Industrial Books

Ken Blanchard surely knows what he's teaching. Some people can only take the words, but Ken Blanchard not only took the words, instead he elaborated them and re-defined them into greater values.

If you want to learn practical values of leadership, this book is a must.

Excellent pocket book on small to medium-sized business leadership. The beauty of this book's format is that the reader need only read one page per day to get a great impact. The book is set up so that the reader can view an inspirational quote on the left page and a summary of one of Blanchard's many books on the right page. If desired, the reader can spend only a few minutes per day on one particular subject. In addition, the summary of the particular philosophy discussed includes the name of the book from which the summary came. This allows the reader, if interested, to refer to the book referenced in order to get a more in-depth view of what is being discussed. This is a great book to give as a gift to those business leaders who have not experienced all of Blanchard's philosophies.

A book of over 75 quotes, Ken Blanchard records some of his favorite quotes and then briefly expounds on the main point of the quote. Numerous authors, famous historical figures and leadership experts such as Abraham Lincoln, Don Shula and Norman Vincent Peale are quoted in this book. Very readable and full of great advice on leadership, The Heart of a Leader is concise yet practically helpful. The author is a respected author on leadership, and so this book is appreciated as a good summary of Blancahrd's convictions and insights on leadership. I personally appreciated reading two or three quotes every day for about two months. Some quotes were obvious; some were silly but most were helpful and required thought and reflection. The style made for an easy read; it didn't require a large time commitment to glean the content of the book.

Some important topics that came through these quotes include developing leaders, encouraging those you lead, the value of a team, humility, hard work, the value of keeping a learner's attitude, high quality standards, the importance of understanding how diverse people can be, modeling good examples, morality, the importance of listening to those we lead, vision, goal setting, good communication with those we are leading, enjoying the task of leading, flexibility, the importance of good relationships, being vulnerable, and sharing leadership strategy with others. All of the above topics could probably be books in themselves, but they only get a few paragraphs each in this book. I personally found many of these quotes and the corresponding paragraph of explanation very helpful. The quotes are usually catchy, yet profound and thought inspiring.

I purchased the e-book of "Heart of a Leader." The book is chock full of great tips for a variety of situations with the justification for each tip. It is an excellent reference for any supervisor or manager.

Blanchard takes a "Chicken Soup" approach in this book, capturing the essence of the leadership parables told in his previous works in simple, concise summary format. This is a great reminder for those who have read the other works, or a great introduction for those who haven't. Either way, the essence of Blanchards' winning approach to working with, and getting things done through people is superbly presented.

A quick read, use it for any training classes as pre-reading. The analogies provided proof useful in a variety of settings. I find myself applying them at work and when dealing with other companies. Highly suggested for a framework of professinal development.

If you manage people in a business or organization I highly recommend assigning this book to your employees / co-workers. It only takes a few hours to read, yet leaves the reader with a lifetime of experiences.

Written by business consultant and trainer Mark Kimbell, The Hod Carrier: Leadership Lessons Learned on a Ladder is the deftly written, attention riveting story of Allen Hollings, a 19-year-old college student who decides to get himself a summer job on a construction site -- and finds that this decision will change his life forever. Allen is pushed and driven to the limits of his physical ability and emotional stamina as he struggles to meet the demands of the construction foreman. While learning and practicing the skills of carrying brick and mortar, Allen finds himself learning lessons about discipline, motivation, and time management that will serve him long after his summer job is over and the rest of his life begins. Indeed, Allen applies those hard learned summer job lesson to inspire a powerful work ethic in the lives and attitudes of the men and women he comes to manage in the competitive and hard working world of business. The Hod Carrier draws upon real world conditions laid out in a narrative storytelling which illustrates basic leadership principles that readers will find themselves absorbing interwoven with the genuinely interesting story so adroitly written by gifted communicator Mark Kimbell. The Hod Carrier is not just an another entertaining story, but does what the finest literary fiction has always sought to accomplish -- affecting and influencing the reader long after the novel is read and placed back upon the shelf.

Mark Kimbell's, The Hod Carrier, is one of the most straight-forward, business-applicable books I've read in years. The story about leadership lessons learned on a ladder conjures visions of difficult challenges each of us face. It also provides easy to remember lessons and simple tools such as "Bricks are twice as heavy when you're behind", and "Never forget whose bricks you are laying."

Mark's writing style is a Ken Blanchard-esque story style. The story itself is compelling, descriptive and so intriguing that you won't want it to end.

Carl Koetter
President
Koetter Training Resources, LLC

The Hod Carrier is a quick, easy read, but the message is profound. Mark Kimbell is as interesting on paper as he is in person. The concepts in this book apply in almost every area of life, and are illustrated in an entertaining and memorable way. The author creates wonderful visual images as he writes, and by the end of the book I felt almost as if I had experienced the events described along with the characters. I highly recommend The Hod Carrier. I will definitely read it again.

I have over 200 books on the early space program and the race to the moon but this book is by far the best and most detailed I have ever read on just how it was done. I couldn't put it down. If you ever wanted to know, for example, what every abort mode meant during launch or why and how the crew made certain burns during the flight, get this book! It takes the reader from liftoff through splashdown explaining in fantastic detail every step of these wonderful voyages. This book is not a techno-geek's only book. It explains to the common man in the street everything from transfer orbits to gimbal lock. Get this book! I guarentee, even if you thought you knew a lot about it, you'll be amazed at what it took to fly to the moon.

First of all, I second all the wonderful things that folks have said about this book in the other reviews. It beautifully fills in the gaps as to what was actually going on, and explains in relatively simple terms how the systems work. An engineer or space enthusiast won't have any problems with the terminology. A less educated reader might be somewhat less able to understand - but then again, they're probably not the target audience, anyway. As someone who spent his teenage years watching Apollo live, I'm very happy to have the book in my collection.

There are a few quirks that stuck out at me:
(1) The book literally stinks. I don't know what kind of paper and ink combination they used, but the book smells AWFUL. There's something in it that I'm allergic to. It makes me sneeze if it's within 18 inches of my face, so I have to hold it at arms length to read it without my eyes watering and my nose running. I hate to mention that, but it's enough of an issue to be more than just annoying. I have never had that problem with any other book.

(2) Most of the black and white photos are reproduced very darkly. Some of them are so dark that it's difficult to tell what we are supposed to be seeing in the photo.

(3) The author says up front that he will insist on using metric instead of English units because that's the way the rest of the world measures things. As someone who has memorized all the pertinent dimensions of the Apollo from his youth, it's very disconcerting for me to see them expressed solely in different units. In some cases, the author's writing around the units makes this even more bizarre to my American sensibilities. For example, we would say the F-1 engine produced 1.5 million pounds of thrust. On page 19, the author says the F-1 "produced a force that could balance 680 tonnes of mass." I only recall him using the word "thrust" once in the book - the rest of the time, he speaks of balance tonnes of mass.

(4) The editing was a little sloppy. Perhaps the book was not intended to be read sequentially, but there are examples when entire paragraphs are reproduced almost verbatim in several chapters. One section has a footnote that refers the reader to the previous chapter - the one we just read - for a discussion of a concept. The author also introduces verbatim transcripts of transmissions from actual missions to illustrate points about systems that he is discussing. However, he tends to include more of the conversation than is pertinent to the issue in question. It's as if someone is showing you film clips that go on a little longer than they should, past the punch line.

These are relatively minor quibbles, though. Again, I believe this is an excellent book than any fan of the Apollo era will want to have in his or her library.

A page-turner for those interested in the mechanics of spaceflight. Even though it records the events of nearly forty years ago, it is still hard to believe that men put their faith in such frail craft; the chances of safely returning from the voyage to the moon were put at no more than 50/50.

What struck me most about this book was the depth of research, and the revelatory nature of some of the material. For example, while I consider myself pretty knowledgeable about the mechanics of Apollo, having eagerly consumed anything and everything I could get my hands on since I was a kid watching it on TV, I was surprised to find out the accuracy required to safely enter lunar orbit. This book reveals that an SPS burn even 2 seconds short or longer than planned could result in either a crash into the Moon or slingshot into solar orbit. And that, once in orbit around the Moon, the time between loss-of-signal and re-aquisition was pre-calculated to the second, and their calculation was invariably right on the money. All this in the era of the slide-rule.

If you have even a passing interest in the technical detail of Man's greatest accomplishment, get this book. Guaranteed to please the hard-core space fan.

Very informative book on the mechanics of getting to the moon in the 1960s; also,contains some very good photos.

How was the pyramids built? Humanity tends to easily forget how great achievements are made, at least close to their actually performance. However, over time the question "how" is often subject to more debate and interest than the question "why" and "who". This book really fills the gap and explains in great detail the different technical aspects of Apollo's fligths to the moon. It's also written in such way that you really don't have to be a nobel prize winner to understand it or appreciate it. If you haven't read any books on this subject before, I strongly recommend you to begin with this!

The underlying premise of this book is that architecture is an imitation and application of the principles of nature. To build is not merely to impose our will on nature. It is to cooperate with nature.

Shelter is a natural human need. Building is the art of meeting that need. It does so, according to Allen, by following the example of nature herself and applying her principles. An organic analogy runs through the book. Buildings live and breathe. A building, like a human body, is matter so arranged that it interacts dynamically with its environment and thus perpetuates the arrangement. Buildings, however, are highly dependent on human beings, whom they serve. The parts of buildings, e.g., the roofs, walls, windows and mechanical systems must work together with the other parts in such a way as to "survive" but most importantly to provide optimal human shelter. Buildings that outlive their usefulness "die."

My favorite passage from the book is a section entitled "People as the Measure" (pp. 169-171). Drawing on his extensive knowledge of the history of architecture, Allen explains how "people literally became the measure of buildings." For example, the brick... was standardized in medieval times within a range of sizes and weights that could be easily manipulated by the left hand of the mason, leaving the right hand free to operate the trowel." Allen cautions against bulk materials manipulated by machines instead of people: "[T]he finished product will not automatically display the human-scale texture that hand-sized components have and that occupants often subconsciously identify with."

This book was very educational for me, a Ph.D. in philosophy who has left academia to help run a construction business. I highly recommend it to new students of architecture or engineering or anyone who has amateur interest in those fields.

This is a book on how buildings are designed. It's not a book on how to design a building, that's the architect's job. It's a book on what the architect is going to do to design the building you want.

The book contains hundreds of line drawings on the components of a building. This is how a wall is built, this is how heat circles around a room, this is how a truss structure holds up the roof, this is how electric power is brought into the house and distributed.

This is not a book on how to design a house, you can put the bedrooms anywhere you want, you can have as many bathrooms as you want. This is the basic design of how the building does its job of providing the walls that make up the bathroom, keep it warm/cool, with water inside but kept where you want it.

I consider this book to be interesting to anyone interested in the subject. I consider this book to be mandatory reading for anyone even thinking about building a house or having one built.

HOW BUILDINGS WORK is just a great book, even more interesting than Macaulay's THE WAY THINGS WORK. Buildings are everywhere, and most everyone uses buildings of various kinds for various purposes. Yet how a building works is often a mystery. In this way, I think buildings are much like computers; most people who use them have no clue about the inner workings of them.

Edward Allen takes us through the functions of a building without going into traditional architectural theory. This book is more concerned with the needs that buildings must fulfill, and how we can fulfull them. He discusses water, waste, heat, ventilation, lighting, accoustics, energy, structure, and more, first by explaining each particular concept, and then by examining how problems can be solved with the knowledge of those concepts.

While this isn't a book on theory, neither is it a wholly practical book. That is, it won't equip you with the skills to go and build a house. But it will open your eyes to the various elements of buildings and building construction and you may think "Aha!" the next time you look at a building and observe a strange structural or design detail. You don't have to be an architecture freak to enjoy the book either. You just need to be curious.

I approach this book as someone who likes to walk around old neighborhoods and look at houses. I have collected architectural field guides for years and I can identify most building styles. However, I had little idea how buildings worked.

This book was enjoyable because the writing style was simple and straight to the point. One does not need a technical background to get a lot out of the book. Edward Allen's skillful line illustrations also add a great deal. If I could not understand the technical description, the simple illustration helped me with the underlying principle.

To give you an example of why this book is helpful to a non-specialist. I have heard of septic systems my entire life. However, I had no idea how they worked. With the help of very clear illustrations and straight forward writing, this mystery has been solved. This book is a great introduction to all those interested in architecture. Highly recommended.

I practice and teach architecture. This is the best book I have ever found for communicating material essential for the study of building science and architecture. The presentation style is frendly and informative. The knowledge of the subject displayed by Edward Allen is superb. I am a unashamed book-a-holic, if I could only take one book to the proverbial desert island - How Buildings Work would be it.

Lucy Gill's realistic strategies add a significant number of new tools to the communication toolkit. The problem-solutions presentation is like mental aikido: you can see how to use the situation to help correct the situation.

I'm a project management consultant and coach for Internet startups. My clients can usually handle the technical problems; it's the people that challenge them, especially in hectic "instant company, instant culture" environments.

Lucy Gill's examples really tap an individual's "response-ability" to change their role in a situation and create solutions. I give my clients a copy of the book to reinforce our discussions - so they can take with them answers to the question "What do I say when I get back to my office?"

I recommend this book highly. As an IT manager I can testify to its practical tips for getting to the heart of a difficult situation and resolving it effectively. It's insightful, clever, witty and useful. The techniques presented can provide relief when dealing with a difficult colleague, superior or subordinate. I was particularly impressed with the methodologies for determining what the real problem is, instead of just complaining and "horribleizing." The solutions may well make you laugh, but they work.

Lucy Gill presents a new approach to dealing with problem people at work that is simple, fresh and extremely useful. The bottom line? Stop using the same old methods that don't work for you. If you want to see new results, you've got to employ some of the new tricks put forth here. This book will help you, whether you are stumped on dealing with a boss or employee. If you have ever felt frustrated by a bully, nerd, lightweight, arrogant or some other problem-causing co-worker, then here is your book.

This well-written book is a quick, enjoyable read that will give you more power in those moments when you feel powerless.

Lucy Gill's "How to Work with Just About Anyone" hit close to home with me. Wish I had read this book before I gave up on a couple of projects because of people I couldn't work with. Hasn't happened to me often but when it did, I went half nuts fruitlessly trying those things that worked so well for me before with others, but now they didn't work at all. Lucy Gill is exactly on the mark, the harder I tried the worse things got.............the circular dance, she calls it. The book is too late for those particular projects but next time I'll be armed and ready. The first step of getting the problem clear with the "who is doing what to whom and how it is a problem" approach will not be forgotten. I'm half hoping I do get stuck in one of Ms Gill's feedback dance loops with someone again soon, just to try out her "doing the opposite" gambit.

One other thing, this book definitely should be read before your kids reach their teenage years.

I read a great deal of personal growth/self help books. This one has some good ideas, but it's not as good as alot of ones I've read. I must admit that Gill is a good, clear writer, and that she obviously understands the underlying theory that her suggestions are based on. She uses alot of examples to illustrate her points. The book is well laid out and easy to follow. I particularly like that it contains a summary of the steps at the end. The author also provides a (too brief) bibliography to give readers a chance to get more information and support in using the techniques presented.

Despite the fact that the book does have good points, and some people will probably find it useful, I didn't find it particularly helpful for me overall (although I did agree with certain points -- notably, the idea that people have a tendency to repeat the same mistakes). It's too short, and I find that the techniques she suggests, which are based on the work of Brief Therapists such as Paul Wazlawick, are too cognitively based -- I have an admitted bias against cognitive behaviourism. In my experience, some of the techniques she suggests are superficial and they don't lead to long term change. They don't get to the root of the issues between people and really allow you to connect and improve the relationship. If you want to do that, this book won't help.

If you just want to get along well enough to achieve a task, and aren't really interested in the long term health of the relationship or achieving true communication, some of the ideas here might work. But this approach deals with the symptoms, it doesn't get to the root of problems. Some would go so far as to say it involves being manipulative -- I'm not sure.

If you have some familiarity with solution focused therapy/thinking, and you generally believe in the benefits of that orientation, you will find this book of value. If, like me, you prefer a more humanistic, person-centred theory, you likely won't get as much out of this book. I'm glad I read it, and I did take a few ideas from it, but I've already put it in my "to give away" bag.

Jack Mitchell is truly inspirational in so many ways. With "Hug Your Customers" and now, "Hug Your People", he has proven to be a master of observation and implementation in the retail and corporate world on both the business side and, more importantly, the human side as it relates to customers AND employees. This is a MUST-READ for anyone who wants to help their employees aspire to new heights and reach their full potential.

I enjoyed this book and it's numerous tips and tales.

I also appreciate the focus on how to treat and engage employees, especially because they are foundation to customer happiness (Jack's other book called Hug Your Customers: The Proven Way to Personalize Sales and Achieve Astounding Results is about that).

This is an easy to read book and great for sharing with your boss, your workplace and your friends.

I'm a career retailor and always read what our industry stars have to say. The Mitchells always share all of they're extemly successfull business practices. Not everything they do can always be adapted but there are always things to think about. This book is no exception!

Jack's new book is a reminder of just how important it is to serve those we lead by encouraging their heart. It's not about fancy programs, but a simple commitment to build genuine relationships with our coworkers by recognizing their needs and valuing thier contributions, large and small, each and every day. Thanks Jack, and many hugs to you for "leading the way" and sharing the many practical and effective examples in your latest MUST READ!

K Martin - President/CEO, Signature Custom Cabinetry, Inc.

Jack Mitchell once again offers insightful, sound and excellent business advice. His ideas are thought provoking and yet practical enough to easily adapt within an organization. Interacting in business, whether with customers or employees, with respect, trust and appreciation will help to differentiate any organization. "Hug Your People" should be kept as a handy reference guide on every manager's desk.
Dr. John A. Davis
Faculty Chair, Families in Business Program
Harvard Business School

Image processing is used to improve the visual appearance and transmission of images to a the human eye. It also concerns the preparation of images with respect to measuring an image's features and structures. Now in a newly updated and significantly expanded fifth edition, "The Image Processing Handbook" by academician John C. Russ (Materials Science and Engineering Department, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina) "The Image Processing Handbook" features an informative chapter explaining which visual cues elicit a response from the viewer; descriptions of the latest hardware and software for image acquisition and printing including digital cameras; multichannel images and an analysis of their principle components; the issues of deconvolution, extended dynamic range images, and image enlargement and interpolation, and so much more. Enhanced with more than 2000 illustrations, and with the availability of a companion CD-ROM, "The Image Processing Handbook" is a seminal and essential addition to professional and academic library Computer Science and Electrical Engineering reference collections.

This, the fifth edition of this industry standard reference book on image processing has been significantly expanded. There are some 600 new and revised images. A major feature of the new edition is to describe the new advances that have come about in hardware for image capture and printing. This includes both new versions of traditional equipment and new emerging technologies. The text has been expanded in areas like deconvolution, extended-dynamic-range images and multichannel imaging including principal-components analysis.

In general this book does not cover the background mathematics that enables image processing. Those are left to specialty books on the subject. Instead this book is intended to be used in conjunction with hands-on equipment where the reader is encouraged to experiment with different methods to determine what is needed for the particular job.

While suitable for use as a text, this book is really a handbook for technical users. The book is more oriented to what the various tools availavle to help actually do.

I am a biologist with a little background in math. Using this book and matlab I could quickly implement basic feature recognition tools to analyze microscope images. The book focuses on concepts and explains them in intuitive language rather than in mathematical terms. Overall, it worked perfectly for me, but could be over-simplying for people with technical background.

John Russ' book on image processing was never intended to be a textbook on how to understand and write your own image processing algorithms, as you might believe by looking through the table of contents. It does cover just about everything you would see in such a textbook, but from a user's standpoint of these operations, not as an author of image processing code who needs to understand the algorithms behind these operations. Instead, Russ explains all of the operations, their value in various applications, and provides many illustrations showing before and after pictures of what each operation does. There are no algorithms, pseudocode, or mathematics in this book.

The jewel in the crown of this book is the companion CD. It contains over 200 Photoshop plug-ins for performing the operations mentioned in this book. These plug-ins work on 8-bit grayscale and 24 bit RGB images and are divided into the categories of image adjustment, color manipulation, image math, boolean operations, Fourier processing, morphological operations, neighborhood processing, distance-map operations, thresholding, feature measurement, calibration, stereology, and surface rendering. The bad news is that you have to obtain the CD separately. If you need to understand the detailed mathematics behind such operations, you might consult Digital Image Processing by Gonzalez and Woods, and then come back to this book for the tools to accomplish the operations explained in that book. The updates to this fifth edition include an additional chapter on human vision and how it ties into image processing. Also, the author has updated his sections on image acquisition hardware and software to describe the latest tools available. Finally, the topic of tomographic imaging has been expanded and given its own chapter and the chapter on 3-D image acquisition has been deleted.

This is an excellent book on image processing from a systems engineering and user standpoint. You will be disappointed if you expect to learn the algorithms behind the techniques demonstrated in this book.

As others have stated, this book comes as close as you'll ever get to a single-source reference on image processing. But if I were ever going to shoot anything down in it, I'd say that a little more mathematical background on some topics (and maybe pseudocoded examples) would help. For example, in the satellite geometric correction section, only a very high level view is given yet this is a challenging topic that could use more depth. Geometric transformations in general could use more depth, e.g. camera calibrations or image warping/morphing/mapping to other projections for example. Another example would be the need for a little more depth on how to make slow algorithms fast ...like convolution multiplications for example. Sure, you could write out the multiplies and spot commonalities, then re-use results that appear in more than one subsequent equation and what not, but some exploration of matrix math and how to make it efficient would be nice. But again ...I'm picking at small things here, and if John's book covered everything that I'd like it to, then it would become 2 books, not one ...hey! Now THERE's an idea! A 2+ book set by John Russ that covers a broader range of topics and does so in greater depth! That's something that I'd pay for (and much better to read than Ballard & Brown)

This is a great find for the reader who wants to truly understand what makes Jack Welch such an icon. For years, I've been subjected to "Welchisms", loosely tossed about by everyone from managemenet consultants to managerial wannabes.
In "The Jack Welch Lexicon of Leadership", the author provides a comprehensive look beyond the man to his underlying principles. He discusses the significance of each and highlights Welch's initiatives within the perspective of the man's career as a trailblazer. Best of all, it's succinct, which is more than I can say about some of the amateur "Welchism" purveyors I've encountered over the years!

As Dean and Professor at the Alan Shawn Feinstein Graduate School at Johnson & Wales University I have adopted Mr. krames book as the major theme for our 700 MBA students. The succint, valid, and sophisticated manner in which Mr. Krames transmits Mr. Welch's ideas and philosphies is remarkable. The next best thing to Jack Welch is Jeffrey Krames and this book is the inner psyche of one of the world's greatest business legends. I strongly recommend this book to instructors, business leaders, and managers in every field. It is a one stop shopping trip of the wisdom and intellectual stimulation provided by Jack Welch through his alter ego, Jeffrey Krames. This book should be on the list of every "Great Business Books" series for the world's top business schools and on the shelf of every manager anywhere in the world.

This author puts Jack Welch's tools to succeed in business and in life in the reader's hands. It really hits the mark by accurately blending practicality and inspiration.

Comprehensive in its coverage, this book takes you through all the phases of modern business yet it is timeless in its application. Truely, a book to be referred to over and over. A real gem that will age well, because the lessons learned here gain in depth and significance as time passes.

As a sales consultant and trainer, I find this content provides the reader a roadmap to success and enables them to control their destiny.

This is an outstanding book as it contains overviews of all GE's and Welch's strategies and initiatives without the "fluff." It is direct and to the point. A benchmark and guide for all to use. Well worth the time and money.

Jack Welch is no stranger to the world of business. In his book, "Jack Welch on Leadership: Executive Lessons from the Master CEO", he hit the mark on what it truly takes to be a leader in any organization. In this book, he has once again shared his expertise and wisdom in the world of business. As a business management trainer, counsellor and consultant, I can honestly say that when it comes to business and strong leadership, "The Jack Welch Lexicon of Leadership" ranks near the very top of my list in providing quality, insightful business philosophy. I find myself quoting to my students "infamous words of wisdom" discovered in many of Welch's previous books. From globalization to effective customer service, Welch shares a wealth of advice on a vast number of topics. I particularly enjoyed the section on the significance of the Internet as the Internet has, indeed, changed the way we do business in today's marketplace. "The Lexicon of Leadership", which to me is like a "business bible", is highly recommended reading material. It makes an extraordinary reference guide and is most deserving of a five star rating.

This is a magnificent, beautiful book. We left it open on the kitchen table, and everyone who passed by turned to a new, exquisite image. I've now snatched it back to my office and expect to browse repeatedly when I have a chance for a cup of coffee and a brief get-away moment. It is truly a gift.

Maine The Home Place by Murad Sayen is an especially appealing photography book. Not only is this book visually pleasing as you view beautiful scenes in Maine, but it also is very emotive as you also "feel" Maine. The quality of the photos is superior and most of them look as much like paintings as photos. If you are ever fortunate enough to look through this book, go directly to page 28 ( one of my favorites)and enjoy the compostion of hands. There have been numerous artists who have highlighted hands in their composition but never with the unique approach that this one does. I have only had this book on my coffee table for one month, and have already "sold" 5 copies. People's responses were so positive that 5 lucky people will be getting this book for Christmas. Maybe you could be lucky also. If Maine was ever your home, I think you will enjoy having this book around as much as I have, and Maine was never my home.

The thing that strikes you as you turn the lush pages--the land and seascapes, the faces--is the surface sense of calm. And yet, below those surfaces there is always a suggestion of great energy, of processes being carried out. In the cover photo, for instance: a country church, maple trees in their October regalia, a cemetery, the cornstubble foreground--lies the hint that things are in motion, even there below the ground. The world is moving toward a new incarnation.

This dualism--or energy and calm--kept me turning pages, forward and back, over a period of many days, looking closely at colors, faces, cloud formations, ice crystals on a pond, dawn sunlight on a lighthouse.

At first I quibbled that Sayen has confined his camera to so few regions of the state; and yet, in truth, this only reminds us that art, in order to be universal, must be local. To develop the kind of intimacy that Sayen (a confessed "outsider") obviously has with his subject, it is necessary to keep it focused.

With "Maine: The Home Place", Murad Sayen has created a masterful book, far more than another of the garishly colored "coffee table" books that publishers seem to crank out each year. This is a book that bears repeated readings, and which, for me, continues to offer fresh discoveries. In addition to the photographs, there is a series of elegantly written essays and photographer's notes. For anyone looking to be delighted and deeply moved by the complexity within simplicity, "Maine: The Home Place" is a volume that will do that.

When I opened Maine: The Home Place, I didn't know how much I was opening up. I looked through it, then I realized I needed to look into it: I did so at two pages a day until I went through the book. I especially love two of the pictures (although each page and picture looked more like a composition in a painting than a camera capturing a scene): The Androscoggin at Bethel, November and North Pond, Greenwood, October. There is a disarming directness in the simple presentation that drew me into the pictures, and into myself. The captions reminded me these places are here, in this world. What I found myself doing since I opened Maine: The Home Place is seeing myself and the world around me differently. Cezanne says that "Art is a harmony parallel to nature." I am wonderfully confused by Murad's presentation of nature and art that has gotten into my heart through my eyes. What more can you ask from a book than to make the world and yourself more alive? Maine: The Home Place is a book that will do that year after year, picture after picture. Great job, Murad Sayen.

Murad Sayen shows us in his amazing pictoral that Maine is more than a magnificent coastline dotted with harbors and lighthouses. His photographs and essays capture the essence and beauty of Maine that those of us who are fortunate to live here can now share with the rest of the world.

He is masterful in his use of lighting. The effect is mystical and invokes a strong emotional response to his work. For all those who want an unlimited opportunity to escape to Maine, whenever the spirit moves you, I highly recommend Maine: The Home Place.....the way life is!

Expertly co-authored by Hermann Simon (Founder and Chariman of Simon-Kucher and Partners Strategy and Marketing Consultants, Germany), and SKP partners of Boston's division, Frank F. Bilstein and Frank Luby, Manage For Profit Not For Market Share: A Guide To Greater Profits In Highly Contested Markets is an important and timely study of the issues concerning adoptive profit versus market share in today's volatile stock market. Introducing readers to investment management, marketing, and providing a clearly presented and accessible explanation a complex monetary subject, Manage For Profit Not For Market Share provides a clear and applicable guide for understanding the differentiation between mature products, as well as addressing such issues as effective price increases, new orders to segmenting customers, proper timing to various activities, and the effect of consumer preferences. Manage For Profit Not For Market Share is very strongly recommended and profitable reading for investors, account managers, brokerage executives, and consultants for all formats of corporate or business sales as an exclusive and expansive interpretation of competitive profit sales, marketing, and innovative, practical guidance through modern business progress.

The authors have addressed the biggest mistake that large corporations make in using the classic BCG growth-cash quadrant that was popularized by Bruce Henderson in the 60's that lead to the fad for the market share as the key to success, in fact Henderson was very clear that market share in itself could never be the root to free cash flow. Today One Big Idea Consulting International is a modern disciple of Henderson and all Marketing Strategists should revisit Henderson before reading this book.

More profit obviously means more money for a company's stakeholders, so why do companies continue to insist that market share is the top organizational priority? The case for changing minds over to a profit-centralized viewpoint is clear. This is the mission authors Simon, Bilstein, and Luby undertake in this book and succeed gracefully at. Such ideas as understanding your company's comparative advantages, improving salesperson performance by removing the emphasis on sales volume, raising prices and optimizing marketing are all covered. Such topics as decreasing costs are not considered, as this book takes a very customer-centric view of profit and leaves the topic of cost alone as it is covered quite extensively in many other publications. The range of tools the authors provide is excellent and not overwrought with dense explanations. Experienced managers can effectively improve their companies' bottom lines by reading the ideas and example applications and then customizing the information to fit their organizations. Companies and their shareholders all stand to profit from the information in this book, so I cannot recommend it highly enough to managers at all levels of all organizations.

Many executives, especially those running large companies, get easily pulled away from increasing profits to an almost ego-driven pursuit of market share.

This book explores nicely the origins of how market share became king, why it is a problem, and how companies could and should become profit-focused. The authors have presented a large set of case studies to support their argument and to help others bring about change in their companies. There are powerful yet simple examples of successes from grass roots efforts within companies that chose the path of profit and also of colossal mistakes that must be avoided.

Manage for Profit Not for Market Share could help conscientious executives to reflect upon how to right the wrongs by changing company practices and provides managers the material to build their roadmap for profit leadership. MBA students should also read the book not to just unlearn something that was perhaps perpetuated by B-schools but also to chart their careers. For a pricing professional like me, this book is a great ally in making and reiterating the case for profit.

Expertly co-authored by Hermann Simon (Founder and Chariman of Simon-Kucher and Partners Strategy and Marketing Consultants, Germany), and SKP partners of Boston's division, Frank F. Bilstein and Frank Luby, Manage For Profit Not For Market Share: A Guide To Greater Profits In Highly Contested Markets is an important and timely study of the issues concerning adoptive profit versus market share in today's volatile stock market. Introducing readers to investment management, marketing, and providing a clearly presented and accessible explanation a complex monetary subject, Manage For Profit Not For Market Share provides a clear and applicable guide for understanding the differentiation between mature products, as well as addressing such issues as effective price increases, new orders to segmenting customers, proper timing to various activities, and the effect of consumer preferences. Manage For Profit Not For Market Share is very strongly recommended and profitable reading for investors, account managers, brokerage executives, and consultants for all formats of corporate or business sales as an exclusive and expansive interpretation of competitive profit sales, marketing, and innovative, practical guidance through modern business progress.