Listening or Financial Shenanigans

Listening: The Forgotten Skill

Author: Madelyn Burley Allen

A proven program for turning effective listening into a powerful business tool Managers and other employees spend more than 40 percent of their time listening to other people but often do it so poorly that the result is misunderstood instructions, misdirected projects, and erroneous actions—millions of dollars’ worth of mistakes just because most people don’t know how to listen. In this new edition of her classic guide to the art of effective listening, Madelyn Burley-Allen shows you how to acquire active, productive listening skills and put them to work for you—professionally, socially, and personally. With her time-tested techniques, you’ll learn how to:

• Eliminate distractions and improve your concentration on what is being said
• Locate key words, phrases, and ideas while listening
• Cut through your own listening biases
• Interpret body language clues
• Ask constructive, nonthreatening questions that elicit real information
• Get others to listen to you
• Master a whole range of listening skills that you can use on the job and in your personal life

Listening: The Forgotten Skill uses an interactive learning approach with work-sheets, charts, graphs, and self-tests that help you pace and monitor your own progress.

Table of Contents:

	Preface
	Acknowledgments
1	What Is Listening and What Can It Do for You?	1
2	How You Got to Be the Listener You Are	22
3	Barriers between Listener and Speaker	46
4	Listening to Yourself	82
5	Making Listening Work for You	106
6	Getting Others to Listen to You	139
7	Putting It All Together	168
	Notes	187
	Suggested Reading	189
	Index	191

Interesting textbook: Toxic Congregation or Group Psychotherapy with Addicted Populations

Financial Shenanigans: How to Detect Accounting Gimmicks and Fraud in Financial Reports

Author: Howard M Schilit

Techniques to uncover and avoid accounting frauds and scamsInflated profits . . . Suspicious write-offs . . . Shifted expenses . . . These and other dubious financial maneuvers have taken on a contemporary twist as companies pull out the stops in seeking to satisfy Wall Street. Financial Shenanigans pulls back the curtain on the current climate of accounting fraud. It presents tools that anyone who is potentially affected by misleading business valuations­­from investors and lenders to managers and auditors­­can use to research and read financial reports, and to identify early warning signs of a company's problems. A bestseller in its first edition, Financial Shenanigans has been thoroughly updated for today's marketplace. New chapters, data, and research reveal contemporary "shenanigans" that have been known to fool even veteran researchers.

Howard M. Schilit, Ph.D., CPA, is president of the Center for Financial Research and Analysis (CFRA), a leading independent financial research organization, and is one of today's leading authorities on detecting accounting gimmicks. Dr. Schilit, a former professor at American University, has been quoted or featured in numerous business publications including The Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek, Fortune, and The New York Times, and has appeared on CNBC, CNN, and other networks. He is also the coauthor of Blue Chips and Hot Tips.

Contemporary Strategy Analysis or Rich Woman

Contemporary Strategy Analysis

Author: Robert M Grant

The pre-eminent strategy text in the field on both sides of the Atlantic has been significantly updated and revised in its latest edition. Introducing students, especially MBA candidates, to the core concepts and principles of strategy, the text combines a rigorous approach to business strategy analysis with lively examples of current practice.

• Now includes thorough coverage of internet-based strategies, fresh examples of resource-based competitive advantage, additional case illustrations in every chapter, and new self-study questions
  
• Features a new two-colour design throughout with high-spec artwork
  
• Introduces students to the core concepts and principles of strategy, and offers them the tools they need to formulate and implement these
  
• Combines Grant’s renowned rigorous approach to business strategy analysis with lively examples of current practice
  
• Supported by a range of online resources, including a guide for instructors and downloadable PowerPoint slides for students, available at blackwellpublishing.com/grant

Read also Peas or Cooking the Vietnamese Way

Rich Woman: A Book on Investing for Women - Because I Hate Being Told What to Do!

Author: Kim Kiyosaki

Why do so many women accept the myth that men are better at investing? RICH WOMAN - which was self-published by The Rich Dad Company — addresses this self-sabotaging habit head on and teaches women the essentials about finance. Key sections include:

• The First Four Keys to Being a Successful Investor - Arm yourself with some financial education, start small, put a little money down, and stay close to home.

• How to Get Smarter Quickly - Financial jargon can be intimidating. Kim Kiyosaki teaches the three easy rules to raising your financial IQ — increase your vocabulary every day, ask the basic questions about money, and don't worry about asking the wrong questions.

• Why Women Make Great Investors - A recent Merrill Lynch report revealed that only 35 percent of women hold onto a losing investment for too long while 47 percent of men are guilty of the same mistake. Learn the strengths that women often have as investors.

This book is for you if you:

• never want to lose sleep over money again

• want to take control of your financial future

• and are tired of looking for a "rich Prince Charming" and demand financial independence!

What People Are Saying

"This book is a must read for all women. Today, more than ever, women need to be financially savvy." —Donald Trump

Management of Organizational Behavior or Strategic Management

Management of Organizational Behavior: Leading Human Resources

Author: Paul Hersey

Used by more than a million people throughout the world, this highly readable book provides a comprehensive examination of the applied behavioral sciences, and focuses on fundamental ideas which have stood the test of years of application in academic, business, not-for-profit and administrative environments. Complete coverage of motivation and behavior, situational leadership, building effective relationships, planning and implementing change, leadership strategies, the organizational cone and integrating situational leadership with the Classics. For individuals interested in expanding their knowledge of, and proficiency in leadership strategies.

Interesting book: The Wilderness Chef or Joy of Eating

Strategic Management: Competitiveness and Globalization, Concepts and Cases

Author: Michael A Hitt

STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT: COMPETITIVENESS AND GLOBALIZATION, CONCEPTS AND CASES Eighth Edition, is a comprehensive Strategic Management text that combines impeccable scholarship; cutting-edge research; a sophisticated and practical global focus; and the most thorough, up-to-date, and relevant business examples and cases available. Now, this seminal business text is enhanced by the addition of powerful new media and technology resources, including an updated video program, CengageNOW online teaching tools, and the Business and Company Resource Center (BCRC)—a complete electronic business library. The highly respected authors, all active teachers and experts in the strategic management field, use a unique model that blends classic industrial organization with a resource-based view of the firm to explain how real-world businesses use strategic management to build a sustained competitive advantage. The text includes current and relevant examples to provide context for key concepts, outstanding figures and models to illustrate key points, and a case study section containing engaging and exemplary cases that cover a broad range of critical issues confronting mangers today.

Table of Contents:

Pt. 1	Strategic Management Inputs
Ch. 1	Strategic Management and Strategic Competitiveness	2
Ch. 2	The External Environment: Opportunities, Threats, Industry Competition, and Competitor Analysis	46
Ch. 3	The Internal Environment: Resources, Capabilities, and Core Competencies	92
Pt. 2	Strategic Actions: Strategy Formulation
Ch. 4	Business-Level Strategy	140
Ch. 5	Competitive Dynamics	184
Ch. 6	Corporate-Level Strategy	228
Ch. 7	Acquisition and Restructuring Strategies	272
Ch. 8	International Strategy	312
Ch. 9	Cooperative Strategy	358
Pt. 3	Strategic Actions: Strategy Implementation
Ch. 10	Corporate Governance	400
Ch. 11	Organizational Structure and Controls	440
Ch. 12	Strategic Leadership	484
Ch. 13	Corporate Enterpreneurship and Innovation	520
Pt. 4	Cases

Rich Dads Success Stories or The Informant

Rich Dad's Success Stories: Real Life Success Stories from Real Life People Who Followed the Rich Dad Lessons

Author: Robert T Kiyosaki

and/or stickers showing their discounted price. More about bargain books

Table of Contents:

	Preface	vii
	Introduction	xi
Part I	It's How You Play the Game
Chapter 1	Money Matters from Ed and Terry Colman	5
Chapter 2	We Mind Our Own Businesses from Tracy Rodriguez	19
Chapter 3	Never Too Late from Cecilia Morrison	27
Part II	Where You've Been, Where You Can Go
Chapter 4	Building Confidence One Property at a Time from David Lukas	35
Chapter 5	A Different Education from Valerie L. Collymore, M.D.	43
Chapter 6	Step Up to the Plate from Reed J. Schweizer	59
Chapter 7	The Root of All That Is Good from Dan McKenzie	69
Part III	A Different Focus
Chapter 8	Better Than Winning the Lottery from Thomas G. Kotula	87
Chapter 9	A Mutual Decision from Wade and Carol Yamamoto	97
Chapter 10	The Power of Three from Merced Hall	105
Chapter 11	Change of Mind from Ken Hobson	123
Part IV	Never Too Young to Achieve Financial Success
Chapter 12	Never Too Early from Allison Kubala	137
Chapter 13	Playing a Winning Game from Jake Colman	139
Chapter 14	We Want to H.E.L.P. from David Hosei and Michael Slate	145
Part V	A New Way to Do Business
Chapter 15	Accounting for Ourselves from Tom Wheelwright	163
Chapter 16	A New Strategy from Brian Eagleheart	169
Chapter 17	Fast Learner from Michelle LaBrosse, PMP	175
Chapter 18	No Limits from Terri Bowersock	181
Part VI	Life-Changing Events
Chapter 19	Greener Pastures from Stacey Baker	191
Chapter 20	A Winning Strategy from Yong-Sik Shin	201
Chapter 21	On the Edge of Retirement from Ronald Hoard	207
Chapter 22	Second Chance from Michael Maritzen	215

Books about: Packaging Girlhood or Ever Wonder Why

The Informant: A True Story

Author: Kurt Eichenwald

In The Informant, award-winning investigative reporter and New York Times bestselling author Kurt Eichenwald tells the outrageously true story of greed, corruption, and conspiracy that left the FBI and Justice Department counting on the cooperation of one man. Now headed for the silver screen, the film adaptation of The Informant is being directed by Academy Award-winning director Steven Soderbergh, with Matt Damon set to portray Marc Whitacre, the executive who wore a wire for the FBI as they tried to bring down corporate giant Archer Daniels Midland—but whose dark secrets and hidden agenda threatened to unravel one of the largest price-fixing cases in history.

BusinessWeek - Mike France

Using loads of new evidence and indepth interviews with players on every side of the drama, Eichenwald constructs one of the most compelling business narratives since Barbarians at the Gate.

Booknews

A reporter reveals the script-like convoluted tale, complete with a cast of main characters, of an Archer Daniels Midland executive who acted as an FBI informant to uncover a price- fixing conspiracy at this powerful US corporation in the mid-1990s. Lacks an index. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

New York Times Book Review - Bryan Burrough

Eichenwald has written what may be the best business narrative since the early 1980's . . . The writing is lean, spare and without pretense.

New York Times - Allan Sloan

...within a few pages the reader is hooked. I knew how the story ended, but I still couldn't put the book down...The Informant is a good and valuable book. Its reporting is extraordinary and sucks you in. It shows how in big business life can imitate art. And Mr. Eichenwald didn't even have to make any of it up.

What People Are Saying

Liz Smith
I'm going to recommend a dilly of a book. Kurt Eichenwald's The Informant ... This is the true tale of how one man, Mark Whitacre, became a secret goverment witness in the Archer Daniel Midland conspiracy. (ADM was scheming to steal millions from its customers.) The book reads like John Grisham on acid, and once begun, you can't put it down. On par with A Civil Action, it would also make a fascinating movie. Super agent Freya Manston has a hit with author Eichenwald. Critic Bryan Burrough said, "One of the best non-fiction books of the decade."

Petrostate or Servant Leadership 25th Anniversary

Petrostate: Putin, Power, and the New Russia

Author: Marshall I Goldman

In the aftermath of the financial collapse of August 1998, it looked as if Russia's day as a superpower had come and gone. That it should recover and reassert itself after less than a decade is nothing short of an economic and political miracle.
Based on extensive research, including several interviews with Vladimir Putin, this revealing book chronicles Russia's dramatic reemergence on the world stage, illuminating the key reason for its rebirth: the use of its ever-expanding energy wealth to reassert its traditional great power ambitions. In his deft, informative narrative, Marshall Goldman traces how this has come to be, and how Russia is using its oil-based power as a lever in world politics. The book provides an informative overview of oil in Russia, traces Vladimir Putin's determined effort to reign in the upstart oil oligarchs who had risen to power in the post-Soviet era, and describes Putin's efforts to renationalize and refashion Russia's industries into state companies and his vaunted "national champions" corporations like Gazprom, largely owned by the state, who do the bidding of the state. Goldman shows how Russia paid off its international debt and has gone on to accumulate the world's third largest holdings of foreign currency reserves--all by becoming the world's largest producer of petroleum and the world's second largest exporter. Today, Vladimir Putin and his cohort have stabilized the Russian economy and recentralized power in Moscow, and fossil fuels (oil and natural gas) have made it all possible.
The story of oil and gas in Russia is a tale of discovery, intrigue, corruption, wealth, misguidance, greed, patronage, nepotism, and power.Marshall Goldman tells this story with panache, as only one of the world's leading authorities on Russia could.

Table of Contents:

List of Figures and Tables

Introduction Russia - Once Again an Energy Superpower 1

Ch. 1 Russia as an Early Energy Superpower 17

Ch. 2 World War II to 1987: Russia Looks Inward and Outward 33

Ch. 3 Pirates Unleashed: Privatization in the Post-Soviet Era 55

Ch. 4 Post-1998 Recovery: The Petroleum Export Bonanza 73

Ch. 5 Putin Takes Over: The Return of the Czar 93

Ch. 6 Natural Gas: Russia's New Secret Weapon 136

Ch. 7 Russia: The Unrestrained Super Energy Power 170

Notes 211

Glossary of People and Companies 225

Index 231

Book review: Hugo Black or The Chemistry and Technology of Petroleum

Servant Leadership 25th Anniversary

Author: Robert K Greenleaf

Robert K. Greenleaf, who died in 1990, has been a powerful voice in the dialogue to reshape management and leadership policy. He developed his theory of servent leadership while an executive at AT&T, and subsequently lectured at MIT, Harvard Business School, Dartmouth College and the University of Virginia. The Center for Applied Ethics, which he founded, eventually became the Robert K. Greenleaf Center, located in Indianapolis.

What People Are Saying

John Carver
I am convinced, as a governance theorist and practitioner, that responsible board behavior is impossible in the absence of the servant leadership Robert Greenleaf helped us all to understand. This Silver Anniversary edition of Servant Leadership is both symbol and substance on the shelf of anyone blessed with the opportunity to lead. (author of Boards That Make a Difference)

Sr. Joel Read
Robert Greenleaf conceived the idea of servant leadership during a time of chaos in the United States--the late 60's. But by exploring his idea in the multiple essays gathered in this book, he left a legacy by which people in very different times can continue to be inspired and motivated. The power of his idea and his evolving understanding and expression of it is forever available to us through this book. (President, Alverno College)

William Pollard
During the last quarter of a century, Robert Greenleaf and his writings have been used to instruct, encourage and motivate leaders to serve as they lead. We have all benefited from his work and have been reminded that no leader is greater than the people he or she leads, and even the humblest of tasks, just as Jesus taught his disciples over 2000 years ago, is worthy for a leader to do. (Chairman, Servicemaster, author ofThe Soul of the Firm)

Dee Hock
Servant Leadership is a timeless, classic book not only because there was no conflict between the man, Robert Greenleaf, his beliefs, his deeds and what he wrote about them, but because we know he was right, even when we fail to do it. (Founder and CEO Emeritus, VISA International )