Business Bibliography
 

Understanding Business

  • Collins, Jim, Good to Great, HarperCollins Publishers, Inc., New York, 2001. Research methods were used to uncover methods for good companies to become great, enduring companies. Why some companies make the leap and others don't. Level 5 leadership defined and discussed. Excellent discussions of ways to make your business improve over the long term. www.jimcollins.com
  • Collins, Jim, Porras, Jerry, Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies, Harper Business, New York, 1994. Insightful book on what makes visionary companies succeed decade after decade. Some suprisingly contrarian ideas come out of this book.
  • Carlzon, Jan, Moments of Truth, New Strategies for Today's Customer-Driven Economy, Harper and Row, New York, 1987.
    The President of Scandanavian Airlines gives his views on how an excellent company should be run. He feels that we must learn to welcome change rather than fight it, encourage risk-taking rather than snuff it out, empower rather than demotivate our first-line people, and focus outwardly on the fast-changing market rather than inwardly on Byzantine bureaucratic manuevers.
  • Drucker, Peter, Managing the Nonprofit Organization: Principles and Practice, Harper Collins, New York, 1990.
    Management principles for hospitals, churches, health and community services, schools and universities, charitable and service groups, foundations.
  • Drucker, Peter, Managing for Results, Harper and Row, 1964 & 1986.
  • Dricker, Peter, The Practice of Management : A Study of the Most Important Function in American Society,
  • Eiting, James, Focus for Success: A Primer for Entrepreneurs and Business People, Orange Frazer Press, Wilmington, Ohio, 2009. Excellent book by someone who has done it himself.
  • Rich, B., Janos, L., Skunk Works: A Personal Memoir of my Years at Lockheed, Little, Brown & Co., New York, 1994. The windowless Skunk Works hangar, tucked into a corner of the Burbank, California, airport, produced some of the most important aviation triumphs of the 20th century. This book tells a little about how they made that happen.
  • Ogilvy, David, Ogilvy on Advertising, John Wiley and Sons, Toronto, Canada, 1983. Fundamentals from the master.
  • Girard, Joe, How to Sell Yourself, Warner Books, New York, 1981. "You must believe in yourself, have faith in yourself and have confidence in yourself. In short, you must be totally aware of your own self-worth." It goes on from there and does not disappoint.
  • Gitomer, Jeffrey, Little Red Book of Selling, Bard Press, Austin, Texas, 2004. How to be a professional in sales. We're all in sales.
  • Gitomer, Jeffrey, Little Black Book of Connections, Bard Press, Austin, 2006. "All things being equal people want to do business with their friends." 
  • Gitomer, Jeffrey, Little Green Book of Getting Your Own Way, FT Press, 2007.
  • Gitomer, Jeffrey, The Patterson Principles of Selling, Jon Wiley and Sons, Hoboken, N.J., 2004.
  • Peterson, D., A Better Idea: Redefining the Way Americans Work, Houghton Miflin, Boston, 1991
  • Rodgers, Buck, The IBM Way: Insights into the World's Most Successful Marketing Organization, Harper and Row, New York, 1986.
    "1. The individual must be respected. 2. The customer must be given the best possible service. 3. Excellence and superior performance must be pursued."
  • Ogilvy, David, Ogilvy on Advertising, John Wiley and Sons, Toronto, Canada, 1983. Fundamentals from the master.
  • LeBoeuf, Michael, How to Win Customers and Keep Them for Life, Putnam's Sons, New York, 1987. Here is a presentation of the principles of running a customer focused business.
  • Davidow, W., Utal, B., Total Customer Service, Harper and Row, New York, 1989.
    Excellent customer service as the ultimate competitive advantage in business.
  • Carlzon, Jan, Moments of Truth : New Strategies for Today's Customer-Driven Economy, Harper and Row, New York, 1987. The president of Scandinavian Airlines talks about how he turned it around from unprofitability to profitability. "The leader's tools are clear, concise vision and consummate communication skills."
  • Geneen, Harold, Managing, Avon, 1984.
  • Kelly, F. & Kelly, H, What They Really Teach You at the Harvard Business School, Warner Books, 1986.
  • Fox, Jeffrey, How to Become CEO The Rules for Rising to the Top of Any Organization, Hyperion, New York, 1998.
  • Fox, Jeffrey, How to Become a Rain Maker, Hyperion, New York, 2000.
  • Fox, Jeffrey, How to Become a Marketing Superstar, Hyperion, New York, 2003.
  • Fox, Jeffrey, How to Make Big Money in Your Own Small Business, Hyperion, New York, 2004.
  • Fox, Jeffrey, Secrets of Great Rainmakers, Hyperion, 2006.
  • Fox, Jeffrey, How to Get to the Top: Business Lessons Learned at the Dinner Table, Hyperion, New York, 2007.
  • Beckwith, Harry, Selling the Invisible: A Field Guide to Modern Marketing, Warner Books, New York, 1997. Because services are invisible they are just promises that somebody will do something. How do you sell that? This book helps answer this question.
  • Beckwith, Harry, What Clients Love: A Field Guide to Growing Your Business, Warner Books, New York, 2003.
  • Canfield, J, Hansen, M. V., Hewitt, L, The Power of Focus - How to Hit Your Buiness, Personal and Financial Targets With Absolute Certainty, Health Communications, Inc., Deerfield Beach, FL, 2000.
  • Hill, Napoleon., Think and Grow Rich, Fawcett Crest, New York, 1960.
    A classic on the effect of mental attitude on business success.
  • Hill, Napoleon, Grow Rich! With Peace of Mind, Fawcett Crest, New York, 1967.
  • Fisher, Mark, How to Think Like a Millionaire, New World Library, Novato, CA, 1997.
  • McCormack, J., Self-Made in America, Addison-Wesley Publishing, New York, 1990.
  • LeBoeuf, Michael, The Greatest Management Principle in the World, Putnam's Sons, New York, 1985.
  • Geneen, H., Managing, Avon Books, New York, 1984.
  • Peters, T., Waterman, R., In Search of Excellence: Lessons from Americas Best-Run Companies, Warner Books, New York, 1982.
    Very interesting book describing the business practices of the finest companies in America.
  • Peters, T., Thriving on Chaos: Handbook for a Management Revolution, Knopf, New York, 1988.
  • Peters, T., The Pursuit of WOW!, Random House, New York, 1994.
  • Peters, T., The Tom Peters Seminar Crazy Times Call for Crazy Organiztions, Vintage Books, New York, 1994.
  • Peters, T., Re-imagine: Business Excellence in a Disruptive Age, Dorling Kindersley, London, 2003
  • Ash, Mary Kay, Mary Kay on People Management, Warner Books, New York, 1984. Needless to say, this woman knows a lot about the managment of people, her most important asset.
  • LeBoeuf, Michael, Getting Results! The Secret to Motivating Yourself and Others, Berkeley Books, New York, 1985.
  • Harvey, Christine, Secrets of the World's Top Sales Performers, Bob Adams Publishers, Holbrook, Massachusetts, 1989.
  • Auer, J. T., The Joy of Selling: A Book of Ideas, Opportunities and Renewal, Bob Adams Publishers, Holbrook, Massachusetts, 1989.
  • Tracy, Brian, Be A Sales Superstar: 21 Great Ways to Sell More, Faster, Easier in Tough Markets, Berrett-Koeler Publishers, 2002.
  • Brandt, Steven, Entrepreneuring : The 10 Commandments for Building a Growth Company, Addison-Wesley, Menlo Park, California, 1982.
  • Ouchi, William, Theory Z: How American Business Can Meet The Japanese Challenger, Avon, 1981.
  • Musashi, Miyamoto, The Book of Five Rings: The Real Art of Japanes Management, Bantam Books, 1982.
  • Whiting, Percy, The Five Great Rules of Selling, McGraw-Hill, 1947.
  • Ziglar, Zig, Ziglar on Selling: Handbook for the Sales Professional, Ballantine Books, New York, 1991.
  • Clason, George, The Richest Man in Babylon, New American Library, 1926.
  • McCaffrey, Mike, Personal Marketing Strategies : How to Sell Yourself, Your Ideas & Your Services, Prentice Hall, 1983.
  • McCormack, M., What They Don't Teach You at Harvard Business School, Bantam Books, New York, 1984.
  • Morville, Peter, Rosenfeld, Louis, Information Architecture for the World Wide Web, O'Reilly Media, Inc., 1998-2007. It's more important than you might think.
  • Krug, Steve, Don't Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability, New Riders Publishing, Indianapolis, Indiana, 2000.
  • Bly, Robert, The Online Copywriter's Handbook: Everything You Need to Know to Write Electronic Copy That Sells, McGraw-Hill, 2002. One can always learn to write better. It's crucial in personal life as well as business life.
  • Mancini, Marc, Time Management: 24 Techniques to Make Each Minute Count at Work, McGraw-Hill, 2007. "All it takes is to be open to change."
  • Sternberg, Robert, Successful Intelligence: How Practical and Creative Intelligence Determine Success in Life, Penguin Group, 1997.
  • Elliott, Alan, A Daily Dose of the American Dream, Saybrook Publishing, New York, 1988.
  • The Harvard Business Review, published bi-monthly, $75 per year, write to New Subscriptions Department, P.O. Box 52621, Boulder, CO, 80321-2621.
    Excellent, readable articles on relevant business topics. Example of articles: "Effective Oversight: A Guide for Nonprofit Directors" by Regina E. Herzlinger, pp. 52-60, July-August, 1994. Is your organization fulfilling its mission? Answer four questions and find out . . .

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