Industrial Books

This is not your pop-business or pop-anything book. It is a scholarly work that has global political reach, as well as personal impact. Part of the beauty of this work it how systematic it is in providing a well-rounded picture of power dynamics that transcend the century in which they play out.

An ingeniously crafted book, Siu explores modern-day Machiavellian philosophy as it applies to the corporate and political realms. I found this book to be extremely educational, providing me with the information necessary to recognize and deal with the power plays that happen in every day life. Few will want to follow the recipe given in this book to pursue power, but all can learn directly applicable insights from this book. It is a real shame that it is out of print.

I have been a student of the philosophy, if not the practice, of war for as long as I can remember. I've read everything from Machivelli to Napoleon to Sun Tzu in an effort to study the nature of ruthlessness. The comparsions of this book to Robert Greene's work are unavoidable. But for any serious student of the nature of power this book is indispensible.

I was constantly reminded of "The 48 Laws of Power" as I read this book. The author used laws (80 compared to 48), as well as historical and political examples to make his point. This book is much shorter, making it an easier read. I enjoyed reading this book, but should have had a dictionary handy, as there were a lot of big words. If you like "The Prince", "The Art of War", or "The 48 Laws of Power" you will like this book as well.

In this book, Siu applies the philosophies of Machiavelli to the subject of power in the modern-day corporate and government realms. I learned a great deal from this book. In particular, it provided me with a lens through which I can identify and deal with the power plays that occur in every day life. While few will want to follow the recipe provided by Siu to obtain personal power through his methods, all can learn from them.

Graham and Englund have achieved something quite remarkable in the second edition of "Creating an Environment for Successful Projects." The original book from 1997 provided a very good road map for organizations looking to improve their project and program management capabilities, and this update significantly improves on it. There are many fresh insights and specifics about what works (and what doesn't work) drawn from an extensive circle of organizations, including many that the authors consulted with personally.

Even more than in the first edition, the message is that excellence in project execution does not just happen - it requires planning, ongoing investment, and the right encouragement. I think the best parts of the book are chapters 3 through 8, because they provide the most concrete and actionable advice for managers of project leaders; they are filled with good practices on what to do and on what to avoid.

This book was reviewed in "The Journal of Product Innovation Management" May 1998, an international publication of the Product Development & Management Association (PDMA):

A book which discusses how companies can effectively create a healthier and more nurturing environment for product development, based on companies like Hewlett-Packard, DuPont, Raychem and others.

"As the title implies, this book is about managing project management, not about managing projects - an important concept... Its purpose is to get upper management to understand how and why to develop project management as an organizational competency... Relevant across industries from high tech to low, from product to service, and from consumer to industrial or business-to-business... Its key strengths are: 1) its comprehensive treatment of key issues from the role of strategic direction across the project portfolio to the need for cultivating project management learning; 2) its practical recommendations for change; and 3) its easy-to-read examples... The book is well organized with an overview chapter that includes a call to action and an overview of the remaining chapters. The next seven chapters go on to describe each of the elements of creating an environment for success projects. Laid out as pieces of a complete puzzle to signal their importance as a system" (Mark Deck, Pittiglio Rabin Todd & McGrath, May 1998)

As a project management consultant, I get asked alot 'how do I implement PM into my company'. There is no one cookie-cutter approach to this since every company is different. There is also no one book out there that adequately covers this subject. This book is the closest thing that there is. If you are looking for a good coverage of the things that you need to be aware of in implementing PM into your company, this book is a good start. It is also well suited for executives looking to implement PM into a company who are curious what PM involves - since a major problem in implementing PM into a company quite often involves executives who are unaware or unconcerned what their responsibilites are for PM. All in all, a useful book that I have used extensively for clients.

If you want to understand the underpinnings of what makes projects work or not ... this book is a "must read".

It is full of the kind of plain yet profound logic that my grandmother used to pass on to me when I was child. It just made so much practical sense ... .

One of the better books on project management, the focus is not so much on specific best practices for project managers to implement on their own within their teams, but how upper management can create an environment that is conducive to project success. This book is exceptionally good at helping to understand how management causes organizational perversity - mucking things up by applying departmental best practices that are totally inappropriate and bad practices for project teams. Great insights into how this happens without upper managers being aware they are doing the opposite of what they intend. Could be used by a Project Office to convince upper management that they might be the main problem that keeps other best practices from being effective. It also highlights those areas where you can get the most leverage, most out of your efforts to get an organization to improve its overall project management effectiveness.

Amazing how a book written in 1997 seems like it was written for current times.

This book is an amazing book and essential for firefighters, as well as enthusiasts or people who just wants to learn something. From start to finish, this book is packed full of facts, based on the history of FDNY and exploring the truth behind the brotherhood involved in the fire house. I have yet to place this book aside, it is an utmost favorite of mine.

This book from start to finish is packed with information that you would otherwise never have heard about. The history of one of the most famous Fire Depts in the US is more than I ever imagined, naming some of the early firefighters who would have otherwise slipped into the sandglass of time. The accounts of fires and incidents in the citys history do more credit than you will ever hear about anywhere else. It shows why today Firefighters of the modern day FDNY fight so hard to keep hold of their history and tradition. Before you make judgement on these guys read this book. This is what they are all about.

In these post-9/11 days there have been a number of histories of the FDNY written, but this one is my favorite. It reads like a novel, yet is packed with solid history. And while clearly an admirer of the Fire Department, the author does not get overly sentimental, which is quite easy to do.

For someone who loves New York City and has an admiration for firefighters, this book would be a valuable addition to any library. While providing a fascinating account of the history of the FDNY, the book also gives the reader a wealth of information about the city itself. I would recommend it for firefighters, fire buffs, and any reader who is interested in a fascinating account of the Fire Department of the City of New York and the incredible men and women who have joined its ranks over the years.

Loved it! Been looking for something like it ever since. I recommend it to my "reader" friends often. As a New York City history buff I found it to be readable and enlightening. And as a fire buff, since 9/11 I can't get enough of this stuff, I found it to be well-researched and thorough. I knew what I was getting into when I read the jacket. Golway's firefighting roots make him a fan of The Bravest but I didn't mind the sentimentality because that's partially why I picked the book in the first place. A fitting tribute to working class heroes of the past 300+ years.

This book not only maps out the territory of advanced Capitalism, but it provides a political philosophy that is a "Negri beyond Negri". Although Dyer-Witheford draws a lot of ideas from Antonio Negri and the Italian autonomist tradition, he surpasses them with his excellent analysis of postindustrial capital. Moreover, Negri's most recent work (with Michael Hardt), "Empire" falls short of Dyer-Witheford's "Cyber-Marx" which is more realistic, practical, concise and defensible than Negri has ever been. This book is worth buying by anyone interested in the realities of technological society.

I had an urge to go back to readings on politics after September 11th tragedy... So I bought a few books from Amazon and Autonomedia. Spent Christmas time reading them with an almost furiouos enthusiasm!
As a 49 years artist, european and ex-trotskyst wandering along the late capitalism pathway of illusions, I found this book an absolute must for anyone trying to do a map of the present state of humankind.
It is most probably the best portrait of post-marxism and neo-marxism done in the last twenty years. Systematic, well balanced, straithforward, wit and very very humanistic.
I think that this canadian leftist - Nick Dyer-Witheford - deserves an urgent translation of his book to french, spanish, portuguese and chinese as soon as possible...

"Cyber Marx" by Nick Dyer-Whitheford is a brilliant Marxist analysis and critique of the economy of technology in late capitalism. The author shreds the techno-booster utopian visions of theorists such as Alvin Toffler to expose today's information society for what it really represents: namely, a post-Fordist attempt by capital to deepen and extend its dominance, control and repression as never before.

Mr. Dyer-Witheford presents evidence that the information infrastructure used to coordinate global production and consumption chains might also provide subversive opportunities to the disenfranchised, who may ultimately choose to develop new social structures existing beyond the control of capital. In this manner, the author believes that the surplus value produced by machines could be used to institute a guaranteed wage, a communication commons, and a revived democracy.

On the other hand, Mr. Dyer-Witheford acknowledges that technology might be used by fascists to spread hate and intolerance, and cautions us that this possibility should not be taken lightly. As the social costs of capitalism increase for ever larger segments of the world's population, it is possible that an under-educated public may be led by self-serving leaders to turn violently against themselves. The author's optimism that people will choose to strive for peace and justice, however, distinguishes his work from the pessimistic tone that sometimes suffuses the work of other postmodernists and contemporary European Marxist scholars.

Mr. Dyer-Whitheford's cogent analysis provides clarity to readers seeking insight into the dynamics of post-industrial society. Let's hope that this important work gets the attention it deserves and provides guidance to those who may be wish to build a more humane and just society. Highly recommended.

This superb book not only takes elements of Marx's legacy and makes them contemporary in a prose embraced enthusiastically by undergraduates. It also lists four sites of struggle within a visions of 'circuits of struggle.' These four are

1. struggle at the site of production (usually waged work)
2. struggle at the point of reproduction (women producing people and labour power, students being educated...);
3. struggle at the interface of nature and people (eco-feminism, water, air, forests and indigenous knowledge, seeds, terminator biotechnology and the like); and finally
4. struggle at the site of consumption (GMO foods, labels on foods, carcinogens and war-related poisoning of people and the ecosystem and the like).

The power of this complex analysis of peoples' resistance to corporate profit making is situated in its capacity to unite the thousands of different (formerly called 'single-issue') struggles into one international movement to 'globalize from below' or to build a new 'subsistence society' worldwide centred on the satisfaction of human and ecological needs rather than the production of profit or as John McMurtry (see his forthcoming Value Wars, Pluto, 2002, or 'the Cancer Stage of Capitalism, Pluto, London, 1999)calls 'money demand.'

This book is, for me, one of the top ten pieces of brilliant, committed scholarship, ever. It is in the tradition of both CLR James and the Italian autonomistas, notably Antonio Negri and Maria Rosa Dalla Costa.

This is a masterwork; a unique and nearly comprehensive view of Marxism appropriate for our times. Nick avoids dogma and certainly eliminates all vestiges of teleology. The absence of dogma is indicated by the wide variety of sources that are tied together with a strong square knot. Optimistic yet realistic, this book is a must for all progressives and all who give a damn about human and Earth survival. I would have liked to see more on neutralizing militarism; if he has ideas on this I hope he writes them up.

Addendum 12/6/02 -- Why aren't more people discussing this superb work?

Not only a beautiful book but also a great collection of images and essays, a strong contribution to the field of design literature.

The Book has a different approach when it comes to design, and its not the mere use of the banal connotation that design has become, but the art of designing and undertaking projects with special sensibility which is explained in its pages. The author shows through different examples of his work, when designing how he engage his projects in a more significant way. Simplicity and common sense.
The eastern perspective and its way of life is strongly reflected in a very palpable philosophy which is the guideline throughout the book. Truly special lecture.

This book gives some insight into the mind of the designer.

The idea of involving the senses, first in how to consider what to design (a glass, a rug, a car) to how the senses are involved by the design is a considerable part of this abundantly-illustrated book.

A lot of the book is devoted to Japanese modern design, which, if you have ever looked at the stunning graphic ads on Tokyo subways, will astonish you with its beauty and sometimes sideways way of looking at the world. Much is covered about how to stop the eye and make the brain see something old in a new way.

It's very hard to cover all that is in this book, but my impression is that if you are involved in any kind of design, this might be a book to stimulate the creative process and get you thinking when a new project is on your drawing board. Beautiful, pictorial and thoughtful book. It's hard to be more specific, but if you are in design, you will probably find huge ideas and new ways to look at the world.

DESIGNING DESIGN is quite possibly the most beautiful book on design ever published. Not only is the content illuminating and intelligent, allowing the world to gain an appreciation for one of the truly unique voices in the design field - that voice being the Japanese master Kenya Hara - but also in keeping with the subject, the book itself is a paramount of elegance, simplicity and superb creative force. This is a white book, a volume of information and illustration that embraces the purity of white as the matrix upon which everything blossoms and emerges.

In an introductory essay by John Maeda the author states `Kenya Hara is a complex man. He views the world through his many lenses of seeing, tasting, smelling, erasing, evaporating, and all the forms of construction and deconstruction.' And after those appropriate words this pristine book opens into the genius that is Kenya Hara. `Verbalizing design is another act of design....To understand something is not to be able to define it or describe it. Instead, taking something that we think we already know and making it unknown thrills us afresh with its reality and deepens our understanding of it.' What follows on the pages are images of page design, paper, bowls of white cabbage leaves, signs, images of Swatch watches that come down through projected air onto any surface presented, unique signage for public spaces, soft ice cream shapes, furniture, spaces, lamps, posters - any object that requires rendering is treated and discussed in concept and philosophy by a man of great wisdom as well as endless creativity. The illustrations accompanying the text are clean and as well placed on the page as any creation by Hara. This is a seemingly endless array of fascinating subjects.

For the non-designer reader, the reader fortunate enough to open this book without the prejudice of traditional design information, this text contains powerful philosophical concepts. `The human brain likes anything that entails a great deal of information. Its extensive capacity waits eagerly to perceive the world by completely exhausting its great receptive powers. That potential power, though, remains today in a state of extreme constriction and is a source of the information stress we're all under.' Hara approaches this conundrum by dividing his book into sections that approach answers to these problems: RE-DESIGN, HAPTIC (Awakening the Senses), SENSEWARE, WHITE, MUJI (Nothing, yet Everything), VIEWING THE WORLD FROM THE TIP OF ASIA, EXFORMATION (Rivers, Resorts), and finally WHAT IS DESIGN? This book is meant to be absorbed slowly, portion by portion, and then to be read again once the reader understands Hara's contributions - quiet yet majestic though they be. The text reads very well (thanks to the superb translation efforts by Maggie Kinser Hohle and Yukiko Naito) and while the information is complex, the writing style is comfortably conversational.

This is an important book on many levels and should be required reading for all students of design, practitioners of design, and for everyone whose eyes are influenced by astute observation. Brilliant! Grady Harp, December 07

A plain white cover with some black text in Helvetica. That's the dust jacket cover of a design book? If I'd judged the book solely by the cover I would have missed what is actually a quite unique and wonderful book about design.

The cloth-bound cover itself is also all type, but now white type embossed into a white cover--not the most readable (though you can read it) but in a way the essence of this book--minimal, elegant, playful, clever and thought-provoking.

This understated and often witty approach is a refreshing antidote to the frantic overkill that constitutes much of the commercial design we're bombarded hundreds of times a day.

Like the cover, the text can be mysterious. When I first read the preface I balked. But I was intrigued and read it again and this time, it was surprising and beautiful.

"To understand something is not to be able to define it or describe it. Instead, taking something that we think we know already and making it unknown thrills us afresh with its reality and deepens our understanding." It's almost as if he's talking about a Claes Oldenburg sculpture which takes a common object and shows it to us in a gigantic size that makes us see it in a new light--yet the designs and ideas featured in the book give us this new perspective right on a printed page.

You're not going to see innovative typography in this book (though the book itself is beautifully designed, typeset and produced). But you are going to see stunningly understated photography and a Japanese approach to design that can be an inspiration everywhere in the world.

Imagine a world in which most meetings are rich, stimulating, effective gatherings that we actually look forward to attending.... Sure, it sounds far-fetched! But that possibility is already here today, and that's what Dr. Jeff Conklin's book is about.

This book is NOT about how to "herd cats", nor is it about learning to "control people better". In fact, it's just the opposite... it's about encouraging each person's creativity through a process where each and every point of view, no matter how difficult or "contrarian", ends up adding value to the larger "map" of the conversation that is being created.

Based on my experience with Dialogue Mapping, I recommend this book highly as an exciting breakthrough for anyone wanting to develop highly-functioning work teams, group synergy, and collective intelligence. Since this process is specifically designed to help groups address "wicked problems", it is particularly relevant for those of us who are tackling the complex social issues that are at the heart of public participation and deliberative democracy projects.

While the principles described in the book can be applied with chart paper and markers, the value of this approach is greatly enhanced by the powerful and easy-to-use software that Dr. Conklin and his colleagues have developed. Compendium allows the facilitator to track, manage, organize, and display all of the various perspectives and considerations that emerge in a group during the Dialogue Mapping process. This high-powered program has been designed as open-source shareware, and is available freely through a link on Dr. Conklin's website to the Compendium Institute.

We need only to look at the wide array of technologies that are available in our world today to realize that, as a species, we are amazingly creative and capable. It's high time that we applied our capacities to enhancing our human interactions with one another! Dialogue Mapping is a highly effective way to help groups enter a state of "flow", analogous to a sports team entering the "zone" of outstanding performance. As such, it is a real cause for celebration.

This whole thing of mapping dialog, on first impression seems too uncomplicated, too unsophisticated

BUT.. then when a really able musician plays his/her instrument ....
I does look very easy

There is a subtlety here, the result of a lot of hard work by a lot of people
I tnink this little book does a pretty good job of introducing the uninitiated into this subtlety

Good Work Mr Jeff Conklin

This is a book that I wish that I had been able to read 20 years ago. In my work with groups I have always appreciated the art of facilitation. However, the process and the endpoints of group diaglogue have often been less than clear.

Jeff Conklin provides an excellent framework as well as some very accessible and useful tools in approaching the complex challenge of promoting effective dialogue within groups. He makes a persuasive case for Dialogue Mapping and then clearly outlines its use in a manner that is clear and compelling.

I would highly recommend this work to anyone who works with groups.

Jeff Conklin's work is inspiring, thought-provoking, and practical. The book gets you to think about how we communicate and what gets in the way, then gives you powerful and immediately useful tools to bring out the best in our interactions. Whether you're a facilitator, team leader, manager or software developer, Jeff shows how to bridge our thinking and build shared understanding, and does so with delightfully accessible and easy-to-read prose.

I read this book recently and my facilitation and project management efforts have improved as a result.

Some of the key subjects/topic areas that jumped out of this book for me are:

-- Practicing the listening cycle, especially the sub-section of the book that discusses validating information.

-- Learning to ask the 7 questions and in particular using these questions as a lens to assess the health of a collaborative effort

-- Helping me better understand the meaning of shared understanding

Although this book is now a few years old, it's still 100% applicable to the e-learning situation in today's workplace.

This book is still the most consise and most readable quick overview of e-learning. A busy person like me will find that an investment of less than a couple of hours will give you a comprehensive overview, and let you really understand the issues and the tradeoffs at stake.

After reading this, I feel I could hold my own in a discussion with experts that have years of experience.

Henderson's book on e-learning is one of the most straight-forward, honest looks at e-learning that I have seen in recent years. His Q&A format allows the reader to quickly jump to points of interest without spending time on topics that do not pertain. As a person who has had to deal with business training "gone wrong", Henderson's suggestions for a successful e-learning environment make a lot of sense. As other reviewers have pointed out, I believe that this book and the concepts it describes will translate over to academia readily. Universities and Junior colleges would greatly benefit from taking a step back and focusing on the basics. Schools that are currently attempting online classes could be improved if the took to heart the topics that Henderson describes. Since his experience at IBM has given him a first hand look at how online learning can be done right, companies and learning institutes would be wise to pay attention to what he has to say.

By focusing on technical details, real-life cost, and the practicality of using learning on the web, the reader is able to quickly get up to speed on all the issues that must be considered when online training is attempted.

The practical guide was very useful; it was so easy to find information quickly that I am recommending it to my company's training division.

Allan Henderson's E-LEARNING tells how to make the most from an online learning environment. From budgeting costs for e-learning to supporting employees who respond to e-learning opportunities, this is packed with interviews with experts plus examples of e-learning in sales, legal training and HR. An exciting survey.

This book is a quick glance through various aspects of e-learning. The coverage is not deep, but very broad. This book tells what is e-learning all about; provides specific case studies and interviews with e-learning leaders; presents economical analysis; shows how to apply e-learning to your business; and describes the IBM 4-tier learning model.

However, I do not agree with the author's assertion that "Learning is work, not entertainment". A good learning is always pleasurable and amusing.

This title is easy to read, you may wade through it once and then keep it as your personal e-learning FAQ reference book.

Al Henderson does an excellent job of demystifying e-learning by describing the many facets of corporate e-learning in a style that is both informative and enjoyable. This book will appeal to a wide audience, whether the reader is new to e-learning or has spent many years in the field. The book can be used a reference, an introduction, or a guide to the capabilities and possibilities that e-learning has to offer. The case studies are useful in linking concepts to practical application. Readers will enjoy the perspectives on the future of e-learning provided by industry thought leaders.

If your organization is considering e-learning, I would recommend reading this book and reviewing the concepts with your stakeholders to ensure your are pursuing e-learning for the right reasons, and are approaching it with realistic expectations.

Harrison & Davis offer intellectual property (IP) professionals - including IP attorney's seeking to advocate for their client - a better and more effective understanding of how to manage IP as a strategic business asset. Unlike other books on the subject, Edison, and it's sequel, "Einstein in the Boardroom" (2006), offers rare pragmatic advise with evidence-based outcomes from a community of IP-savvy companies on the benefits of becoming proactive in identifying, protecting and leveraging all forms of intellectual capital to address strategic business objectives.

Julie Davis and Suzanne Harrison's book, Edison in the Boardroom, takes readers deep enough into the field of intellectual property management for them to incorporate presented theories into their respective professional disciplines - researcher, attorney, licensing exec, etc. - without the book becoming unwieldy. Excellent balance. This book can become a cornerstone text for any professional involved with intellectual property to direct his or her focus for additional study and to ensure his or her working knowledge of the challenges confronting professionals in other disciplines that together form a corporate intellectual property management program.

Professor Thomas G. Field, Jr., Franklin Pierce Law Center

Few variables are more likely to dictate short- and long-term commercial success than a firm's ability to convert intellectual assets into intellectual property (IP). The smaller the firm, the bigger the need, and the need only grows.
Most companies are careful to avoid IP infringement and are eager to sue direct competitors who do not. Many firms also educate key employees on their roles in perfecting and protecting intangible assets. Fewer give full attention to IP and antecedents that might nevertheless be regarded as assets. For example, those who would not hesitate to monitor and sue infringing competitors may not monitor non-competitors as potential licensees.
To extract the most from intellectual assets, many factors, e.g., legal, technical marketing and sales, must be weighed. Edison in the Boardroom offers important advice to help firms take steps to meet that need. Despite its reference to "assets" in the subtitle, however, most of this book focuses more narrowly - on IP, and on patents specifically.
Davis and Harrison, said to bring "a quarter century of IP consulting accomplishments between them," document that some companies have long engaged in trying to optimize the value of their intellectual assets. The authors also assign companies to a five-level hierarchy based on a range of IP-management strategies. A goldmining metaphor is usefully advanced at one point to describe those levels as: defensive (staking claims), panning (cost control), mining (deeper profit seeking), processing (integration), and sculpting. The heart of the book consists of five chapters that discuss these levels seriatim and offers a host of useful ideas and anecdotes.
The book is generally well-structured. For example, early in each of the five core chapters is a description of what "companies are trying to accomplish" at the corresponding level of IP-management sophistication. At the defensive level, of course, companies have processes for seeking, maintaining and enforcing IP. Yet, in the discussion of second-level companies, said to seek to reduce costs by exercising judgment about what is brought into and kept in their patent portfolios, it becomes clear how much various levels overlap. The first two topics may usefully be segregated for purposes of discussion, but it is hard to imagine any company that can afford, literally, to pursue protection without attempting to balance portfolio goals against concomitant costs. Indeed, one thesis of the second chapter is that no firm can seek the strongest protection for everything of potential patentability, much less seek it in every possible country.
The third chapter diverges considerably. Companies featured there are said to seek, e.g., to extract portfolio value as quickly and cheaply as possible. Several have gone well beyond suing competitors or easily discovered, non-competing infringers. The most aggressive of such firms regard IP departments as profit centers and actively solicit licensees. Their success is sometimes remarkable. As the authors point out, "Worldwide revenues from patent licensing have grown from $15 billion in 1990 to over $100 billion in 2000." Echoing the central theme of another recent book, Davis and Harrison also point out that, "Some experts estimate that companies are sitting on $1 trillion per year in unexploited licensing fees."
Fourth- and fifth-level firms are difficult to distinguish from ones discussed earlier - or from each other. For example, level-four companies are said to seek to integrate "IP awareness and operations throughout all functions of the company." That seems necessary, too, for allegedly less capable compatriots. Further, when level-five firms are described as embedding intellectual assets and their management into the company culture, it is difficult to find divergence.
The last are said to have as additional objectives: (1) staking a claim on the future and (2) encouraging "disruptive technologies." Still, these could easily been collapsed into "Get a Crystal Ball!" Heuristics for meeting them non-serendipitiously are weak.
Consider, for example, the mouse and graphic interface as commercialized on Macintosh computers. Steve Jobs is said to have derived both from the Alto computer developed by Xerox's Palo Alto Research Center. While Jobs became a billionaire, "Xerox completely failed to get into the personal computer business, missing one of the biggest business opportunities in history." To avoid repeating such mistakes, Davis and Harrison suggest that companies should "identify ways the corporation can benefit from [ideas outside their business capacity] before moving on." They, not surprisingly, can offer little guidance.
One IP attorney recently stressed the need for his colleagues better to understand the identification, protection and use of intellectual capital "effectively to address strategic corporate objectives." Those for whom this is novel terrrain will find Edison in the Boardroom helpful.
Also, senior IP counsel better acquainted with the topic may find the book useful. Some will face difficulty in convincing those at the same level or higher in the corporate hierarchy of its importance. To the extent that their advocacy of the critical role to be played by IP counsel is perceived as serving selfish aims, the book should help allay suspicions.
For these and other attorneys, the value of Edison in the Boardroom could easily, and vastly, exceed its modest price.

The basic concept of this book is very intriguing: Briefly examine the life and career of Thomas Edison and then suggest direct correlations between his achievements with real-world situations in which various companies are now deriving substantial value from their intellectual capital. The authors also make skillful use of Edison's own recorded thoughts and feelings. Of special interest to me was what he had to say about the creative process. For example, "Men are just beginning to propose questions and find answers, and we may be sure that no matter what question we ask, so long as it is not against the laws of nature, a solution can be found." This what the author refer to as "The Edison Mindset." Edison apparently had almost no concern about a given experiment's "failure" which he continued to view, rather, as non-success to that stage. Too often, senior-level executives become preoccupied with results and neglect the process by which they can be achieved. Among Edison's greatest (and perhaps least appreciated) achievements was the establishment of the first research laboratory in which he and his associates would collaborate on various projects. Edison was a pioneer in recognizing the importance of assembling the best available talent and providing them with sufficient resources as well as a culture wherein those talents could be fully utilized. Davis and Harrison obviously have this point in mind when observing that "benchmarking best practices without any regard for the underlying culture of the firm can be problematic."

NOTE: For those interested in this subject, I highly recommend Organizing Genius in which Bennis and Biederman examine the collaborative efforts of those involved at the Disney studios which produced so many animation classics; at Xerox's Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) which developed the first personal computer; at Apple Computer which then took it to market; at the so-called "War Room" which helped to elect Bill Clinton President in 1992; those active in the so-called "Skunk Works" where so many of Lockheed's greatest designs were formulated; at Black Mountain College which "wasn't simply a place where creative collaboration took place. It was about creative collaboration"; and at Los Alamos (NM) and the University of Chicago where the Manhattan Project eventually produced a new weapon called "the Gadget."

This is an extremely well-organized and well-written book in which Davis and Harrison use the life and career of Edison for guidance to understanding subjects of major importance today such as breakthrough innovation, collaborative effort, the development and management of intellectual property, and effective organizational transformation. They suggest that companies (indeed all organizations) function in one or more of five levels which comprise "the hierarchy of value" for intellectual property, a model created at Andersen's Intellectual Property Management Practice and then at ICMG:

1. Defensive: "If a corporation owns an intellectual asset (such as a great business concept), it can prevent competitors from using the asset."

2. Cost Control: "Companies focus on how to reduce the costs of filing and maintaining their IP portfolios."

3. Profit Center: "Having learned how to control many of their patent-related costs, companies at this level turn their attention to more proactive strategies that can generate millions of dollars of additional revenues while further continuing to trim costs.'

4. Integrated Level: In this level the IP function ceases to focus on self-centered activities and reaches outwardly beyond its own department to serve a greater purpose within the organization as a whole."

5. Visionary Level: "Few companies have reached this level of looking outside the company and into the future. In this level, the IP function, having already become deeply ingrained in the company, takes on the challenge of identifying future trends in the industry and consumer preferences."

After an excellent Introduction, the authors devote a separate chapter to each of the five Levels and then provide a case study of the Dow Chemical Company, followed by three appendices: Mining a Portfolio for Value, Competitive Assessment, and Integrated Performance Reporting. They suggest all manner of similarities and differences between and among these five Levels, in process suggesting also a wealth of strategies and tactics to consider when attempting to achieve the desired results at any of these Levels.

To a greater extent now than at any prior time in human history, with all due respect to major developments such as the light bulb, telephone, automobile, and personal computer, corporations (indeed entire societies) seek "exciting, new, novel, and discontinuous innovations....For centuries, companies have linked ideas and money by embedding their new ideas (legally protected or not) into products to be sold or bartered. Today, however, an exciting new concept is revolutionizing the way companies extract value from their ideas: an idea no longer needs to be embedded into a product or service to create value. Today ideas are licensed, sold, or bartered in their raw state for great value." And they are getting that value through intellectual property management (IPM). Hence the importance of encouraging and supporting "The Edison Mindset."

Here in a single volume, the authors provide a comprehensive, cohesive, and cost-effective program. It remains for decision-makers in any organization now considering or at work on the design of an IPM to select whatever material in the book is most appropriate to their organization's specific needs. One value-added benefit of this book is that Davis and Harrison can assist with that selection process. A point made earlier, however, deserves repeating: "benchmarking best practices without any regard for the underlying culture of the firm can be problematic."

The authors provide an excellent framework for companies to manage their intellectual property - without using too much consultant speak.

They quote examples at different levels of their framework and look at companies who are suceeding at managing and valuing their IP effectively. This is a skill which can only be more and more wanted in the future.

The most interesting takeaway is that most companies are very bad in this field, and there are very few success stories.

This new book, Engines of Prosperity, can best be described in one word -- PHENOMENAL!!!

Charles W. Olsen, President and CEO, ARCS International, Inc.

Engines of Prosperity provides a provocative view of how the global business landscaping is changing. This terrain, once the purview of U.S. enterprises, is rapidly evolving in new directions that involve unfamiliar operation structures and principals.

This work highlights how successful businesses in the next century MUST be different and how knowledge can become their lifeblood.

Marvin L. Patterson, President, Innovation Resultants International, Los Altos, CA

I like this book a lot. It is truly a breakthrough work.

Not only does it show how to build prosperous businesses, it also provides guidance for improving the quality of personal life and even society.

Dr. Ronald F. Ennis, President, Pathways, Portland, OR

Engines of Prosperity is an unusual business book. What's it about?

It's about life!

Timothy P. Teich President Advanced Input Devices Coeur d'Alene, ID

"Engines of Prosperity" is a startling book. With a few punchy, key themes, it paints a whole new paradigm. Suddenly, making money in the Information Age makes sense.

The book gives a new perspective that sees the forest made from the trees. Beginning with the title, it challenges the reader to ponder first the right questions, and then look for his particular answers.

The given broad answers are a context for the particular answers. The actions of modern technology leaders are then analyzed, and the successes and failures seem self evident.

Most satisfying is the uninterrupted transition from theory (economics), to policy (e.g. patent laws), to practice (business). The reader is engaged in a lively, readable journey across disciplines without missing a step.

As a data warehouse practitioner for over 12 years, I was recently challenged at my current employer to help assemble a global data quality team and process. Having done much of the work before on a piecemeal basis, we made steady progress.

When I received my copy of "Enterprise Knowledge Management," I found two important things:
1. We were definitely on the right track, and
2. There were some things we had missed.

David Loshin has put together an excellent field guide to all aspects of data quality. It is very easy to understand, and contains practical, effective suggestions. Most importantly, it is a true "soup to nuts" guide to data quality. There is very little that you might need to improve your company's "knowledge quotient" that you will not find here.

I have heartily recommended this book to a number of people when asked about data warehousing and data quality. You'll not find a better handbook anywhere.

David has written an excellent data quality book. He focuses on a real works around data quality. He presents a practical approaches how to solve a different types of quality defects and also pointed out main quality principles. But reader must think how to apply mentioned principles and approaches in reader's organization.

Simply, good reading with application on a real cases.

At the time the book was published I worked as a data quality manager at the New Zealand Ministry of Health focusing on the implementation of the Data Quality Strategy for National Health Databases. It was a great help for us. We've implemented many of David Loshin's principles. Most importantly it helped us to understand that the majority of our DQ problems were not due to the poor data management processes, but because of the inadequate system's design or poor data model, which was either conceptually or contextually incorrect, incomplete or inaccurate.

Most of the literature on Data Quality focuses on the challenges of creating and maintaining a data warehouse. Thankfully, for those of us trying to improve the integrity of the information in our OLTP databases, this book presents a methodology which is not specific to any one data environment.

This book is packed with lists of cases to consider for each step of the methodology. Each case is nicely documented. Actually, much of the book is taken filled with the documentation for each case, which may cause a person to lose sight of the methodology that is being presented.

I am person who prefers to learn concepts. I am not as interested in memorizing details. Hence, I would read this book, skipping most of the documentation in the lists, instead focusing on understanding the methodology. Thereafter, I would use this book as a reference when needing information on a particular step of the methodology.

While I am not a technical person, this booked helped me enormously to understand the management issues that surround data quality. In today's world, I am shocked that more companies are not using this approach to save massive sums of money. This book has given me the tools to do so within my company. I highly recommend it!