Organizations Books

A must have for anyone interested in Bone and Soft Tissue Pathology. I'm not sure when the new edition is coming out, though. You may want to look into that.

Dear Sirs,

I have returned the book "Pathology and genetics of tumors of the soft tissues and bones" because I have already bought by amazon.com in my other account (vencio56@hotmail.com). My mistake.

The book is very good (5 stars).
Sincerely,
Eneida Franco Vencio

This is a great book to review bone and soft tissue tumor.

Comparative corporate governance has captured the interest of economists and legal scholars during the past two decades. With intensified economic globalization, it has become apparent that the public corporation, one of the keystones of the modern market economy, has produced very different systems of assigning authority in the firm around the world. In POLITICAL POWER AND CORPORATE CONTROL, Peter A. Gourevitch and James Shinn offer a powerful political explanation that challenges the assumptions of a literature dominated by economic theory.

According to the predominant account, corporate-governance systems can be classified in two groups, the diffuse shareholder model and the concentrated blockholder model. The former is characterized by dispersed ownership of publicly traded firms and developed capital markets, whereas the latter is characterized by companies that have one or several large, core shareholders and capital markets that are somewhat less developed. In a global perspective, diffusion of ownership is rare and essentially confined to the large economies of the United States and the United Kingdom, whereas the blockholder model persists in much of the rest of the world, including the large continental European economies and Japan. Diffusion of ownership is often seen as the endpoint of an evolutionary development because firms belonging to a purportedly superior system should be able to outcompete others in the global marketplace. This view has led Henry Hansmann and Reinier Kraakman to announce the impending "end of history for corporate law" ("The End of History for Corporate Law," GEORGETOWN LAW JOURNAL 89 [2001]: 439-67).

Political scientist Gourevitch and former CEO Shinn propose a more complex picture that incorporates political mechanisms and the interests of other groups besides managers and shareholders, most importantly employees. Much of the economic and legal analysis of comparative corporate governance takes U.S. corporate law as its baseline, which in the popular perception leaves nonshareholder constituencies on the sidelines....

Gourevitch and Shinn share Mark Roe's view that political factors mainly determine corporate governance, but they try to make the analysis more complex. The institutions of corporate governance in a particular country depend on the political coalitions that managers, owners, and employees form and on which coalition wins the political struggle. The authors therefore identify three possible intercoalition cleavages: class conflict (owners and managers versus workers), sectoral conflict (managers and workers versus owners), and property and voice conflicts (owners and workers versus managers)....

All in all, POLITICAL POWER AND CORPORATE CONTROL provides a refreshing view of comparative corporate governance that strongly contrasts with the economic accounts dominating the field. It is a highly innovative and enlightening book that may be recommended to anyone interested in the debate.

The way corporates do governance is linked to the political makeup of their home countries, argues Peter Gourevitch and James Shinn in their important new book. Practices can't be imposed successfully from the outside or homogenized to some global standard; they bubble up from politics and pressures on the ground. Gourevitch, a political scientist at the University of California, San Diego and Shinn, ex-CEO of Dialogic and now visiting professor at Georgetown University, uncover complex relationships between key market players. Are workers and investors natural allies, for instance? Well, in markets where job protection laws are widespread, safeguards for investors are weak. On the other hand, global capital moves like a magnet to companies and markets that feature the most minority shareowner protection-thus creating jobs. Read this to find the web of ties to political power that promises global diversity in governance practices for years to come.

According to Gourevitch and Shinn, "corporate governance - the authority structure of a firm - lies at the heart of the most important issues of society"... such as "who has claim to the cash flow of the firm, who has a say in its strategy and its allocation of resources."

The corporate governance framework shapes corporate efficiency, employment stability, retirement security, and the endowments of orphanages, hospitals, and universities. "It creates the temptations for cheating and the rewards for honesty, inside the firm and more generally in the body politic." It "influences social mobility, stability and fluidity... It is no wonder then, that corporate governance provokes conflict. Anything so important will be fought over... like other decisions about authority, corporate governance structures are fundamentally the result of political decisions." If the authors haven't hooked you on the importance of corporate governance by these statements on page 3, you aren't breathing.

I have long argued that creating sustainable wealth and maintaining a free society both require that institutional investors act as mediating structures between the individual and the dominant institutions of our time, the modern corporation. Democratic corporate governance will reduce the corrupting influence of unaccountable power on government and society. At the same time, by transforming corporations into more democratic institutions, institutional investors will instill them with their own values and will unleash the wealth-generating capacity of "human capital."

The model Gourevitch and Shinn set forth in Political Power and Corporate Control: The New Global Politics of Corporate Governance uses corporate governance as the dependent variable. "The arrow of causation flows from preferences to political institutions to corporate governance outcomes."

Whose preferences? Key, are those of owners, managers, and workers. How? "To obtain their preferred corporate governance outcome, they have to win in politics" by mobilizing allies outside the firm in systems the authors categorize as largely majoritarian or consensus. A dynamic feedback loop is thus created: "institutions shape policies that influence preferences. At the same time preferences induce institutional arrangements that increase the chances of preserving the policies desired by the preferences."

Treating the categories of owners, managers, managers and workers as homogeneous blinds us to coalitions. Through an analysis of available datasets, the authors demonstrate that outside owners are more likely to ally with workers to support transparency. Workers seeking to preserve their jobs are more likely to ally with managers; whereas, concern for pension funds motivates transparency and ability to exercise shareholder voice. Firm-centered managers prefer blockholding owners; those seeking maximum pay tend to support minority shareholder protections and vigorous labor markets.

Variation in corporate governance is not necessarily a function of economic stages, technology, or legal framework. Instead, Gourevitch and Shinn provide substantial support for the argument that "corporate governance arises from incentives created by rules and regulations that emerge from a public policy process, reflecting the power of alternative coalitions."

Although most academic writers and the press emphasize minority shareholder protections, Gourevitch and Shinn emphasize the need to also account for "degrees of coordination," which shape incentives to concentrate shareholding or sell down to a more diffuse market. These include product-market competition, price and wage mechanisms, labor relations, and social welfare systems. Each coalition seeks to persuade society-at-large to provide public policies in corporate governance that favor their own interests.

Systems shift when economic conditions change in big way. One of their most interesting discussions concerns their assertion that pension funds, which they define to include all forms of deferred compensation plans, may be most important as the next phase unfolds. "To understand the future politics of corporate governance debates, we will have to track fights about pension reform." "Pension plan regulations may turn out to be the tail that wags the corporate governance dog."

Defined benefit plans held 27% of all U.S. equities in 1989-95 but fell to 21% more recently. Mutual fund ownership, on the other hand, has climbed from 8% in 1990 to 28%. As more defined benefit plans (often jointly administered with employee or union representatives) are dropped, the future of corporate governance reform may lie with mutual funds. That tail, using the above analogy, seems to wag whenever management speaks.

They are required by law, as fiduciaries, to represent the interests of the investors whose money they oversee, not their own business interests, which may including landing contracts to administer 401(k) plans. Recently, Vanguard, Putnam, and Fidelity voted against shareholder proposals that would require directors standing for election to stay on only if a majority of votes are ''yes.'' Clearly, these funds were not voting in the best interest of owners. Mutual funds used to turn over 17% of their portfolio each year (1950-1965) but averaged 91% per year in 1990-2005, prompting John Bogle to remark the "rent-a-stock industry has little reason to care" about good corporate governance.

Gourevitch and Shinn find that "as worker-citizens acquire assets, they develop preferences for shareholder protections, thus adding pressure to the potential for a transparency coalition" and "assets in the hands of institutions that are accountable to their owners are likely to pay more attention to governance than are assets in the hands of autonomous managers." Perhaps an actual power shift will follow as mutual fund investors demand a role in mutual fund governance and those funds begin to represent their true preferences with corporations. If that happens, we might see a book that looks in reverse, tracing the effects of corporate governance outcomes on political institutions. "Socially responsible investment" will then take on new meaning and dimension.

In the meantime, Gourevitch and Shinn, note enough interesting correlations and observations to make the book must reading for any corporate governance policy analyst, especially those with global concerns. Here is a small sample:

-Blockholding and minority shareholder protections are negatively correlated.
-Minority shareholder protections and share price are positively correlated.
-Blockholding dips after increased minority shareholder protections are likely the result of sales by "new money" entrepreneurs, rather than old money blockholders (who may fear the tax collector).
-Blockholding may be preferred when uncertainty is high.
-State-owned enterprises are the most aggressive users of ADRs.
-Money flows toward firms and countries that provide shareholder protections. "No other group can have quite this direct an effect on the economy...the economic vote of investors counts greatly against the mass of votes in elections."
-Where job security is strong, diffusion is weak, and minority shareholder protections are weak.
-Weak intermediate institutions of finance, investment, pensions and stockmarkets are correlated with little voice for shareholder rights.
-"The U.S. Securities regulation system assumes that institutional investors and reputational intermediaries are the agents of investors." "Yet it has become increasingly clear to many observers that these private actors have multiple, complex incentives..."
-"As much as 10 percent of the total ownership of U.S. public firms was transferred from the existing stockholders to senior managers through stock option grants between 1990 and 2000."

Their treatment of the definition of corporate governance from various perspectives is also an eye opener. Here's a flavor of that discussion:

-Where the political scene is capital versus labor, "the investor coalition defined corporate governance in terms of 'meeting the challenge of financial globalization,' adherence to the OECD Principles, fulfilling 'international standards of governance in the global competition for capital.'"
-From a labor power position, "blockholders and foreign portfolio investors were castigated as selfish oligarch in league with the heartless IMF and the faceless gnomes of Zurich."
-Those favoring the corporatist compromise made much of managers and workers "being in the 'same boat' together, of corporate governance choices that ensured that firms 'served the nation' in a 'stable' economy - with owners dismissed as oligarchs or 'speculators.'"
-Countries shifting transparency coalitions and managerism alignment "witnessed predictable invocations of corporate governance that protected 'the little guy, ' the individual investor,' the widow and orphans," such as speeches by U.S. SEC commissioners.
-"Meanwhile across the alignment divide, managers compete to hijack the notion of corporate governance for their own purpose...'building shareholder value."

Shareholder value is partly about efficiency. But Gourevitch and Shinn raise serious issues of distribution, job security, income inequality, social welfare. Will firms of the future be efficient at creating a healthy environment and general prosperity or efficient at putting money into the pockets of CEOs? Political Power and Corporate Control provides a groundbreaking guide, based on empirical evidence, for anyone concerned with the direction of corporate governance and society.

This is written as a text book but it is readable and practical and it is perfect for parents. Reading it is much like sitting down with a friend and talking about real day-to-day problems babies, toddlers and young children have as they learn to cope with their feelings and to comply with parents' rules for safe, responsible behavior.

The book has simple, practical lists of things to do when toddlers bite, preschoolers fight and school-aged children pick up bad words. It gives help on potty training, sleep problems and thumb-sucking. An in depth index makes it easy to find topics.

You will want to order a second copy to lend to friends so they don't take yours!!

This is one of the best books that I have ever read. I am a 2nd year Early Childhood Education student and my brilliant professor suggested that we read this book for his class "Child Profile." So many teachers struggle with challenging behaviour and this book describes positive techniques to use with children of all ages. Behaviour guidance is about helping children develop self-control, it's not about pleasing the teacher. Every teacher should read this book!!

This is one of the best books that I have ever read. I am a 2nd year Early Childhood Education student and my brilliant professor suggested that we read this book for his class "Child Guidance." So many teachers struggle with challenging behaviour and this book describes positive techniques to use with children of all ages. Behaviour guidance is about helping children develop self-control, it's not about pleasing the teacher. Every teacher should read this book!!

It has been said that each new generation forgets the mistakes of those that came before it. This book proves this point with respect to the privatization of utilities. The auhor delves into the history of electric and power privatization in industrial countries since 1900, with an emphasis on the US and UK, the two countries with the longest history of mass electricity usage. In this book, the author shows:
1. How the control of power generation, transmission, and usage has shifted back and forth between the public and private (corporate) sphere over the last century.
2. The times of public control saw minimal blackouts or rationing, low and steady rates, high investment in environmentally friendly technology, and high investment in research for more efficient technology.
3. The times of private control saw numerous blackouts and rationing, high and increasing rates, minimal investment in environmentally friendly technology, and low investment in research for more efficient technology.
4. The drive for privatization is always from big corporations who are either large-scale consumers of electricity, or large-scale producers of electricity.
5. The drive for public control always results from the poor service provided by privately-owned utilities.
6. Any time public and privately held utilities operated in the same geographical marketplace, the public utilities ALWAYS offer lower rates and more dependable service.
7. The switch from privately owned utilities to public control is always due to overwhelming public pressure at the grassroots level.
8. The switch to deregulate public utilities is due to propaganda put out by corporations and their sponsored think tanks.
9. The electricity industry by its nature and evolution in America is a prototypical natural monopoly and trying to privatize different segments of it leads to chaos.
10. Over the last decade, both the Bush and Clinton administrations contrived with Enron to force other countries to deregulate their utilities so Enron could buy them up and make profits on them.

Overall, this is a great book. It shows how big corporations, primarily Western ones, have collaborated over the last century to take control of the electric utilities around the world, solely to increase their profits. I highly recommend reading it.

Beder has written the indispensable account of why the American electric power industry is in extreme disarray. This is an account of deregulation, Enron, artificial prices and gross exploitation. It is the book of the moment: timely and relevant to the electric blackouts of August 2003, easy to understand, and really essential. Extremely informative.

Hegel once remarked that the only thing people learn from history is that people have learned nothing from history. To that end, the philosopher no doubt would have been intrigued by Sharon Beder's outstanding book "Power Play." In it, the author shows how the neo-liberal ideologies and financial self-interests that once conspired to create chaos in the electric power industry in the 1930s have been resurrected in our own time to produce similarly disastrous results. Importantly, her analysis helps us understand what needs to be done to restore order to an out-of-control system that garners most of its profits at the public's expense.

In my estimation, Sharon Beder has established herself as one of the most articulate critics of corporate power. As a Professor of Social Sciences, Media and Communications in Australia, Ms. Beder has demonstrated in prior books such as "Global Spin" a remarkable knack for deconstructing propaganda and uncovering the agendas that are often hidden behind corporate messages. I found "Power Play" to be a carefully reasoned, well-supported and convincing piece of research that makes for compelling reading.

The book is divided into five sections. The first deals with the history of power politics in the U.S. for most of the 20th century. We learn how private interests used the media and political influence to promote deregulation, and how the industry's eventual implosion was a major contributing factor in the stock market crash of 1929 and subsequent Great Depression. The second section discusses the push to deregulate in the latter part of the century to the present day. We see how legislation enacted in the 1930s to protect against corporate abuse was eventually rolled back, which in turn set the stage for companies like Enron to suffer a fate similar to that which befell Samuel Insull's energy empire in the 1930s.

The third, fourth and fifth sections deal with deregulation in Britain, Australia and other parts of the world. The global perspective provided by Ms. Beder is useful. Clearly, ideology and financial interests have been the driving forces behind the privatization agenda; interestingly, we learn that the outcomes in various locales have been remarkably similar. Ms. Beder relates how large corporations are often able to exercise market power in order to extort unusually large fees from their customers. The winners are large industrial users and the banks, investors and consultants working on behalf of the energy companies. The losers include taxpayers, farmers, the poor, small businesses and the environment.

In my opinion, although "Power Play" does not explicitly tie the economic inefficiencies of the deregulated power industry with the current economic downturn, it provides ample evidence that the crisis in the power industry significantly contributes to job loss and siphons capital from other productive sectors of the economy. For example, the author explains that privatized energy companies often cut payrolls in order to boost bottom-line profits. Ms. Beder also shows how obscene profits earned by a few large corporations such as Enron often act as a drag on local economies. The leading example of course is California, where escalating prices forced many businesses to shut down. Moreover, the payments that the state was forced to make to greedy suppliers during the energy crisis easily exceeds the state's current budget deficit, causing hardship for many.

Interestingly, "Power Play" was completed prior to the 2003 blackout in the U.S. and Canada. This unfortunate event validates Ms. Beder's work. The author points out that the dynamics of an unregulated market and the quest for instant profits provides a disincentive for producers to maintain equipment and transmission lines, resulting in more frequent failures and service disruptions. Ms. Beder goes on to point out that the expense and risk associated with added capacity is increasingly borne by the public even while profits accrue to private interests; this assertion also appears to have been prescient, as witnessed by the huge subsidies that the U.S. government has recently proposed to pay for upgrades to the country's electric grid for the benefit of many privately-held energy producers.

By cutting through the smokescreen of self-serving corporate propaganda, "Power Play" serves as a wakeup call for citizens everywhere. It helps us understand how we might be able to reverse this trend for the better before more damage is inflicted on us all.

I highly recommend the book! This book is a strong experienced based program that guides you through the Consulting Process. The tools are ready to use; I really enjoy that. I put this book on the same level as "Operational Profitability;Conducting Management Audits." John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Powerful Professionals is well designed for the specific needs of internal consultants. I enjoyed the book thoroughly. It's easy-to-use, providing lots of partical tools and advice. Organized into a user-friendly handbook, it covers everything from establishing your credibility to managing change and resistance.

Written with a healthy does of humor, there are plenty of practical, step-by-step models supported by checklists, worksheets, assessment tools, and examples--rather than long- winded discussions on theory.

I STRONGLY recommend this book for anyone dealing with the day-to-day challenges of an internal consulting organization.

There has been a glut of books on 'how to be a consultant' that have been published in the last few years. I have become frustrated with the increasing quantity and decreasing quality of such books. All that changed with my reading of "Powerful Professionals". Finally, a superb book! "Powerful Professionals" is grounded in experience that I can relate to, and offered excellent, immediately useable advice for me as a professional. I also liked the easy-to-follow formatting and mix of text and graphics. There is also the behind-the-scenes theory for us who like such stuff. Chapter 15 of the book is "Putting It All Together". Well, the author and editor certainly have put together an all-encompassing and all-powerful book for all professionals. Bravo! Books of this quality are not often found by me. But when I do find a high-utility book like "Powerful Professionals", it becomes a jewel in my collection.

This book is ideal for leaders who want to include everyone in the decision making process. It gives multiple ideas and suggestions of how to peacefully achieve your decision making goals.

This book should be read by every supervisor, manager, superintendent, principal and CEO involved with making decisions. It is a simple, yet thorough process of decision making. Pages of structuring devices are provided to help individuals and groups walk through the decision making process. The structuring devices offer non-confrontational, effective methods of examining the mind set of the group, defining the problem, identifying solution criteria, developing solution possibilities, and selecting, then implementing, a solution. Highly recommend!

Lacking confidence in your decision-making abilities? This book will help you achieve a high level of confidence to make faster and more effective practical decisions for your school.

CONTENTS: Preface; List of Tables and Figures; Setting the Direction; Decision Making Defined; Core Steps in Decision Making; Adapting the Core Steps; Use of Structuring Devices; Designing Your Own Road Map for Decision Making; Structuring Devices; Four Illustrative Cases; Team Facilitation Tips and Techniques; Warning Signs on the Road to Decision Making; This Stuff Works;

The process-focused organization differs from traditional organization in three ways: it designs end-to-end business processes; it measures and manages process level results rather than tasks; and it thinks in terms of customer goals, not localized functional goals.

This book distinguishes itself from so many others concern processes in that it presents a clear, well reasoned and structured road map to achieve the features and power of a process-focused organization. The approach also gives recognition to the broader system of the organization.

Gardner makes clear, from the outset, that process improvement, while powerful, is not the complete solution to performance management. Process improvement is not a magic bullet, it has limited applications, and it is not the final answer. Process improvement must be linked to organizational strategy, and consideration must be given to how to integrate process with organizational structures and systems, and how to proactively manage process.

Gardner's has produced a highly readable book that reflects this broad and rich understanding of his subject. The road map presented in this work is unique in reflecting an end-to-end orientation-not the components; it is not issue-based but is centered on the higher levels of organizational capability; and the map provides a pathway with clearly discernible steps, indicating where you are and what's ahead.

The book offers an operating model that describes key operating and structures and relationships; a road map to guide process improvement work; and a transformation strategy that combines the model and road map into a plan for navigating the journey to process focus.

This book is exception in its scope, depth and clear thinking. As a consultant in organization design and change (...) I believe this book will prove highly valuable to any enterprise seeking major, lasting process improvement. 230 pp.

Mr. Gardner's premise that organizations should be managed horizontally by processes instead of the traditional vertical method is long overdue. Once customer value is indentified, a PFO (Process Focused Organization) can concentrate on identifying, developing and tweaking value creating processes that lead to increased market share and improved profits. This is a must have how to book for any manager who wants to make their organiztion number one in their industry.

I can say a lot about this book, I can actually write a book about how good this book is. But I rather you spend your time reading it than my review. Simply put, I have been in this field for over 20-years and read many process books from many so called experts. But none of them come even close. If you are just starting, consider yourself an expert or anywhere in between, you owe it to yourself to buy and read this great book. I actually gave a few to my clients for X.Mas. I would like to personally thank Mr. Robert Gardner for writing this book and sharing his knowledge with us!

Mortaza Zainaleain EE, PMP, SSMBB
Prevail Services™ Profitability Engineering™ Consulting
President, Profitability Engineering™ Infrastructure Architect
Mortaza@PrevailServices.com

One of America's most experienced prospect researchers has written the mother-lode on research in fundraising.

Cecelia Hogan's new book is 390 pages of pure value - for fundraisers, researchers, managers and suppliers. Although written primarily for an American audience, its value lies in its cool, concise, cautious approach to research, from day one to the end of your campaign.

Cecelia makes her mark early in the book with a 20-page treatise on the ethics of research. This moral (but not moralizing) tone pervades the book, reminding us to respect our donors and to focus on using "the first philanthropic dollar raised to efficiently identify the next."

The heart of the book is a series of chapters about research techniques. Covering "research math," building a pool of prospects, screening, tracking and managing research, these sections will be of value to researchers from Belfast to Bologna and from Alaska to Adelaide. The techniques that Cecelia describes are applicable in all of these places, even if the sources cited may be American. And experienced researchers will find plenty of value; I found new techniques, new sources, and, new ways of looking at research in this book.

Included in the book is a series of useful appendices including a glossary and models for the paperwork associated with research, as well as more US sources of information and help.

The book is well edited and produced, leaving me with just one gripe - Cecelia's over-use of the first person plural. We don't need to write like that all the time, Cecelia. Good writing can include a passive tense or two.

Whether you are a fundraiser, a researcher or a manager, buy this book and learn all about prospecting from an expert.

Prospect Research: A Primer for Growing Nonprofits is one of the best resources available for those who are new to prospect research, for those who need a refresher or for development officers looking for research guidance. It provides the basics (who, what, when, why, where & how)in easy-to-understand terms and format as well as sample forms. In addition, it takes the process one step further with explanations and ideas for prospect management and tracking. All the information you need to build and/or improve your organization's prospect research department operation.

After a 7 year absence, I reentered the field of prospect research in 2003 just when this book came out. I can't say enough how much it helped me reacquaint myself with traditional research methods as well as introducing me to the many new information research, management, and analysis processes that technology has inspired.

Not sure if I'll stay in prospect research, but will definitely keep the book!

After years and years of hearing the psalms in church and prayer, this wonderful new edition of the Book of Psalms truly brings them to fresh new life. Following scholarly guidelines that also attempt to convey the cadence and rhythm of what are essentially ancient songs of faith, this psalter is both well done and powerful. The artwork that is interspersed throughout the psalms is also very moving and meditative. Each psalm begins with a summary of the psalm that is helpful for prayer and meditation. The psalms are arragned for communal recitation, but they are also beautiful when prayed privately. From the forward and afterword, it seems that this particular version of the psalter is "experimental" with regard to ease-of-use for community prayer, and the authors encourage feedback about such use to help in a possible future "revision." If someone finds the psalms to be meaningful, heart-felt prayer, this psalter will only make them more so!

This is my favorite wedding present. My husband and I have been reading a psalm to each other every night for almost 25 years. We've gone through a lot of translations in this way, and this book meets our three criteria: (1) a lyrical translation (2) a text which fits on the narrow headboard of the bed and be lifted easily with one hand while lying in bed (3) a physical text which honors these ancient words of God. (The Abbey Psalter, for example, meets criteria (1) and (3) but not (2).) I don't mean to be flippant; this is not only a physically beautiful book, but one suited to daily use. A rare and wonderful gift.

This translation of the Psalms is by the ICEL (International Commission on Enlish in the Liturgy). Their goal is to provide a translation suitable for use in liturgy and personal prayer. This book takes that text and makes it "user friendly". This is done in several ways - clear type with sufficient white space, simple colored diamond-shape separators for separating psalm sections, interspering excellent black and white photographs in keeping with the meditative quality of the Psalms. The afterward provides a brief, non-technical introduction to the Psalms, their liturgical use, and the concerns in translating for liturgical use.

This, together with the companion volume for Canticles is highly reocmmended.

A practical guide which maps out an excellent strategy for any organization, business, or venture. In clear and engaging style the authors show how to improve one's personal relationship to work, family, and community. Intelligible on every page, this books works for those with time for a complete, sit-down reading and also for strap-hangers between subway stops. Here is deep thinking and personal experience applied with a spiritual attentiveness to true challenges. The reader is educated to think realistically about present problems, hard facts, and tough dilemmas in the rubric of uplifting hope. Hope is investigated as the best antidote to fear, and the authors avoid all of the swamps of New Age mushiness. Hope will put us on track. Bravo!

In a time when there are more "managers" (good or bad) than "leaders"; this book offers valuable insight into providing positive and realistic motivation for any organization. Any person who considering themself a leader should read this book and think about how various principles can be applied to their organization. This should be a "must-read"!

In their book, Putting Hope to Work: Five Principles to Activate Your Organization's Most Powerful Resource, Harry Hutson and Barbara Perry identify, and help us understand the inspirational value of Hope in the work place. While often thought of in the realm of vague spirituality or wishy-washy Pollyannaism, the authors clearly demonstrate that Hope, and its value within thriving, achieving organizations is anything but wishy-washy!

Stating that the "Hopes of an organization are consolidated in a company's belief in what you're trying to accomplish," they show how Hope within an organization is inevitably linked to the company's mission and vision - and where there is no vision, the people perish. The importance then, of a company's vision cannot be overstated. It's not coincidence that there is such a lack of "hope-talk" in the modern work place accompanied by a tangible sense of hopelessness.

While traditional management theory focuses on "driving out fear," pioneering authors Hutson and Perry compel us to focus on Hope instead, to "bring energy to the more life-enhancing side of the equation, creating more vibrant, creative, collaborative and successful workplaces."

Hutson and Perry identify the five principles of Hope - Possibility, Agency, Worth, Openness and Connection - and define Hope as "an orientation to a positive future that engages our heads, hearts and hands." When these principles are present - and sustained - within an organization, individuals and their organizations succeed.

In presenting their five principles of Hope, Hutson and Perry highlight research proving the effectiveness of Hope within an organization and provide detailed examples of how to evaluate and improve your skills as a leader fostering Hope within your organization or team. You'll learn who "Hopeful" leaders are, what they do, and how they keep their own Hope alive in times of difficulty or stress.

While some management books present theory alone, Hutson and Perry provide clear, useable tools to create and sustain Hope within your organization. Relying on their many years of management consulting and research, they feature real-life examples from a variety of industries. Combined with the tangible results presented from companies with cultures of Hope, led by "Hopeful" leaders, Putting Hope to Work is an inspirational and practical guide to implementing the power of Hope within your organization or team.