come together to provide a true sense of realism in his classes and seminars.

Donna Lea Hawley is a retired lawyer who has written a number of books and articles on law, firearms, hunter education, and self defense. She teaches seminars on sports liability, shooting, carrying concealed weapons, the law of self defense and use of deadly force, and self defense for the past fifteen years. She is a firearms instructor who has taught over a thousand people shooting skills and firearms safety. She holds six NRA Instructor Certifications.

Describes the attributes, principles, and practices of the qualified protection professional.
Introduction to those considering entering the field.
Valuable source of continuing education for current practitioners. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

The Executive Protection Professional's Manual
This is an informative work. Philip Holder's knowledge and experience shines in this manual.

Great Book for the Library of both Professional and Layman
The Executive Protection Professional's Manual is an excellent read both for those involved in the profession and those of us who have been on the periferal of such work. Dr. Holder's unique perspective may stem from his extensive martial arts training, his considerable life experience, or analysis of human behavior.
Whatever the source, the tone of the book is about preparedness and common sense. It is called the "Professional's Manual" , likely to its matter-of-fact approach and and the sense of urgent preparedness stressed in the reading.
There are a multitude of aspects to being successful in this line of work not thought out even by experienced "professionals" who have made it their line of work. This book explains, even to the layman, a great number of these details while at the same time, making it all seem as though its just common sense.

EPP from the worlds best!
After viewing Grandmaster Holder's martial arts videos I had to get this book. I highly suggest this book to anyone with an interest in EPP. Understanding EPP from one of the worlds greatest martial artist and seeing it from his point of view really opened my eyes to a new approach in my own EPP training.

it's just a book not a manua!l
After nearly two months of waiting, the book arrived and I spent 4 hours reading it from back to back. Somehow, the authors were describing the art of protection management at some degree but they did not give an in-depth details as a manual should. For example, the trunk of a vehicle should have a bottle of water, medication, cellular phone, breathing apparatus, a list of safe haven phone numbers and a small torchlight. Why? in case the principal is being stuffed there in the trunk, he could have make an emergency phone call and still be alive! Also, the authors had somehow forgotten to include that the EPP should always have another duplicate key for the vehicle should their situation is being compromised and the key was thrown away! The authors had succesfully described the art of prorection as it was during the 70's and 80's. Crucial information as above were left behind (maybe for the next book!) Anyway, I don't think it can be call a Manual..it should just be call a book...or maybe my standard of expectation is slightly above average as any of actual Close Protection Professional out there.

Kuala Lumpur Malaysia. 15/6/99

Detailed, informative. Strong resource!
This is perhaps one of the better books on the market I have read recently pertaining to protective service details. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Useful overview of the global auto industry
Author Jonathan Mantle is a multinational, who "divides his time between New York, London, and the Far East."His book gives us a crisp overview of the global auto industry, but mostly covers post World War II developments to 1994.He focuses on several themes.One is the relationship between Nazi Germany and the later role of various participants in the auto industry.His story begins with the development of what became the Volkwagen.Dr. Porsche and Louis Renault were possible Nazi collaborators.Both Ford and General Motors continued to operate their plants in Germany during World War II and were major suppliers of trucks and half-tracks to the Third Reich.GM's Opel subsidiary also made engines for Messerschmidts including Germany's jet engine.

Another theme is the development of "people's cars," smaller, affordable automobiles for the masses-especially as Europe recovered from World War II.The VW Beetle was the most successful of these, but others include Fiat's Nuova Cinquecento, Citroen's Deux Chevaux (2CV), the Morris Mini Minor, Ford of Britain's Cortina, East Germany's Trabant, and Korea's Hyundai Pony.He mentions the Ford Pinto and the Chevy Vega, but generally covers only selected aspects of the US story.

A third theme is the introduction of auto manufacturing technology to developing countries.The story of Japan, Korea, and the Soviet Union are told in detail.There is some mention of efforts throughout the globe.

Finally, Mantle describes the labor struggles especially in Europe.The demise of the British auto industry was caused by strong unions and inflexible work rules.Similar stories are told of Italy.Successful efforts to reach workable union compromises in the US and Germany are also described.

Inevitably a complete chronology of industry sinks into details of various companies' marketing efforts.The latter half of the book tends to get bogged down, though the author makes a valiant effort to focus on major developments.But this leaves a story without a climax.The dialogue continues to 1994 and ends with a brief epilogue.

This is a useful overview of the global auto business with the history of major players.The author does a reasonable job of hitting the high points.References.Select bibliography.Index.

A Great Potential, Nevertheless a Great Fall
I liked the book - a lot. But there were too mant questions left unaswered. Frankly, if Mr.Mantle published all the materials as a different book that he would have collected for writing this, that may answer a lot.In short, he cut too much out of a great length of fascinating and valuableinformation.

Please, do write it again, or revise this book fully. Iwill buy that. For the time being, this book is just a reference of chaos.And adamn good one.

Pretty poor stuff
Poor research, poor writing, poorly organised

A book tainted with racists comments and research errors
His historical research is pretty poor when in the page 92 he wrote: "In 1967, President Salinas of Mexico had asked Volskwagenwerk to build the Mexican peoples' car".

In 1967, the mexican president was Díaz Ordaz, and Salinas took office until 1988.

And in the same page too, when talking about that the Volskwagen succeeded as a masses car in Africa and Latin-America he writes :

"...the Beetle had become the vehicle of freedom and mobility for races whom Hitler and Speer would have damned as Untermenschen (subhuman) and consigned to Nacht und Nebel (night and fog = gas chamber)"

What's the point of this comment Mr Mantle?

Through all the book the author seems to be interested in remarking the Nazi background of Henry Ford, the Ford Co. and GM as a way of celebrating them, it seems.

Great potential, but poor follow through
I heard the author, Jonathon Mantle on a radio show and became quite excited by the prospect of reading his book. It seemed like an accessible yet critical analysis of the car industry from a decidely non-"Car and Driver" enthusiasts point of view.Unfortunately, it turns out the entire book is just a gloss, very short chapters that are almost contentless.I felt cheated.Important subjects are mentioned and then left, some longer chapters are on mundane issues such as industrial sabotage while really important issues such as the collusion of car and chemical industries to destroy public transportation are only briefly noted.The saving grace was a very good apendix and bibliography that should have been used more in the body of the book.I thought the whole thing a very weak effort. If I could I would return the book to Amazon for a refund. ... Read more

Book Description

Adventures in Nature: Panama highlights only the most interesting places and activities for adventure travelers. Author William Friar gives you vivid scenic descriptions-from the cool highlands to the lowland tropical forest-along with tips on getting around and a wide variety of accommodation options. You'll also find details on the country's conservation efforts and environmental challenges, with advice on how you can support local communities without damaging the environment. ... Read more

Reviews (9)

Terrific guide, with a personal touch
I just finished reading this book, and want to offer the author my thanks and compliments. I'm planning to move to Panama someday, and his book helped cement my plans. Friar does a lucid and loving job in describing the country, but for me the most important undercurrent in the book is his obvious love and respect for the people who live there. Friar doesn't just tell you about Panama's hotels and restaurants and tours; he introduces you to the people who run them.

Be warned
Although this book does contain some useful information there is a very definite bias. The visa information relates only to US citizens, there are other countries in the world, and the information on the canal is very definitely the view of a zonian. Areas which to me are very definitely in the city are described as being in the canal area.
I do not have a problem with a museum in a Spanish speaking country giving the information in Spanish and resent the patronising comments he makes about the fact not everyone speaks English.

A good supplemental guide
This book provides good, in depth information about natural destinations in Panama. It gives more detailed descriptions of each place then a guide like Lonely Planet. However, the restaurant, hotel, and transportaion information is too limited for this to be the only guide book you take. I took this book and the Lonely Planet guide on my trip to Panama, and it worked out well.

Be ready to pack your bags
William Friar is the rare writer who is detailed enough to mind his p's and q's (solid information on hotels, guides, restaurants, outdoor activities) without losing the enthusiasm and energy that a good travel writer must possess. As soon as I started reading about the exotic animals, the differences between the Pacific and Atlantic sides, the Kuna Indians and the dichotomy between modernity and tradition, I knew I had to go to Panama.

Highly recommended
Excellent book. You don't really need to be an adventurer to get a lot of use from this book, just be interested in the outdoors.

We visited Isle Grande (crowded only on weekends), Boca Brava, San Blas, and the Volcan Baru region and found the book to be quite accurate and reliable. The San Blas islands were our favorite, but we enjoyed all places. No one got sick. All had a great time.

We did not use the book for either hotel or restaurant recommendations so I can't rate it there. ... Read more

Book Description

Wealth and growth in today's economies are driven primarily by intangible assets.Physical and financial assets are rapidly becoming commoditites, yielding at best a competitive return on investment. Abnormal profits, dominant market position and even temporary monopolies are most effectively achieved by the sound deployment of intangible assets.The aim of this book is to bring together the best research and thinking in this exciting and rapidly emerging area. ... Read more

Book Description

The world of cableand satellite delivered television is constantly evolving and changing with newtechnology. These new technologies, especially the transition to digitaldistribution, are altering the world of television. The momentous results ofthese changes can be seen in the convergence of communications markets andservices. This is the only book on the market that successfully captures thescope and detail of these developments. It examines the convergence andcompetition of emerging television industries both domestically andinternationally.This book's clarity and comprehensibilitymake it accessible to readers without a background in these areas. Also,current employees in the industry will benefit from the broad based topics ofthe industry that are explored in this book. These topics include chapters onhistory, technology, industry structure, industry programming and services,daily operations, law and policy, international activities, and social issues.Also included is a detailed discussion of the 1996 Telecommunications Act, aswell as other legal issues that are crucial to a clear understanding of theindustry. Ultimately this book is a detailed review of where cable andsatellite has come from, what it is like today, where it is headed and why, andhow it relates to other media.Industry gurus and novices alike.Part of the Allyn & Bacon Series inMass Communication ... Read more

Book Description

This book consists of a set of nineteen original essays on important recent antitrust cases. EAch essay discusses a single case and was written by economisists who actually participated in the case. The cases are organized into three major sections: horizontal structure; horizontal practices; and vertical and complementary market issues. Each section has an introductory/overview essay written by the editors. In this third edition, eleven new cases have been added, and eight cases from the second edition have been updated and shortened. ... Read more

Book Description

A comprehensive new framework for winning at M&A—from up-front planning to postmerger integration

The challenges of mergers and acquisitions can be daunting—but the opportunities and benefits they offer forward-thinking companies can be tremendous. Winning at Mergers and Acquisitions offers a critical new approach to strategic M&A based on the authors' pioneering concept of marketing due diligenceSM. Covering every stage of market-driven M&A planning and integration, this book shows how to look beyond the quick hit to focus on long-term growth rather than short-term cost-cutting. Featuring dozens of real-life case studies—including both failures and extraordinary successes—plus inside comments from leading M&A specialists, this book contains crucial guidance on:

• Predeal planning—how to identify your strategic needs and pinpoint the merger candidate(s) that will help you meet them
• Sizing up targets for acquisition—how to examine the essential marketing, sales, and product issues that will determine a good company "fit,".strategically and culturally
• Revenue enhancement planning—how to identify ways to drive top-line growth and develop action plans to generate near- and long-term revenues
• Filling the pipeline—how to prioritize and actualize the critical steps necessary to drive shareholder value
• Developing communication programs—how to design and execute communication strategies to garner support for the merger by employees, customers, and other stakeholders
• Building a comprehensive postmerger integration plan—how to align diverse corporate cultures, develop training and reward programs, and move beyond the turf wars and lack of productivity that hamper the success of mergers and acquisitions.

Last year more than 7,000 mergers and acquisitions were completed, with a collective price tag estimated at more than $800 billion. And although they are known as highly effective means of achieving corporate growth and strategic advantage, these transactions are fraught with pitfalls: Statistics indicate that a third of these deals will fail and another third will not bear out the expectations of the merger partners. What can businesses looking to undertake strategic mergers and acquisitions do to ensure that they do not fall victim to confusion, multimillion-dollar losses, declining market share and profits, or any number of other negative results of failed transactions?

The answers are in Winning at Mergers and Acquisitions, a pioneering step-by-step guide to growth-driven planning and swift, effective post-merger integration. Challenging the conventional emphasis on cost-reduction synergies, this book presents the authors' groundbreaking blueprint for mergers that yield strategic synergies and high returns in meeting long-term growth, increased market share, and revenue generation objectives.

Mark Clemente and David Greenspan explore in detail the marketing, sales, and organizational issues that are vital aspects of successful M&A ventures. They take executives through the entire strategic M&A process—from setting objectives, to evaluating target companies, to aligning corporate cultures in an effort to ensure problem-free integration. They show how to maintain a sharp focus on the markets that will be reached by the merger—and they offer invaluable advice on charting a steady course through the often tumultuous period of integration, when organizational chaos can cause the merged company to lose momentum, market share, and the backing of customers, prospects, and shareholders.

Winning at Mergers and Acquisitions is essential reading for CEOs, managers, deal makers, and others looking to capitalize on one of the most important methods of effecting corporate growth in business today—while staying focused on the people, product, and process issues that power that growth. ... Read more

Reviews (19)

In praise of a great book
Several months ago, copies of this book were distributed to our executive team in anticipation of an acquisition. We've since bought several more copies. The deal has progressed smoothly and primarily due to the guidance of Messrs. Clemente and Greenspan. It's as if they've read our minds in reference to the challenges we would face. Each time that a major obstacle or uncertainty has presented itself, "Winning at Mergers and Acquisitions" clearly and articulately has delivered the solution. The chapter on their methodology "marketing due diligence" is truly out-of-the-box thinking and has helped to shed new light on even the most mundane aspects of the process. Strategy, acquisition planning, cultural issues, integration implementation, and the like are all addressed with multiple case studies and practical guidance. We have greased the skids for cross-selling and revenue generation as they've instructed and the results speak for themselves. We are clearly ahead of schedule because of this book. Whenever we have balked at one of the book's solutions, we've found ourselves quickly in trouble and have gone back and implemented the guidance to remarkable success. Our gameplan for this amalgamation as well as for future ones is now neatly laid out. I can only imagine that more deals would have succeeded if they had stuck to the guidance so brilliantly imparted on these pages. In fact, I can't quite figure out how we ever had the audacity to make an acquisition before reading this book.

The Best Book Ever Written about M&A
I love this book. The concept of marketing due diligence is not only brilliant but works in practice. As the authors stress, "doesn't it just make sense to focus on the people, products and processes of a company before during and after the deal." This is a big book - in size and content. It gets in-depth about all the areas it discusses. Many other books on M&A offer up a paragraph or two in addressing an issue. You're left with a crumb. Probably because they've never really done it. Clemente and Greenspan have obviously taken their real-life experiences and written about them -- in detail...case study after case study. Real life corporate officers are quoted, discussing what works and what doidn't. The level of honesty is groundbreaking in itself.There's very little that's theoretical or lacking real-world application. Due diligence, strategic thinking, analyzing the business environment, culture from every angle, driving revenues...it's all here, in depth and with step by step guidance. It's a wonderful source that I keep on my shelf and use a couple of times a week. This book is truly the M&A bible.

Gave me the advantage i needed.
Several years ago I was in a class at Cornell Law School that Drs. Clemente & Greenspan taught. Winning at M&A was a required text and their insights from working on several high profile deals were inspiring. Just a few years later, I am a successful in-house counsel to many recent acquisitions of a relatively high profile multi-national corporation. I have had the opportunity to share the finer lessons from Winning at M&A with our COO, director of Corporate Development, and our head of HR. Drs. Clemente & Greenspan have written an important book whose lessons seem to transcend time or circumstance. Just like Peter Drucker's management wisdom seems to apply to every company, economic environment, and business circumstance over the last 50 years, the work and guidance of Clemente & Greenspan in Winning at Mergers seems to be timeless and evolutionary. It allowed me as someone with little experience in the realm of consolidation and backwards integration to understand the ins and out of the process before I had ever sat in on a deal. This book should be read and kept by those who want to learn about business, marketing, or M&A.

Well put together and soundly presented
I just got this book as a gift. WOW!!!!!! It's very well written and the ideas are refreshing compared with the beancounter approach of all the accountant types who crush companies, cut the staff in half, and gut the core. We all know companies that have just thrown away the wrong people and slashed all their expenses (especially marketing) to make the numbers work so they can get their stock to budge or the consultants/Investment bankers to pocket their success fees. This book shows in a very sly way how corrupt the entire M&A world is. Show me a merger and I'll show you a greedy CEO or soul-less investment banker. This book provides helpful solutions to making the worst possible combinations work and pulls back the curtain on the scam of so many business analysts and beancounters who always claim"It's only business; it's not personal." Last time I heard that, I was fired.

This book made us $22 million and saved our company big$
The patented processes in this book helped my company get an actual return on our substantial investment by driving revenue and saving us millions. A roadmap for success,the book walks through all stages of the deal. It starts with the out-of-the-box "marketing due diligence" which honestly reveels the shortcomings of traditional due diligence. A jealous reviewer here calls it unrealistic, yet it's used by most of us in the Fortune 50 (he must have lost the contract to these guys) The writing is smooth and keeps your interest all the way and it gets quickly to the meat and potatoes focusing on revenue enhancement.(SHOW ME THE MONEY!!!) Anyone who's worked on a deal knows this is where the rubber meets the road. Even a fool can cut costs after a merger, but a failure of so many deals is not gerating revenue. The book using examples and case-studies explains how to fill what the author calls "the revenue enhancement opportunity pipeline." It virtually put money in our pocket!! Sheer genius. The middle sections of the book address combining products, services, customer bases, personnel decision-making criteria, management functions and proceses. The last 200 pages detail specific strategies and tactics for successful integration. Discussing the most commmon challenges, how to align corporate culture, employee and customer communication strategies, training and development, reward and recognition prohgrams,theres even a very comprehensive chapter on designing the new organizational structure. No book I have read on this subject speaks about so many important aspects and in such detail. The seven members of our management team each read this book over and over and used it as our gameplan constantly referring to it over the 8 months we worked on this deal. It was like having a consultant on staff! Our deal was a success BECAUSE of this book. Other companies, afraid to break with the traditional practices that only work half of the time, will be destined to repeat their failures. Heaven help their shareholders. ... Read more

Book Description

Turn your creative talents into a great business!

Finding the perfect gift for that special someone or occasion can be a daunting task. Factor in drive time, budgets and multiply recipients and its nearly impossible. That's why many corporate customers and individuals have turned to gift baskets as the ideal solution. If you're creative, have a good eye for color and love to shop, this hot business could be your path to financial independence. Startup is easy: You only need a minimum amount of equipment, and you can work from your home, full or part time. Plus, you get the opportunity to be artistic, creative and entrepreneurial! This guide tells you everything you need to know to start a successful gift basket business.

• Identify a target market
• Develop an effective marketing plan
• Find and build relationships with suppliers
• Manage the administrative side of the business, include record-keeping, billing, taxes and insurance
• Find customers, and market your business

With Entrepreneur magazine's Start Your Own Gift Basket Service, you'll learn how to design the business the way you want it, whether it's part time or full time, homebased or in a commercial location, with employees or without. Pick up this book, and get started making your dream a reality.

Book Description

Although abundantly endowed with oil, diamonds, and other naturalresources, the African nation of Angola has suffered decades of militaryconflict, economic decline, and human misery. Tony HodgesÍs incisive case studyshows that it is AngolaÍs very wealth that has brought the country to itscurrent wretched condition. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Tony Hodges comes clean
Tony Hodges has finally seen the light regarding Angola. A known MPLA sympathiser, his book shows that there is no right or wrong in Angola. Both the MPLA and UNITA are fighting a 30 year civil war for power. Angola's natural resources provide the monetary resources to continue the war.

Hodges does an excellent job in describing Angola's vast natural resources, the allocation of those resources, and the fraud and corruption associated with the resources. His charts and tables are of particular value to an Angolan scholar.

He also details how UNITA thrives by continuing to hold some diamond mining areas and how they export the stones for funds to oil their military machine.

However, Hodges best contribution is his explanation of how the MPLA government spends billions on defense while the Angolan people starve. Much of the money spent lines the pockets of MPLA generals, and politicians.

My question would be if the MPLA regime is so corrupt would a UNITA victory be more disastrous? ... Read more

Book Description

NEW EXPANDED AND UPDATED PAPERBACK EDITION

Received ForeWord Magazine's Silver Book of the Year Award in Business and Economics

The business of baseball stands in sharp contrast to the game’s wholesome image as America’s favorite pastime. Major league baseball is a deeply troubled industry, facing chronic problems that threaten its future: persistent labor tensions, competitive dominance by high-revenue teams, migration of game telecasts to cable, and escalating ticket prices. Amid the threat of contraction, existing franchises are demanding public subsidies for new stadiums, while viable host cities are begging for teams. The game’s core base of fans is aging, and MLB is doing precious little to attract a younger audience.

According to Andrew Zimbalist, these problems have a common cause: monopoly. Since 1922 MLB has benefited from a presumed exemption from the nation’s antitrust laws. It is the only top-level professional baseball league in the country, and each of its teams is assigned an exclusive territory. Monopolies have market power, which they use to derive higher returns, misallocate resources, and take advantage of consumers. Major league baseball is no exception.

In May the Best Team Win, Zimbalist provides a critical analysis of the baseball industry, focusing on the abuses and inefficiencies that have plagued the game since the 1990s, when franchise owners appointed their colleague Bud Selig as MLB’s "independent" commissioner. Run by a shrinking and self-selecting group of owners subject to no oversight, MLB suffers from a lack of competitive pressure. Several large franchises are owned by media companies that have shackled their teams to lucrative broadcast and cable contracts—often making it impossible for fans to see games on television. Others own entities that do business with the teams, charging inflated prices for facility management, concessions, and catering. Complex intracompany transactions can reduce franchise revenues substantially, causing operating losses for teams while the owners still make millions. Zimbalist estimates that tens of millions of dollars are sheltered from MLB revenue each year—more than enough to eliminate the operating losses that led Selig to claim contraction and other radical remedies as fiscal necessities.Zimbalist believes that many of baseball’s problems would be effectively addressed by removing the industry’s presumed antitrust exemption. He urges reconsideration of baseball’s antitrust status, encouraging legislation to force monopoly cable providers to de-bundle their services, along with private initiatives to cultivate the game’s fan base, such as offering special ticket prices for families, allowing fans on the field after games, and involving players more in community events. Zimbalist also provides MLB with guidelines to reconstruct the incentive system underlying its revenue sharing policies.Zimbalist believes that consumers need an industry that is subject to judicial checks and competitive pressures. Only then will baseball fans be able to put the traumas of the 1990s and early 2000s behind them and utter freely the simple and enduring exhortation: May the best team win! ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Baseball¿s Business Side Revealed
Andrew Zimbalist's "May the Best Team Win" explains to the reader just how much the game aspect of baseball has dwindled over the years. Many owners nowadays seem to want to maximize profits out of their teams, not wins.

He goes into detail about the history of the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) and their fights against ownership. It is interesting to note that while the union is portrayed as the goat for many of the past labor work stoppages, after reading this book one can understand why the union's grievances with ownership are what they are. They have also harbored feelings of distrust not just against the owners, but against commissioners as well: Ueberroth and his role in the collusion scandal of the 1980s, and Selig and his ludicrous demands thrown on the bargaining table along with his claim after the 2001 season that Major League Baseball was in the red by millions of dollars.

Zimbalist studies Major League Baseball's exemption from antitrust legislation, how it came about, and how it is congressionally and judicially deemed today. While it seems baseball will retain exemption so long as they can police themselves, given the bevy of problems plaguing the game (or, rather, business) today, it seems that the government must sooner or later step in and right the many wrongs. If baseball were not exempt from antitrust legislation, notwithstanding the fact that owners could sell a team to municipalities and amateurs could challenge the right of a team to withhold exclusive rights to their services for up to seven years, one would find out just how much money ownership really lost and by how much the number would differ from Selig's number.

He writes with a viewpoint that seems to place most of the blame, right or wrong, on ownership and the commissioner's office. Labor problems aside, if the owners and commissioner would be open and honest with the union and the government while striking accord between themselves over what issues they should bring to the bargaining table, Zimbalist seems to rightly conclude this would lead to amicable relations between the union and management. He cannot be wrong in blaming management-because of their antitrust exemption, they are given a lot of liberty that many corporations in this country do not enjoy. In addition, the owners who own other businesses (John Hart, Ted Turner, et al) can rearrange their books to categorize revenue earned from the team under their other business ventures.

He proposes many rational solutions to be implemented: a promotion/relegation system similar to the English Premier League where the worst team moves down into a second-tier league and the best team in that league moves up to the premier league; an international draft, along with more early draft picks for low-revenue teams; and an adjustment to the revenue sharing system that discourages excessive spending but will not reward low-revenue teams that simply pocket the money they receive. If the government chose to intervene, he suggests splitting MLB into the American League and the National League as two separate leagues. This, Zimbalist believes, would bring down team revenues, player salaries, and costs to attend games while at the same time resolving competitive-balance issues. These solutions are certainly not without merit, yet given the myopia of the current caretakers of the game (or, rather again, business), it is unlikely any of them will be enacted, and if so, reach remotely successful fruition.

It seems really unfortunate to think about the idea that baseball really has become less of a game and more of a business. Given the "new wave" of GMs who feel they can put a team together on the basis of sound sabermetrics, it appears that the players are seen more as commodities than they are as people. They say baseball is a game of numbers. While common numbers used to center around batting average, home runs, and runs batted in, numbers studied in the "game" today seem to include expected rate of return, comparative advantage, and cost-benefit analysis.

Darn clear thinking
Good book. Read it after listening to the interview
on First Voice. Detailed, specific, thoughtful.

The interview is online at
http://www.7to7.net/zim.html

There's a transcript for those using dial up.

--J. R.

Great insight..
This was a great view into the inner workings of baseball's front offices. Not only does it give the reader a foundation for understanding the complexities of baseball labor negotiations, but it also gives insight into foundations of free agency and many of the arcane laws that give the sport its monopoly status.

Its a quick read and a great reference for any student of the financial aspects of the game, especially those interested in reform.

Terrific work on the state of baseball
Bob Costas's popular "Fair Ball" was an examination of baseball from the fan's perspective. "May the Best Team Win" is a similar work, but is written from the point of view of a professor of economics. Mr. Zimbalist's writing style is often just what you would expect from an economist; the text is very dense and may turn off some readers. Luckily, the book's fault is also its strength. The well-researched analysis provides irrefutable arguments in favor of making changes in the game, and educates the reader far better than other authors' attempts.

This deeply probing work uncovers the abuses and inefficiencies in the baseball industry, and concludes that baseball's monopoly is the devil in the details. Team owners use their monopoly power to "derive higher returns, misallocate resources, and take advantage of consumers." Any fan who has paid $5 for a ballpark hot dog will definitely empathize with his findings.

"May the Best Team Win" addresses the competitive balance (or competitive imbalance), the myth of non-profitability, the collective bargaining agreements, and how teams convince cities to foot the bill for new stadiums.

In the end, Mr. Zimbalist outlines some possible solutions to help improve the game. Some of his ideas seem workable, while others seem idealistic and unrealistic. However, all of his suggestions are well worth reading. This is an ambitious effort, and fans with serious concerns about the future of the sport will definitely appreciate this analytical endeavor. Zimbalist has taken on a difficult issue, and shown that he has more than just warning track power.

Highly recommended. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Explains how states affect market operations in Africa
This book nicely presents the way that African governments influence markets, why they do so, and the effect of their involvement on citizens, especially the poor. I found it helpful in explaining why some states make the decisions they do, despite the fact that they might not always be the most economically efficient. ... Read more

Book Description

A deep gap is growing between the promises of the new global capitalism and the reality of the social breakdown, inequality, insecurity, spiritual emptiness, and environmental destruction left in its wake. What went wrong, and why? In The Post-Corporate World, David C. Korten makes a well-documented case that the new global capitalism is delivering a fatal blow not only to life but to democracy and the market. But rather than simply presenting a doomsday scenario, Korten shows that it isn't too late for change. Drawing on the new biology and a growing understanding of living systems, the book argues that the most promising alternative is a world of healthy market economies that function as extensions of healthy local ecosystems to meet the needs of people and communities. ... Read more

Reviews (16)

Very encouraging -Take 2
Less an etched-in-stone, deterministic prophecy than a playful exercise in new metaphors for economic thinking, The Post-Corporate World would take creative thinkers and doers to a new level of coherence in their economic worldview. The book is for people who feel that there is something fundamentally inhuman in the current social "operating system", but who are looking for structural clarity in their thinking, new ways to articulate what they feel is going on, and possible courses for action. It will not satisfy armchair pundits looking for dirt on the deeds of corporations and their political servants, or those who seek a revelation of the exact future form of society (a la Marx).

Korten [MBA & PhD, Stanford Graduate School of Business] was for twenty-five years a development officer for American agencies in the third world, and demonstrates intimate knowledge of the structure, history, and practice of international capitalism--particularly in its nobler intentions. His focus in this book, however, is the worldview of ordinary people which brings them to accept the inevitability of exploitation and distant, unaccountable ownership-- and how that worldview seems to be changing. Korten here should properly be compared not to academic theorists, but to generalist thinkers such as Rousseau and Thoreau who write from an intuitive feeling about life, sharpened by observations about the larger society and a strong knowledge of the history of thought.

KortenÕs central assertion is that people's economic thought has always been based on their feelings and theories about how Nature works. He argues that our acceptance of the current economy rests on everyone's willingness to believe that natural life is fundamentally a dog-eat-dog competition, as implied by thinkers like Thomas Hobbes and the 19th century promoters of "social Darwinism." The scientific assumption that life evolves, through ruthless competition, towards a positive victory for the "more evolved" species also underlies Karl Marx's theory of the "inevitable" dictatorship of the proletariat.

As readers may know, 20th century biologists have considerably revised their hypotheses about life's evolution and interrelation. While the model of "winner-take-all" evolution may be true for two wolves fighting for the leadership of a pack, it does not at all apply to life's larger processes. Biologists now describe how species evolve more or less cooperatively to fill available niches amongst other life forms. ÒWinner-take-allÓ competitions for scarce resources usually lead to imbalance and catastrophe. The planet we love is a place where all the species of an ecosystem, from bacteria on up, have evolved to benefit most from the independence and interdependence of all the others, in a situation of innovation, dynamic balance, and observance of borders.

KortenÕs hope is that biologyÕs recent findings about healthy ecosystems might clarify our visions of a healthy economy and its present corporate Òdisease.Ó How else to describe a predatory pseudo-lifeform which starves natural innovation and resistance (as by monopolizing markets and buying politicians), extracts life materials from its host (such as clean water, expertise, and time) for strictly monetary ends, while externalizing its wastes and costs (the Òdownsized,Ó the permanent underclass, dead land, pollution) to the public?

Korten fills out the book with stories of people who are trying to promote Òlife valuesÓ in the economy, and suggestions for more coherent and coordinated personal action. He traces the history of Òcorporate rightsÓ in America and the legal fiction that corporations are ÒpersonsÓ under the law; and he illustrates a few images of how a post-corporate market economy might work-- just as food for thought, never as a totalizing utopic vision. Some of these ideas can be found elsewhere, but rarely are they presented in such a coherent and open-ended way. Korten has cross-pollinated impressionistic and critical arguments to carry the weight of his experience, broad curiosity, and disinterested good faith.

Provocative, insightful, engrossing critique of capitalism.
In this provocative book, Korten argues that capitalism is not, as claimed, the engine of wealth creation and champion of democracy and the free market but conversely, it is undermining each of these due to weak public policy and oversight. His analysis probes the problems of society that lie beneath the current strong economy, including poverty, social breakdown, spiritual emptiness, and environmental destruction. He finds corporations are consolidating power on a global level that is eclipsing nations. Korten suggests that the alternative to the current situation is the emergence of a new global system of democratic market economies that are true to the market ideals set forth by Adam Smith. An engrossing book providing important insights and sure to be controversial.

This book simply does not deliver
In titling his book "The Post-Corporate World : Life After Capitalism," you'd think that the author would at least IMAGINE a world without corporations and without capitalism. He does not. He can not. He proceeds to knock the market economy, calling capitalism a cancer, but offers nothing to take its place. This book is only a compliation of his negative feelings about the world the way it is. Amazingly, his only meager suggestions are for people to buy from small businesses and to avoid buying from large corporations. He repeats over and over again throughout the book that capitalism is a cancer, as if repeating it would make it so... He seems to think that small businesses are not practicing capitalism, and that just ...

Capitalism Is Cancer
Many people have winced at Korton's now ecological turn. They would rather he simply kept to pure economics, facts and theories, and dump the New Age spin he picked up from biologist Mae-Wan Ho. They were hoping that "The Post-Corporate World" would simply be Part II of his last sizzler, "When Corporations Ruled the World." They see the soft-headed ecological metaphor as a meaningless distraction that will only serve the interests of the enemy -- i.e., number-crunching CEOs, who have no time (after all, time is money) for ecological quackery.

In my opinion, "When Corporations Ruled the World" does not need a sequel. It did the job perfectly. Nor will taking a simply factual stand against the global corporate juggernaut fundamentally alter things. This is what Korten is driving at in his book. He believees we need to understand the world on radically different terms. We need to approach reality with a new story and a new bag of metaphors -- because the old ones have not been doing the job. If you simply want a truckload of facts disavowing capitalism's ability to meet human needs (and by that, I mean all humans -- not just 1 percent of the population), read his first book. It will not only alarm you, but it will arm you to the hilt with anti-corporate firepower for the next time you enter a debate on capitalism's merits. If you want a richer analysis of the inherent paradoxes of capitalism, and a more thorough understanding of what is necessary to remedy the current situation, read this book. The books serve two different functions: The last book was by and large descriptive, whereas this book is heavy on prescription.

Despite what our hard-headed, number-crunching economists might tell you, capitalism is indeed a lot like a cancer. "Cancer occurs when genetic damage causes a cell to forget that it is part of a larger body, the healthy function of which is essential to its own survival. The cell begins to seek its own growth without regard to the consequences for the whole, and ultimately destroys the body that feeds it. As I came to learn more about the course of cancer's development within the body, I cam to realize that the reference to capitalism as a cancer is less a metaphor than a clinical diagnosis of a pathology to which market economic are prone in the absence of adequate citizen and governmental oversight."

In her ground-breaking book, "If You Love This Planet: A Plan to Heal the Earth," the now-famous physicist Helen Caldicott wrote, "as a physician I examine the dying planet as do a dying patient. The earth has a natural system of interacting homeostatic mechanisms similar to the human body's. If one system is diseased, like the ozone layer, then other systems develop abnormalities in function-the crops will die, the plankton will be damaged, and the eyes of all creatures on the planet will become diseased and vision impaired.

"We must have the tenacity and courage to examine the various disease processes afflicting our planetary home. But an accurate and meticulous diagnosis is not enough. We never cure patients by announcing that they are suffering from meningococcal meningitis or cancer of the bladder. Unless we are prepared to look further for the cause, or etiology, of the disease process, the patient will not be cured. Once we have elucidated the etiology, we can prescribe appropriate treatments." (Caldicott, 1991)

As you can see, Korton was not the first person to understand our world as a network of interrelated systems that function much like the human body and other ecological systems. But with this book Korton successfully assays the disease of our capitalist system, elucidates its causes (or etiology) and prescribes an appropriate treatment. In the truest sense of the word, Korten is here acting as a Ph.D (read, doctor) of economics, and capitalism -- as well as your mind and its metaphors -- are the patient.

True, the book does have a more "holistic" flavor, as one reviewer put it, but don't let that scare you away. The book has received unanimously high marks form all reveiwers. From consumers to CEOs, everyone profits from reading this book.

Incredible. A must read.
David Korten vividly describes the potential state of the world. This book takes a wonderfully complex topic and summates it briefly and simply. The alternatives to global plutocracy are made clear and ample citation is provided. I have recommended this book to a myriad of friends and can only hope that many more people stumble upon it. ... Read more