Morality: Restoring the Common Good in Divided Times


Jonathan Sacks - 2020
    With liberal democracy embattled, public discourse grown toxic, family life breaking down, and drug abuse and depression on the rise, many fear what the future holds. In Morality, respected faith leader and public intellectual Jonathan Sacks traces today's crisis to our loss of a strong, shared moral code and our elevation of self-interest over the common good. We have outsourced morality to the market and the state, but neither is capable of showing us how to live. Sacks leads readers from ancient Greece to the Enlightenment to the present day to show that there is no liberty without morality and no freedom without responsibility, arguing that we all must play our part in rebuilding a common moral foundation. A major work of moral philosophy, Morality is an inspiring vision of a world in which we can all find our place and face the future without fear.

Nonprofit Management: Principles and Practice


Michael J. Worth - 2008
    Essential for the classroom. -Robert Silverman, University at Buffalo Nonprofit Management: Principles and Practice, the first comprehensive textbook written for the Nonprofit Management course, covers such topics as the scope and structure of the nonprofit sector, leadership of nonprofits, managing the nonprofit organization, fundraising, nonprofit enterprise, financial management, collaborations and mergers, nonprofit lobbying and advocacy, and international trends. Written specifically for students, this text integrates research, theory, and the practitioner literature and includes more than is found in the more prescriptive, practitioner-oriented alternatives. Providing an overview suitable for students enrolled in their first course in the field, the book also includes cases and discussions of advanced issues for those with experience. Key FeaturesTakes a balanced approach to varied perspectives and controversial issues and encompasses traditional concepts as well as new approaches and thinking Integrates social sciences research, management theory, and practitioner literature Includes mini-cases to enhance student understanding of the issues involved in real-world situations Gives students direction on where to go in the literature to learn more through chapter-ending Suggestions for Further Reading Includes Questions for Discussion at the end of each chapter to help students apply chapter content to actual nonprofit organizationsAccompanied by High-Quality Ancillaries This text is supported by Instructor Resources on CD, featuring sample syllabi, suggested exercises and discussion questions, PowerPoint slides, and more. This CD is available to qualified instructors by contacting Customer Care at 1-800-818-SAGE (7243) from 6 am 5 pm, PST. Nonprofit Management is ideal for courses in Nonprofit Management, Not-for-Profit Management, and Public Management.

The Power of Noticing: What the Best Leaders See


Max H. Bazerman - 2014
    The Power of Noticing provides the blueprint for accomplishing precisely that. Max Bazerman, an expert in the field of applied behavioral psychology, draws on three decades of research and his experience instructing Harvard Business School MBAs and corporate executives to teach you how to notice and act on information that may not be immediately obvious.Drawing on a wealth of real-world examples, from the Challenger Space Shuttle disaster to Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme, Bazerman diagnoses what information went ignored in these situations, and why. Using many of the same case studies and thought experiments designed in his executive MBA classes, he challenges readers to explore their cognitive blind spots, identify any salient details they are programmed to miss, and then take steps to ensure it won’t happen again. While many bestselling business books have explained how susceptible to manipulation our irrational cognitive blindspots make us, Bazerman helps you avoid the habits that lead to poor decisions and ineffective leadership in the first place. His book provides a step-by-step guide to breaking bad habits and spotting the hidden details that will change your decision-making and leadership skills for the better, teaching you to: pay attention to what didn’t happen; acknowledge self-interest; invent the third choice; and realize that what you see is not all there is.With The Power of Noticing at your side, you can learn how to notice what others miss, make better decisions, and lead more successfully.

The Art of War for Women: Sun Tzu's Ancient Strategies and Wisdom for Winning at Work


Sun Tzu - 2002
    This brilliant adaptation of the ancient masterpiece The Art of War shows women how to use Sun Tzu’s philosophy to win in every aspect of life.Would you like to transform your weaknesses into strengths? Succeed at work without compromising your ethics? Integrate your style and personal philosophy into every action you take? If so, this book is for you. In The Art of War for Women, bestselling author Chin-Ning Chu brings the eternal wisdom of philosopher-general Sun Tzu to women looking to gain a better understanding of who they are – and, more importantly, who they want to be. In the West, when we think of war, we imagine battle, casualties, brutality. But Sun Tzu, the man who wrote the Art of War some 2,500 years ago, was Chinese, and the Chinese think of war differently than we do in the West. In their view, war does not revolve around fighting. It is about determining the most efficient way of gaining victory with the least amount of conflict.That’s why Sun Tzu’s Art of War is particularly appropriate for women. Let’s face it, as intelligent and accomplished as we may be, there are very few of us who are comfortable with direct confrontation or situations where our triumph means someone else’s defeat. We are natural negotiators and problem solvers; most of us prefer win-win situations to those in which winner-takes-all.But there is another reason The Art of War is particularly appropriate for us. Although Sun Tzu’s book is about the application of strategies, every one of those strategies begins with having a deep understanding of the people and the world around us. They also require us to understand ourselves – our strengths and weaknesses, our goals and fears. In other words, the aim is not to apply a series of rules coldly and dispassionately, but rather to integrate ourselves and our unique talents into the strategies we will employ. This is not a feel-good book. (But you will feel good after reading it.) It is not a motivational book. (But you will be motivated to achieve what you want, once you are done.) Ultimately, its purpose it to provide women with the strategies we all need to overcome the obstacles that stand in the way of our goals and dreams. Sun Tzu’s Art of War is the most influential book on strategy ever published, selling tens of millions of copies worldwide in several editions. Written by one of today’s foremost authorities on Sun Tzu, The Art of War for Women is sure to become a classic in its own right.

Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work


Steven Kotler - 2017
    Over the past decade, Silicon Valley executives like Eric Schmidt and Elon Musk, Special Operators like the Navy SEALs and the Green Berets, and maverick scientists like Sasha Shulgin and Amy Cuddy have turned everything we thought we knew about high performance upside down. Instead of grit, better habits, or 10,000 hours, these trailblazers have found a surprising short cut. They're harnessing rare and controversial states of consciousness to solve critical challenges and outperform the competition.New York Times bestselling author Steven Kotler and high performance expert Jamie Wheal spent four years investigating the leading edges of this revolution—from the home of SEAL Team Six to the Googleplex, the Burning Man festival, Richard Branson’s Necker Island, Red Bull’s training center, Nike’s innovation team, and the United Nations’ Headquarters. And what they learned was stunning: In their own ways, with differing languages, techniques, and applications, every one of these groups has been quietly seeking the same thing: the boost in information and inspiration that altered states provide.Today, this revolution is spreading to the mainstream, fueling a trillion dollar underground economy and forcing us to rethink how we can all lead richer, more productive, more satisfying lives. Driven by four accelerating forces—psychology, neurobiology, technology and pharmacology—we are gaining access to and insights about some of the most contested and misunderstood terrain in history. Stealing Fire is a provocative examination of what’s actually possible; a guidebook for anyone who wants to radically upgrade their life.

The Misfit Economy: Lessons in Creativity from Pirates, Hackers, Gangsters and Other Informal Entrepreneurs


Alexa Clay - 2015
    The usual suspects.This book isn’t about them. It’s about people you’ve never heard of. It’s about people who are just as innovative, entrepreneurial, and visionary as the Jobses, Edisons, and Fords of the world, except they’re not in Silicon Valley. They’re in the street markets of Sao Paulo and Guangzhou, the rubbish dumps of Lagos, the flooded coastal towns of Thailand. They are pirates, slum dwellers, computer hackers, dissidents, and inner city gang members.Across the globe, diverse innovators operating in the black, grey, and informal economies are developing solutions to a myriad of challenges. Far from being “deviant entrepreneurs” that pose threats to our social and economic stability, these innovators display remarkable ingenuity, pioneering original methods and practices that we can learn from and apply to move formal markets.This book investigates the stories of underground innovation that make up the Misfit Economy. It examines the teeming genius of the underground. It asks: Who are these unknown visionaries? How do they work? How do they organize themselves? How do they catalyze innovation? And ultimately, how can you take these lessons into your own world?

The Rational Optimist: How Prosperity Evolves


Matt Ridley - 2010
    Food availability, income, and life span are up; disease, child mortality, and violence are down — all across the globe. Though the world is far from perfect, necessities and luxuries alike are getting cheaper; population growth is slowing; Africa is following Asia out of poverty; the Internet, the mobile phone, and container shipping are enriching people’s lives as never before. The pessimists who dominate public discourse insist that we will soon reach a turning point and things will start to get worse. But they have been saying this for two hundred years.Yet Matt Ridley does more than describe how things are getting better. He explains why. Prosperity comes from everybody working for everybody else. The habit of exchange and specialization—which started more than 100,000 years ago—has created a collective brain that sets human living standards on a rising trend. The mutual dependence, trust, and sharing that result are causes for hope, not despair.This bold book covers the entire sweep of human history, from the Stone Age to the Internet, from the stagnation of the Ming empire to the invention of the steam engine, from the population explosion to the likely consequences of climate change. It ends with a confident assertion that thanks to the ceaseless capacity of the human race for innovative change, and despite inevitable disasters along the way, the twenty-first century will see both human prosperity and natural biodiversity enhanced. Acute, refreshing, and revelatory, The Rational Optimist will change your way of thinking about the world for the better.

Throwing Rocks at the Google Bus: How Growth Became the Enemy of Prosperity


Douglas Rushkoff - 2016
    Social networks surrender their original missions to more immediately profitable data mining, while brokerage houses abandon value investing for algorithms that drain markets and our 401ks alike--all tactics driven by the need to stoke growth by any means necessary. Instead of taking this opportunity to reprogram our economy for sustainability, we have doubled down on growth as its core command. We have reached the limits of this approach. We must escape the growth trap, once and for all. Media scholar and technology author Douglas Rushkoff--one of today's most original and influential thinkers--argues for a new economic program that utilizes the unique distributive power of the internet while breaking free of the winner-take-all system the growth trap leaves in its wake. Drawing on sources both contemporary and historical, Rushkoff pioneers a new understanding of the old economic paradigm, from central currency to debt to corporations and labor.Most importantly, he offers a series of practical steps for businesses, consumers, investors, and policymakers to remake the economic operating system from the inside out--and prosper along the way. Instead of boycotting Wal-Mart or overtaxing the wealthy, we simply implement strategies that foster the creation of value by stakeholders other than just ourselves. From our currency to our labor to the corporation, every aspect of the economy can be reprogrammed with minimal disruption to create a more equitably distributed prosperity for all.Inspiring and challenging, Throwing Rocks at the Google Bus provides a pragmatic, optimistic, and human-centered model for economic progress in the digital age.

Action Research


Ernest T. Stringer - 1996
    Updated web links and expanded appendices provide cutting edge information on action research along with new case studies and examples.

Confucius Lives Next Door: What Living in the East Teaches Us About Living in the West


T.R. Reid - 1999
    A plainspoken account of living in Asia."  --San Francisco ChronicleAnyone who has heard his weekly commentary on NPR knows that T. R. Reid is trenchant, funny, and deeply knowledgeable reporter and now he brings this erudition and humor to the five years he spent in Japan--where he served as The Washington Post's Tokyo bureau chief.  He provides unique insights into the country and its 2,500-year-old Confucian tradition, a powerful ethical system that has played an integral role in the continent's "postwar miracle."Whether describing his neighbor calmly asserting that his son's loud bass playing brings disrepute on the neighborhood, or the Japanese custom of having students clean the schools, Reid inspires us to consider the many benefits of the Asian Way--as well as its drawbacks--and to use this to come to a greater understanding of both Japanese culture and America.

Strategic Marketing Management


Philip Kotler - 2008
    For business students, the theory advanced in this book is an essential tool for understanding the logic and the key aspects of the marketing process. For managers and consultants, this book presents a conceptual framework that will help develop an overarching strategy for day-to-day decisions involving product and service design, branding, pricing, promotions, and distribution. For senior executives, the book provides a big-picture approach for developing new marketing campaigns and evaluating the success of ongoing marketing programs.

Good to Great to Gone: The 60 Year Rise and Fall of Circuit City


Alan Wurtzel - 2012
    For almost 50 years, Circuit City was able to successfully navigate the constant changes in the consumer electronics marketplace and meet consumer demand and taste preferences. But with the subsequent decline and ultimate demise of Circuit City in 2009, Wurtzel had the rare perspective of a former company insider in the role of an outsider looking in.Believing that there is no singular formula for strategy, Wurtzel emphasizes the “Habits of Mind” that influence critical management decisions. With key takeaways at the end of each chapter, Wurtzel offers advice and guidance to ensure any business stays on track, even in the wake of disruption, a changing consumer landscape, and new competitors.Part social history, part cautionary tale, and part business strategy guide, Good to Great to Gone: The 60 Year Rise and Fall of Circuit City features a memorable story with critical leadership lessons.

The Well-Dressed Ape: A Natural History of Myself


Hannah Holmes - 2008
    Book by Holmes, Hannah

The Sum of Small Things: A Theory of the Aspirational Class


Elizabeth Currid-Halkett - 2017
    Highly educated and defined by cultural capital rather than income bracket, these individuals earnestly buy organic, carry NPR tote bags, and breast-feed their babies. They care about discreet, inconspicuous consumption--like eating free-range chicken and heirloom tomatoes, wearing organic cotton shirts and TOMS shoes, and listening to the Serial podcast. They use their purchasing power to hire nannies and housekeepers, to cultivate their children's growth, and to practice yoga and Pilates. In The Sum of Small Things, Elizabeth Currid-Halkett dubs this segment of society "the aspirational class" and discusses how, through deft decisions about education, health, parenting, and retirement, the aspirational class reproduces wealth and upward mobility, deepening the ever-wider class divide.Exploring the rise of the aspirational class, Currid-Halkett considers how much has changed since the 1899 publication of Thorstein Veblen's Theory of the Leisure Class. In that inflammatory classic, which coined the phrase "conspicuous consumption," Veblen described upper-class frivolities: men who used walking sticks for show, and women who bought silver flatware despite the effectiveness of cheaper aluminum utensils. Now, Currid-Halkett argues, the power of material goods as symbols of social position has diminished due to their accessibility. As a result, the aspirational class has altered its consumer habits away from overt materialism to more subtle expenditures that reveal status and knowledge. And these transformations influence how we all make choices.With a rich narrative and extensive interviews and research, The Sum of Small Things illustrates how cultural capital leads to lifestyle shifts and what this forecasts, not just for the aspirational class but for everyone.

The Dictator's Handbook: Why Bad Behavior is Almost Always Good Politics


Bruce Bueno de Mesquita - 2011
    They start from a single assertion: Leaders do whatever keeps them in power. They don’t care about the “national interest”—or even their subjects—unless they have to. This clever and accessible book shows that the difference between tyrants and democrats is just a convenient fiction. Governments do not differ in kind but only in the number of essential supporters, or backs that need scratching. The size of this group determines almost everything about politics: what leaders can get away with, and the quality of life or misery under them. The picture the authors paint is not pretty. But it just may be the truth, which is a good starting point for anyone seeking to improve human governance.