Resources Books

Paul has defined what being a leader is all about. Read it for the insight, but live it for the true value! Step up to the plate as a leader the leads through their love relationship with Christ. The author's points are structured well and can be a tool that can be used in your ministry right out of the package! People will see the difference when you lead out of love!

Paul Heier, pastor of Lifespring Church of Palm Harbor, Florida, has provided a heart-felt and gripping book about the importance of walking with Jesus. As a former college administrator and professor, he brings out many salient points about leadership. For him, no one can properly lead unless they have a genuine and daily dependency on Christ. Everything rises and falls on our love for and from Jesus Christ. This book is an excellent resource for pastors, deacons, Bible college students, lay leaders, and those interested in ministry.

Paul has defined what being a leader is all about. Read it for the insight, but live it for the true value! Step up to the plate as a leader the leads through their love relationship with Christ. The author's points are structured well and can be a tool that can be used in your ministry right out of the package! People will see the difference when you lead out of love!

This is a must-read for all leaders. The author does a great job of giving practical guidelines for leaders and explores areas of leadership that so many prefer to avoid. It is an honest look at leadership and what it means to be a true leader. I am confident that it will be as valuable to you as it has been to me. You will be glad you read this book!

Hi Everyone, I've read this book I received a copy from the same author of it, I live in Nicaragua and I had the chance to meet Paul Heier since he has just settled in Chinandega, Nicaragua as full time missionary with his wife Thania Heier and his best friend Chris Rozycki (who is like my brother). The message of the book is so refreshing, Paul has a very dinamic way to teach and always put a spark of good sense of humor to ilustrate a truth, u know, whenever I start reading a book besides the message, I always wonder if the author really reflects with his life what he intended to transmit other in his book, and I can truly say that Paul is a living example of what he teaches in this book, I believe that he has that give from God wich is to lead with a deep love for the people, I've had the priviledge to work with him as translator, and I've learn more things from his behavior than from his teachings, and I really want to keep working with him and his crew until God allows me to do it. I strongly recommend his book, I assure u is a living testimony, I found things there that sometimes we don't thing too much about them but they are so important to develop an effective ministry for the Lord based in the universal principle of love, which should be the motivation of any leader who server to the Lord. I could keep saying many things about Paul, I really love this people, get his book as soon as u can.

Melvin Loza Lainez, melloza@gmail.com

This book changed my life and my career. Reading it made me certain I was in the wrong place, in the wrong industry at the wrong time (for me). Companies that adhere to the tenets of LP&P will not have the retention issues most companies are dealing with today. People are drawn to and loyal to bosses who hold them in positive regard. Such companies are out there. Such leaders do exist and together they attract the best and brightest and the profits take care of themselves.

This book encourages those of us who want to make a little difference every day. It also dares us to be bold and public and exemplary in holding others in conspicuous--and high--regard. Written from experience on the inside of corporations, yet rich with values and insights, it is the most "balanced" look at leadership this year.

There are "how to treat people" books out -- and tons of "how to make more profit" books. Mark this book as one of the very few that integrates the themes with effective, believable ideas about how to manage more productively (and humanely!) tomorrow. One neologism worth noting in this book: altrupreneur. The word symbolizes the writers' core idea: that you can be an entrepreneur while being altruistic. You don't have to exploit to advance, they say, in convincing, straightforward language, statistics, and quotes.

Altrupreneur: One who conducts the affairs of an enterprise with conspicuous regard for the welfare of others." An excellent concept and philosophy that we should all learn to grasp as we operate in today's business environment. Nagle and Pascarella, very successful in their own right, quickly get to the essence of the successful business formula. It comes down to people! They cover the gamut from "Healing the Wounds of Betrayal," to "Creating a Mindset for Change," to "Building Community from Complexity." They reference that to the alrtupreneur, the company is a system but not just a system; it is something more human than that--itis a community. Furthermore, the new covenant being established in the altrupreneurial workplace exchanges accountability and continuous improvement for a reasonable and competitive income and continued opportunities for employability. This is best summarized by two quotes in the book; 1) "Did you do what I told you?" the traditional manager, versus 2) "What results did you get?" What did you learn? today's effective manager. An excellent book, with excellent insights. I have personally purchased a number of these and have passed them on to CEOs of both small and large firms with which I do business!

The truly successful organizations in the next century will be those that learn how to engage and energize the creativity an enthusiasm of their human assets. This is the next frontier in competitive advantage. In fact, there's always likely to be someone out there who can outspend you on those things. What makes your company unique is your people. Their innovation, creativity, and enthusiasm can't be copied. And, if that uniqueness is directed to creating processes, products, and services that are better than your competitors, you have an unbeatable advantage.

In Leveraging People and Profit the authors introduce a new term, altrupreneur. Altrupreneur is defined as one who conducts the affairs of an enterprise with conspicuous regard for the welfare of others. The altrupeneur is not one who acts only for the welfare of others, but one who acts with awareness of others' welfare as one of his or her top priorities.

The authors go on to outline a leadership model which includes the following.

1. The very essence of leadership is you have to have a vision. It's got to be a vision you articulate clearly and forcefully on every occasion. You cannot blow an uncertain trumpet. 2. Employees want and expect leaders to set direction and determine the business focus. Leaders are relying more on the power of influence than of command and control. 3. To be credible as a leader, you must first clarify your own values, translate them into a set of guiding principles, a credo, that you can communicate to the people you hope to lead. These overaching values help employees make decisions consistent with the aspirations of the company. 4. A leader must earn the trust of those he/she expects to lead. 5. Establish a mutual service compact which helps people understand where they fit in the value chain, aligns recognition programs to reward organizational successes, establishes training and personal development programs to reinforce continuous improvement, develops a communicaiton plan to ensure every employee understands values and vision and allocates resources to support improvment initiatives.

When an organization is energized by a vision that draws out the best efforts of all stakeholders in a positive and mutually beneficial context, there is virtually no limit to what is possible. Human creativity is not maximized until it is challenged by the impossible.

I like this book, which I received as a gift. The humor is to the point. These cartoons are going to be displayed all over my classroom for all to enjoy. I can't wait for volume two.

Teaching can become a grind. When that happens it can grind you down. Don't let it happen to you. Seek out the pearls of fun, humorous insights and pleasure that occur each day, if you look for them. This book is full of really clever cartoons - the kind you see in better magazines - about the teaching experience. I use these cartoons for my bulletin board, to remind me that teaching can be fun, for my intra school memos, to make sure they're read, and for my Powerpoint presentations to get the audience interested in what I have to say.

The author is not only a fine cartoonist but an astute observer of teachers and teaching. As a teacher myself, I never knew that the profession could be seen as an endless source of humor. Now I approach each day with a new perspective on the profession. I have placed a few of the cartoons on my bulletin board and they attract staff members. The kids like them too. I really enjoyed this book.

I am a teacher and I think that this book should be required reading every day before a teacher enters the school building. Effective teaching is all about the right attitude and this delightful compilation of cartoons about the profession, will help you look at daily teaching situations in a new way. These 'New Yorker' type cartoons are really funny and display a knowledge of the teaching profession. Each cartoon is a gem. I have placed two of them on my class bulletin board. Reading this book has helped me stop taking myself so seriously and start relaxing and enjoying what I love to do best...teach!

This collection of professional cartoons aims at the funnybone and hits its target. A humorous spin is put on familar teaching situations. As a teacher,I realize that I was actually part of many of the situations presented in these cartoons. Ah, if only I had laughed then! These cartoons deserve a spot on the bulletin board in all teachers' workrooms. The cartoons also make useful ice-breakers and presentations for educational meetings.You thought teaching was hard work? Not to laugh at these cartoons is hard work!

I teach computers in high school and can relate to the cartoons in this book. In fact, I use a few of them on my inter school memos. They're attention grabbers. The cartoons are funny and each has a nugget of truth in it which any teacher can recognize.
I love this book.

There's some funny stuff in this book! I teach computers in a public school and the situations portrayed in this adorable volume seem familiar, with a humorous twist. These cartoons are professionally sketched and make wonderful intro pieces for our school's in-service courses where our staff can upgrade their computer skills.

Great work! These are funny on-target cartoons. If you use a computer you've already visited these situations but now you can laugh about it. Even if you don't know a hard drive from a memory stick, get this book and laugh a little before you boot up. Teachers beware! You're going to have a smile on your face every time you go near that computer in school.

I teach computer classes in high school and in college. The cartoons in this funny book deserve a place on the class bulletin board. A few have been posted there for all to enjoy. The author has a clever way of portraying familiar tech situations in cartoon shorthand. The artwork is very professional and enjoyable. I plan to use one of the cartoons as an ice-breaker for an upcoming workshop.

I teach computer courses and the situations described in this wonderful cartoon book look familiar, with a very funny twist.
These are professionally sketched cartoons and I have placed a few of them on a bulletin board in the class. We all get a kick out of them. Don't forget to back up your hard drive and to buy this book.

I feel like can not speak highly enough about this book and I'm really sorry about! It is one of the best books on how to connect learning with business performance I ever seen.

Starts explaining how to conect learning objectives with business' performance objectives. Explains how to develope learning objectives, design learning measures, check measures reliability and validity. Makes a clear, nice and easy to understand transition to how to analyze learning data, presenting several techniques to collect and process data. Designs job performance measures, and explains how to collect and analyze it. The whole book contains detailed examples, and from the beginning to the end are presented three case studies: 1. technical training program, 2. sales/customer service training program, 3. leadership development program. In each chapter, after presenting new concepts, the three case studies are developed based on the new concepts introduced.

This book is not only for HR specialists.

A project manager have a lot of useful information and tools to include in every project and ideas on how to make her/his projects more succesful by connecting them with implementing the new skills. This can create projects' sustainability and synergies inside the organization.

A manager will have a better idea on how the big picture looks like, what have to plan, implement, manage and improve in order to be sure all business actions are aligned with business objectives.

Any reader should have a better understaning on how to maximize resources impact by being focused on implementing the new aquired skills, and not only on acquring new skills.

Toni has captured the critical conceptual and theoretical elements for effectively implementing practical training and employee performance improvement evaluation strategies. Her book should be required reading by all training evaluation specialists. It provides the fundamentals for designing, developing, and implementing valid and reliable learning assessment and performance measurement tools and methodologies. She provides easy to understand templates that can be tailored to any industry. It's comprehensive, well-thought out, and will be the standard textbook for my organization's program instruction on evaluation.

Toni Hodges brings a wealth of practical, easy to follow guidelines to the performance improvement practitioner, on how to approach, measure, and communicate about learning outcomes in organizational settings. She brings the reader step by step through the development, implementation, analysis, and communication processes to establish a credible and useful set of evaluation tools. Always linked to the day-to-day realities of organizational goals and pressures, she provides a handbook to move the practitioner into an effective and valued role as on-the-job evaluator of performance improvement interventions.

This book is full of tips, tools and examples that practitioners will find very useful. The tools and examples are easy to find in the book and provide a great basis for customizing to your own requirements. Toni speaks with experience and authority.

Linking learning and performance is filled with the kind of rigor that all of us Hodges-junkies have come to expect and look forward to. What Hodges maps out is not easy. It requires soul searching and a lot of work. But standing up in front of a CFO with a bullet-proof case for corporate learning makes it all worthwhile.

This book is about a girl named Elizabeth who's nickname is Lizard and is a total tomboy. There is a contest going on at her school and the prize is to be in a fashion show at the mall. Lizard could'nt care less but secretly her Best Friend/Boyfriend
Zach,entered her in the contest! Lizard ends up getting into the finals and now she can't get out!
This book is very funny and I reccomend it to girls ages 9-13.

I just recently read the book Lizard Flanagan...Supermodel??? and I think it is unbelieveably interesting and very fun to read. I thought the title sounded a little cheesy at first, but then i got onto reading it and I just couldnt put the book down! I really liked this book and I love the originality of it. Thanx to Carol Gorman for writing this awesomely cool book!

Lizard Flanagan, Supermodel? was a great book. I had never heard of the author or the Lizard Flanagan books and I bought one and loved it. It is a really great example of the things that really do happen in real life with teenagers!

This book goes through the changes of Lizard Flanagan's 6th grade life. It is very interesting. I suggest you read the firt book before you read this. (the Maraculous Makeover of Lizard Flanagan)

Elizabeth "Lizard" Flanagan who is a sports fanatic wants more then anything to go to Wrigley's Field with their friends Mary-Anne, Zach, Ed, Stinky, and her brother Sam, to see their favorite team, The Chicago Cubs, play baseball. When she gets the opportunity to go, she isn't able to, due to the fact that the trip would cost a fair amount of cash. She has already owes her parents money and can't receive another advance in allowance. She had already spent a lot of money on a speed odometer.

Meanwhile the spring pines 0fashion show is taking place at the town mall, and 2 models from each school are chosen. Each participating model receives money and one model is named "Supermodel". Someone secretly enters Lizard in the contest she becomes a finalist. Now Lizard, who has terrible stage fright, has to parade around strange people in a swimsuit, and a dress!

She is so worried that she will have the hiccups during the show, just as she did while giving an oral report in the fourth grade. The only upside to being a model in the fashion show is that she will be able to pay her parents' back. Also, she will be able to go to the baseball game with the money she receives.

Also, her boyfriend Zach goes through his own set of fears while playing the part of Dracula in a school play. Lizard jumps to conclusions about him liking another girl, who is another cast member in the play. She thinks this is why he is asking so strangely all of a sudden. Will Lizard loose her boyfriend? Will she make it through the fashion show? Will she relive her fourth grade hiccupping disaster?

This well written book can easily be related to while reading. I thought about different people and memories while reading this book and its different events. It is exciting and comical with appealing characters. My favorite character would have to be either the fashion-show director Mrs. Landers, or a snobby classmate named Lisa St. George, who is also another contestant in the fashion-show. Even though they have practically opposite personalities. I liked Mrs. Landers because she accepted Lizard for who she was no matter what happened. Also she didn't try to re-create her as I thought she would. I thought Lisa was amusing. She was obsessed with herself throughout the book and took a random disliking to Lizard. This book is a distinctive page-turner. I think many different people would like this book, probably people who like sports, adventures, fashion, and comedy. I hope anyone who reads `Lizard Flanagan, Supermodel??' enjoys reading it as much as I did.

This is one of those rare books that makes it points clearly and then guides your through exercises that reinforce its key messages.

I found the book incredibly helpful in preparing realistic plans that set you up for success. I have used it extensively to help me design major projects and I am well on my way toward measurable success on those goals.

Make Success Measurable tells you how to set business goals that matter for shareholders, customers, and employees. That is good advice, and it is backed up by "workbook" exercises that help you focus on what is really important. The "mindbook-workbook" format makes room for exercises that you can work on with your colleagues at the office. I found that the "mindbook" portion held my interest as an individual reader. I started getting REALLY interested about halfway through the book when Smith introduced the concept of "working arenas" - the different groupings of people (sometimes in multiple companies) that are necessary to achieve these goals. Smith explains that you need to shape your goals and methods to fit the appropriate working arena, rather than a pre-set corporate structure. If you work in a complex organization, you should read this book and apply its lessons.

I would compare Make Success Measurable very favorably to the Kaplan and Norton book on The Balanced Scorecard. The Balanced Scorecard tends to be vague and anecdotal on the subject of how to set measurable goals, and it is hard to finish. In contrast, Smith packs his book with original analysis and specific recommendations on topics like "Vertical versus Horizontal Management Disciplines" and "Injecting Creative and Personal Tension into Goals". The Balanced Scorecard presents a four way cause and effect chain from employees through process improvements, customers, and shareholders. Make Success Measurable presents a three way performance cycle as including employees who provide value to customers who provide rewards to shareholders...who provide rewards to employees and so on. The "process" piece doesn't appear in Smith's analysis, because focusing on process measures doesn't necessarily help anyone. In fact, it is a trap that can lead to meaningless work. Smith encourages us to focus on "outcomes" - measures that matter directly to employees, customers, and shareholders. This brings us quickly to reality and hopefully to consensus with our colleagues. Get real. Get this book.

"I believe you will benefit from this book because the challenge of setting and achieving performance goals has become very confusing". Douglas K. Smith writes, "It has been more than 30 years since Peter Drucker wrote about the importance of managing for results. His work led to the widespread practice of management by objective. But an awful lot has happened in the past 30 years. The world of business and organizations has changed dramatically, turning many of Drucker's specifics (though not his wisdom) upside down. In the aftermath of total quality, customer service, time-based competition, strategic alliances, globalization, reengineering, core competencies, continuous improvement, innovation, teams, horizontal organization, benchmarking, best place to work, information technology, diversity, environmentalism, deregulation and reregulation, eCommerce, and privatization, those of us left standing in today's organizations are unsure about what performance goals and outcomes make the most difference and why. We know that setting performance goals is key to managing ourselves and others, but we no longer know how".

Douglas K. Smith organizes his book in four parts. In the first part (Chapters 1-4), he provides the background, concepts, tools, techniques, and frameworks you need to set specific outcome-based goals that matter to successfully navigate today's most pressing performance challenges. In the second part (Chapters 5-7), he focuses on helping you align and coordinate goals throughout your organization. In the third part (Chapters 8-10), he describes the management disciplines you need to achieve your goals and how to make choices among them. In the fourth part (Chapter 11), he concludes the book with a step-by-step design for building an outcomes management system in your organization.

In this context, in Chapter 10, he reviews the management disciplines you must understand in order to succeed in the face of change, and introduces the critical distinction between decision-diven change and behavior-driven change, and describes how to manage each successfully. Hence, he argues that most change efforts fall far short of their potential. Usually that's because leaders fail to address the deep behavioral changes they are seeking. And thus, he lists the following ten management principles as the heart of any successful change effort:

1. Keep performance results the primary objective of behavior and skill change.

2. Continually increase the number of individuals taking responsibility for their own change.

3. Make sure that each person always knows why his or her performance and change matters to the purpose and results of the whole organization.

4. Put people in a position to learn by doing and provide them with the information and support they need just in time to perform.

5. Embrace improvisation as the best path to both performance and change.

6. Use team performance to drive change whenever demanded.

7. Concentrate organizational designs on the work that people do, not on the decision-making authority they have.

8. Create and focus energy and meaningful language because these are the scarcest resources during periods of change.

9. Stimulate and sustain behavior-driven change by harmonizing initiatives throughout the organization.

10. Practice leadership based on the courage to live the change you wish to bring about.

Finally, he argues that if you expect others to change their behavior, you have to change yours. It's as simple and as hard as that.

I strongly recommend.

You can rarely pick up a job description in the public or private sector that does not include a statement seeking "demonstrated experience and success working with the principles of quality management and a commitment to customer service." One of the cornerstones to quality management is the ability to focus on outcomes instead of activities.

Make Success Measurable is filled with practical techniques. Even more, it is a workbook, providing opportunities to apply new concepts to real work. Whether you want to be able to create more focus within your own work unit, be able to demonstrate tangible results to your manager, prioritize your own work by aligning your day to day activities with the most important initiatives, or coach customers who are seeking your expertise in developing performance measures, this book can help.

As a result of reading this book and trying the exercises, you should be able to:

1) Convert new visions, strategies, and directions into achievable outcome-based goals that can better yourself and others in your organization.

2) Set goals that are specific, measurable, aggressive, achievable, relevant, and time bound. (SMART Goals)

3) Set goals that matter to those expecting a return on their funding dollars.

4) Set goals that matter to you personally in terms of opportunities, rewards, and skills.

5) Choose from a variety of management disciplines to achieve your goals.

6) Set goals that matter to customers who want speed, quality, and prompt service.

Make Success Measurable! is definitely becoming the Bible at work. Very well written, and Smith's ideas are well-supported. We've received positive feedback from clients, and we've expanded our client base because of this good word-of-mouth. I strongly recommend Make Success Measurable! It's as good as Guerilla PR: Wired, which focuses on techniques to getting solid public relations coverage, especially nowadays.

Fight The Good FightHaving been a member of Prestonwood Baptist Church and sat under the ministry of Dr. Jack Graham for four years, I believe that he is truly a man of God. A great leader who has served as the President of the Southern Baptist Convention for two terms. My wife and I have purchased this book to give to others.

This book is must reading for every man! It speaks of our relationship with God and how that relationship is carried over to that with our wives, children, employers, etc. Guys, God expects certain things from us. I encourage all men to read this book!

I couldn't be happier with the purchase of this book. It is by far one of the best sources on godly living for men. His style is personal, yet powerful. And just in time for Father's Day, it has inspired me to include all the essential priorities listed by Dr. Graham into my own life and family.

This book is more than your average book. It covers topics that every man wants to know more about. It digs deeps into Scripture and offers Christian men the basic essentials to living sold-out to God. I couldn't be happier with this book. On a scale of 1-10 (with 10 being the highest), I give it a 12.

Jack Graham is pastor of the massive Prestonwood Baptist Church which boasts a membership of over 23,000 and is thus one of the world's largest churches. He has written several books, the latest of which is A Man of God (which releases today). To provide a clear idea of the target audience for this book, one does not need to look much farther than the list of endorsers. The list includes Roger Staubach, Gary Carter and Pat Summerall. Neil Clark Warren (founder of the online dating site eHarmony.com) is added for good measure. And Chuck Norris enters the fray to write the foreward. And if you still aren't sure, perhaps this quote will bring added clarity. "The Christian life is more important than the Super Bowl, the World Series, the NBA Finals, and the Stanley Cup all wrapped together" (page 12).

This book is obviously intended for the American "everyman" - the average guy with average interests who attends the average church. Graham intends this book to be a wake-up call. He tells us early-on that he has always firmly believed that "if revival was to come to the church, and if the Good News of Jesus Christ was to spread to the nations, it would be because men became godly and began living their faith with passion and integrity" (page 13). He seeks to encourage men to step up to the challenges offered to the faith in the twenty-first century and accept responsibility for the church.

The book is divided into four roughly-equal sections, each containing three chapters. The first, "A Man of God and His Master" challenges men to know, understand and commit to God. Graham teaches that men need to commit to maximum discipleship - discipleship that impacts the whole life. The second section, "A Man of God and His Integrity" challenges men to live upright lives marked by moral purity and free from captivity to temporal possessions. The third section, "A Man of God and His Family" speaks of the importance of prioritzing family relationships. The final section, "A Man of God and His Ministry" challenges men about in the areas of mentorship and evangelism.

The book is written in a conversational tone and is simple both to read and understand. Stories and examples abound. Scripture examples and proof-texts are also in abundant supply.

There were a couple of small theological issues I found with the book, but I can see that these arose because of my Reformed understanding of salvation. On page 201 Graham writes, "People are incredibly interested in something that will fill the void in their hearts." While this may be true, in no way does this indicate, as he seems to indicate, that unbelievers are genuinelly and spiritually interested in the gospel. But beyond such minor concerns, I found the book quite Scriptural.

I am not convinced that Graham says very much in this book that has not been said before by other authors. In fact, there are probably quite literally one hundred books that deal with this same topic in a similar way. However, judging by the churches of today it seems that plenty of men have still not accepted the challenge, so perhaps this book can serve to wake a few more from their spiritual slumber. If a man in your life is not a reader, and has not already read several similar titles, this may be the type of book that will challenge and motivate him. It is certainly more biblical and more challenging than Wild at Heart and so many others.

Nutshell review - This book provides an excellent presentation of financial concepts as they relate to information security. The only problem with these techniques is, as Richard Bejtlich points out in his review, the difficulty in obtaining accurate input data for these models. But regardless, if you are a manager charged with budget planning you should read this book.

This book provides an excellent discussion of key economic principles needed to make managing cybersecurity resources more effective. I really liked the nice examples provided throughout the book. The examples reinforce the economic concepts and applications. I foresee this book becoming a prime reference for me.

Managing Cybersecurity Resources (MCR) is an excellent book. I devoured it in one sitting on a weather-extended flight from Washington-Dulles to Boston. MCR teaches security professionals how to think properly about making security resource allocation decisions by properly defining terms, concepts, and models. The only problem I have with MCR is the reason I subtracted one star: its recommended strategy, cost-benefit analysis, relies upon estimated probabilities of loss and cost savings that are unavailable to practically every security manager. Without these figures, constructing cost-benefit equations as recommended by MCR is impossible in practice. Nevertheless, I still strongly recommend reading this unique and powerful book.

My favorite aspect of MCR is its explanation of economics and finance terms to the security audience. I felt like applauding when I read on p 47 "[M]any managers... are merely calling the IRR an ROI or ROSI (return on security investment). Given that the concepts of "return on investment" and "internal rate of return" are well established in the accounting, finance, and economics literature, as well as among nearly all senior financial managers (e.g., CFOs), security managers should be careful how they use these terms. Indeed, misusing these terms can only lead to problems for the security manager." (See p 45 for a comparison of ROI, IRR, and NPV.)

In a similar fashion, MCR explains what a "return" is for security on p 21: "The benefits associated with cybersecurity activities are derived from the cost savings (often called cost avoidance) that result from preventing cybersecurity breaches. These benefits are difficult, and often impossible, to predict with any degree of accuracy. Moreover, since the actual benefits are conceptually the cost savings associated with potential security breaches that did not occur, it is not possible to measure these benefits precisely after the security investments are made."

What of "investment"? Pp 28-30 say: "[O]rganizations tend to treat the bulk of their cybersecurity expenditures as operating costs and charge them to the period in which they are incurred," unlike capital investments, which "represent assets of an organization that should appear on the organization's balance sheet." The authors recommend us to "view all costs related to cybersecurity activities... as capital investments with varying time horizons."

So what is a cost? P 5 says "The cost of information security is essentially a negative network externality associated with the Internet... [It] arises when malevolent individuals and organizations [which the authors properly label "threats" on p 12] join the network, thereby imposing costs on all well-intentioned users. These costs take the form of losses caused by actual security breaches plus the cost of actions... designed to prevent such breaches."

P 30 wisely states "[N]o amount of security can guarantee that breaches will not occur... The goal of the organization should be to implement security procedures up to the point where the benefits minus the costs are at a maximum." The footnote on p 31 continues with "An alternative way to view this discussion is to think of the goal as one of trying to minimize the sum of the costs associated with cybersecurity activities and the costs associated with breaches... the optimal level of cybersecurity for an organization would be the same under the cost minimization goal as it would be if the organization were to maximize the net benefits." I think most managers prefer to think in terms of cost minimization, which is a prevalent throughout IT.

Costs are dissected on pp 56-58: "The direct costs of cybersecurity breaches are those costs that can be clearly linked to specific breaches... the indirect costs of cybersecurity breaches cannot be linked... Explicit costs of cybersecurity breaches are those costs of breaches that can be measured in an unambiguous manner... implicit costs are opportunity costs (i.e., costs associated with lost opportunities), which cannot be measured without ambiguity... the benefits derived from spending funds on cybersecurity activities come largely from the cost savings derived by avoiding the implicit costs of breaches."

Page 63 explains why companies have "Chief Privacy Officers" and the like, even though preserving privacy is the confidentiality aspect of the CIA triad and could be a CISO responsibility: "The findings from our study show that, on average, information breaches that compromise confidentiality do have a significant negative impact on the stock market value of corporations experiencing breaches. Indeed, the average decline in the firm's stock market value... was approximately 5 percent."

So far so good, right? The major flaw with MCR arrives in ch 4, on p 68: "The variables affecting potential cost savings include (1) the potential losses associated with information security breaches, (2) the probability that a particular breach will occur, and (3) the productivity associated with specific investments, which translates into a reduction in the probability of potential losses." This is true -- but this is the key problem: devising even rough estimates of 1, 2, and 3 is nearly impossible in practice. The authors' examples (see figure 4-2 for one) assume these factors can be determined (like $10 mil total potential loss without countermeasures, 75% probability of loss with no countermeasures / 50% with $650,000 of countermeasures, and so on). When I saw these contrived examples I wondered "what is the origin of these figures?" The fact of the matter is that they are all guesswork, which means the calculator can say anything the analyst wishes to produce.

In some sense we are back to square one, although much better educated in economics. (Note that Andy Jaquith's book Security Metrics also observes how calculating these figures is nearly impossible in real life.)

Because MCR is so right in all of its other discussions, the book deserves 4 stars. A proper acceptance of the difficulty or impossibility of determining 1, 2, and 3 might have resulted in 5 stars. Perhaps a second edition will address these concerns?

PS: I would be remiss to not quote the authors' exceptional insights into the problems with security auditing. P 132 says "[T]he checklist approach tends to shift attention away from the cost-benefit aspects of such security. That is, the checklist approach usually assumes that conducting a particular procedure is inherently worth doing." P 137 hits the nail on the head: "[F]or some firms, it is quite possible that the costs of cybersecurity auditing will exceed the benefits. If this were to occur, then cybersecurity auditing would in effect decrease the firm's value." Amen.

This book is very timely and extremely useful as a tool for key decision-makers in organizations - Chief Technology Offiers, Information System Managers, and general managers, including CEOs, as well as academics. How do you allocate scarce resources to increasing cybersecurity, in the context of other competing claims ? Professors Gordon and Loeb provide a solid economic framework to do this. They bring their decades of experience researching and teaching about a cost-benefit approach to managerial decisions to the table, in the context of cybersecurity investments.

What I like about the book is its appeal to practitioners and academics alike. There is a nice section on developing a business case for cybersecurity investments. Empirical evidence to support their arguments are provided throughout the book. Complex ideas like real options and cybersecurity investments are nicely explained with simple and insightful examples.

Overall, whether you are a manager making or evaluating the case for cybersecurity investments, or teaching in this area, this book is a must-read.

Managing Cybersecurity Resources: A Cost-Benefit Analysis is excellent! Information security practitioners will appreciate the insightful economic analysis on how to determine the right amount to spend on cybersecurity projects and how to prepare a business case to justify such projects. I especially liked the chapter on risk that included perspectives and analysis not found in any other information security books. The book discusses many topics (for example, economics of cybersecurity and its role in national security) in a manner that novice and expert alike will find appealing. Its clear that the authors, chaired professors from a top business school and pioneers in cybersecurity economics, have a strong understanding of the security environment along with great technical skills. Of more importance, is their intuitive understanding of problems in the cybersecurity trenches. Policy makers, CISOs, CFOs, and managers at all levels, should find enormous value in this book. While at times I wish the authors would not have condensed their discussion, the good news is that they have left some important issues for a follow-up book. I am recommending this book to co-workers and friends.

I've been working on geochemistry and hydro-geochemistry for the last three years and this book represent an "easy-to-follow" compendium of the most usual problems and situations that you can find on field. The author's explanations to some problems are quite ingenious and help to solve, in a practical way, most of the difficulties that you can find in real natural systems.

The authors have managed to take a subject that can be dry and intimidating and make it readable and enjoyable. I have been in the consulting business as a hydrogeologist for 20 years, and found that I needed to review "the basics" due to a career change to Water Resources. I found the book to be well organized, well written, and especially useful were all of the examples provided. I think it would be a very good book for students (those just starting out) and for those, like me, who need to review subjects, such as "aquifer hydraulics." And, the chapter "How to Get Along with Driller's" should be mandatory reading for all students of geology/hydrogeology/engineering.

Greating readers. I have a PDF files that contains all of the corrections or errors know as of Nov 10, 2003. Please email for a copy of this document at wweight@mtech.edu. Happy Reading. Willis Weight

This book should be required reading by every professional entering the field of hydrogeology - especially those with limited experience in groundwater science. the authors present the material in an easy to read format as though they were mentoring entry level geologists. A job well done.

I've been working as a geologist for an environmental firm specializing in UST remediation for about six months. Having been working in a tangentally related field for six years, I needed a quick refresher. This book is providing that refresher - it will also prove an excellent reference for years to come. I found especially useful the portion on slug testing - my old college texts discuss slug testing but in a highly theoretical and impractical manner.