Go Put Your Strengths to Work: 6 Powerful Steps to Achieve Outstanding Performance
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • Worth the read
  • How to take charge of your work
  • Follow-up book, much overlap with earlier books
  • Excellent book and great team activity!
  • While he also wants to sell you other stuff, the book is a good way to build your own positive deviance
Go Put Your Strengths to Work: 6 Powerful Steps to Achieve Outstanding Performance
Marcus Buckingham
Manufacturer: Free Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Motivation & Self-ImprovementMotivation & Self-Improvement | Business Life | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0743261674
Release Date: 2007-03-06

Book Description

Beginning with the million-copy bestsellers First, Break All the Rules and Now, Discover Your Strengths, Marcus Buckingham jump-started the strengths movement that is now sweeping the work world, from business to government to education. Now that the movement is in full swing, Buckingham's new book answers the ultimate question: How can you actually apply your strengths for maximum success at work?

Research data show that most people do not come close to making full use of their assets at work -- in fact, only 17 percent of the workforce believe they use all of their strengths on the job. Go Put Your Strengths to Work aims to change that through a six-step, six-week experience that will reveal the hidden dimensions of your strengths. Buckingham shows you how to seize control of your assets and rewrite your job description under the nose of your boss. You will learn:

• Why your strengths aren't "what you are good at" and your weaknesses aren't "what you are bad at."

• How to use the four telltale signs to identify your strengths.

• The simple steps you can take each week to push your time at work toward those activities that strengthen you and away from those that don't.

• How to talk to your boss and your colleagues about your strengths without sounding like you're bragging and about your weaknesses without sounding like you're whining.

• The fifteen-minute weekly ritual that will keep you on your strengths path your entire career.

With structured exercises that will become part of your regular workweek and proven tactics from people who have successfully applied the book's lessons, Go Put Your Strengths to Work will arm you with a radically different approach to your work life. As part of the book's program you'll take an online Strengths Engagement Track, a focused and powerful gauge that has proven to be the best way to measure the level of engagement of your strengths or your team's strengths. You can also download the first two segments of the renowned companion film series Trombone Player Wanted.

Go Put Your Strengths to Work will open up exciting uncharted territory for you and your organization. Join the strengths movement and thrive.

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Worth the read.......2007-10-10

I read this over a brief vacation during the summer. Ive found it has enhanced my abilities dealing with people both at work and my personal life. I plan on reading it again when my busy work schedule permits it.

4 out of 5 stars How to take charge of your work.......2007-10-03

Marcus Buckingham is passionate about helping you identify your unique strengths and unleash their power. As you read and work your way through the program in this book, you will become convinced that growing through your strengths is the ticket to your future happiness, effectiveness and success. He refutes the approach of improvement by fixing mistakes as a dead end that cannot help you discover how you can be exceptional. The book constantly refers you to its associated Web site for materials that will help you work through the exercises. Buckingham wants you to act rather than just read a theoretical tract. Nothing presented in this book will help you without action and implementation. However, if you take up the challenge, you will become empowered as you take charge of your work through your strengths. We recommend this book because it contains just a few simple ideas that could change your life.

3 out of 5 stars Follow-up book, much overlap with earlier books.......2007-09-30

Marcus Buckingham discusses six steps to identifying and putting your strengths to work:

1. Convince yourself that exercising your strengths is more fun and productive that spending your time shoring up your weaknesses.

2. Identify specific activities that exercise your strengths. For example, mine include
a. Determine true value
b. Learn and apply new and useful skills, knowledge
c. Creative problem solving

3. Build your job towards your strengths.

4. Stop / reduce time spent shoring up your weaknesses

5. Build a strong team by enabling each member to exercise their strengths towards delivering business value

6. Make a habit of ensuring that each person's activities around you are aligned with their strengths (including yourself :-)

The book could have been much shorter - the concept was repeated multiple times. More specifics on step 3 would also have been more useful.

5 out of 5 stars Excellent book and great team activity!.......2007-09-13

I manage a team of Sales Professionals and found this book to be a great tool to help them stay focused on the positive aspects of their job. I really like the message and appreciate the fact that it does not immediately say that if you are not happy right now, you need a new job. It points them back to their current position and helps them be more productive and utilize their strengths where they are at.

4 out of 5 stars While he also wants to sell you other stuff, the book is a good way to build your own positive deviance.......2007-09-13

If you really look at what is holding you back, from really using your best qualities and talents, you will almost surely find that most of it are the images and thoughts you hold between your ears. You are so sure about what could go wrong, or about what you HAVE to do, or about what is just not possible, that you just don't even try to step out.

Well, to say it simply, stop it! This book provides you with a six step process to help you build on your strengths rather than chasing and fixing mistakes. It is based on the ideas you will find in the business philosophies of Appreciative Inquiry and Positive Organizational Scholarship (POS). The core idea in these movements is that you can't build on your strengths if all you see are your weaknesses. If you want to be a master of something, you have to study those who do it well, not focus on the mistakes of those who aren't very skilled. The term they often use is "positive deviance". That is, that area of performance that deviates ABOVE the norm. The goal is to learn how to create more positive deviance.

In the first step, Buckingham focuses you on giving up belief in three myths: 1) As you grow your personality changes. 2) You will grow in your areas of greatest weakness. 3) A good team member does whatever it takes to help the team. He says that the truths are: 1) As you grow you become more of who you already are. 2) You will grow in your areas of greatest strength. 3) A good team member deliberately volunteers his strengths to the team most of the time.

As he discusses each of these he asks you to examine what you are getting out of believing in these myths. What would it cost you to stop believing in it? Then think carefully about the benefits you would gain by believing the truth. If you sincerely do this, you will likely be shocked and then energized.

The purpose of this book is to help you take charge of your life and especially your work life. You will make it more rewarding, says the author, by centering your work on your strengths rather than just doing whatever comes to you as an assignment. It is a six step process. The first, as I noted above, is to bust the myths. Step 2 is to get clear about your strengths. Three is to free your strengths. Four helps you see and stop your weaknesses (not focus on fixing them). Five coaches you on how to speak up and get your boss supporting your strengths. Six is about keeping the process alive by building strong habits.

Now, Marcus Buckingham is a big-time, high-priced consultant. The book sends you to his website to use some free materials there (but also offers you others to purchase). Underneath this is the desire to sell your company consulting and seminar services with associated materials. It is interesting stuff, but the sheer "salesiness" of it detracts from it a bit for me.

Reviewed by Craig Matteson
Principles of Corporate Finance + Student CD + Ethics in Finance PowerWeb + Standard and Poor's (McGraw-Hill/Irwin Series in Finance, Insurance, and Real Est)
Average customer rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
  • Just perfect.
  • Not great for the beginner
  • Lacking Full Explanations
  • Good introductory finance book
  • Comprehensive text - you get your money's worth
Principles of Corporate Finance + Student CD + Ethics in Finance PowerWeb + Standard and Poor's (McGraw-Hill/Irwin Series in Finance, Insurance, and Real Est)
Richard A Brealey , Stewart C Myers , and Franklin Allen
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill/Irwin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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  5. Analysis for Financial Management + S&P subscription card Analysis for Financial Management + S&P subscription card

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  1. Schaum's Outline of Financial Management Schaum's Outline of Financial Management
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ASIN: 0073130826

Book Description

Principles of Corporate Finance is the worldwide leading text that describes the theory and practice of corporate finance. Throughout the book the authors show how managers use financial theory to solve practical problems and as a way of learning how to respond to change by showing not just how but why companies and management act as they do. The text is comprehensive, authoritative, and modern and yet the material is presented at a common sense level. The discussions and illustrations are unique due to the depth of detail blended with a distinct sense of humor for which the book is well known and highly regarded. This text is a valued reference for thousands of practicing financial managers. Richard A. Brealey and Stewart C. Myers welcome Franklin Allen as a new coauthor to this Eighth Edition. Sometimes the addition of a new coauthor means that one of the existing authors proposes to take a back seat. That is not the case with this team. Dr. Allen’s addition represents a genuine increase in capacity and brings fresh expertise and ideas to an already tremendously successful textbook and partnership.

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Just perfect........2007-09-06

Although I did not pass the exam that I took. The problem was with the exam not the book. This is an excellent book with lot of work done to ensure that the book is perfect.

The presentations available online with this book have a few mistakes.

3 out of 5 stars Not great for the beginner.......2007-07-17

This book is not very clear in its explanations and does not have too many worked examples. Not sure why my MBA school prescribes this. I recommend reading Fundamentals of Corporate Finance Standard Edition by Stephen Ross, Randolph Westerfield.

1 out of 5 stars Lacking Full Explanations.......2007-06-07

This book leaves me with more questions about finance than I have answers. Who do the authors think they are writing for? It surely is not the beginner MBA student. It seems like words are expensive because they do not fully or even partially explain concepts. Finance is difficult but it should not be impossible. I should not have to read and reread to figure out what the heck they are talking about. Maybe they should serve as advisors to this text and let someone who knows how to write actually write the book. These guys may be leaders and brillant but they are poor communicators. I'm not thrilled with my professor either. Is he a cheerleader or a teacher?

5 out of 5 stars Good introductory finance book.......2007-04-11

This is an easy to ready comprehensive introduction to basic finance concepts. I would not recommend it to finance majors but I consider it a good choice for general MBA or other students that do not have a stong quantitative finance background.

5 out of 5 stars Comprehensive text - you get your money's worth.......2007-01-09

I got this book for my Intro to Corp Finance class. The professor was aweful, but the book got me through the class. There are several other finance classes that use the same text, so for once I feel like I'll get my money's worth out of a textbook.
Business and Its Environment (5th Edition)
Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
  • Business and Its Environment (5th Edition)
  • New Edition is Better
  • The book for dilettante readers
  • The book for dilettante readers
  • Pretty Easy Reading
Business and Its Environment (5th Edition)
David P. Baron
Manufacturer: Prentice Hall
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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  5. New Ideas from Dead Economists: An Introduction to Modern Economic Thought New Ideas from Dead Economists: An Introduction to Modern Economic Thought

ASIN: 0131873555

Book Description

Brings together the disciplines of economics, political science, law, and ethics to address a class of management issues of growing importance to the performance of companies. Provides conceptual frameworks for understanding issues in the environment of business and their development; strategy formulation; analysis of the news media; political analysis; the economics and politics of government intervention in markets (regulation, antitrust, and torts); the economics and politics of international trade; the political economy of countries; and ethical analysis and decision-making. For all business professionals, including managers looking to enhance their knowledge of an ever-changing, increasingly global field.

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Business and Its Environment (5th Edition).......2006-07-19

This book is an easy read. It has tons of useful information. I would recommend this book.

5 out of 5 stars New Edition is Better.......2005-12-05

There is a new edition (the fifth) for this book, and it is better than the edition shown here. While avoiding a polemical view, Baron illustrates business ethical priciples with very poignant examples and stories. The case studies are very up to date and fun to read. More than that, though, the case studies can form a basis for classroom debate and discussion which not only brings the material to life but also promotes critical thinking and articulation among students.

I liked it very much, and recommend it highly.

4 out of 5 stars The book for dilettante readers.......2002-01-21

The author provided some good examples demonstrating a picture of business and its environment. People who have exposed to Industrial Organization (or at least some levels of application of game theory) will get bored of all arguments without mentioning anything about its quantitative aspect.

3 out of 5 stars The book for dilettante readers.......2002-01-21

The author provided some good examples to demonstrate some business's environments. The book is very readable. You will get bored if you have exposed to industrial organization or some applications of game theory.

3 out of 5 stars Pretty Easy Reading.......1999-05-30

I've read a good chunk of this book during a B-school elective on non-market strategies, and found it imparted some valuable information. It's not very prescriptive if that's what you're looking for. But it made me feel like I got something out of the class despite an unstellar professor.
The 48 Laws of Power
Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
  • Made up stories
  • VERY USEFUL IF YOU ARE NEW TO A BIG CITY
  • Disgusting! Don't buy this book!
  • Portrays a realistic view of the world while rising up in power.
  • USMC- Commandant's reading list
The 48 Laws of Power
Robert Greene
Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0140280197
Release Date: 2000-09-05

Amazon.com

"Learning the game of power requires a certain way of looking at the world, a shifting of perspective," writes Robert Greene. Mastery of one's emotions and the arts of deception and indirection are, he goes on to assert, essential. The 48 laws outlined in this book "have a simple premise: certain actions always increase one's power ... while others decrease it and even ruin us."

The laws cull their principles from many great schemers--and scheming instructors--throughout history, from Sun-Tzu to Talleyrand, from Casanova to con man Yellow Kid Weil. They are straightforward in their amoral simplicity: "Get others to do the work for you, but always take the credit," or "Discover each man's thumbscrew." Each chapter provides examples of the consequences of observance or transgression of the law, along with "keys to power," potential "reversals" (where the converse of the law might also be useful), and a single paragraph cleverly laid out to suggest an image (such as the aforementioned thumbscrew); the margins are filled with illustrative quotations. Practitioners of one-upmanship have been given a new, comprehensive training manual, as up-to-date as it is timeless.

Book Description

Amoral, cunning, ruthless, and instructive, this piercing work distills three thousand years of the history of power in to forty-eight well explicated laws. As attention--grabbing in its design as it is in its content, this bold volume outlines the laws of power in their unvarnished essence, synthesizing the philosophies of Machiavelli, Sun-tzu, Carl von Clausewitz, and other great thinkers. Some laws teach the need for prudence ("Law 1: Never Outshine the Master"), the virtue of stealth ("Law 3: Conceal Your Intentions"), and many demand the total absence of mercy ("Law 15: Crush Your Enemy Totally"), but like it or not, all have applications in real life. Illustrated through the tactics of Queen Elizabeth I, Henry Kissinger, P. T. Barnum, and other famous figures who have wielded--or been victimized by--power, these laws will fascinate any reader interested in gaining, observing, or defending against ultimate control.

Customer Reviews:

3 out of 5 stars Made up stories.......2007-10-12

The book is interesting but most of the stories sound made up to fit the author's point. He even admits in one of the last chapters that when something has happened in the past, you can reinterpret it and insert your own lines (p.397).

5 out of 5 stars VERY USEFUL IF YOU ARE NEW TO A BIG CITY.......2007-10-08

The world as battle-field. It doesn't get any better than this if success is what you're looking for!

1 out of 5 stars Disgusting! Don't buy this book!.......2007-10-06

If you want a guide on how to be manipulative, amoral and corrupt at everyone else's expense...this is for you. As for me, I was disgusted from page one....it goes completely against everything I believe in. "Never put too much trust in friends" ...must be awfully lonely in such a world where you can trust no one. Perhaps that's because you've stabbed everyone in the back. This "looking out for #1" at all costs is what is wrong with the world today. If any book EVER deserved to be burned...this is it!

4 out of 5 stars Portrays a realistic view of the world while rising up in power........2007-09-16

When I first acquired this book, I delved into the text and was fascinated by what is never taught in school, hardly at work, even with people; as this book states wisely, many people would like to keep to themselves and therefore many who have power hardly share it, unless a deal is behind it. The book itself may be a paradox in parts, and the methods used may be controversial; yet it has the essential basic "training" in order to strive to the top.
Sometimes one wonders if this will work, or does this author fool us into purchasing this book. It may show a pessimistic world of beguile, secrecy, envy and greed; however this portrays a realistic view of the world while rising up in power.
Brilliantly written, with worthy examples of great thinkers, philosophers and military officials of history; this concise edition will keep you on the ground reading, whilst teaching you how to propel in the air and on top of the world.

2 out of 5 stars USMC- Commandant's reading list.......2007-07-25

In the interest of full disclosure, I'm Army - 16yrs. From 2000 thru 2006 I was stationed in Okinawa and the best place for all service members to buy books so deployed (Amazon aside) was from the bookstore on Camp Foster (across from the movie theatre). For at least a good 6 months (in 2002) this book was prominently featured on the shelves with a tag identifying it as having made the USMC Commandant's Reading List (or, a book senior commisioned Marine Corps leadership consider beneficial to Marines (enlisted and commisioned) seeking guidance on professional development). Intrigued, I bought it. I won't go into a lengthy review here: in a nutshell; the book lists a series of TTPs (tactics, techniques and procedures) designed to maximize one's advantage when negotiating interpersonal realationships both professional and personal. Some of these TTPs involve elements of manipulation, subterfuge, and dishonesty that clearly cross the boundaries of unethical behavior. It bothered me not just a little that Marines or Soldiers (young and old) might consider using the advice in this book as means of advancing their careers or solidifying leadership positions within their respective units.

I do know some of the book's reccomendations are in direct conflict with The Army Values, and according to at least two USMC Staff NCOs (both good friends) this is also the case regarding their own code of professional conduct. One of the Marines in question wrote a letter (to whom -I don't know) expressing his concern. A few months later the book assumed a less prominent residence on the shelves. Nonetheless; I never failed to see it lodged in the odd bookshelf in someone's (usually an officer) professional space - from time to time. I consider its presence an indicator for stepping up one's vigilance when dealing with the books's owner.
Five Minds for the Future
Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
  • Five Minds for the Future
  • Reader beware.
  • If you want your Child's Mind Left Behind do not read this.
  • Five Minds Provides Wake-up Call for Educators
  • A Map for Educating the New Philosopher Kings
Five Minds for the Future
Howard Gardner
Manufacturer: Harvard Business School Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1591399122
Release Date: 2007-04-03

Book Description

We live in a time of vast changes. And those changes call for entirely new ways of learning and thinking. In Five Minds for the Future: Howard Gardner defines the cognitive abilities that will command a premium in the years ahead:

World-renowned for his theory of multiple intelligences, Gardner takes that thinking to the next level in this book, drawing from a wealth of diverse examples to illuminate his ideas. Concise and engaging, Five Minds for the Future will inspire lifelong learning in any reader as well as provide valuable insights for those charged with training and developing organizational leaders—both today and tomorrow.

Customer Reviews:

4 out of 5 stars Five Minds for the Future.......2007-10-17

I was so impressed with this book that I gove it as graduation gifts to five high school and college graduates.

2 out of 5 stars Reader beware........2007-10-08

I purchased this book on the basis of a number of good reviews. As a Ph.D. engineer, I have extensive experience reading boring texts in order to retrieve a few nuggets of valuable information. However, I could not force myself to get through this mind numbingly boring writing style. I'm sure it must be a good book based on the other reviews, but be prepared to suffer mental torture in attempting to read this book.

5 out of 5 stars If you want your Child's Mind Left Behind do not read this........2007-08-17

The ideas in this book deserve the broadest possible scrutiny and review. As we now know, our brains are able to significantly change themselves depending on how they are used and not used.

Dictators, slave owners, and totalitarian regimes have always suspected this. They carefully restrict the arts and depend on rote drill in education. They require competency testing that penalizes teachers that teach good questioning methods and foster disciplined minds that can synthesize, create, and empathize.

Teachers in the USA today are increasingly being overwhelmed by the requirements to teach facts and specific skills. School facts are often dated, while updates are instantly available via an Internet search. Thinking abilities (other than rote memorization) are not being taught because our tests are not well designed to assess Gardner's categories. The ability to synthesize (transfer and apply what we know from an array of experiences and sources), create (the ability to think divergently and imaginatively to produce better scenarios), and/or empathically (Gardner's terms are `respectful' and `ethical') are not as simple to assess. Consequently, facts are taught without time to learn how to question the viability of what is learned.

Assessment tools could be vastly improved if we had the creativity and the will to see what Gardner tries to tell us. I believe that computer programs could be developed that would assess education for Gardner's mind categories rather than simply for the rote accumulation of information that is often unconnected to what we need in life.

Any parent who does not care if their child's mind is left behind should not read this book. I pity children in schools that are under pressure to focus on learning without thinking. They are being brain damaged. If we want to see more capable and caring people in the future, this book is a starting place. Any leader of company, political entity, or other organization should not read this book if they are content with staying behind and coming in last.

5 out of 5 stars Five Minds Provides Wake-up Call for Educators.......2007-08-14

Five Minds for the Future is an excellent look at the wider picture of how we need to use our brains to accomplish the tasks we will be faced with in the coming years -- both for our planet, our communities, our workplaces, and our families. This should be even more of a wake-up call to educational institutions across the world than Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences because it is about global approach to education (global in terms of "big picture").

5 out of 5 stars A Map for Educating the New Philosopher Kings.......2007-07-17

The learned ancient Greeks were fascinated by what an ideal education would involve. Why? They hoped to apply that education to the kings of the era and to create a better society through the leadership of the kings. That ambition came closest to being fulfilled through Alexander the Great, who became a highly effective conqueror and spreader of Greek ideas and values.

Professor Gardner takes up this challenge once again in perceiving new challenges for modern people that will be more difficult to meet in the future. I suspect that his vision is, in part, aimed at the same goal as the ancient Greeks except as executed through the leaders and most prominent citizens of a republic employing democratic principles.

In a break from his prior focus on multiple intelligences, Five Minds for the Future emphasizes five methods of thinking that he hopes to see integrated into individuals. These methods of thinking are based on:

1. Mastering an important subject matter (such as history, math, or science) and staying up to date through application of the discipline's method of thinking. This is quite different from knowing the facts of the discipline.

2. Being able to integrate large quantities multidisciplinary facts and apply them into one's work.

3. Posing new questions, developing new solutions to existing questions, stretching disciplines and genres in new directions, or building new disciplines.

4. Being open to understanding and appreciating the perspectives and experiences of those who are different from the individual.

5. Doing one's work in an ethical way that reflects responsibilities to others and society.

What does this boil down to as a problem? Basically, most people never get as far as mastering one important discipline. They just memorize whatever is needed to pass tests. Professor Gardner's own work documents this problem. As a result, we face a hollowing out of our civilization as most people lack the ability, education, or interest to do more than function in an everyday living fashion. Beyond that, some of those who can perform a discipline are tempted by treasure or fame to stretch the rules and not honestly perform.

If we step back another few feet, there's an implicit vision of a future that's led by a smaller and smaller number of people as a percentage of the world's population. It will be easier for rot to set in at the top. In addition, the rewards for those people will grow exponentially . . . tempting those of limited ethics to falter.

I think the risk is a genuine one, and I applaud Professor Gardner for penning this book. I hope he will follow it with more books that spell out more about how to educate others and ourselves (after we leave school as students) so that these goals are achieved.

I have a few quibbles that I mention only in the spirit of sparking an awareness of what's needed. Peter Drucker taught me that the educated person should learn enough about a new subject each year to appreciate and be able the discipline involved. I found that suggestion missing from this book. Without that bridging method, I suspect we'll just end up compartmentalized from one another.

In addition, I think that some areas of public responsibility lend themselves to combined perspectives that encompass these minds more efficiently than by keeping them separate. For example, the advanced leader who is good at accomplishing continuing business model innovation will be able to cross these five boundaries and many others . . . simply by knowing one discipline. I suspect that other fields also lend themselves to such new integrating disciplines.

I also found that Professor Gardner mischaracterized the meanings of many of the business examples he cited. He does, however, do a fine job of summarizing what academics have written about business. I suggest that he have someone who is more familiar with business than he is help with checking such examples in future books. I realize that this book is published by Harvard Business School Press, but editors of books don't necessary have mastery of the facts within the subjects they edit.

Bravo, Professor Gardner!
Moral Intelligence: Enhancing Business Performance and Leadership Success
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • Check The Compass
  • Do The Right Thing Because It Is The Right Thing: Long-winded, Short on Substance
  • Superb
  • Good Concept, Treatment OK
  • Moral Intelligence
Moral Intelligence: Enhancing Business Performance and Leadership Success
Doug Lennick , and Fred Kiel
Manufacturer: Wharton School Publishing
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ASIN: 0131490508

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Check The Compass.......2006-10-21

Based upon the current corporate and political climate in the USA,
many probably agree that books like these are important and
necessary. But is society any different today in certain respects
than it was say, 2000 years ago? Humans are human. Always have
been, always will be.

As for a "moral compass" discussed in this book, we can simply
look at the actions of individuals, corporations, and governments
dating back before Roman times, to today. The concept and discussion
of morality and ethics go back thousands of years. Yet it is of
course, no less important today. Currently, ethical concepts are
taught and discussed in business, MBA, and law programs. These
programs have to most dishonest students of all departments
at universities in the USA, in study after study. Some of
these students will become influential members of our society
in the future.

It must be noted that many parts of the world at times completely
lack a "moral compass." Corruption, dishonesty, and out-right theft
are the basic functional foundations in many nations of the world.
The United States has its flaws, but is way ahead of hundreds of
other nations when it comes to business moral and ethics.
(Admittedly, due in part by the existence of laws and regulations).
Yet a lack of this morality has a deleterious economic impact upon
many countries of the world. Another point that is central to the
concept of business morality is: thinking long-term. Not the myopic,
short-term business horizon where someone cheats or cuts corners to
gain a small amount in the short term, but loses potentially much
greater gains over the long term. South East Asia is notorious for
this short-sighted thinking and behaviour at all levels of society
and business.

This mentality can change. It will take time, education, awareness,
and the realization of the positives. Once those in business realize
the benefits of being honest and ethical, they often (but not always)
change their business practices. This is simply, Common Sense.

Author Doug Lennick and Fred Kiel categorize this book into three
portions: Overview, Developing Moral Skills, and Moral Leadership.

In addition there are four concepts noted for moral leadership:
Integrity, Responsibility, Compassion, and Forgiveness.

Several real-life examples are presented in this book.

Citing the innateness morality is mostly, idealism. Doing something
"because it's the right thing to do" does seem a bit idealistic. This
OK. But we must recognize it for what it is.

It takes an ethical upbringing *and* laws and regulations to keep
people and organizations in line.

History tells us the answer. Humans are humans. And no, I'm not a
Hobbesian. :)

2 out of 5 stars Do The Right Thing Because It Is The Right Thing: Long-winded, Short on Substance.......2006-07-12

"Moral Intelligence: Enhancing Business Performance and Leadership Success" by Doug Lennick has a simple premise. Once you get that premise, the rest is about internalizing it, and living it out when the moral challenge presents itself.

Accepting the premise of the book is easy: Do the right thing because it is the right thing, and enjoy business benefits in the process. -- The premise is the entire book. There. I have blown in 17 words what takes the author 256 pages to say. Sorry about that.

If your sales manager gives you this book, you can flip through it, remember a few anecdotes, and you'll be set.

That's my primary difficulty with the book. I did not disagree with the premise, or feel that his anecdotes were inconsistent. It takes a very deep message and handles it lightly, without as much substance as such a book should have.

Very heavy on business anecdotes, it reads well, but has the tired tone of every business book on the planet, as if the writer went out of his way to quote as many people as possible, rather than looking into the questions more. Unfortunately, it is especially heavy in the financial planners/services sales people. Not much diversity of markets, business areas, or position.

There are a few charts gussying up "Moral Intelligence" but no substantive grids that will help the reader understand the way morality looks in real life. A few statistics are dripped in here and there, but it always boils down to "Do the right thing."

While no one expects a business ethics book to speak on the level of Aristotle or Augustine, it is reasonable that the author would present some grounding for morals. While he claims that relativism has been injurious to society in general, and to the workplace specifically, Lennick presents more of a generic understanding of morality. Touting a specific belief might get him into trouble, of course, yet by not doing so, he comes off bland and without a standard.

Somehow, in all the quotes from upper middle managers, Lennick misses William Pollard, former CEO of ServiceMaster. In fact, there is no discussion of ServiceMaster entirely. ServiceMaster, a massive Fortune 500 company, has been until recently, very outspoken that it was called such because of a Christian belief system, short for "Service for the Master." A look into how this philosophy works, and how ServiceMaster struggled to do the right thing, would have been instructive. Blown opportunity.

Lennick mentions the obvious criminals, like Ken Lay. He misses other law breakers, like PTL's Jim Bakker, and, in describing Lay's problems, provides nothing that has not been on the news. What Lennick could have done is outline the subtlties of business morality, and how we fall into breaking our own moral code.

There is little here that doesn't begin, "Joe was an Assistant VP of FinancialMegaCorp, and noticed something askew with the month's figures. He realized his friend and colleague, Rick, had absconded with thousands of dollars. Should Joe talk to Rick, or gather evidence to bring to the firm's legal team?"

Equally weak is the "Moral Competency Inventory" which has potential to reveal our true moral responses. With questions like, "When I agree to do something, I always follow through," I wonder if I just took a Cosmo quiz.

Wharton School Publishing dropped the ball on this one, diminishing the school's great reputation for a strong program. While an education there is still top notch, putting their stamp of approval on this one was not on par. There is nothing bold here, except that the book was published in the first place.

Anthony Trendl
editor, HungarianBookstore.com

5 out of 5 stars Superb.......2006-05-24

In business or financial circles, morality and ethics has frequently been thought of as weakness, as something that while noble will not assist in the generation of profits. Further, those who practice it can easily be taken advantage of by competitors. A business run by moral agents will not be able to survive the vicissitudes of the marketplace. It takes cunning and an instinct for the jugular, so the argument goes, to create and maintain a successful business. Another view is that a businessperson who claims to be moral or ethical is either posing as such in order to take advantage of someone or some situation. In this view, morality and ethics are then tools of manipulation and power, a view that is, ironically, not far from that of those political philosophers, such as Karl Marx, who criticize capitalism vociferously.

Until recently, business ethics, if taught at all, was presented from a pragmatic viewpoint. One is to practice or adhere to certain ethical principles only because regulations or circumstances dictate that not doing so would place one in legal jeopardy. Business ethics then becomes a collection of rules, to be followed only because it is part of the "process." These rules can be extensive, even contradictory, but their importance only arises because of legal constraints. They are usually viewed as more of an irritant, not as part of a natural process or necessity.

That morality is part of being human, much as eating, sleeping, and sex, is something that has not really been believed in scientific circles up until the last ten years or so, thanks to research in neuroscience. It is now believed by some researchers in neuroscience that some parts of the human neural system not only support moral reasoning but also have evolved to ensure its efficacy. This book draws on some of this research, and presents a conception of business morality that is very practical as well as efficacious in everyday business life. The authors are the first to admit that their ideas need further scientific and practical validation. The evidence they present is anecdotal, but it is a good start, for it gives an alternative to many of the stale platitudes that govern much of the contemporary thinking on moral systems.

As is of course readily apparent from the title, the central idea behind the authors' approach, and one that is very resonant in other approaches to morality based on neuroscience, is that of `moral intelligence.' They define this as a mental capacity that allows the determination of how "universal human principles" are to be applied to "values, goals, and actions." They do not really elaborate on what it means for principles to be "universal", but from the reading of the book one can deduce that these are the neuronal patterns that take place in every human being. They therefore appear as beliefs about human conduct that every culture in the entire world seems to hold. In fact in the foreword of the book, this is summarized in the notion that every human is "hard wired" to be moral. The reader should not however view this as a deterministic notion, since humans can often "stray from the path." They do not debate the notion of free will in the book, and this makes the book even more palatable to read, since such musings are better left to the philosophers.

The authors discuss various research that supports their notion of moral intelligence, and include many anecdotal stories that illustrate its practice in everyday life and in leadership roles in business. The emphasize that moral intelligence is a distinctive branch of intelligence, and that individuals who possess it in abundance will have a large measure of integrity, will take responsibility for their actions, will be compassionate, and be willing to exercise forgiveness. The authors point out that having these virtues will not of course imply perfection. The morally intelligent individual will make mistakes, but her `moral compass' will steer her to proper moral north.

This book is again, one of the few that have been written that attempt to put morality on both a sound scientific foundation and a practical one. It is honest in its claims and the authors express humility and respect for the reader between its covers. There is no attempt to intimidate the reader into ascribing to their ideas. They are intellectually honest without being condescending. The reader will finish the book with a deeper respect for the role of moral intelligence in business and everyday life, and be more convinced of its efficacy and power.

4 out of 5 stars Good Concept, Treatment OK.......2006-02-12

Having read a number of books brought to us by Wharton Publishing, this one was a bit disappointing. Wharton has high standards for its business books, requiring them to be relevant, timely, empirically based, conceptually sound, and implementable in real decision settings. While this book does meet those criteria, I felt the concentration on the moral intelligence topic was diluted by what I perceived to be over-attention to emotional intelligence. I didn't feel the strength and focus I anticipated, particularly given my high expectations of Wharton books.

The book is organized into three parts: an overview, Developing Moral Skills, and Moral Leadership. We begin with an overview of Moral Intelligence with a look at being born to be moral and what the authors describe as one's moral compass. They introduce the four principles that are vital for moral leadership: integrity, responsibility, compassion, and forgiveness. In the second section of the book, each of these principles is addressed in a separate chapter-with an additional chapter on emotions. The section on moral leadership introduces the Moral Leader, talks about leading large organizations and entrepreneurial ventures, and becoming a global moral leader. The first appendix, Strengthening Your Moral Skills, offers advice on the how-to of developing the skills. This is important enough that it probably could have been a chapter, rather than an appendix. Appendices B, C, and D present the Moral Competency Inventory, its scoring and interpretation.

As I read this book, my attention was distracted by what I believe was over-use of one of the authors' previous employers as a setting to discuss various applications and observations about moral leadership. The text needed more balance with stories from other corporate environments. Anecdotal presentations are heavily used in the book-John said this, Mary did that. The use of first and last names with the parenthetical notation that the name is a pseudomym became annoying, causing me to wonder how many real people with moral intelligence were known by the authors-or even available to use as role models.

The theme of the book is welcome and valid. There is a lot of good material in these pages and you'll gain something from the reading. Perhaps this book will open the door for more work to be done in this important, value-based field.

5 out of 5 stars Moral Intelligence.......2006-01-30

If your looking to increase your personal level of joy and harmony in life, implement the teachings of the 3 frames in this book.
Manny Padro Salt Lake City, Utah
The Mormon Way of Doing Business: Leadership and Success Through Faith and Family
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • Interesting but incomplete...
  • This book is not propaganda for the Mormon faith
  • Helps to Realign Priorities
  • A perfect read and excellent book to go by
  • The Mormon Way of Doing Business
The Mormon Way of Doing Business: Leadership and Success Through Faith and Family
Jeff Benedict
Manufacturer: Business Plus
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0446578592

Book Description

The Founder of JetBlue. The CEO of Dell Computers. The CEO ofDeloitte Touche. The Dean of the Harvard Business School. They all haveone thing in common. They are devout Mormons who spend their Sundaysexclusively with their families, never work long hours, and always puttheir spouses and children first. How do they do it? Now, criticallyacclaimed author and investigative journalist Jeff Benedict (a Mormonhimself) examines these highly successful business execs and discovers howtheir beliefs have influenced them, and enabled them to achieve incrediblesuccess. With original interviews and unparalleled access, Benedict shareswhat truly drives these individuals, and the invaluable life lessons fromwhich anyone can benefit.

Customer Reviews:

2 out of 5 stars Interesting but incomplete..........2007-10-14

Great stories and insight on how LDS values can benefit a career as a businessman, but there should have been some discussion on LDS businessmen who haven't been such a great example of the christian way, especially those who have taken advantage of their fellow church-members. There are many to chose from, but Wade Cook and Elliot Fitzgerald would be a good place to start. Or maybe these men should be sent complimentary copies of the book as they serve out their prison sentences.

3 out of 5 stars This book is not propaganda for the Mormon faith.......2007-08-24

I like the book; it is not a book of propaganda for the Mormon church. It talks about how some sucessful Mormon businessmen and CEO operate in accordance with the values taught by their faith. It is a useful addition to management literature. The book does not go into management theories and successful business models. It does not give you much empirical data based on surveys or business ratios. The focus of the book is on the moral values that make a difference in the lives of these individuals who make contributions to the company they work for, care for the employees, and have their self identity rooted in things (such as family, a desire to serve) other than wealth, fame, and status.

Yes, it make a lot of refernces to the Mormon faith. The author says it as he sees it. This book is good addition to the study of business ethics.

5 out of 5 stars Helps to Realign Priorities .......2007-08-10

This is one of the better business books I have every read. It is a light read, and goes quickly. As I read the book, I considered my relationship with my own family. My 3 year old son kept approaching me on Saturday afternoon wanting to "color" with him. Rather than blowing him off and saying "I'm too busy," I put my book down and shared 10 minutes with him doing something HE felt was important. The greatest message is that the only titles that matter in this life are "Husband" and "Father." Everything else is irrelevant.

Knowing one of the principle subjects of the book, I appreciate the power of the strong women in the lives of these successful businessmen. To be successful at home and in life, a strong marriage & united partnership is key. As the Book of Matthew states, "By their fruits ye shall know them." You can plainly see that with these great families profiled.

5 out of 5 stars A perfect read and excellent book to go by.......2007-07-03

Mormon or not the things that you learn from this book are wonderful. It is an easy read and very applicable skills and traits that anyone can use in their every day life.

5 out of 5 stars The Mormon Way of Doing Business.......2007-05-13

I am a communication instructor at two New Jersey intitutions and found the book inspiring and helpful in gearing lectures to driven students looking to get ahead and network successfully. Great read!
Business and Society: Ethics and Stakeholder Management (with InfoTrac®)
Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
  • Business & Society: Ethics and Stakeholder Management w/ infotrack review
Business and Society: Ethics and Stakeholder Management (with InfoTrac®)
Archie B. Carroll , and Ann K. Buchholtz
Manufacturer: South-Western College Pub
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0324225814

Book Description

Make smarter business decisions with BUSINESS AND SOCIETY: ETHICS AND STAKEHOLDER MANAGEMENT! Emphasizing a business's social, legal, and ethical responsibilities, this management text exposes you to diverse and important stakeholder and ethical frameworks for considering and protecting stakeholder interests. Through its use of cases and other real-world applications, you'll get the opportunity to apply stakeholder and ethical systems to specific business problems. With questions provided for all cases and applications, preparing for class has never been easier!

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Business & Society: Ethics and Stakeholder Management w/ infotrack review.......2007-01-10

This book was just what I needed. It helped me to pass the course I was taking and I received an A+. The book was a bit boring at times but all in all it had a lot of useful and great information!
Missed Fortune 101: A Starter Kit to Becoming a Millionaire
Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
  • Very educational--dispels a lot of finance misconceptions
  • Extremely interesting
  • Unlike some advisors Mr. Andrew walks his talk!
  • Please be careful...
  • Utter Garbage
Missed Fortune 101: A Starter Kit to Becoming a Millionaire
Douglas R. Andrew
Manufacturer: Business Plus
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ASIN: 0446576573

Book Description

From financial expert Douglas R. Andrew comes an extraordinary book that challenges the most basic and fundamental concepts of personal investing in a user-friendly format.In the 30 years Douglas R.Andrew has worked as a successful financial analyst, lecturer, and retirement consultant, he has routinely questioned and challenged the accepted tenets of personal finance. His conclusions are absolutely startling. In 23 informative chapters, Andrew reveals his no-nonsense, yet unconventional, financial growth strategies that challenge widespread money myths and make his clients rich with advice like: * You shouldn't pre-pay your mortgage* Don't expect your 401Ks and IRAs to cover retirement* You can (and should) buy a home with no money down* and more!Originally self-published as MISSED FORTUNE (Paramount Publications, 7/03) and targeted towards a more professional financial audience, the first edition of this book sold 10,000 copies. In 4/04, it was published in Warner Business Books trade paperback (0-446-69350-2). This new hardcover edition has been significantly condensed to appeal to the average personal investor.

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Very educational--dispels a lot of finance misconceptions.......2007-10-10

Go pick up it up and read the whole book. It will open up your eyes on what finances are all about, and dispels many myths about money, taxes, and retirement planning. In fact, insist that your CPA, financial planner, insurance agent and estate attorney read it too.

5 out of 5 stars Extremely interesting.......2007-10-10

I'm probably your typical Joe American with a marraige, kids, a house, car, etc. As I'm getting older I'm thinking more about running my personal finances like a business. I've reduced expenses significantly (no downsizing the family yet, though sometimes I could deal without the kids for a couple days! haha) and have tried to maximize idle money and active investments. Basic stuff I've done without professional help.

I've highly recommended this book to friends and family if for no other reason that it's includes a bunch of real thought-inducing topics that go against conventional financial wisdom. Namely to throw cash at your house to pay it off as fast as possible which truly does sound like a grand plan, but after reading the book sounds downright stupid.

Things I've taken away after reading this book:

* Deductible interest is good, at least when compared to non-deductible. No duh. But I never really thought it through to the ends.
* Your house will either appreciate or depreciate regardless of your mortgage rate, your monthly mortgage payment, or how much equity you invest into the house. If your house is worth $100K today and $110K tomorrow you gained $10K in equity. But it would've done that regardless of your mortgage.
* Money makes money. Pretty basic concept. But your money makes money a lot faster outside of being invested in your home equity which is what you're doing sending an extra $200/mo to your mortgage holder. That's $200/mo your throwing into a non-interest bearing account. Doesn't sound so smart now does it?
* There's a variety of retirement savings vehicles available outside the standard 401K and IRA. Well, obviously. But the book goes into depth on the advantages and disadvantages of them.
* One big thing the book pushes is Universal Life Insurance as the retirement vehicle of choice. There's a lot of agreeable arguments made towards this choice but there's no specific plans referenced and I haven't checked into the actual numbers to see if they stack up. But the overall theory seems pretty sounds. You throw your money into the policy, it compounds tax free, and you can withdraw it via loans tax free. People will argue that the policy costs money to run, and you have to pay a marginal interest rate against the loan, but you're still saving a TON via the tax savings which is the general argument for this policy.

I'm not saying I'm on board 100% with all the arguments made in the book. But many of them seem completely reasonable and logical. Pay $20K down on your house to save $100/mo in mortgage? Or take the $20K and invest it? It'll make $100/mo today in a 5% CD. And it compounds and thus makes more and more each month. And even more if the investment churns out more than 5%. And your house equity will likely increase regardless as housing values typically increase historically and will do so regardless of your mortgage.

5 out of 5 stars Unlike some advisors Mr. Andrew walks his talk! .......2007-10-02

I have had the occasion to meet Douglas Andrew and he is his own biggest client. He seems to be one of the most straight forward, straight shooting people I have ever met. I was a stock broker with my insurance license, a mortgage wholesale rep, as well as a real estate broker and I have to say the strategies that are espoused in this book are all... right on! Hey, nothing is completely risk free but this comes close. I took my own home equity out [by selling my home] before the prices went down. I am glad I did. Most of it I will put into this strategy over the next 4 years and some will be saved for a down payment when I think housing prices have bottomed. When that home goes up I will take the equity out and start another plan like this. It makes little if any sense to have your home equity sitting there doing nothing. I mean would I leave $100K or more sitting in my checking account, earning zip? NOT! Well money that was sitting in my own home was making me nothing. It's the same to me. Hey, if I can borrow at a simple interest rate and have it accumulate and grow [even tax favored maybe] and compound over time into a large sum, I am all for it. The idea of using home equity to grow wealth is not new but until now I have never seen a strategy that I was comfortable with. This book turns life insurance upside down and shows us how to maximum fund a contract and therefore use it as a great 'living' benefit rather than buy the most death benefit for the least amount of money and possibly outlive the insurance just when we are nearing the 'benefit', if you want call it that, since one has to die to get it. But let's face it, we all need life insurance and I know no better way to have it. The way Mr. Andrew explains it, if structured properly Uncle Sam is paying for it. The strategies in this book are varied and flexible. He also shows us how our qualified plans [401K, IRA, 403b, etc] may very well not be serving our best interest. This book is a must read for anyone that is willing to think for themselves [outside the box] and especially if you have been around long enough to understand what Douglas Andrew means when he says 'sometimes it's what we don't know that we don't know that can hurt us.'

2 out of 5 stars Please be careful..........2007-10-02

I think I would sign up for this if I had a lot of money and have as a small part of my portfolio - but for the most of us this would mean putting all our eggs in one basket, and not be able to take them out again.

I had 2 telephone appointments with the author's son contemplating signing up with their method. I expressed our concerns about our liquidity if another disaster of some sort happens. When 9/11 happened our income went down significantly for 1-2 years afterwards, and if it happened again we would not be able to pay the much higher mortgage we would have if we re-financed according to his plan. He swiftly explained that we would just file for bankruptcy(!). We have worked hard for ten long years putting our sweat equity into making our little house our dream home that we never want to leave - you can't buy a view like ours for a mortgage of $800/month anymore - why would we want to gamble with that?? The negative amortization loan he suggested would easily be covered by the continually rising house values here in Southern California, he explained. I protested that nothing can keep going up and up forever, and I didn't want to sit with an upside-down situation in my house at re-finance time. He didn't agree - just look at history he said - it keeps going up! Fast forward a few weeks and the whole foreclosure heaven came down, and our house is worth a good $100.000 less than just a year before...

Boy are we happy we didn't put blinders on and get too gullable!
We will find another way to provide for our retirement, thanks.

Also his projections of payouts in retirement are not adjusted for inflation so it really doesn't tell you much. $70k might sound like enough today but what will it be in 30 years...?

Please look into your options, consult a few traditional financial planners and ask them to explain the differences and in particular the high fees associated with this method. We found out that we'd be pretty well off just by investing the difference between our current mortgage payment and the one we would have re-financed to. Also have an equity line on your house and you will have the liquidity the book tells you you can't have unless you go with their method.

1 out of 5 stars Utter Garbage.......2007-10-01

Every flimflam man knows that the con must be carefully layered around a kernel of truth for credibility. Missed Fortune 101 by Doug Andrew succeeds in this by wrapping a number of preposterous ideas and prevarications around three basic and true axioms. They are: (1) income is taxed in what are essentially "chunks," (2) the only relevant tax rate for decision making is the marginal rate, and (3) tremendous wealth can be created by borrowing at one rate and investing at a higher rate. Everything else in this book is not only utter nonsense, but potentially lethal to one's financial health.

The author arrives at two basic conclusions. We should borrow out of our homes and invest the proceeds at a higher rate. Universal life insurance serves as Andrew's means to this end. We should also suffer the consequences of withdrawing from our IRAs and other retirement plans now rather than later, since the tax from such withdrawals will only get worse. Naturally, the leftover funds (heavily diluted by taxes) should be invested in the same insurance policies, which supposedly offer a higher--and safer--yield than whatever the retirement plans were invested in. By page 5, I realize I'm reading a book-length sales pitch and con that has the potential to wreak havoc in my clients' lives (disclosure: I've been an Enrolled Agent tax professional and Certified Financial Planner licensee for almost three decades).

Anything this full of nonsense is difficult to critique. Short of writing a book-length retort, I've settled on the idea of listing the multitude of problems by category and providing examples from each.

A far more comprehensive review is available at my personal sites; just Google my name to find me. This is an abstract from that review. Serious readers will want to check out my books to see what links may exist between financial abuse and the field of addiction. You may wish to start with Drunks, Drugs & Debits: How to Recognize Addicts and Avoid Financial Abuse or Alcoholism Myths and Realities: Removing the Stigma of Society's most Destructive Disease.

Highly misleading examples
(2) "A $6,000 interest expense deduction on an itemized tax return has the same impact as a $6,000 qualified plan contribution. They are simply reflected in different sections of the return." Aside from numerous other issues, the tax savings from the interest deduction may be zero if you don't already itemize deductions.

(3) He implies that ordinary investors can double their money for 20 periods by comparing one dollar pre-tax and one dollar taxed-as-earned, doubling each "period" for 20 such "periods." The number of humans who have done this or something equivalent numbers perhaps a few thousand, which wasn't accomplished by investing in insurance contracts.

Faulty and twisted logic
(4) "...Your home may likely sell much more quickly and for a higher price with a high mortgage balance rather than a low mortgage balance." What the heck does the balance on my mortgage have to do with what a buyer is willing to pay me for my house?

Broad, sweeping and misleading generalizations
(2) Andrew advises that we all sell our homes and repurchase with 100% financing with the goal of freeing up equity to invest in his recommended universal life policies. He ignores the higher interest and property mortgage insurance costs on such loans, overlooks possible increased property taxes and disregards fixed transaction and moving costs.

(4) "Unfortunately, non-spouse heirs far too often end up with only about 28 percent of the money that was left in their parents' IRAs and 401(k)s." This is scare-mongering.

Questionable predictions and grand assumptions
(3) "Conservatively, [our cozy retirement] cabin will double in value every ten years..." and our $100,000 cabin will be worth "$800,000 in thirty years." Very few areas in the country even during the late real estate boom of the last three decades have done that well. What would qualify as "aggressively"?

Assertions and generalizations that may be lethal to your retirement
(1) "Home equity has no rate of return when it is trapped in the house..." This is outright nonsense. The return is what you save in interest or rents.

(5) He concludes that if not done before, "roll-outs" from IRAs commence at age 59 ½ over a five year period and that some younger people under age 50 should commence withdrawals despite the imposition of early withdrawal penalties. The value of tax-deferred growth is ignored, as is the fact that "repositioning" of funds shrink the amount available for investment by the tax paid, which greatly distorts his calculations.

Inane or incorrect assertions
(2) He states that the interest on an equity line used to purchase universal life insurance from which you contemplate borrowing is deductible. Under IRC section 264(a)3, it isn't).

Sloppy editing of facts
(2) "One requirement [for withdrawing tax-free income from a Roth IRA] is that a distribution may not be made until at least five years after the first contribution is made." This is incorrect. Principle contributions, which are withdrawn before earnings, can be taken at any time at no cost in tax or penalty.

Poor writing and berating of those who disagree with him
(2) "There are two ways to handle information: ignore it as false or increase your level of understanding to accommodate new ideas." Obviously, we are supposed to accommodate his ideas or we're complete idiots.

(3) There are probably hundreds of examples poor writing. "...Premium payments can be varied, fluctuated, and adjusted according to circumstances..." should be, simply, "Premiums can be adjusted."

Throughout, Andrew uses variations of the typical bunko-artist salesman ploy: scare you into agreeing to do whatever he says because life will be filled with disasters if you don't. On the contrary: your financial life will likely turn into a catastrophe if you do.
Business, Government and Society: A Managerial Perspective
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Business, Government and Society: A Managerial Perspective
George A. Steiner , and John F. Steiner
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill/Irwin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0072994428

Book Description

Business, Government and Society, by Steiner and Steiner, was one of the very first books in this course area and has benefited greatly from the reputation of its authors. George Steiner, the father in this father-and-son team, is one of the pioneers in the field. The text includes coverage of all the distinct content areas and is known for its inclusion of historical background. Each chapter has three elements; (1) a beginning story to illustrate central themes, (2) explanatory text, and (3) a case study inviting debate about events related to the subject area. One of the most complete on the market, the 10th Edition of Business, Government and Society not only covers the stakeholder theory, but also covers a total of four theoretical models for analyzing the actions and duties of corporations.

Customer Reviews:

4 out of 5 stars Fast delivery.......2006-03-24

The book arrives in time and is in good quality. However, the price is considered too high.

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