FOR BUSINESS OR PERSONAL--SCHNEIDERS' BOOK HITS THE MARK
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Bruce Schneider has really hit the mark with this book. He offers up a tangible practical understanding of why so many businesses, relationships and life practices are so challenged...and oftentimes simply fail.  Its all about energy and where we choose to live from and choice, as Bruce so beautifully points out throughout the book, is the operative word.  Following in the wake of this swift read you will instantly want to implement changes in your business and in all aspects of living knowing that, with very little effort, a far more aware, uplifting, energetic life is not only possible, but the truest pathway to success.
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Should you be feeling skeptical about yet another book with the word sustainability in its title, fear not:  Jeana Wirtenbergs Building a Culture for Sustainability covers the topic without any of the green washing.  Fully cognizant of the fact that real change has to happen at the ground level of any system, Wirtenberg fearlessly tackles the concept of culture. How else to address those deeply held beliefs and assumptions that drive daily behavioral habits that more often than not are unconscious? It is only by tugging on the roots that companies can begin to move towards  the triple bottom line of People, Planet and Profits in a green economy.

Like a dedicated ethnographer, Wirtenberg  sits down to interview key sustainability drivers at nine companies.  By sifting through their artifacts she is able to showcase for the reader the values that underpin each companys supply chains, operations, and products and services for their customers. Clearly, she brings a natural appreciation for the human side of sustainability and engages with the hearts and minds of her interviewees and their peers. And because of this empathic style, that people naturally share with her employee-driven initiatives that contribute meaning to their work live. One such initiative is Alcatel Lucents StrongHer, a bottom-up affinity group started by women for women that in a few years time has grown to a membership of 900 (16% men) with 1000 followers worldwide. She also identifies a source of pride for Church & Dwight employees in that their company and its legacy for being the inaugural sponsor of the first Earth Day in 1970.

This book is far too rich to do it justice in the space allotted, but I assure you there is so much more to be uncovered and for your efforts, you will be well-rewarded.

To get you started, here are a few field samples: (1) check out Alcoas Keystone Institute that trains teachers how to investigate current environmental issues with their students; (2) find out why  BASFs Verbund is the key ingredient of every function of its operations; (3) check out Ingersoll Rand's OneSTEPForward and where it stands in the current marketers debate over customer pull vs. vendor push; (4) find out how and why Pfizer completely changed its philanthropy, replacing capital with human capital in the way of skill-based volunteerism; (5) seek out how Sanofis synergistic-collaborative approach to reducing health-care costs is reenergizing its employees; (6)  read about Wyndhams all-inclusive eco-learning culture, in house as well as with its guests; and finally, (7) check out  Bureau Veritas and its participation in the UN-sponsored World Environment Day that is considered by BV employees as its best practice.

Heres the mother lode for your efforts: in the final chapter you will uncover green gold in the four tables provided by Wirtenberg that contextualize practices, both limitations and best practices. For example, a table is provided with specific categories and key stakeholders, along with her recommendations for sustainability-inspired habits necessary to bring real and deep change to the world. All in all, the tables are a valuable resource that can be referred to for years to come.
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Craig Galati's "Admit It!" is a much needed reminder about one of the worst trends in American business today: atrocious customer service. The mentality has spread throughout nearly every industry. Once the deal is closed, the product shipped, the project completed, the sense has become, "OK, that's done onto the next one." As the economy has become ever more commoditized, so have relationships. Galati's book reminds us of this in simple, schematic form using common sense and anecdotes to deliver home points and business principles that were once called "common sense."

In the days when the "Mom and Pop" model dominated service industries, personal relationships were the foundation of business. As American business has become more and more integrated, the personal touch has increasingly disappeared. Galati, as his subtitle says, breaks down what is necessary into 21 short subjects. He expresses them in concise, no-frills prose. And Chapter 15, "Thoroughly understand what value means to your clients" is, for me, THE key chapter in the book, illustrating perfectly its core themes.

If you're a business owner and find yourself struggling to differentiate yourself amidst competition large and small, "Admit It" can show you how one very successful small businessman has learned from his successes AND mistakes and has distilled them into a manual on how creating and maintaining client relationships is they key to business success and personal fulfillment.
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A good book has the potential to become a great book when the law of unintended consequences takes over. Getting China and India Right is one such example. The writers strong observational skill provides real nuggets such as Frugal Innnovation, Employee Retention Bonds and Deffered compensation and How to be successful by thinking micro such as insuring a cow. All of these strategies which are standard in China and India suddenly are now relevant to the US and Western economies as we search for ways to restart our economies.

The business case histories that have been presented are compelling and lay out a road map for other business executives to follow. While in the US companies are in retreat; witness the flight of capital out of India back to the US this is precisely the time that a book like this one should be a must read for Wall Street executives. The fundamental domestic drivers in India and China are strong and will be key in a global recovery. What is true for the global economy is equally true for individual companies.

One observation that would have helped the average reader. If one is convinced as the recommendations of the book there is always the practical challenge of how to start. Gupta and Wang should publish a paper on the how to. One good way is for US companies to bring in Indian and Chinese expatriates in the US on their Board of Directors. The other is to begin to backward integrate through their supplier relationships. There are other techniques.

Overall a very timely book and a worthy contribution to the subject. It is an easy read but it is not light fare by any means.

Rakesh Kaul
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This book starts to fill a huge gap in the business press.  The economy has shifted dramatically in the last decade, with more and more people doing their work in an arrangement other than the traditional employee-employer model.  The move to a different kind of work relationship has profound implications for every aspect of life.  This book presents a framework for thinking about the new model for work and working relationships--something that anyone considering a jump to self-employment will benefit from.

I have been a consultant for 15 years and I have lived through this incredible evolution in which companies are now far more interested in finding the best person for the job than just the best person they can find nearby.  We have a world of work that is far less constrained by geography.

For young people, in particular, being aware of this new conceptual framework for work is of considerable value.
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I must like this book or I would not have bought over a dozen to give to business friends. Sample takes a different path to the making of decisions. And it is one that my personal experience in international business and personal life has proven to work. It is the secret of "letting" the thing work out. Thinking "gray" takes time and gets better results. An very valuable approach that should be listened to in this fast paced segmented world.

Frederick R. Andresen, Author of "Walking on Ice, An American Businessman in Russia," over sixteen years in Russian business, six years in residence.
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When I learned about this book, it reminded me of those reviews included in magazines and newspapers.  Jack and Todd provide more information than generally included in those short excerpts.  Beyond the book reviews, they provide additional readings that contribute to the topics in their review.

I found this book to include a wide range of business books along with key points on why the book is important.  I keep picking it up because it makes me think about how different authors would approach similar business problems.  It is easy to read one author and become infatuated with their approach.  Or, several authors that follow a singular approach to doing business.  For me, this book is a healthy approach to bringing diverse ideas together.

Finally, the book reviews in the magazines are reviewing books and articles that are in vogue.  The reviews included in this book do not appear to focus on what is in vogue.  Yet, the selection is relevant to the times.
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I have read at least four books by Misters Polsky and Gerschel. Rapid Retooling continues in their special niche of converting potentially dry and "theoretical" business concepts into an easy to read, pragmatic, very well researched, and usable guide to how to improve a business. Highly recommended.
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Managing for Success is a solid business book targeted at departmental managers.  The book is concise and very well written in a professional tone.  The author's formidable experience is obvious throughout.  The book's organization is topical and presented in a sort of "first things first" approach.  The author does not talk down to new managers nor kowtow to conventional wisdom (if an established practice is a bad idea then he calls it a bad idea).  Multiple ideas drawn from the business literature are incorporated into a workable framework of management excellence.  There's something here for everybody and I plan to utilize major portions of the book in my own management activities--especially the pointed comments and great ideas in the annual review section.
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Yanik's Evolved Enterprise is a no-nonsense look into transforming any type of business in an Evolved Enterprise that unites business profit, social impact, and meaning to your life.

The book features practical guidance on over 10 different impact models that you can apply to your business, along with other for multiplying impact and community.

If you really care about creating or shifting your company into a business that actually matters, then this book will help take you there.

My only criticism is that nearly each section could be expanded into a separate book.
Yanik was able to share a range of deep knowledge in a way that didn't leave you feeling overloaded.
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It is dangerous to take one's social and cultural expectations overseas, and business trips are no exception.  Misunderstanding local customs or accidentally insulting a host is a very quick way to end a partnership before it begins.  It is exactly these kinds of problems that Blacharski seeks to address with his handbook The Savvy Business Traveler's Guide to Customs and Practices in Other Countries.
 Blarcharski designed this book to give new entrepreneurs a crash course in international business etiquette,  and his efforts are very successful.  He begins with a section that most U.S. Travelers would find useful - shattering cultural expectations.  Business is done differently around the world than in the United States.  Coming into a new partnership expecting your international contacts to adapt to you may well lose your company a contract.  Blarcharski goes to great pains to drive this point home, even showing how international business styles have branched out from the American methods of 50 years ago.  He also does an excellent job of showing potential travelers exactly what has changed, that they are expected to be more personal, to be respectful of their host cultures, and that often trust is now more important than the bottom line.
 Blarcharski also supplements these general principles with more acute observations of individual countries or regions.  Much of the second half of the book is dedicated to how personal etiquette and customs effect business deals in other parts of the world.  He talks about issues ranging from the copious drinking expected in some Eastern European circles to the reservation and attention to detail demanded by East Asian cultures.  Throughout, Blarcharski emphasizes the details that a fledging international traveler will need to know to both make a good impression on their hosts and cement long-term economic partnerships.
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I love the way Gramlich teaches through the stories from his life--especially about keeping balance as a high priority.  No amount of success is worth sacrificing the relationships with the most important people in our lives.  I also love how the author instructs on weighing the real costs of how the business is affecting the owner.  A business owner must be able to calmly assess problems and SOLVE those problems.  How does the owner feel emotionally?  How is the business affecting employees?  And most importantly, how is the business (or the people populating the business) dealing with those all-important customers?  A great book, worth reading multiple times!
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A contract spells out your relationship with your client: why it started, how is it maintained, and how will it end? I like this book because it's practical and sincere. The author's personal experience is evident on every page.  Their eagerness to share it with fresh billing entrepreneurs is admirable and very useful. This book is one of the quickest ways to understand the complexities and the huge risks of running your own billing business as well as to learn about an entire array of legal means to protect it.
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Daniel Yankelovich is a social scientist who has also served on several corporate boards. That gives him a unique perspective on the ethical challenges that face board members.

Yankelovich, to use his term, is a "privileged witness," who sees business from the outside, but has seen its inner workings up close. Even more important in some ways is the fact that he and his company have been among the firms tracking changes in society over several decades.

Here is why he wrote this book: "The purpose of this short book is to suggest that the business community can turn the scandals of recent years to good use, both for business itself and for the larger society."

Yankelovich sees three causes for these scandals. They are: 1) deregulation; 2) linking the biggest part of CEO compensation to stock price; and, 3) the importing of wider social norms into business, resulting in what he calls "unenlightened self-interest."

In the first half of the book he outlines changes in social norms in both business in society over several decades. Business, according to Yankelovich is more likely establish the norms he desires than society as a whole. And, he thinks, if business does so it will "help dispel moral confusion in the culture at large."

He says: "My main argument in the book is that the time has come for market capitalism in the United States to advance to a new stage of enlightened self-interest."

To do that he advocates something he calls "Stewardship Ethics," which he defines as "commitment to care for one's institution and those it serves in a manner that responds to a higher level of expectations." He devotes the second half of the book to describing what a set of norms based on "stewardship ethics" might look like and how they might come about.

In one of the most helpful sections of the book, Yankelovich spends time outlining the difference between his Stewardship Ethics and the bundle of beliefs and positions that come under the heading of "Corporate Social Responsibility."

If you're like me, you'll find Yankelovich's position a refreshing change from the "profit is evil" approach of most CSR types. If you are someone who sees the pursuit of profit by companies as, at best, a necessary evil, you will be very uncomfortable with this book and its ideas.

This book has two key strengths. First, Yankelovich himself is both knowledgeable and logical. Second, the book is short, only around 170 pages of text. Those are also the book's weaknesses.

Because Yankelovich himself is knowledgeable, he often leaves terms undefined. I could not find a definition, for example, of one of his key terms, "market capitalism." It may be that everyone indeed defines that term the same way, but I doubt it.

The shortness of the book means that some arguments are made without adequate support. For example, on page 96, Yankelovich says, "How well a company conceives and executes stewardship ethics as a community has a direct bearing on its long term profitability." He then offers the example of Wegman's as proof. Alas, a single example without supporting evidence is not proof.

This brings us to the key question: "Should you buy and read this book?"

If you are a senior executive, a member of a corporate board, or a faculty member at a business school, this should be on your "must-read" list. Yankelovich has crammed a lot of good stuff and cogent analysis in here about the business climate and corporate responses.

This book is also a good read if you're interested in the ethical challenges of contemporary business, but you don't make it your primary focus. If you're a professional ethicist or philosopher, you'll find the book a little light on both reasoning and support, but that's exactly why it's a good read for the rest of us. The book is filled with provocative ideas and well written.

But if you're looking for a "how to" book, this would be a poor choice. It's a great book for stimulating thought and discussion, but the "how to" will be up to you.
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There are many books about business ownership, management, leadership, and other worthwhile topics business owners might find interesting. We read these books (you know the ones - the New York Times bestsellers) and we hope to apply 1% of the content for 100% of the effort. These books have their place in the libraries of business owners. You read them, you get motivated, and you hope that the content applies to your business in some way.

In thinking about how to best describe Toilet Paper Entrepreneur I thought it would be best to describe what the book is not and what you won't find in it. It's not filled with concepts practiced by management consultants at Fortune 100 companies, it doesn't have fancy matrices, and it doesn't have scientifically proven results from focus groups. It is not published by a business school and it doesn't have a renowned professor and large company CEO quotes on the back cover. If you have been a business owner for many years it won't tell you how to get to "the next level".

Much more exciting is what it does have, and in a nutshell, it speaks to the people who are working for a company or are in college but deep down inside they want to start their first business. You know who you are - the cubicle dweller (or midnight study mole in college) who has an idea and thinks about it, talks about it with friends and family, but at the end of the day goes to bed and to work (or school) the next day.

You might be wondering what toilet paper has to do with being an entrepreneur - well, metaphorically, toilet paper is a scarce resource- at least when you are not at home or at a place where you have
control over restocking it. And in that sense, entrepreneurs - the ones who take the leap of faith in themselves - also work with scarce resources, most notably time and money. The book talks about ways
anyone who wants to start a business with limited resources can do so. It's a "bottom line" book to starting a business on a shoestring, which the author supports wholeheartedly.

Those of you who are waiting to take the plunge will gain some benefit in reading about real life examples and experiences of real people starting and running businesses. The book distills these experiences in often humorous way and provides insight into real trials and tribulations of small business owners. Readers will be interested in learning about the author's own successes and failures in the forward section of the book entitled "My Three-Sheet Story".

Toilet Paper Entrepreneur is one of those books that you look for on the shelves of your local bookstore but not find it, or settle for something close. Specifically, those with the fire to start their own
business will find value in a book that offers direct, no-nonsense approach from experience and will hopefully persuade those who want to start their business to, well, "Just Do It!"
3733426
Why couldn't a guy who had been successful at Apple be a dismal failure at Penneys? Why do certain people who were great at one company be terrible at leading another company? Give up? Its simple all companies are different and what works with one company will not necessarily work for another.
In this unique book William Schneider, a consulting psychologist focused on corporate leadership identifies four types of companies and how to lead and manage them.
These types of companies are categories as follows:
Predictable and Dependable: Companies that provide basic, reliable products or services. Examples: utilities, retail banks, FedEx, J.C. Penney, Walmart, NASA.
Enrichment: Enterprises dedicated to personal development or improving lives. Examples: Habitat for Humanity, KinderCare, Patagonia, The Body Shop.
Best-In Class: Standard-setters, that excel at creating distinctive products and experiences. Examples: Tiffany. Rolls Royce, Four Seasons Hotel, Apple.
Customized: Companies that deliver a tailored solution for each unique customer. Examples: Interior design specialists, executive search firms, PR agencies.
He then discusses the best management style for each of these types of companies. What I liked is that he provided unique guide so that you can discover what type of company you have and then along with that the best ways to lead your company including specific tips and tools that will work with your organization.
Mr. Schneider has written the book in such a comprehensive way that its like having your own corporate psychologist for only the price of buying this book and the time it takes to read it.
There were two very focused and particularly helpful sections in the book. The first was on connecting your customer promise with chapters on your companys Focus, Configuration, Integration, Balance, and Adaptation. If you don't read anything else in this book you will have gotten your moneys worth just by reading this section.
And the appendix which provides analytics to validate assessments available for your own companys use.
I cannot stress enough how important this book is for anyone who is running a company and particularly for anyone who is moving from a leadership position in one company to the same in another. To you I say buy and read this book before you start at the new company.
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Dear Reader

As a business owner who has previously worked for multinational
Corporations and public bodies, I find this book is very relevant to
Me and my business and is a lot more than an academic discourse.  It
goes to the heart of what I am trying to create which is a robust,
long term sustainable business.  I believe many us of have similar
goals whether in big or small business or public office.

The book is relevant at both the academic and practical level. It
challenges current economic and management theory in a constructive
and persuasive manner. The book is about advancement rather than
tearing down.

This book combines academic and intellectual rigour with what the less
academic would call basic common sense. The book considers the human
condition and basic economic and business theory and more.

The book is not about quick fixes. In places it is not an easy read.
Do not be put off please persevere. It will be worth it.

The book is in the form of dialogue with Adam Smith, one of the
founding fathers of economic and business theory. Adam Smith is
important because much of current economic policy and management
theory is developed from his writings produced in the 18th century.
The book carefully challenges some of his basic notions and
assumptions. It examines what rings true today and what does not, and
where Adam Smith might not have been right in the first place.

The ideas that the book explores and develops are valid at multiple
levels. Whether you are a senior business leader, politician, college
Professor or executive at the coal face of industry, commerce or
public service, you will find the book provides the reasons, language
and vocabulary to argue that we need to think and operate differently.

It also goes beyond the reasons for change but actually explores and
points you to the necessary changes we need to make in both our
businesses and in public policy.

I commend this book, not only to opinion formers and policy makers but
to the widest readership possible.

John Timothy Beardsley

CEO of JTB Consultants Sdn Bhd
Malaysia