Organizations Books

This is an easy review - the book is simply great! If parents are willing to sit down with their children and read, especially starting before they are two years old, this book will help to spark the imagination of practically any child. The song couldn't make a better subject for a book. The story should help form the foundation for a strong moral and religious background. The illustrations are beautifully done and our twenty-two month old picks out things that we hadn't even noticed. I recommend the book to all parents and encourage them to read it nightly, taking the time to discuss what they see in the pictures. I sincerely hope the author has more projects in the works!

All creatures great and small, all things wise and wonderful, the Lord God made them all... This is a great hymn, one of my favorites (especially the arrangement by John Rutter). Reading (singing!) this book to my children has given them an appreciation for the beauty in God's world. The illustrations are the kind that a child is drawn into - the kind they can gaze at and imagine themselves in the scene.
A carefree country girl goes on a ramble as the hymn unfolds. My children (me too!) want to kick off their shoes and share in the child's absorption of the beauty around her.
Great way to children-ize a hymn.

This book states what teachers have known all along...children learn about their world by seeing, doing, touching & experiencing it. As a society, we need to give children the right and the luxury to their childhood.

Academics are important, but before children are ready for academic learning, they must first know how to get along in the real world. It is critical that children have social skills, problem solving skills, and the ability to function in the classroom. Most parents today only focus on "Will Mary learn her ABC's in your classroom?" "Yes, she will be exposed to the alphabet, but first Mary needs to be allowed to be a child and learn how to get along in the world."

Thanks to Sharna Olfman for writing about a subject that is so crucial to the success of all children. My hope is that every preschool parent would take time to read this book. America's children are in danger of losing something priceless ~~ their childhood.

This is an interesting book that makes you stop and think about our culture and the future of our children. If you care about the future of children today, read this book!

This is the most insightful book I have ever seen on the subject of Japanese business. The author clearly knows his subject

There has been the deluge of books and articles on Japanese keiretsu. But this book published a decade ago (1992) is still one of the best. There are so many good enough accounts on the vertical keiretsu appeared in the Toyota¡¯s value chain. But not so, when it comes to the horizontal keiretzu. There is no shortage of materials but most of them are no more than anecdotal case studies or, at best, cursory impressions. I can¡¯t capture why they form such a long-term ties based on what interest at all, for example. The advantage of vertical keiretsu is obvious and well described. But what is the economic foundation of horizontal keiretsu? Is it mere social club of economic elites? Nobody could think so. The network structure (or network form) of horizontal keiretsu is well documented, such as main bank, cross shareholding, sacho-kai, and the preferential trading. But those are merely links forming the network. The network is more than the sum of links. It¡¯s the linkage of links and it has contents. Links reproduce itself for something flows between nodes. This book plugs the gap systematic explanation of horizontal keiretsu with network analysis. In doing so, the author mobilizes not only qualitative data from interviews and business history but also extensive quantitative data to generalize his remarks to level of the population of the Japanese businesses. The author begins with describing the network structure of keiretsu from chapter 3 to 4. Then the remaining chapters deal with how the network formed and how it operates in real business environment. Namely, those chapters deal with the contents of network. Now you might retort ¡®what¡¯s the difference from other materials? This book would supply better and well-organized illustration of keiretsu. But aren¡¯t those features common in other works?¡¯
Maybe. But the most inspiring piece lies in the use of image. Keiretsu is the interfirm network and it¡¯s not unique on Japan but the ubiquitous phenomenon all over the world. Usually, they use the image of coalition, as it has developed in the game theory. The interfirm network, however more stable it is than arm¡¯s length trading, is usually depicted with the image of coalition. The coalition, particularly in the form of game theory, is relatively fluid relationship. The coalition comes and goes according to the logic of strategic self-interest. This is the reality of business such as strategic alliance. Yesterday¡¯s foe could be today¡¯s friend. For example, Apple shook hands with IBM to make PowerPC. But such an image doesn¡¯t fit into the long-term relationship of horizontal keiretsu over more than a generation. Affiliation in a keiretsu group is considered as permanent one. Instead, Gerlach uses the metaphor of alliance to illustrate the features of Japanese keiretsu. The image of alliance comes from anthropological fieldworks. It suggests long-term social relationship that links kinship groups over generations. The self-interest is also the driving-force in the kinship alliance. Kinship groups establish the long-term ties with other kinship groups through swapping women. Through this tie, they exchange resources like calling on in times of need or for protection of one¡¯s own group. Those are valuable resources in primitive societies, with no doubt, and this relationship is long-term by nature. But in such a relationship, self-interest is tempered by the central role played by group history.
Horizontal keiretsu emerged from the self-interest of member firms to stabilize the flow of resources. So at the center of group have lain the bank and sogo shosha. During the early postwar period, the capital and raw materials were scarce and most needed resources to be secured, and that, affiliation in the group opens doors to trade with other group members, and with the trading partners those firms have. But once the network is put into action, it takes the life of its own: It was instutionalized in the routine of business. Just as firms seek to position themselves advantageously in their industry and in the broader business community, so too do groups as a whole. Keiretsu network, for instance, expands itself with new memberships. Most of expansion has involved the firms that compete against firms in other keiretsu. Keiretsu compete against keiretsu for positioning in the business community. By expanding to include group-level representation in a broad variety of fields, the group simultaneously preempts market opportunities, enhances its prestige in the larger business community, and diversifies risk across a spectrum of industries. The power and prestige of the group make the individual member firm more appealing to prospective business partners and improves its status in the larger business community. The fortunes of group and companies are in this way intertwined. In other words, affiliation in group translates into marrying with the group. The individual firms act as if they are the members of the clan. This kind of interfirm network could be facilitated for the unique Japanese business history. 3 out of outstanding 6 (now 4) groups are ex-zaibatsu (industrial group). And some influences in early postwar period are crucial in forming the keiretsu.
But this is the problem of this book: no convincing explanation about why such alliance is found only in Japan? This book offers good enough description of the phenomenon. I can¡¯t help asking ¡®Is this enough explanation?¡¯ Unfortunately I don¡¯t think so. If you have this kind of question, I recommend, Ulrike Schaede¡¯s ¡®Cooperative Capitalism¡¯. This book has a very long-term standpoint from Tokugawa period to the present. This book is not about keiretsu. But you could understand the institutional background of Japanese business.

Peter Robertson worked with us in the office of the CEO for the HP/Compaq integration. Though we had a high performing team with piqued strengths in leading large scale horizontal change, he helped us understand how the makeup of the team needed to change as the charter changed. Against typical instincts (why change what's working) we consciously supported some departures and refashioned the team for the second phase of organization effectiveness, after initial integration was largely complete. We also used Peter's approach to advise our own internal clients on how their teams needed to change to accomodate expectations that became apparent in the press 6 months later. His thinking and tools were a major quiver in our value to HP at an unprecedented period of change.

A fresh, new approach to how people respond to change, individually and within organizational settings. Ethology, taking in Freud and Bolby's work, shows how it is not consequences, but security and "attachment" which will predict and help in the management of personnel.

The catchy title takes in one application of this method and tool, that the composition of any team, whether athletic or organizational, is dependent on where the organization is on the "S"-curve or business cycle. For instance, if you are trying to innovate new ideas or products, you need exploratory people versus those attached to stability. On the other hand, once new products have been identified and created, you want more stability-oriented people who will stick to the plans and schedules to get the product out the door.

Very good examples from actual application at HP and other major organizations.

What can I say? I love the song Amazing Grace and I love how Judy Collins sings it. Though there are two verses in the book I don't recall and one verse I love is missing, the true worth of the book; however, is in Collins' introduction. Therein she writes: "Religion is for those who are afraid of going to Hell, ... and the spiritual is for those who have already been there." Don't know if I've ever read a more profound thought. If the song means something to you, buy this book, you'll treasure it for a lifetime.

Beautiful rendition of the hymn.


Blessings to Amazon!

I've read this book at least 5 times - more for some chapters - and I've thoroughly enjoyed it evey time. Rob has a way of capturing stories that take you there. As a family, he, our baby daughter, and I served in Guyana six months Feb 2001-Aug 2001. It was a tremendous experience and the aviation service saved many lives. I hope that he will keep writing and that you'll look for those stories about our next project in Guatemala!

No, really, it is. You should read it.

This book fills a significant gap in the historical record on philanthropy and the rise of civil society in the United States. Kathleen McCarthy's writing meets the highest standards of scholarship, in a very readable and enjoyable style that will appeal to a broad audience. It should be on the "must-read" list for all nonprofit researchers, practitioners, and students of philanthropy!

This is an important book. It offers a novel and compelling explanation of America's early democratic development that suggests a much greater role for the non-governmental sector than previous studies have suggested.

The author throws light on some neglected corners of American development, such as the role of non-governmental organizations run by blacks and women. After reading this book, no one will look on non-governmental efforts in quite the same way. Their energy and vision were essential not only in making America a more decent country but also, surprisingly, a much more prosperous one.

If you, as I, graduated from a Jesuit university (in my case, Fordham), you simply have to add this volume to your collection. I had the added incentive of living in Lake George, NY, and having cherished as my personal hero for many years Father Isaac Jogues, Jesuit missionary to the Algonquin and Iroquois and the first white man to see the body of water he named Lac du Saint Sacrement in 1646. Father Schroth is a solid writer who presents both a scholarly and well-balanced treatment of his subject matter, entirely unafraid to consider both the splendid triumphs and undoubted failings of the order in America. He does a particularly good job on the founding and early trials of the Jesuit institutions of higher learning. In sum, a fine read.

In his book "The American Jesuits: A History" Raymond Schroth recounts the long history of the Society of Jesus from its genesis as a small group of followers of a Spaniard named Ignatius Lopez of Loyola to the greatest teaching order this world has known. But unlike many previous works on Jesuits, Fr. Schroth extolls both the noble and ignoble facets of the order. From stories of men willing to be martyred "For the Greater Glory of God" to a disgraceful exclusion from the order of those of Jewish ancestry. An order consisting of men working in the service of others and men in pursuit of power, often concurrently.

Fr. Schroth is a master storyteller as well as a thorough historian. This book is well worth reading.

The concept of "anarchy" has enjoyed a privileged status in each of the two main schools of thought of IR, namely neorealism and neoliberalism -albeit in varying size and nature. I have always believed that this overemphasis on anarchy was unjustified and misleading. I think what is important is not the mere presence or absence of a governmental body at the international level, but rather whether any mechanism exists that functions against Waltz's assertion that "wars occur because there is nothing that prevents them" (1959, 232). In our modern global world, no state except the hegemon can get away with a "fait accompli" that will change regional of global balances of power. This simply means that every state except one has an "impediment" to behave like a "rogue" state. Thus, the absence of a material world government to punish the deviant states does not necessarily create an anarchic international environment, because the practical function of such a government is fulfilled to a large extent by the hierarchical nature of the international system. This is true for multipolar systems where there is a balance of power among major states as well. Throughout modern history, each state that sought a global hegemony found a community of others against her. Thus, balance of power has indeed been an ordering principle in international relations.

I found my inspiration as to the "order" in the international system in the writings of some British scholars. Contrary to the central place of anarchy in the North American theories of international relations, "international society" thinking and its resultant emphasis on "order" has been a tradition in post-war Britain. "The English School" argued that there is a persistent order in the international system alongside "anarchy" and that the preservation of a minimal order has been a common objective of the major members of the international system. Hedley Bull was one of the most influential scholars within the English School. In his The Anarchical Society he defines order in international system as "a pattern or activity that sustains the elementary or primary goals of the society of states," (p. 8). In further elaboration, he lists these goals as 1) the preservation of the system and society of states itself, 2) maintaining the sovereignty of states, 3) maintaining peace, and 4) sustaining the elementary goals of the individual, i.e. life, truth, and property (pp. 16-18). He argues that the maintenance of order is a common goal of states, because -whatever the further goals of states- the existence of a minimal order is a necessary condition to achieve these higher goals. Like individuals, states value order because they value "the greater predictability of human behavior" that comes as the consequence of conformity to the elementary or primary goals of states (p. 7).
According to Bull, "balance of power" is the primary and most effective instrument for the maintenance of international order. It is primary, because it provides the conditions in which other institutions of order (diplomacy, war, international law, and great power management) have been able to operate; it is the most effective, because by preventing the emergence of a hegemon, balance of power helps preserve the existent order.
Two of the instruments that Bull argues states use to preserve international order are particularly interesting. First, Bull directs our attention to the positive functions of war with respect to the maintenance of order. While in the traditional IR literature war is associated with conflict and disorder, Bull argues that war has widely been used by states (in particular the great powers) as a means of enforcing international law and preserving balance of power (p. 102). Thus, for Bull, war is a two-faceted phenomenon: a threat to be limited in most cases, but also an instrument to be used for order-related purposes in some cases. Second, he contends that great power politics contribute to the preservation of international order as well. Bull argues that great powers do so by preserving the general balance of power, avoiding major crisis among themselves, and respecting each other's "spheres of influences" (p. 200). In that respect, the English school warns us that the great power politics is not a wholly "tragic" story.
I think The Anarchical Society made two important contributions to our understanding of international politics. First, it persuasively argued that we are not living in an international "jungle". In Bull's (and my own) view, anarchy is an element of international structure, but neither the only nor the predominant one. States purposively try to limit the negative effects of anarchy by working together to preserve a minimal level of order in order to attain higher objectives. Second, Bull helped us realize that some crucial elements of international politics -war and great power politics-, which are generally associated with conflict, many times play positive roles in terms of the preservation of international order.
An important shortcoming in Bull's approach is that Bull remains quite when it comes to the "nature" of international order. The question of what causes the emergence of different international orders is outside the scope of The Anarchical Society. Actually, Bull admits this point when he says that "we are concerned only with what may be called the `statics' of international order and not with its `dynamics'," (19). Hence, Bull does not offer us a "theory" of international relations.

It was wonderful. I've never read something like that. I advise everyone to read it. Thank you.

Robert Cox is one of the most interesting contemporary writers in International Relations. His books always bring a brand new and fresh analysis. This collection of articals represents his great academic carrer and certainly points new directions to the study of the discipline. This book is highly recommended to all students of IR theory.

Robert Cox has done a brillant job of taking Political Economy to the next level in this collection of essays. Cox and Sinclair have culled together many of Cox's essays previously published in unaccessible journals. Each essay is prefixed by short bio stetch which very much sets the mood for what follows. Cox's uniqueness lies his open approach to the discipline. Whereas other political theorists have concentrated on the International Political Economy. Cox focuses upon the Global and the forces which go into the making of forms of production, state and world order. Any student interested in the dynamic historical interplay of these structures is well advised to pick up a copy of this book. Although, Cox is a Historical Materialist, he is a Gramscian thus allowing for a greater theoretical openness then some operating in the same paradigm. The essays are meaty and sometimes require reading and re-reading to get into the rthymn. Many are leading to or leading from his seminal book: Power, Production and World Order. Sadly, Cox does not write more.