Book Reviews

The books selected by our guest reviewers are not necessarily current or popular best-sellers.  The reviewers were asked to select personal favourites, new or old, which they feel are worthwhile publications for practicing managers to read.  The variety of books reflects the wide range of interest of out reviewers.  Comments here or on the television show are the personal opinions and views of each reviewer.

Broadcast Week	Reviewer	Select Button For Information
May 4	Other Brother Bob
May 11	Barbara Campbell
May 18	Cecile Gousseau
May 25	Barbara Campbell
June 1	Sean Sweeney
June 8	Sean Sweeney
June 15	Barbara Campbell
June 22	Brian Kelly
June 29	Cecile Gousseau
July 6	Barbara Campbell
July 13	Brian Kelly
July 20	Cecile Gousseau
July 27	Cecile Gousseau

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Book Reviewed:

Michael E. Gerber, The E Myth: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What To Do About It. Harper Business, 1986, ISBN 0-88730-472-9

Comments From Reviewer:

This is the copy I own.  There have been newer editions since then so ask at your bookstore or at the library.  This is an easy to read paperback with clear, well-thought out ideas and important messages for owner-operators of small and medium-sized businesses.  Most noteworthy is the concept of personality-dependent and systems-dependent organizations.  As his back page cover reviewers say, Gerber's message is compelling and pragmatic.

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Book Reviewed:

Sam Kamer, Facilitator's Guide to Participatory Decision-Making, New Society Publishers  (P.O. Box 189 Gabriola Island, BC Canada V0R 1X0  PH: 1-800-567-6772  FAX: 1-250-247-7471) ISBN CAN 1-55092-255-6   US 0-86571-347-2

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Book Reviewed:

Harold Taylor, Making Time Work for You, A Guide Book to Effective & Productive Time Management. General Publishing Co. Limited: Toronto   ISBN # 0-7736-1127-4

Comments From Reviewer:

This book is an old classic and out of print.  However, a newer version is apparently available under the name "Time Warp", a 1993 publication, and a contact phone number  is 1-416-491-0777.

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Book Reviewed:

Robert H. Kent, Ph.D., CMC, Installing Change: an executive guide to implementing and maintaining organizational change. Pragma Press, 1989, ISBN 0-88925-920-8.  Select for more information.

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Book Reviewed:

Mark McCormack, What They Don't Teach You At Harvard Business School

Comments From Reviewer:

This bestseller is a book about street smarts, the things your formal education simply can't teach you. McCormack provides an entertaining, easy-to-read look at some key tools and techniques you would eventually learn from everyday business life. McCormack's book is a bit like the Dale Carnegie books, how to read people, and how to use that skill to achieve the things you want. It covers a bit of a collection of subjects, like creating a good first impression, sales & marketing, negotiating, communications, and that old favourite - getting things done. I like a book that mixes these things together, because I don't like to read an entire book about any one of them. I like the real-life business stories about clients in the sports industry that McCormack uses to make his points. You can learn some important concepts while still being entertained. This is a great book for people who want to get a start on learning it all, but can't wait until they do.

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Book Reviewed:

William Strunk Jr and E.B. White, Elements of Style.

Comments From Reviewer:

This is a classic you may never have heard of or know simply by its authors Strunk and White. It's been around as long as my grandparents and contrary to its title is not about how to wear a great suit or tie a nice tie. It's about writing readable English. I've read quite a few books on good business writing, writing documentation, and as they call it in the 90's, effective communication, but I always come back to this book. This whole book is based on the premise that less is more. That's why it's so small. You can usually say what you have to say in fewer words, and this book tells you how. Strunk & White gives you 7 rules of usage, 11 rules of composition, and a long list of really useful, and often funny, examples of English problems and how to fix them. Remember, your marketing materials, letters, presentations, proposals, even your web-site, will all be used to judge you. A little book like this can help you avoid those glaring errors that may turn potential customers off.  For managers and students, basically anybody who needs to say anything in writing, this is still the book to have.

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Book Reviewed:

Robert Heibeler, Thomas Kelly and Charles Ketteman, Best Practices: Building Your Business with Customer-Focused Solutions. Simon and Schuster, ISBN: 0-684-83453-7

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Book Reviewed:

Theodore Levitt, The Marketing Imagination. The Free Press (Macmillan Inc.) ISBN: 0-02-918840-7

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Books Reviewed:

Herb Perry, CAE, Call To Order: Meeting Rules and Procedures for Non-Profit Organizations ; Herb Perry, CAE, The Board: A Winning Team; Herb Perry and Robert Kelly, Association Management: Perspectives, Practices and Procedures for the Management of Non-Profit Organizations

Comments From Reviewer:

This is a really useful set of books for non-profit organizations, professional associations, and volunteer organizations. I like to think of CALL TO ORDER as ROBERT'S RULES OF ORDER FOR DUMMIES. It takes the complicated parliamentary rule system and instead of revising it as other books have done, simply provides a new version with simple rules in easy words. This book also clarifies the roles of the Chair, Secretary and other key members, so you can eliminate the guesswork. Your meetings will run quicker and easier if you follow these. THE BOARD A Winning Team could be the handbook you give to every new board member (and your old board members too). The first time you sat on a not-for-profit board, didn't you learn the ropes the hard way - by listening and watching, then imitating? Using this method you only learn what the person before you is doing. This book fills the education gap and tells you in easy language simply HOW TO BE A BOARD MEMBER. Perry also includes some interesting points on record-keeping, relationships between board members and staff, power, and delegation. Reading ASSOCIATION MANAGEMENT is like attending a comprehensive seminar on everything you need to know to manage a not-for-profit organization or association. It covers everything from structure and by-laws to volunteer management, committees, conferences, special events planning, and public relations. The great thing about these books is that they were written by someone who's been there and he makes is sound easy. These books are really helpful.

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Book Reviewed:

John Carver, Boards That Make a Difference -- A New Design for Leadership in Ninprofit and Public Organizations. Jossey-Bass Publishers: 1990.

Comments From Reviewer:

What's It About? About Boards of Directors, Non-profit - charitable, associations, Chambers of Commerce, Community Clubs, etc. But it is equally applicable to businesses. About how to make "Governance" of an organization work. I came across when on a governance Taskforce for the Canadian Chamber of Commerce. When there are problems, not about people, about process and structure. Board (directors) relative to Staff relationships Role of Chief Executive Officer About Boards of Directors dealing with Governance, not with reviewing historical lists of activities or operating details. Governance, done properly, is a full time job for Boards, and if a Board of Directors is spending time (its most valuable resource) on operating or historical details, then it is not doing the job it is there for! Why Is It Valuable? Shows how Boards can create polices the support the purpose of the organization, Shows how to work with managers to change the relationship I found valuable to refer to Boards and Managers so that both can read and approach change with a common new insight. This is far more valuable than just having the Directors, or just the management, read and gain insight, that the other group does not understand. Shows how to delegate authority, and set boundaries,Shows how to evaluate management's performance. Shows how to evaluate the Board's performance. Who Is It For? Anyone on a volunteer board of directors, Church, community or otherwise, Anyone on a business board of directors Suggestion - take and discuss at a Board meeting, and circulate for the directors and management to read, and then, at a later date, hold a formal discussion. Good way to deal with Governance issues in a comprehensive way. Why Is It Credible? Author has many, many examples for each point that he makes. Based on many years experience.

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Book Reviewed:

Donald Belfall, Associations in Canada.

Comments From Reviewer:

This is a brand new book which will be very interesting to anyone involved in a member-based association, such as a professional association.  Contrary to other books we've reviewed, this is not strictly about how to structure and manage associations, although it covers that - it's the other half as well. It's about members - who they are, what they want, how to give it to them. It's about what associations are supposed to be doing for their members, and how well they are doing them. It's about outsideforces, like government, and the economy, that shape and drive the association. I find this book valuable for these reasons: 1. The author and content are 100% Canadian; 2. The insights are based on actual association research conducted by Belfall and his company, they are not just his opinion or a theory of his; 3. It provides some concrete suggestions for how to improve member services, which just has to be the whole reason most associations exist. I think most professional associates in particular, will find this to be timely and useful information.

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Book Reviewed:

Jennifer E. Beer & Eileen Stief  The Mediator's Handbook, 3rd edition.  New Society Publishers (P.O. Box 189 Gabriola Island, BC  Canada V0R 1X0) PH: 1-800-567-6772  FAX: 1-250-247-7471  E-mail: nsp@island.net ISBN 0-86571-359-6 (Paperback)

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Book Reviewed:

Thomas A. Stewart, Intellectual Capital, The New Wealth of Organizations. Doubleday: 1997.

Comments From Reviewer:

What's it about? Its about knowledge - most NB factor in business - and how our business management systems are changing much more slowly than the world we work in is changing! For example, in a business that has built up a significant set of expertise in specific unique manufacturing processes, and has people that know the thousands of details that make the system work well, e.g. who supplies the specific quality characteristics that are needed for each raw material - and who doesn't supply it - are frequently not documented. This intellectual knowledge rests in the heads of the employees that go out the door of the business every night. And for example, even if documented, where does the accounting system show this valuable asset on the financial statement? Accounting and financial systems have not yet adapted to our new business world. The author has a section called "Accountants Can't Count It" Manufacturing businesses are often more knowledge based than manufacturing based, for example, 3 out of 10 US manufacturers now outsource more than 50 % of their manufacturing and just manage the information to get the right component to their plant at the right time.These are just a few of the insights that I found make this book valuable. Why is it valuable? Offers new ways of looking intellectual capital Shows how to do it - turn the existing knowledge in a company into a more valuable asset, and make a profit from it. Identify intellectual capital Deal with the three types of intellectual capital Human capital - defined as the knowledge that is in the heads of the workers. Has to be managed differently than the other forms of intellectual capital. Structural capital - defined as the documented intellectual knowledge that the business has. Customer capital - defined best by the authors example of why he flys American Airlines and his sister flys United. They belong to different frequent flier programs. This system of recording the information of what flights each customer takes, is only a matter of accumulating information, but it is used to create customer loyalty. What is the value, well at $10,000 of flights per year, when capitalized as an asset, it may be equal to many tens of thousands of dollars. Shows how to increase profits by collaborating with customers in win-win techniques, based on using the information that already exists in your business. For example the companies that put electronic order systems into the pharmacies across North America became the key players in the pharmaceutical drug marketing value chain, because of the information systems, and the value of that information to the pharmacies, their customers. The drug manufacturers lost a significant portion of their customer capital, and profits, due to this.Or the example of the courier companies, such as Federal Express, that created a new industry, with significant value from the computerized information systems that larger customers could access directly and know exactly where a parcel was and when it would be delivered. The same is occurring here in Wpg. with our trucking industry, that has and is being turned into a logistics industry, not a trucking business. The author calls these the "information wars". Gives examples of what some companies have done Booz Allen and Hamilton consulting - use of Lotus Notes - page 113 Companies with unused patents, that can be sold, commercialized or dropped (saving costs) Provides insights into the new ways to manage people, HR Management, and how it has changed, due to "knowledge workers". Provides insights into how you need to manage your career, in the new economy. Gives 7 specific tests - see page 201 Last chapter is 20+ pages on "Tools for Measuring and Managing Intellectual Capital", practical usable tools. Who is it for? Anyone involved in managing almost any aspect of a business, whether large corporation, or small business with only a couple of employees. Every employee, whether they think they are in a knowledge based business or not. Why is it credible? Gives examples, lots of references, and it seems logical, and agree with it intuitively.

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