Wellington City Libraries’ Business Blog

Beyond the corporation : humanity working / David Erdal.“Challenging traditional economists – the evidence for employee ownership fascinating read … a book that challenges traditional economists. Written in an highly engaging manner, it lays out the evidence for employee ownership. A business model that engages with and enriches human capital. A model that outperforms the competition. It explores the fallacies – highlighting common errors in reasoning. Rich with examples of employee ownership in action – from across the UK and internationally – John Lewis, Tullis Russell, Loch Fyne Oysters, Arup, Scott Bader, Publix, SAIC and many more. A book for our time – that draws a wealth of experience and learning into one easily digestible read. Very much recommended.” (Amazon UK reviewer)

Beyond wealth : the road map to a rich life / Alexander Green.“Beyond Wealth is insights about managerial abilities of independent professional view to daily aspects of social life throe personal relationships, contextually placed within the research of individual from Wall Street and macro psychosociology of social structures and systems expressing himself in writing, team work and flexibility in the management of changes from today globalization processes. I see the book like essays about opportunity to read practical wisdom connected with financial Independence, the freedom to do what you want do to, where you want to do, with whom you want and security, balance between work and family … like it, recommended.” (Amazon reviewer)

The hidden power of your customers : four keys to growing your business through existing customers / Becky Carroll.
“The Hidden Power of Your Customers” filled a missing gap in my undergrad marketing education. Becky’s insights on managing the customer relationship and recognizing and rewarding the value of your company’s existing customer base is insightful and practical advice that I have yet to hear in any marketing, sales, or consumer behavior class. Her practical, real-life examples are detailed, relevant, and help the reader flow through the book with ease. In an academic environment where the focus is on how to drive acquisition, “The Hidden Power of Your Customers” is a reminder that there’s success to be had from the customers you already have.” (Amazon reviewer)

Liquid leadership : from Woodstock to Wikipedia : multi-generational management ideas that are changing the way we run things / Brad Szollose.
“Liquid Leadership emphasizes embracing change and unique strengths of a multigenerational team…having launched and successfully led the first dot-com agency to go public, author Brad Szollose experienced a working world remarkably changed by the economy, politics and a new generation raised on technology. These forces intersected to become the backbone of what Szollose determined are the seven laws for becoming a Liquid Leader–in other words, a leader who can cultivate a climate of performance and innovation as well as nurture a demonstrably diverse workforce. Szollose’s seven laws acknowledge the fact that traditional business hierarchies have disappeared along with our standard ideas of what great leadership is. Like no other generation that precedes it, Generation Y’s unique approach to problem solving and its ability to embrace technological change like breathing create a new dynamic in the workplace, especially when juxtaposed with Boomers’ rooted ideas about traditional performance and protocol.”(Amazon reviewer)

Manager’s guide to social media / Scott Klososky.
“The ideal book for the business application of social technologies. Scott has done and excellent job of focusing on the realities of using social technologies within your company and provided valuable tips on induction training, management responsibility, policy, performance metrics, ROI vs ROE (Return on Effort)…This book also provides great in-sight into managing virtual teams with the use of social technologies for all ages and demographics you’re likely to encounter…Not only is this book about management and what managers NEED to know to keep productive and competitive but it also connects the use of social technologies with the product focused and people (HR, management, collaboration, performance) elements too.” (Amazon reviewer)

Managing the unmanageable : how to motivate even the most unruly employee / Anne Loehr and Jezra Kaye.
“Changing your own behavior is difficult enough, but changing other people’s actions if you’re a team leader is very challenging indeed unless you’re patient, committed to success, and have superb coaching and communicating capabilities. Coauthors Loehr (A Manager’s Guide to Coaching, 2008) and Kaye possess both skills and they put them to good use helping managers conquer the unmanageable employee and turning him or her into a star performer. Their methodology makes sense, starting with the five Cs (commit or quit; communicate; clarify goals and roles; coach; create accountability) and fanning out from there with more than a handful of other support tools, such as th. What’s It Worth. worksheet and the roles diagnosis chart. The 11 types of unproductive/disruptive worker, from the excuse maker to the gossip, are almost ubiquitous, appearing in many companies. And case histories, cleverly disguised, enhance the problem-solution narrative. Yet seven-plus tools and a five-step architecture are complicated and not so easy to use, with material probably better suited to learning formats. Behavior modification at work, step by step by step.–Jacobs, Barbar. Copyright 2010 BooklistFrom Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.” (Booklist)

Measure what matters : online tools for understanding customers, social media, engagement, and key relationships / Katie Delahaye Paine ; William T. Paarlberg, editor.
“We keep hearing that measurement is going to be the most important skill for social media practitioners this year. The ability to match a metric to an objective that will measure a specific outcome will start to separate the social media men from the boys, as they say. If you want to get a handle on that process, this book is for you. If you just want to measure hits, likes and retweets, you just might get a paradigm shift reading the book…Katie D. Payne’s Measure What Matters is the preeminent work in this area to date. I know I’m going out on a limb saying that, because there have been some good books written on measurement. But nothing as thorough and in-depth as this, in my view. I’ve read them all, believe me” (Amazon reviewer)