Books on Management

[Mike Renzulli]

Hey All,

Can anyone recommend an author that has written good books on business management? I plan on going into management at my job and am looking for great authors to reinforce and enhance my knowledge about management.

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Mike,

I am researching this at the present and there is an enormous amount of literature on this, most of it pretty good. What aspect of management are you interested in? Leadership or marketing? Here is a start: anything by Jay Abraham is fantastic.

Michael

[merjet]

Hey All,

Can anyone recommend an author that has written good books on business management? I plan on going into management at my job and am looking for great authors to reinforce and enhance my knowledge about management.

Peter F. Drucker

[BaalChatzaf]

Hey All,

Can anyone recommend an author that has written good books on business management? I plan on going into management at my job and am looking for great authors to reinforce and enhance my knowledge about management.

Peter F. Drucker

Also W. Edwards Deming. The Japanese made him an honorary Samuri and a god of quality control.

Ba'al Chatzaf

[Mike Renzulli]

I would have to say Leadership since I doubt I will be doing much on the marketing side of business.

Mike,

I am researching this at the present and there is an enormous amount of literature on this, most of it pretty good. What aspect of management are you interested in? Leadership or marketing? Here is a start: anything by Jay Abraham is fantastic.

Michael

[Alfonso Jones]

Hey All,

Can anyone recommend an author that has written good books on business management? I plan on going into management at my job and am looking for great authors to reinforce and enhance my knowledge about management.

That's a very broad subject:

1) W. Edwards Deming - innovative, thought-provoking

2) Peter Drucker - thoughtful

Can you tell us exactly what you have in mind? From your question I assume your interest is extremely broad, so I have not provided specialized references on interesting subtopics.

Alfonso

[Brant Gaede]

Hey All,

Can anyone recommend an author that has written good books on business management? I plan on going into management at my job and am looking for great authors to reinforce and enhance my knowledge about management.

That's a very broad subject:

1) W. Edwards Deming - innovative, thought-provoking

2) Peter Drucker - thoughtful

Can you tell us exactly what you have in mind? From your question I assume your interest is extremely broad, so I have not provided specialized references on interesting subtopics.

Alfonso

"The Art of War" by so and so Lu.

--Brant

[BaalChatzaf]

"The Art of War" by so and so Lu.

--Brant

Sun Tzu. A very smart man. He once avoided defeat by finding a spy making notes, hidden in the armor storehouse. From this he came up with the Very Important Principle: Never permit a chink in your armor.

Ba'al Chatzaf

[Adrian]

Hi Mike

This is, you'll appreciate, a rather wide brief, a bit like asking if anyone knows any authors who have written about (say) music or philosophy or physics.

Having said that, Robert Townsend's "Up The Organization" (written a while ago and recently re-issued) is an exceptionally fine book. See http://www.amazon.com/Up-Organization-Corp...7457&sr=8-1.

Best regards

Adrian

Edited October 31, 2007 by Adrian

[Mike Renzulli]

Thank you all very much. Your recommendations are very much appreciated!

[Adrian]

Mike

Thank you!

If you choose to tell us in due course what you make of any of the suggested works, I for one will be interested to hear your thoughts.

Best regards

Adrian

[Mike Renzulli]

Actually there is one that seems very promising. If my memory serves me correctly, this book was recommended in The New Individualist. Its called The Science of Success by Charles G. Koch.

According to a review of the book at Amazon.com: "Koch is an engineer, born and raised in the Midwest, and he's an autodidact, with a passion for the free market theories of Austrian economist Ludwig von Mises."

The review goes on to say: "Readers expecting a recipe book for business success will be disappointed, but those of a more philosophical bent will find Koch's observations fascinating. Not only has he digested the entire Ayn Rand syllabus of free market theory, but he's had the chance to put it to work from his headquarters on the plains north of Wichita."

I look forward to adding this to my library.

Mike

Thank you!

If you choose to tell us in due course what you make of any of the suggested works, I for one will be interested to hear your thoughts.

Best regards

Adrian

[Chris Grieb]

Mr Charles Koch has been in the Forbes "400" for many years. His company is the largest privately owned company in the US. He was the principal supporter of the Cato Institute in its early years.

[dongrimme]

Hey All,

Can anyone recommend an author that has written good books on business management? I plan on going into management at my job and am looking for great authors to reinforce and enhance my knowledge about management.

Mike,

I hope you will consider adding my wife's and my forthcoming book, The New Manager's Tool Kit, to your list. We focus on the leading people aspect of business management. It is a how-to (and why-to) book. Unlike most such books, however, we also address personal/interpersonal skills and issues specially relevant to today's workplace.

The following is our book's expanded Table of Contents:

Part 1: Leading People:

Tool #1: Turn On Talent … and Turn Off Turnover

Unlocks employee retention with an exploration of motivation. Examines the current challenge of retention, reviews some classic motivation theory, introduces Grimme’s 3-Factor Theory, presents hard data from recent landmark studies that support the theories, reveals the secret and his Top Ten Tips to turn on talent and turn off turnover, and launches readers on an application to apply all of this to their staffs.

Tool #2: Unleash Their Productivity

Releases employee productivity by exposing a phenomenon that is impairing it – increased job demands. Examines that phenomenon, including highlights from recent studies, shares the secret for dealing with it, provides tips to ameliorate the negative impact of job demands, and includes activities for application to readers’ workplaces.

Tool #3: Balance Their Work & Life

Opens an issue of increasing importance to today’s employees – work/life balance. Readers learn how important it really is, the critical role they play, the secret, and specific principles to deal with it effectively. As always, application activities are included.

Part 2: Different Strokes:

Tool #4: Embrace Diversity

Unlocks workplace diversity: what it really means, its myriad manifestations in two dimensions, the changing workforce, differing perceptions, preconceptions, stereotypes, and how to embrace diversity in readers’ workplaces. Application activities are included.

Tool #5: Get a Grip on Generations

Opens up differences among generations, specifically the four generations currently in today’s workplace – Traditionalists, Baby Boomers, Generation X and Millenials. Examines the events and experiences that shaped each generation’s world view and values, potential conflicts between generations, and the most effective ways to communicate with each.

Tool #6: Focus On Ability

Concentrates on people with disabilities and reveals how to comply with the Americans With Disabilities Act. Explains the rationale and essence of the Act, comments on appropriate language, introduces four core concepts, defines and explains key terms and provisions, and outlines readers’ responsibilities as leaders.

Part 3: Leader Effectiveness:

Tool #7: Tell Them What Worked … and What Didn’t

Readers learn how and why to give feedback – both positive and constructive. Explains what feedback is (and isn’t), teaches when and how to deliver each type of feedback and how to combine the two types, and provides opportunities to begin applying this skill with their own employees.

Tool #8: Ask Them … Then Listen

Unlocks the other side of the two-way communication coin – inquiry to solicit employees’ ideas and opinions, and active listening to ensure that you hear them and that they feel heard. Discusses why inquiry and active listening are so important (but are underutilized), gives readers an opportunity to assess their current effectiveness, teaches how to inquire and listen, and launch them on activities to practice the skills.

Part 4: Optimizing Contributions:

Tool #9: Diagnose Problems

Solves how to diagnose performance problems (examining five root causes) – a necessary precursor to any form of intervention, e.g., coaching. Provides opportunity to begin applying this skill with readers’ own employees.

Tool #10: Coach the Good Ones … and the Not So Good

Readers learn how to coach marginal employees to improve their performance … and good employees to become even better. Includes the 4 Steps of a Coaching or Mentoring Dialogue, coaching practice scenarios, tips, and an application to their own employees.

Tool #11: Mentor the Great Ones

Unlocks how to mentor your already great employees to grow and advance. Includes tips, a Mentoring Prep Sheet and an application to readers’ own employees.

Tool #12: Turn On Teamwork

Looks at readers’ employees as a group and reveals how to optimize the performance of that workgroup and, perhaps, transform it into a real or even high-performance team. Examines “why teams don’t work” (but how they can), five types of “teams”, and the high risk/high reward of teams. Teaches two of the essential team processes teams: brainstorming and consensus. Includes a team-building activity.

Part 5: Personal and Interpersonal Effectiveness:

Tool #13: Blow Away Burnout

Unravels job burnout – its increasing prevalence, negative consequences, indicators (including a Burnout Inventory), causes, and four arenas of attack to blow it away. Included is an application to help readers minimize burnout

Tool #14: Stay on Top of Stress

Addresses the broader issue of stress and how to stay on top of it. Readers discover what stress really is, the thinking processes at its root, and personality traits that encourage a stress response.

Tool #15: Accentuate the Positive

Readers learn about the importance of attitude (and how to improve it). Presents three types of people exhibiting three different attitudes, describes what such attitudes look and sound like, demonstrates the importance of a positive attitude, and teaches how to transform their attitude using self-talk and six other tips. Included are several activities to apply all this to their own life.

Tool #16: Assert Yourself … and Deal With ‘Difficult’ People

Unlocks assertion. Starting with a self-assessment, readers learn what assertion really is (contrasted with aggression and submission), why it is a virtue, and how to become more assertive. Also included are a workplace scenario, various applications, and a 10-point guideline for dealing with difficult people.

Tool #17: Own Your Anger … Don’t Let It Own You

Unveils the five rules of anger – how to acknowledge it, experience it, process it, express it, and then let it go – effectively and nonviolently. A self-assessment and practice activities are included throughout.

Tool #18: Rise to the Challenge of Change

Reveals the various manifestations and potentially devastating impact of change, including how to deal with the fear that change often triggers, and teaches six steps to rise to the challenge.

Part 6: Eliminating Conflict:

Tool #19: Prevent All Forms of Harassment

Unlocks the legal and interpersonal ramifications of harassment in the workplace – why it still occurs, its various forms, how to avoid and respond to harassment, and how to prevent it. Includes an introductory quiz, the shape of harassment, two secrets, its broad scope, myriad examples, simple guidelines, the two-prong role of line managers, three practice scenarios, and 10 Tips to Protect Against Harassment Charges.

Tool #20: Prevent Workplace Violence

Readers learn about workplace violence: two prevailing myths, its true nature and scope, and how to prevent violence from scarring their workplace – using a behavioral profile of potential perpetrators and by identifying warning signs and triggering events. Includes an introductory quiz, the iceberg of workplace violence, Grimme’s POSTAL formula, a case study and notorious examples, how to apply each element of POSTAL, and 10 Steps to Manage Workplace Violence.

Tool #21: Defuse and Protect

Also contends with workplace violence, but here the focus is on how to handle actual violent incidents. Readers learn how to defuse a potentially violent person and how to protect themselves and others when threatened with physical violence. Includes Grimme’s DOGS formula, step-by-step guidelines, practice activities, and “What Would You Do If” scenarios.

APPENDIX: The Next Generation:

Prepare for the Impending Leadership Crisis

Reveals the nature of the impending leadership crisis and the secret to surmounting it. Includes the nine essential traits of leaders, four methods for spotting the traits, the “Harry Truman Factor”, and application activities.