Harvard MBA reviews his Professor's Works
342779
This is an excellent collection of articles describing people, firms, and nations that succeeded in modern capitlism.  Looking a the four most successful economies of the past two centuries: England, US, Germany, and  Japan- Prof. McCraw's expertly edited and coherent collection of articles  gives the reader a flavor of what made for great success in the capitalist  economy. Each country has three articles: a firm, an entrepenure, and the  country itself for a total of 12 articles each written by true experts.  McCraw's understanding of capitlism is somewhat skewed toward the modern,  however on the whole the book is extremely balanced.  Of partiuclar note,  is Prof. David Moss's article on the Deutch Bank which dicusses the  succcess, failures, rewards, and dark side of capitalism.
154561
This book  my first series of Harvard Business Review. I truly enjoyed reading through the book. Few chapters are not that much interesting compared to rest of book as it goes too much into examples. In Overall, it's a must reading book and I absolutely loved it.
There are certain stuff that I enjoyed the most as: Mood Contagion, Emotional Intelligent at work or even to Value Your Instincts when you are in Fundamental State of Leadership.
4423498
Written by an award winning Harvard Business School Professor, this book contains a deeper sense of wisdom.

My observations are:

1.  It does not take too long to read, (which is an advantage in today's busy world).

2.  I feel that the concept mentioned in the book can improve the quality of one's personal life, as well as enhance one's professional life at work.

3.  In my opinion, everyone can learn something from this book, and it is suitable for all ages

Happy reading!
4670761
Note: This review is of a book published earlier this year. It is a sequel to one published in 2003.

What we have here is a series of brief discussions "the most influential management books you'll never have time to read," a total of 130, one per author or co-authors. They were selected by persons not identified and the book was published by (appropriately) Basic Books. No doubt those who examine the list will disagree with the selections (I do and more about that later) because any such list is bound to generate controversy. Some readers will question the selection of an author's work (e.g. preferring Jim Collins' Good to Great to Built to Last written with Jerry Porras) and other readers will object to an author's inclusion (e.g. Gerry McGovern, R. Meredith Belbin) and/or exclusion (e.g. Adrian Slywotsky). That said, the 130 really would provide an excellent "basic library" of resources that include non-business books such as Sun Tzu's The Art of War and Niccol Machiavelli's The Prince that have indeed had significant impact on thinking about leadership and management.

The two-page format is eminently sensible:

WHY READ IT? A capsule introduction describing the book's key contribution to management
GETTING STARTED: An introduction to the main themes that each author sets out to address
CONTRIBUTION: A detailed summary of the book's most important points
CONTEXT: An overview of both the immediate reaction to the book and its long-term significance
FOR MORE INFORMATION: Essential bibliographic information on the given title

Granted, it is impossible to do full justice to any of the 130. What surprised me is how much useful material the anonymous co-authors of the digests manage to provide. Although the format is standardized, the approach to essential points varies to accommodate the unique significance of the given work. Here are two brief excerpts:

On the contribution of Igor Ansoff's Corporate Strategy (1965): "The book presented several new theoretical concepts, such as partial ignorance, business strategy, capability and competence profiles, and synergy. One particular concept, the product-mission matrix, became very popular because it was simple and - for the first time - codified the differences between strategic expansion and diversification."

On the contribution of Clayton M. Christensen's The Innovator's Dilemma (2003): "The author cites five reasons successful companies fail to capitalize on disruptive technologies:

o Customers control the pattern of resource allocation.
o Small markets do not solve the growth needs of large companies.
o It can be difficult to identify successful applications in advance.
o Larger organizations rely on their core competencies and values.
o Technology supply may not equal demand."

Having read most of the 130, reviewed a majority, and interviewed the authors of several, I disagree with only a few of the selections and would have replaced them with others I consider more worthy such as Eric Drexler's Engines of Creation: The Coming Era of Nanotechnology (1987), Patrick Lencioni's The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable (2002), Guy Kawasaki's Reality Check: The Irreverent Guide to Outsmarting, Outmanaging, and Outmarketing Your Competition (2008), Thomas S. Kuhn's The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (1996), and the U.S. Army's Official Army Leadership Manual: Leadership the Army Way (available to the general public in Be*Know*Do, an adaptation of the manual published in 2004).
4174625
This book Ahead of The Curve: Two Years At Harvard Business School by Phillip Delves Broughton caught my attention because of the author sharing his journey of giving up a very comfortable lifestyle in Europe for an uncertain one. I have my sights set on online components of a few state universities andor possibly some community colleges  towards a second bachelors degree (for budgetary reasons). However, I must make it clear that I am coming from a positive place of being content with my place of employment when reviewing this book. With that out of the way, this author candidly shares his journey of attending Harvard while also making time for his wife and kids. He writes of how he and his wife Margaret spent time together when they went to the pre-ball party of the Priscilla Ball with their son Augie (page 92). Details such as a visit to the Yahoo company in Sunnyvale California (page 123) and the Google company are mentioned (page 125). Broughton also covers the process that he went through interviewing with one company based in California and another in Boston (pages 140-144).  Broughton also included a story of an accomplished classmate who attended Harvard with a scholarship and tuition from her employer as well as a guaranteed job upon finishing her MBA. This classmate admitted to the author that multiple people thought she was crazy for leaving an investment banking job for a marketing department job that was half the pay of her banking job (pages 145-146). Helpful details are given on being deliberate about living where you want to live and why a person benefits from striving to minimize how often careers and specializations are changed if possible (pages 197-198). I must also make it clear that Im reviewing this book unsolicited and for free (and as a unique way for me to get in touch with the ambitious and self-confident persona that helped me become class valedictorian in 8th grade).
1513822
The guy indeed knows his stuff. I think it should be required reading for any business student. It makes too much sense.
533397
The author discusses very thoroughly what an MBA offers and the extent to which a person who wants what an MBA offers, can compensate by their own efforts, as an alternative to going the traditional route to get an MBA.  A considerable amount of effort is involved in finding alternatives, but at least MOOCs provide some easy access to at least introductory courses, sometimes more advanced courses, and sometimes whole programs.  In addition, the internet provides certain valuable networking opportunities.  Certainly people in particularly favorable situations and with significant personal effort, can acquire a nontraditional education that is close to or equivalent to a traditional MBA.  The internet and MOOCs provide opportunities for personalizing education inexpensively and for choosing among a great variety of business-oriented courses related to the MBA.  I recommend this book as a solid perspective on what is involved, and the extent of individual effort and initiative required.  The author also provides systematic, well-thought out guidance in choosing a nontraditional path to an MBA.  The deep discussion of numerous issues demonstrates that the internet is starting to provide significant possibilities for personalized educational opportunities (for a nontraditional MBA and beyond).  This is especially important for people who, for one reason or another, may lack access to or not want a traditional education.
4036837
This was an excellent review of my law school twenty years after graduation.  It outlines why there was a problem and the non role of President Obama as head of Harvard Law Review.
2128955
I teach MBA classes, he is correct and quite comprehensive, if he can add some exercises and problems to some of the chapters, like financial analysis, this book will become the one textbook MBA degree. It was a nice refresher for me. Great for entrepreneurs who need the application more than a piece of paper.
3367798
In Mapping Your Academic Career, New Testament professor Gary Burge talks about the various stages of a professors career.  There is the early stage, when the professor is trying to impress people, learn the ropes, and arrive at a state of security.  There is the stage after a professor receives tenure, when a professor may find his or her own voice, make a contribution to scholarship, and be respected from his or her university and colleagues.  Then there is the later stage, when a professors phone may not ring too often, but this stage can still prove significant: it can be a time when a professor reflects on larger questions, takes a detour and pursues something else, or offers wisdom to the professors in the first stage.  All of these stages can have pitfalls, Burge argues, for discouragement, demoralization, burn-out, and unkind people in academia are all real.  But the stages also have potential for success.

This is not really a book about how to get an academic job.  It also does not address the proliferation of adjuncts in academia today, along with the rarity of getting a tenure-track position.  Still, it does provide insight into how academia works, and I would say that even those who do not land a tenure-track position can benefit from its insights.  Burge talks about how some professors try to act cool to impress their students, when the students actually are looking for a wise adult.  He discusses effective teaching and how it tries to establish a connection with students rather than impersonally conveying information.  He highlights the importance of academics picking a particular, specialized topic of interest (in one academics case, synagogues in Galilee before 70 C.E.) and learning all one can about that so that one can establish a niche, interact with scholars who have a similar interest, and make a contribution in that area.  Moreover, while the book is not entirely helpful in explaining how one can make friends in academia, it does contain common-sense tips on how one can be a friend to new academics, in an environment that can get lonely: care about how the new academic did on his or her first day of class, introduce the new academic to other academics, etc.

Burge is not a psychologist, but his wife is a therapist, and he has an interest in psychology.  That came out in this book, as Burge brought into his discussion psychological insights about stages of life and maturity.

There are other books that can guide academics on how to get their work published.  This book could have gone into that more, so it was not as helpful in that department, though I did appreciate its definition of scholarship as interaction with the ideas of the scholarly world and trying to forge a new way forward.  This book is helpful, however, in what it says about the atmosphere of academia, and life.

The publisher sent me a review copy of this book, in exchange for an honest review.
1392986
Excellent strategy book for both undergraduate and MBA. Rothaermel has done a great job integrating new research and current issues in a format that works well for class discussion. In essence, he has figured out how to present the right amount of content to foster dialogue in the classroom. I use the opening chapter case as a platform to begin discussion of chapter content--and the minicases are great bookends to discussion as well.  The organization of the chapters is terrific; great charts and exhibits--lots of fresh anecdotes with new companies like BYD featured alongside long-established auto manufacturers. I highly recommend this book. The book also works well if you want to integrate content with a competitive simulation game.
2671310
Rosenblatt has written an oral history of the takeover of Harvard Hall by radical students in April 1969, combined with a rumination on the culture of Harvard University and how it has evolved, a treatise on academic leadership, and a memoir. It would be a sprawling mess from almost any other writer, but Rosenblatt writes so well and focuses so tightly on a brief moment in history that the book works. The book covers basically just the last two months of the 1968-1969 academic year.

The book will have the most value for Harvard grads, and for their sake I have given five stars. For others, the catalog of world leaders and counselors and successful academics on campus in 1968 may become oppressive, and the issues at stake may seem less crucial.
3133341
The examples in the book are not the best, but the concepts and content are essential for any MBA student to know.
3088722
As someone who wants to see classical liberal policy ideas get out to the kind of people who read books on management, I think the book is fantastic. I like the way he drops "the French writer Frederic Bastiat" into the middle of the chapter on virture and talents. Now, if I were reading the book as someone who wanted to get-rich-quick, I'm not sure I would have learned anything that I feel would get me there. If I were that kind of reader, I would probably be intrigued by the paragraph on page 66 about the kinds of "intensive, systematic, global study" that Koch Industries does, and I would be wondering, "When is he going to tell me HOW to do that kind of study?" Of course, I don't really believe that get-rich-quick is a viable lifestyle... So, I think it's a great book for someone starting off in business, or for someone getting an MBA--or for someone who has lost his bearings (and/or principles/ethics) and who needs to step back and look again at his vocation as a creator of value.
4119189
Over the summer, I worked though What the Best MBAs Know by Peter Navarro in preparation for entering the MBA program at the University of Iowa. I took notes on each chapter and tried to soak in the wealth of information in this book. Peter Navarro and the other authors who contributed to this book know what they are talking about and have presented it in an easy-to-read, well-organized book. I would recommend this to leaders in the business or non-profit sector, those considering an MBA degree, those entering an MBA program and perhaps even as a refresher for those who have earned an MBA.

This book does not get into detailed financial calculations but rather provides a framework for the most important MBA courses and topics.
3438958
This new book by Mark Albion talks about the basic elements he has been discussing in his "Making a Life, Making a Living" (ML2) newsletter, published since 1996.

The book has a great set of questions to make you think about yourself, your future, your life, your passions,..., coupled with a good number of stories that illuminate ways of answering these questions.

The passage that best summarizes the book is the Buffett's story: "After speaking at Harvard Business School one afternoon, Warren Buffett was asked a question that made him chuckle heartily. He clearly had been asked this question many times before. "Mr. Buffett, what I'd like to do is go out and make a lot of money for about ten years and then go and do what I really, really want to do. What do you think about that?"
With that wry smile he sports, Buffett paused for a moment, took a measured breath, and spoke slowly in his best midwestern drawl: "Sonny, it sounds to me like you're saving up sex for old age." Are you living a deferred life plan?"

I strongly recommend it to anyone, not only MBAs, who has a passion/dream and is struggling with the idea of postponing it because he/she needs money first.

It should be required reading before every student enters his/her MBA program.
3217193
Obviously, buying and reading a 190-page book is a faster and cheaper -- but can hardly be a "better" -- way than earning an M.B.A. degree at an accredited college or university to get the business education many people need. At least for now, ignore this book's subtitle and focus on achieving two separate but related objectives: determining what your specific education needs are, and, absorbing and digesting the material that Laurie Packard provides in this volume to help fill those needs. I highly recommend highlighting key passages She can help achieve both objectives but do not rule out the possibility of obtaining an M.B.A. following the conventional process. Also, I want to stress the great importance of identifying unknown unknowns: learning what you think you know but really don't.

Granted, not everyone can afford the cost of completing a traditional two-year MBA program in the United States. On average, that would be at least $150,000 and if it is at a highly ranked university such as Harvard or Stanford, the cost would be at least $220.000. It is also true that everyone should complete a traditional program even if cost were not a factor.

Sydney Harris once observed, "The whole purpose of education is to turn mirrors into windows."

My own opinion is that education can be both a series of mirrors and a series of windows. Over time, we complete formal education and continue on with informal education. Meanwhile, learning occurs both at conscious and subconscious levels.

This is probably what Pickard had in mind when she began to create what became a book, Don't Pay for Your MBA. As she explains, "This book distills everything I have learned taking apart to old-school approach to business education and putting it back together in a way that can empower you to get ahead in whatever business career you've chosen or will choose in the future."

More specifically, she focuses on these learning objectives for her reader:

o Self-diagnosis of needs
o MOOC (massive open online courses) orientation
o Fluency in the language of business
o Career path formulation
o Networking to have an infrastructure of support (and also support others)
o Establishing credibility as a prospective employment candidate
o Leveraging the knowledge and skills acquired
o Strategies for lifelong learning

All formal education programs have a structure and framework within which to organize and present course material. The program Pickard helps her reader to create a customized structure and framework within which they can organize the material they study. She offers five appendices:

A: Recommended Courses by Subject
B: Sample Study Plans
C: Sample Course Lists for Various MBA Concentrations
D: For Further Reading
E: Resources at NoPayMBA.com

Amazon US now sells Laurie Picard's Don't Pay for Your MBA for $14.08. After you read and re-read it, absorbing and digesting its material, let's say you supplement it with other sources such as these four that I highly recommend: Guy Kawasaki's Reality Check: The Irreverent Guide to Outsmarting, Outmanaging, and Outmarketing Your Competition ($10.55); Jeremy Hope and Steve Player's Beyond Performance Management: Why, When, and How to Use 40 Tools and Best Practices for Superior Business Performance ($20.08); Stephen R. Covey's The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change ($11.47); and Morten Hansen's Great at Work: How Top Performers Do Less, Work Better, and Achieve More ($19.49).

The total cost of these five volumes is only $75.69 and over time, together, they could provide a basic but sufficient education that most people need to succeed in business. If that is your vision, it is indeed a worthy one but keep in mind what Thomas Edison observed long ago: "Vision without execution is hallucination."