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09/04
c March 11,2004
Barrientos Crane, Darlene and Mayer, Margery
Executive Accountability: Creating the Environment for Business Value from Technology (HD 30.2.C72 2003)
"Because technology reaches across and beyond the entire organization, there is a critical need for executive accountability, leadership, and involvement to achieve measurable business benefits from technology investments. Too often, the absence of strategic thinking, unverified technology benefits, ineffective organizational collaboration, and vague or dispersed managerial accountability seriously undermine the potential results that could otherwise be achieved from critical initiatives. The authors look realistically at how technology is chosen, how to evaluate existing technology, and how to deliver value. To change the typical pattern of failure, organizations must move away from the proliferation of blame. When accountability is not specified or when executives fail to take full ownership, the value technology delivers to the company is at risk. Executives can immediately improve the delivery of value from technology by implementing organization-wide collaboration and decision-making that ensures all voices are heard. A second crucial action to undertake is measurement, and this book describes the limits of only looking at problems from a financial perspective, identifies available tools, and offers new perspectives on measuring technology value. A third action is strategic initiative management, an oversight process that ensures that the consistent delivery of business benefits from technology initiatives is visible to executives while projects are under way."
Devane, Tom
Integrating Lean Six Sigma and High-Performance Organizations: Leading the Change Toward Dramatic, Rapid, and Sustainable Improvement (HD 58.9.D48 2004)
"You know that great improvement initiatives abound. What you may not know is how to implement them effectively; get fast, dramatic improvement; and sustain those results for the long term. It's a common problem. But take heart: The next wave of performance excellence is here— the seamless integration of today's leading improvement methods. This integration, described thoroughly in this book, builds upon the strengths and addresses the shortcomings of each discipline."
Fare, Rolf and Grosskopf, Shawna
New Directions: Efficiency and Productivity (HD 56.F37 2004)
"The key unifying theme in this book is "new directions". The work covers the new directions in which we are currently working in the general efficiency and productivity arena. The unifying conceptual tool is the directional distance function, which is new. We do keep our "traditional" general approach -namely we start with axiomatic production theory and exploit the duality to drive our "new" results.
The directional distance function includes traditional distance functions and efficiency measures as special cases providing a unifying framework for existing productivity and efficiency measures. As a generalisation of the traditional distance functions, it turns out to be a dual to the profit function, opening a range of new tools for empirical and theoretical research. It also provides enough additional flexibility to open up new areas in productivity and efficiency analysis such as environmental and aggregation issues.
We use directional distance functions to model and measure performance when there is joint production of good (desirable) and bad (undesirable) outputs. The traditional output distance function would typically seek to expand the vector of both types of outputs, rather than crediting firms for reducing the undesirable outputs. Although the directional distance function has an additive rather than multiplicative structure it is also a ready estimate; applications are included for both nonparametric estimation via Data Envelopment analysis (DEA) and parametrically using quadratic functions.
Also, results to date concerning the aggregation properties of the traditional distance functions -either over firms to measure industry efficiency or over inputs and outputs to reduce dimensionality or accommodate limited data- are generally negative. As we show, the directional distance function serves to ameliorate this problem. Overall, we conclude that the directional distance functions outperform their radical counterparts and provide very useful tools for research, as illustrated by an application to Japanese banking."
Feenstra, Robert
Advanced International Trade: Theory and Evidence (HF 1379.F44 2004)
"Advanced International Trade is the first major graduate textbook in international trade in a generation. Trade is a cornerstone concept in economics, taught in all departments both in the United States and abroad. The past twenty years have seen a number of new theoretical approaches that are essential to any graduate international trade course, and will be of interest in development economics and other fields. Here, Robert Feenstra steps beyond theory to consider empirical evidence as well. He covers all the basic material including the Ricardian and Hecksher-Ohlin models, extension to many goods and factors, and the role of tariffs, quotas, and other trade policies; recent material including imperfect competition, outsourcing, political economy, multinationals, and endogenous growth; and new material including the gravity equation and the organization of the firm in international trade."
Frank, Robert
What Price the Moral High Ground? Ethical Dilemmas in Competitive Environments (HF 5387.F737 2004)
From the Princeton University Press site:
"Many observers interpret the recent wave of corporate scandals as support for the cynical view that self-interest trumps concerns for the greater good. Indeed, this interpretation finds comfort in the intellectual traditions of fields from mainstream economics to evolutionary biology. But is it valid?
In What Price the Moral High Ground?, economist and social critic Robert Frank challenges the notion that doing well is accomplished only at the expense of doing good. Frank explores exciting new work in economics, psychology, and biology to argue that honest individuals often succeed, even in highly competitive environments, because their commitment to principle makes them more attractive as trading partners.
Drawing on research he has conducted and published over the past decade, Frank challenges the familiar homo economicus stereotype by describing how people create bonds that sustain cooperation in one-shot prisoner's dilemmas. He goes on to describe how people often choose modestly paid positions in the public and nonprofit sectors over comparable, higher-paying jobs in the for-profit sector; how studying economics appears to inhibit cooperation; how social norms often deter opportunistic behavior; how a given charitable organization manages to appeal to donors with seemingly incompatible motives; how concerns about status and fairness affect salaries in organizations; and how socially responsible firms often prosper despite the higher costs associated with their business practices.
Frank's arguments have important implications for the conduct of leaders in private as well as public life. For, as he concludes, the better we understand personal motivation in competitive environments, the better we can structure organizations and public policies to promote our true ends.
Fulmer, Robert and Conger, Jay
Growing Your Company's Leaders: How Great Organizations Use Succession Management to Sustain Competitive Advantage (HD 38.2.F85 2004)
"Within the next few years, "baby boomer" leaders and managers will be retiring in huge numbers. From the executive suite on down, the challenge to put the right person in place for every job is becoming acute. The potential shortfall means organizations must put succession planning at the top of their priority lists. Growing Your Company's Leaders offers the results of a study of five global leaders in succession strategy: Dow Chemical, Dell Computer, Eli Lilly, Pan Canadian Petroleum, and Sonoco. Readers will learn what these and sixteen other high-profile organizations are doing to identify, secure, and prepare the next generation of leaders."
Gaughan, Patrick
Measuring Business Interruption Losses and Other Commercial Damages (KF 1250.G34 2004)
"Whether they result from a business interruption or other corporate events, commercial damages are often difficult to measure.
The process can be complicated, with millions of dollars at stake for claimants and/or plaintiffs, as well as insurance companies and defendants–all of whom must rely on accurate calculations of losses that will hold up in negotiation or litigation.
A must for accountants, insurance adjusters and other insurance professionals, attorneys, and economists, Measuring Business Interruption Losses and Other Commercial Damages helps you navigate the complexities of this interdisciplinary field. Here, you’ll find overviews of research and practices in subfields of economics, giving you points of reference that you can use in working with a team of professionals. The book also applies a much-needed, cohesive framework to the study of forensic economics: the first half of the book reviews damages resulting from the interruption of a business’s operations; subsequent chapters then discuss related types of commercial damages."
Geisst, Charles R.
Wheels of Fortune: The History of Speculation from Scandal to Respectability (HG 6024.U6 G45 2002)
"An intriguing history of the futures market and speculation. From Jay Gould's attempt to corner the gold market in the 1860s to the Hunt brothers' scandalous efforts to control the silver market in the 1980s, Wheels of Fortune traces the rich, colorful history of the futures market on its quest for respectability and profit. This comprehensive account shows readers why the markets have been grabbing headlines for over 100 years as both respectable economic institutions and hotbeds of gambling activity and scandal. Charles Geisst brings the personalities and strategies behind the futures market and speculation in general to life, against a backdrop of American life that begins prior to the Civil War."
Gordon, Judith
Organizational Behavior: A Diagnostic Approach (HD 58.7.G67 2002)
This is the 7th edition.
Jackson, Daniel M.
Sonic Branding: An Introduction (HF 6161.B4 J3 2003)
"Brands have become very important as sources of value and a means to build value and sustain market position. Much emphasis has been placed upon the visual representation of brands, but this book defines a new competitive arena in the creation and development of brands--sound. Sonic branding is a new, fast-growing area related to advertising and media development of the branding experience. This will be a distinctive book and the first in this important new area."
Jain, Subhash
Handbook of Research in International Marketing (HF 1416.S698 2001)
"Presenting the challenges and opportunities ahead, the contributors to this volume critically examine the current status and future direction of research in international marketing. The result of a sustained and lively dialogue among contributors from a variety of cultures, this volume gathers their perspectives and many insights on the revitalization of the field.
The authors address the way international marketing actually functions, as well as theoretical explorations of how it should function. Some of the papers break through the bounds of traditional disciplines and methodologies to borrow whatever tools and concepts are needed for a particular inquiry. Others are less concerned with testing existing theory than with generating new insights. Still others provide results that are significant for managers. Many of the contributors are drawn to problems broad in scope and offer insights that are of considerable value for advancing the state of the art."
Jain, Subhash
Toward a Global Business Confederation (HF 1418.5.J53 2003)
"In the era of globalization, the role of multinational corporations (MNCs) is increasing in importance while the influence of nation-states is in a corresponding decline. Jain contends that this trend will benefit the cause of worldwide economic prosperity, which MNCs alone are positioned to deliver. The increasing availability of global capital, coupled with advances in computing and communications technology, has accelerated the process of doing business anywhere and everywhere. At the same time, barriers to foreign entities wishing to conduct business in Russia, China, India, Brazil, and Indonesia are falling away.
As the process of globalization marches on, what can be done to ensure that material prosperity is the result? A Global Business Confederation, Jain argues, should be established to design rules that apply worldwide and that encourage MNCs to generate global economic prosperity in a manner responsive to cultural, social, and humanitarian concerns."
Kaplan, Robert and Norton, David
Strategy Maps: Converting Intangible Assets into Tangible Outcomes (HD 30.28.K35443 2004)
This one is already out. From Publishers Weekly:
"Over a decade ago, Kaplan and Norton struck a business consulting gold mine with the Balanced Scorecard (later turned into an eponymous book), which permits executives to list their targets for various "measures," i.e., the numbers they'd like to hit on various performance goals. Building off that earlier success, they introduce the strategy map, a flow chart to help businesses figure out who needs to do what by offering a "holistic perspective" on the individual goals of each department and how they interact with one another. Kaplan and Norton are gung-ho about the power of strategy maps to provide a conceptual framework for understanding any corporation, public institution or nonprofit organization, but general readers are likely to shake their head at jargon-heavy reformulations of the obvious like "the ideal customer experience is a product that meets customer specifications and is suitable for immediate use by the customer." And though the book is laden with case studies, it doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of their interesting stories. When one reads about the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, for example, one expects a more engaging outcome than "a significant breakthrough in how strategy maps are designed and used in large, matrixed public-sector institutions." Similar missed narrative opportunities involving outfits like the U.S. Army and the Boston Lyric Opera may keep even readers with strong business backgrounds from appreciating the full potential of the strategy map by focusing on those maps at the expense of the territory they were developed to represent."
Klosek, Jacqueline
The Legal Guide to E-Business (KF 390.5.C6 K59 2003)
"This concise and current guidebook to the legal issues involved with conducting e-business is a one-stop source for both domestic and cross-border laws and regulations. Any business that conducts commerce via a Web site must deal with these issues with regard to numerous situations. This book: BL Addresses the legal ramifications of developing and hosting Web sites BL Explains how to minimize liability through the use of Web site Terms of Use and user agreements BL Explicates specific international issues arising from the conduct of e-commerce BL Examines online marketing and advertising, online privacy issues, and online intellectual property rights."
Kolber, Leo
Leo: A Life (F 1034.3.K653A3 2003)
Already signed out:
"My relationship with Sam Bronfman, and his sons Edgar and Charles, has sometimes been compared to that of Robert Duvall as Tom Hagen, the consigliere to the Corleone family in The Godfather, in the sense that I was a surrogate son as well as an adviser to the father, and a friend as well as a counsellor to the sons. There's a certain amount of truth to that, in that I was brought into the family as an outsider, and became privy to its secrets."
Thus begins Leo Kolber's account, written with L. Ian MacDonald, of his remarkable relationship with the Bronfman dynasty, from the founding father to his sons, and eventually to the dissolution of a great business empire...
Marciano, Alain and Josselin, Jean-Michel
From Economic to Legal Competition: New Perspectives on Law and Institutions in Europe (K 3316.M37 2003)
"The idea of legal competition as a decentralized market process of law provision in which legal clubs compete, has earned an indisputable legitimacy among economists. This book presents a debate concerning the merits of and conditions for a competitive provision of law, with a special focus on institutions in Europe.
The authors analyse three major aspects of the competitive provision of legal rules. First, the conditions under which citizens and firms arbitrate between the different legal orders are investigated. The book then goes on to analyse the supply aspect of the legal market and the consequences of the competitive pressures on the behaviour of the lawmakers. Finally, the conditions under which the State may efficiently control the process of law provision are discussed and justifications to its intervention are presented.
Contents: Preface 1. Introduction: Co-ordinating Demand and Supply of Law: Market Forces or State Control? 2. On ‘Legal Choice’ and Legal Competition in a Federal System of Justice: Lessons for European Legal Integration 3. Harmonization of Environmental Liability Legislation in the European Union 4. Resale Price Maintenance for Books in Germany and the European Union: A Legal and Economic Analysis 5. Tax Mimicking Among Regional Jurisdictions 6. Harmonization of Judicial Interest Payments and Litigation in a Federalist State 7. European Policymaking: An Agency-Theoretic Analysis 8. Accounting for Centralization in the European Union: Niskanen, Monnet or Thatcher? 9. From Fiscal Competition to Juridical Competition: Lessons from the French Experience
Murphy, Austin Ed.
Practical Financial Economics: A New Science (HG 4026.P713 2003)
"The recent stock market bubble of the late 1990s and subsequent crash has made people more aware of the need to conduct practical financial analysis. Practical financial economics, i.e., the application of financial theory to practical financial analysis, is explained here with respect to a number of different topics, with a focus on valuation. Largely normative (instead of being theoretical, empirical, or descriptive, as most academic work seems to be), yet solidly grounded in theory (instead of being ad hoc, as much purely practitioner work seems to be), this book represents a collection of articles that are designed to have useful implications for both practitioners and academics.
Table of Contents:
Foreword: Enronomics-Desperately Seeking Toto by George Frankfurter
Preface by Austin Murphy
Introduction by Austin Murphy
The Outlook for Equity Values: Stocks May Underperform Bonds in the Twenty-First Century by Austin Murphy
How Uncertain Is Firm Valuation? by Dusan Mramor, Dejan Joksimovic, and Elton McGoun
Valuation: A Case Study of Scientifically Valuing Enron Using the Historical Financial Statements by Austin Murphy
Was the Writing on the Wall for Enron? The Importance of Strategy Analysis to Financial Analysts by Cynthia Miree and Arline Savage
Financial Analysists and Enron: Asleep at the Wheel? by Arline Savage and Cynthia Miree
Prepaid Forward and Leasing Contracts: A Critical Analysis of a Potentially Useful Form of Financing Employed by Enron by Usamah A. Uthman
A Modern Financial Analysis of the Titanic Disaster: A Timeless Case Study of Excessive Risk-Taking by Austin Murphy and Don Bloomquist
A Possible Solution to Excessive Risk-Taking: Using Stock Ownership to Maximize Customer Loyalty by Austin Murphy
A Critique of the Monday Effect: Beware of Mechanical Trading Rules Derived from Empirical Research in Financial Economics by Edwin D. Maberly and Raylene M. Pierce
A Financial Analysis of the Economic Effects Associated with Having to Reverse Current-Account Deficits by Austin Murphy
Radetzki, Marcus et al.
Genes and Insurance: Ethical, Legal and Economic Issues (HG 8771.R33 2003)
From the Cambridge University Press site:
"The result of two key social developments in recent years are examined here: the partial dismantling of the welfare state and the progress of genetics. Genetic insights are becoming increasingly valuable for risk assessment, and insurers would like to use these insights to help determine premiums. Combined with the fact that social welfare is being curtailed, this could potentially create an uninsured high-risk population. Along with considerations of autonomy and privacy, this is the basis for an ethical critique of insurer’s access to information. The result has often been regulation of such information; but the authors argues that due to adverse selection, regulation will not solve these problems, and this may jeopardize the survival of private personal insurance. Instead, we should look towards the resurrection of social insurance, a key component of the welfare state. This will interest academic researchers as well as professionals involved with genetics and insurance."
Reuter, Lars
Modern Biotechnology in Postmodern Times? A Reflection on European Policies and Human Agency
(TP 248.195.E8R486 2003)
"Modern Biotechnology in Postmodern Times? A Reflection on European Policies and Human Agency is for bioethicists, ethicists (theologians/philosophers), professionals in biotechnology, EU and national policy makers, and professors/teachers of courses in applied ethics (master level or equivalent).
This volume presents an interdisciplinary reflection on the nature and scope of current biotechnology in Europe. The author contemplates upon the actual structures and potential functions of biotechnology in our societies in order to allow for a balanced discussion and common reflection on the topic. This volume is unique in that it offers a concise presentation of the current biotechnological arena in Europe with its ethical implications. It provides a survey of topical Council of Europe documents and treaties."
Ronchi, Stefano
The Internet and the Customer-Supplier Relationship (HD 39.5.R66 2003)
"An exhaustive and synthetic framework for the use of Internet tools in customer-supplier relationships is one aspect of e-business that is still missing from existing literature. This book analyzes the main management implications related to the adoption of the Internet in the supply chain, and unifies different research studies and contributions in order to build such a framework. The book is based on wide empirical evidence including four in-depth case studies in both Europe and the US, a cross-industry survey of more than 160 US companies and also a web-site research describing emerging Internet initiatives in B2B relationships. By creating a concrete link between theory and practice it will appeal to academics and practitioners alike."
Contents
Preface, James B. Rice, Jr; Introduction; Supply chain management: concepts overview; The role of the internet in supply chain management; Research aims and methodology; Case studies; Research hypotheses; Survey analysis; The emergence of collaborative markets; Conclusions; Bibliography; Appendix: the survey tool;
Si Shi, Nan
Wireless Communications and Mobile Commerce (HF 5548.34.W57 2004)
"Mobile Commerce is an emerging phenomenon based on quickly growing applications of wireless technologies and mobile communications. Mobile communication is becoming as essential need for individuals and businesses in their daily actions. Using mobile commerce, organizations can offer customers services that are easily accessed by a mobile device anytime and anywhere. Wireless Communications and Mobile Commerce collects holistic perspectives contributed by leading professionals to explore strategic considerations regarding potential opportunities and issues in mobile commerce. These professionals' discussions and contributions focus on providing a comprehensive understanding surrounding business strategies, models, management paradigms, architectures, infrastructure, strengths and weaknesses.
Van Den Berg, Leo et al.
City and Enterprise: Corporate Community Involvement in European and US Cities (HN 380.Z9C626 2003)
"While in the past, corporate community involvement was mainly considered a form of philanthropy, nowadays the argument is gaining credit that corporate community involvement is not only a matter of ethics, but also of self-interest. As companies recognize their interest in the welfare of the city, they may become inclined to invest in some way in that city's welfare. Assuming that the interests of public and private stakeholders tend to converge as companies become aware of their interest in an attractive environment, then corporate community involvement may bring along a new type of public-private partnership, as an instrument of urban regeneration.
Bringing together comparative case studies from Amsterdam, Chicago, Leeds, London, Munich, New York, Seattle, St. Louis and The Hague, this asks what are the potential implications of corporate community involvement for the sustainable development of cities and the creation of cross-sector partnerships. It analyses the involvement of companies in urban challenges in the fields of education, employment, safety, affordable housing and the living environment. It also looks at the efforts made to establish strategic partnership between 'enlightened' corporations and public authorities. The book reveals that 'pro-active' firms attach much value to investments in their 'urban environment' as part of their corporate strategy. But it also shows that cities do not yet take full advantage of these arising opportunities."
Weeks, John
Unpopular Culture: The Ritual of Complaint in a British Bank (HD 58.7.W334 2004)
From the University of Chicago Press site:
"When you start a new job, you learn how things are done in the company, and you learn the many ways they are complained about too. Unpopular Culture considers why people complain about their work culture and what impact those complaints have on their organizations.
Weeks based his study on long-term observations made at the British Armstrong Bank in the United Kingdom. Not one person at this organization, he found, from the CEO down to the junior clerks, had anything good to say about its corporate culture. And yet, despite all the griping--and despite much superficial change--the way things were done never seemed to alter. As Weeks demonstrates, this is because the everyday standards of behavior that regulate complaints curtail their effectiveness. Embarrass someone by complaining in a way that is too public or too pointed, and you will find your social standing diminished. Complain too loudly or too long, and your coworkers might see you as contrary. On the other hand, complain too little and you may be seen as too stiff or just too strange to be trusted. The rituals of complaint, Weeks shows, have powerful social functions.
With its highly original approach toward understanding business life and corporate culture, Unpopular Culture will interest anthropologists, sociologists, and students of organizational behavior."
Wright, Jay
Consulting: Part Time and Full Time Career Options for Scholars and Researches (HD 69.C6W75 2002)
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