Grant Books

The relationship between top management consultancy teams and their clients is reviewed through a series of case studies from large organizations working in both the public and private sectors to analyze the best consulting practices in management in Fiona Czerniawska & Paul May's MEASURING CONSULTING IN PRACTICE. Each case study is used as a foundation for analysis by a leading consulting industry commentator and a business technology author and consultant, making this a hard-hitting pick recommended for any serious business library collection.

This book is written by Dr. Raymond Struyk, a senior fellow at the Urban Institute, a leading public policy think-tank based in the United States. It is based on his experience as a technical adviser to several policy think tanks in the Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union and is written because there has been no publication on think-tank management before this book was published.

Some of the books' major recommendations are the following:
 The use of incentives should be encouraged to motivate researchers that have made significant accomplishments for the think-tank and to maintain their interests to continue working for the think-tank. The incentives could be both in cash and non-cash forms, such as: sponsorship to attend training courses and international conferences abroad, opportunities to make presentations and meet key policymakers, etc.
 As the size of think tanks grew, researchers should be encouraged to specialize and think tanks might want to create several research focuses. At the same time, relations between researchers and management should be made as collegial as possible and the creation of complex hierarchy and large bureaucracy within the think-tank should be avoided.
 To ensure think-tanks to maintain its credibility and reputation, good quality control is essential. It is suggested that drafts of research outputs should be peer-reviewed, both within the think-tank and by hiring outside reviewers. In addition, think-tank should make a comprehensive communication strategy to communicate its message to its audience, whether they are policymakers, the public, the media, etc.
 Think tanks should make a regular review of its work program and fundraising strategy. The creation of a strategic plan is encouraged, but it should be made before a think-tank is facing a crisis and should be made based on extensive discussion with different stakeholders within the think-tanks: research and support staffs, major donors, board members, etc. In addition, think-tanks should diversify its funding sources, especially by seeking funds from the private sector and by "commercializing" some of its products and expertise, particularly those where the think-tanks are well-known of. For instance, a think-tank specializing in the forecasting the macroeconomic outlook of a country could sell this service to the private sector/corporations.

Dr. Struyk's recommendations in this book were very useful for every organization that called themselves public policy think tanks, especially those that are in the second-stage and are trying to make a transition to a more established think-tank. We believe that the book is highly relevant to us at our institute today. The recommendations given by Dr. Struyk are very useful for us as we move ahead and we hope that some of them could be adopted within our think-tank.

Of course, there are a few issues in think-tank management that we wish could be elaborated further in this book. For instance, many developing countries think-tank are highly dependent on funds from official developing countries agencies, which are often project-oriented, short-term in nature, have bureaucratic reporting requirement, and often failed to take into account the long-term goals of the think-tanks receiving the funds. In the West, most think-tanks received the bulk their support from private foundations and individuals that tend to be more long-term in nature, less intervening and bureaucratic, and are often more respectful of the interests and goals of the think-tank they fund. We wish that there were a discussion in this book on how developing countries' think tanks could gain access to these private foundations and individuals. Unfortunately, this was not extensively discussed in the book.

However, despite such shortcomings, we believe that this book should be read by all think-tanks managers, researchers, donors, and other stakeholders. The advice and recommendations of the book are very practical and based on the author's experiences working with numerous policy think tanks. Thus, they could be easily adapted by other think tanks throughout the world, regardless in which countries the think-tank is located (developed and developing countries) and regardless whether the think-tank is recently established or whether it is already a long-established and highly reputable think-tank. So, we should start reading it and hopefully, we could act to implement some of the recommendations of the book within our own organization.

A comprehensive manual for understanding and dealing with a stranded seal, manatee, dolphin, whale, or sea otter, Marine Mammals Ashore: A Field Guide for Strandings contains information for the interested beach dweller or student and for the scientist or marine resource manager.
Marine Mammals Ashore describes rescue operations, how to organize a response team, and how to deal with the media and the public. It includes basic information on marine mammal biology, life history, and health and an extensive bibliography.

Marine Mammals Ashore also provides stranding network participants with practical guidelines for collecting data and specimens to better understand the biology and behavior of marine animals and the condition of their environment.

I've heard it said that advertising and marketing are great places to go if your parents can afford to send you there. Even so, David Karlson comes up with DIY market tactics. So MARKETING YOUR CONSULTING OR PROFESSIONAL SERVICES works well out your own back door along with Douglas A. Gray's START AND RUN A PROFITABLE CONSULTING BUSINESS, Jessica Keyes' HOW TO BE A SUCCESSFUL INTERNET CONSULTANT, Bob Nelson and Peter Economy's CONSULTING FOR DUMMIES, and Ron Tepper's BECOME A TOP CONSULTANT.

Just make sure your image, logo, name and services are clearly defined by your budget, clients, and six-month goal projections, with costs and income balanced monthly. Then, keep current clients happy with in-office questionnaires sensitive to expanding, narrowing or updating services. Finally, attract more clients with indirectly impersonal marketing, such as making media appearances and writing articles or books, and with directly personal contacts, such as exhibiting at trade shows, holding workshops, and setting up buddy or mentor systems and an informal board of directors.

The author who was active during the old Weird Tales days of H. P. Lovecraft and Frank Belnap Long, really defined the genre as did Bram Stoker with Dracula. The 2 volumes of "The Werewolf Clan" are beautifully printed and great reading!!! Best of all the evoke those moments in great supernatural writing where first there is the mist with faint outlines, then the full super-solid detailed view, and then suddenly, the reader slips back into the mist.

They are legends who created legends. Without them we would have no Mickey Mouse, Bugs Bunny, Woody Woodpecker, Betty Boop, or The Flintsones. They are the Masters of Animation, all profiled in this wonderful book by John Grant. Grant spotlights 37 of the most talented animators and creators whose creations you certainly know, even if you don't know their names.

Each profile provides detailed biographical information about each of these men, and includes synopses of some of their most noted work as well as Grant's analysis and other anecdotes about their lives. Among the animators included are all of the Warner Brothers greats including Tex Avery, Bob Clampett, Friz Freleng, Chuck Jones, and Robert McKimson. Also included are: Walt Disney, Mickey Mouse creator Ub Iwerks, Hanna Barbera, Ralph Bakshi, Don Bluth, The Fleischer Brothers, early pioneer Winsor McCay, and Woody Woodpecker creator Walter Lantz.

While you certainly know their works, Grant fills you in on a lot of details about their lives and the ups and down of being an animator for the often ruthless studios. We will find that the Fleischer brothers Max and Dave who produced such memorable cartoons such as Betty Boop, Popeye, and Superman actually couldn't stand each other. Max often took credit for Dave's (the far more talented of the pair) work which infuriated his younger brother.

While animation fans often scoff at the streamlined and cheaper animation of Hanna Barbera, one cannot deny that they brought animation to a far wider audience in the 60's and 70's with shows like The Flintstones and Scooby Doo. Their early work at MGM notably on the Tom & Jerry series was as good as anything put out by Warner Brothers during the same period. Credit the pair for realizing the cheap animation for TV was the way to go once MGM closed their studio in 1957.

Among the more interesting profiles to read was that of Ralph Bakshi and the many problems he went through (many created himself) on the ill-fated Lord of the Rings animated film. Bakshi struggled to find a happy medium between staying faithful to the well known source material, and keeping the film at a manageable run-time.

Grant does at times tend to over analyze some of the works of these animators, often jumping to metaphorical conclusions and allusions where perhaps the animator was simply trying to provide some humor, but he does a great job of presenting all the necessary facts. To think of the stable of animators that Warner Brothers had in the 1940's is simply astounding. As you might guess, Walt Disney gets the longest at some 16 pages. I must also credit Grant for including a couple of men you might not have thought about being in the book, namely Muppet creator Jim Henson and filmmaker Terry Gilliam whose bizarre animations for the Monty Python TV show and films were groundbreaking.

There are a couple of notable exclusions, however. Where is Jay Ward, creator of Rocky & Bullwinkle? I'd certainly put him in the book before I would Will Vinton. And since Grant did include Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki, I have to ask why didn't he also include Katsuhiro Otomo, creator of one of the greatest Anime of all time "Akira".

For fans of animation I can think of no better book and can give no higher recommendation than this fantastic book.

Reviewed by Tim Janson

Compassionate and humanistic, this book examines the academic evidence for the authorÕs hypothesis that a womanÕs body, personality and behavior determines the sex of the infant. This clearly written and easily accessible book reads like a good detective story. It takes the reader, whether university lecturer, parent-to-be or college student through the labyrinthine twists and turns of the latest studies in developmental psychology, evolutionary biology, animal behavior and reproductive physiology to the authorÕs simple yet profound conclusion: the gender of the infant is not a matter of chance, it rests with the mother.The book is a refreshing reminder of the need for dialogue between the different academic disciplines, and it is not accidental that such a book comes out of New Zealand, and that it is written by a woman academic, Dr Valerie Grant, lecturer in Behavioural Science at the School of Medicine, University of Auckland. The author combines academic rigor with a breadth of research and learning in a broad range of fields. While her conclusions will be controversial and unacceptable to many, both her hypothesis and her on-going research may shed a revolutionary light on one of the most fascinating questions every pregnant mother ponders: is it a boy or a girl?

Grant Jones is consistently the best writer on the early colonial history of Belize and adjacent parts of Guatemala and Mexico. He knows the primary documents better than anyone else. He has a sophisticated, thoughtful and sympathetic approach. And best of all, he writes well. This is not bedtime reading, but for a serious scholar of the Spanish encounter with indigenous peoples, this is an invaluable and engrosing read.

This is a great little book for mystery lovers who also love a bit of supernatural "chicken skin" (goose bumps for us haoles) with their whodunits. Glen Grant is an engaging writer who has written about Hawaiian and Japanese ghost stories in his other books (which I also highly recommend!) Here, he weaves some of those stories in with well-written mysteries without sacrificing anything in believability. Some of the mysteries have supernatural overtones, others are more down-to-earth, but all are delightful! I, too, wish there was an Arthur McDougal in our world.

Excellent resource. Covers all the issues revolving around membership programs. Lots of specifics, examples and ideas;
for membership staff, boards, and executives. Fills a major need for specific ways to carryout and improve membership programs. Great to have input from experts on a subject that so many non-profits grabble with everyday. Covers such essential membership topics as planning, membership and fund-raising, getting and keeping members, volunteers, the internet. Also helpful examples:
of worksheets, budgets, and helpful case studies, plus software information.
Truly "an action plan for results." Recommended highly.