Volunteering in a positive way

Books 2 Byte
From Seva to Cyberspace
Femida Handy, Meenaz Kassam, Jillian Ingold and Bhagyashree Ranade
(http://www.sagepublications.com/)

Potential of virtual volunteering

Describing Karmayog as ‘an excellent example’ of how technology has impacted volunteering in a positive way, Femida Handy, Meenaz Kassam, Jillian Ingold and Bhagyashree Ranade write in From Seva to Cyberspace: The many faces of volunteering in India that ‘virtual volunteering’ is attracting technologically savvy youth to participate in volunteer projects in India and to collaborate with others globally to make a difference.

More

Tracing the growth of Airtel

Books 2 Byte
Darwin's Brands
Anand Halve
(http://www.sagepublications.com/)

Strategies of successful brands

In 1992, a research firm gave a market report to Bharti Airtel. Talking about it in a media interview, in 2000, Sunil Mittal reminisced that the report had spoken of a market for 5,000 cellular phones in Delhi. “That was one more confirmation that these reports were silly and nonsensical, so we tore and threw it away. Even before the project was up, I was sure that on the first day of booking, we would have 5,000 connections, leave alone the market being that size!” reads a snatch of Mittal-speak cited in ‘Darwin's Brands: Adapting for success' by Anand Halve.

More

Wealth building strategy

BookValue
The Success Principles
Jack Canfield
(HarperCollins)

Begin by writing down your financial goals

To become wealthy, you will need to identify and replace any negative or limiting beliefs you may have about money, says Jack Canfield in ‘The Success Principles: How to get from where you are to where you want to be’ (HarperCollins).

More

The power of ‘yes'

Book Mark
Business at the Speed of Now
John M. Bernard
(http://www.wiley.com/)

Check if you can say ‘yes’ now

Customers increasingly demand the ‘yes’ answer to each and every question they ask, and they want what they want, and they want it now, says John M. Bernard in Business at the Speed of Now.

More

'Think globally'

Books of Account
The Shadow Market
Eric J. Weiner
(http://www.landmarkonthenet.com/)

Follow the ‘smart money'

Rich foreign governments control impressive amounts of capital today, running to several trillions, but they are relatively new to investing, observes Eric J. Weiner in ‘The Shadow Market: How sovereign wealth funds secretly dominate the global economy'.

More

The strategic difference

Books of Account
Good Strategy/Bad Strategy
Richard Rumelt
(http://www.vivagroupindia.com/)

Leverage the ‘pivot point'

When 7-Eleven was expanding its operations in China, what was the outstanding advantage that the company enjoyed? Cleanliness and service, says ‘Good Strategy/Bad Strategy: The difference and why it matters' by Richard Rumelt.

More

The skill of learning new skills

Books of Account
The DNA of Success Stories
Jack Zufelt
(http://www.tatamcgrawhill.com/)

Ability to earn is precious

Your most valuable asset is not your car, furniture, house, investments, or money in the bank, but your ability to earn money, each day, week, month, and year, says Brian Tracy in one of the chapters of ‘The DNA of Success Stories' put together by Jack Zufelt.

More

Google, a biography

Books 2 Byte
I'm Feeling Lucky
Douglas Edwards

‘Hard question' at Google interview

After having worked in Google as employee number 59 from 1999 to 2005, Douglas Edwards finds himself to be impatient with the way the world works. “Why is it so hard to schedule a recording on my DVR? Why aren't all the signal lights synched to keep traffic flowing at optimum speed? Why, if I punch in my account number when I call customer service, do I have to give it to them again when I get a live person?” Listing all these questions in I'm Feeling Lucky , he adds that these are all solvable problems, because smart people, motivated to make things better, can do almost anything.

More

Organisational rigidities

Books 2 Byte
Serial Innovators
Claudio Feser
(http://www.wiley.com/)

Age control for firms

The human brain regularly develops rigidities in the form of biases, lack of self-confidence, and habits; and organisational constructs composed of human beings are no different, underlines Claudio Feser in ‘Serial Innovators: Firms that change the world'.

More

Empty calories of the paper economy

Books of Account
Cannibal Capitalism
Michael Hill
(http://www.wiley.com/)

Starving economy

When exploitation overtakes creation, and investing is trampled by gambling with someone else's money, what you have is the modern form of cannibalism that used to be attributed to ‘some isolated South Pacific tribes or certain pre-colonial African cultures'. In truth, the existence of cannibalism among aboriginal peoples has been greatly exaggerated by the conquistadors and other colonialists to justify their aggression, notes Michael Hill in ‘Cannibal Capitalism: How big business and the Feds are ruining America'.

More

'A key trait of tax havens is opacity'

Books of Account
Tax Havens
Ronen Palan, Richard Murphy, and Christian Chavagneux
(http://www.landmarkonthenet.com/)

Stirring up the havens

A story narrated by Sigmund Freud in ‘The Interpretation of Dreams' is about a man who offered three arguments when accused by his neighbour of having returned a kettle in a damaged condition: That he had returned the kettle undamaged; that it was already damaged when he borrowed it; and that he had never borrowed it in the first place. The three arguments are inconsistent, and Freud notes that it would have been better if he had only used one, explains a Wikipedia page on the ‘Kettle logic.' The arguments offered by tax havens are no different, say Ronen Palan, Richard Murphy, and Christian Chavagneux in ‘Tax Havens: How globalization really works'.

More

For the success of any enterprise ...

BookValue
‘The Art of Effective Giving'
R. M. Lala
(Harper)

Role of philanthropy in business

One of the five ‘guidelines' J. R. D. Tata drew up for himself in 1965 was that no success or achievement in material terms is worthwhile unless it serves the needs or interests of the country and its people and is achieved by fair and honest means. Another guideline, as listed by R. M. Lala in ‘The Art of Effective Giving', is that good human relations not only bring great personal rewards but are essential to the success of any enterprise.

More

Gender equity

Book Mark
Media, Gender, and Popular Culture in India
Sanjukta Dasgupta, Dipankar Sinha, and Sudeshna Chakravarti
(http://www.sagepublications.com/)

Social experiments in gender equity

Originally an introverted game played in Britain and a few of her colonies, cricket has been commoditised and marketed to the maximum possible extent, aided among other factors by technology and epitomised by its latest incarnation Twenty20, write Sanjukta Dasgupta, Dipankar Sinha, and Sudeshna Chakravarti in Media, Gender, and Popular Culture in India: TrackingChange and Continuity.

More

The floor of the New York Stock Exchange

Books of Account
King of the Club
Charles Gasparino
(http://www.landmarkonthenet.com/)

Showmanship on stock exchange

What was the reception that Dick Grasso, the chairman and chief executive of the New York Stock Exchange from 1995 to 2003, got from top technology companies in the mid-1990s? Cold, one learns from ‘King of the Club: Richard Grasso and the survival of the New York Stock Exchange' by Charles Gasparino.

More

Retaining and motivating leaders

Books of Account
Transforming Capitalism
Arun Maira
(Westland)

Carrot-and-stick systems

At a time when the debate about soaring executive compensation rages on, what is required of our CEOs is to examine the underlying theories driving the design of their systems for retaining and motivating leaders, writes Arun Maira in ‘Transforming Capitalism: Improving the world for everyone' (Westland).

More

Simple forecasting disciplines

Books of Account
Ahead of the Curve
Joseph H. Ellis
(http://www.landmarkonthenet.com/)

Let go of anecdotal economics

Teaching of economics needs to include a more pragmatic approach, says Joseph H. Ellis in ‘Ahead of the Curve: A commonsense guide to forecasting business and market cycles'. He argues that both the beginning and advanced students need to know more about the relationships between key macroeconomic data series, especially how these series have played out against each other over time.

More

88 time-tested Mafia strategies

Books 2 Byte
Mob Rules
Louis Ferrante
(http://www.landmarkonthenet.com/)

Mafia lessons for business

Niccolò Machiavelli tells us to gain and keep the upper hand by any means, that there is no such thing as justice, honour, or integrity, and that morality should play no part in our dealings, unless we are pretending, but he failed to address that little idea called karma, writes Louis Ferrante in ‘Mob Rules: What the Mafia can teach the legitimate businessman’.

More

Financial planning

BookValue
In Search of the Perfect Model
Mary Rowland
(http://www.landmarkonthenet.com/)

Holistic financial planning

To those who are looking for ‘the distinctive business strategies of leading financial planners,' a handy reference can be Mary Rowland's ‘In Search of the Perfect Model'. Though not a new book, it introduces you to the world of advisers who continually raise the bar, to ‘some of the most creative minds in the industry.'

More

Many choices but only one customer

Book Mark
The Old Rules of Marketing are Dead
Timothy R. Pearson
(http://www.tatamcgrawhill.com/)

It pays to stick to the core

Marketers cannot sit idly by and let others make decisions on customer service, reputation management, pricing, distribution, or the myriad other issues that must be confronted; marketing must lead, says Timothy R. Pearson in The Old Rules of Marketing are Dead: 6 New Rules to Reinvent Your Brand & Reignite Your Business.

More