'Get moving, or get out of the way'

Books of Account
Bank 2.0
Brett King
(http://www.landmarkonthenet.com/)

Survival code for tomorrow's banks

When customers are not going back to the old ways of banking, the only option you have as a bank is to move forward with them; else they will pass right by you, at warp speed, observes Brett King in ‘Bank 2.0: How customer behaviour and technology will change the future of financial services'.

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Level of innovation

BookValue
Ethics and the world of Finance
Vishwanath Pandit
(http://www.sssihl.edu.in/)

A search for the soul of finance

To understand the recent financial meltdown, Mr Vishwanath Pandit, a former vice-chancellor of Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning, turns the pages of the epic Mahabharata, which he calls ‘a tale of ruin caused by individual and collective greed, with scant regard to discretion.'

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Make sure to provide customers with rich, stimulating environments

Book Mark
A Little Less Conversation
Tom Asacker
(http://www.macmillanpublishersindia.com/)

Content matters most in social interaction

Do people read blogs and interact on social networking platforms simply for the information there? No, says Tom Asacker in A Little Less Conversation: Connecting with Customers in a Noisy World.

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Business ethics

Books of Account
Management for Social Enterprise
Bob Doherty, George Foster, Chris Mason, John Meehan, Karon Meehan, Neil Rotheroe, and Maureen Royce
(http://www.sagepublications.com/)

Sustainable experiments in the social sphere

An interesting case study about business ethics in Management for Social Enterprise is that of Divine Chocolate Ltd. Its mission is to ‘improve the lives and opportunities of small-scale cocoa farmers in West Africa by establishing a dynamic, branded fair trade chocolate marketing company in the large UK chocolate market, thus putting the farmers higher up the value chain.'

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Innovation in China

Books 2 Byte

Chinnovation

Yinglan Tan

(http://www.wiley.com/)

A window into China's innovation engine

A new era is under way for global high-tech innovation and entrepreneurship, marked by the rise of China, declares Yinglan Tan in Chinnovation: How Chinese innovators are changing the world.

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Contextual sensitivity

BookValue
In Search of Change Maestros
Pritam Singh and Asha Bhandarker
(http://www.sagepublications.com/)

Gurus of wisdom in the business arena

You may find the gurus of wisdom in the Himalayas, but they also exist in the hardcore business arena, impacting many lives and also putting an indelible mark on the company's history, discover Pritam Singh and Asha Bhandarker in In Search of Change Maestros.

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The lure of Chinese markets

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Doing Business in China
Chris Torrens
(http://www.vivagroupindia.com/)

Abiding lure of China as a business destination

Prospects in China often look far more attractive to foreign executives looking at China from the West or making short visits to the country than they do to the business people living in China, writes Chris Torrens in Doing Business in China: A Guide to the Risks and the Rewards.

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‘Inequality regimes'

Books of Account
‘Professional Men, Professional Women'
Maria Malatesta
(http://www.sagepublications.com/)

Feminisation of the accountancy profession

In recent decades, the economic-accounting sector has recorded a boom in the female presence, writes Maria Malatesta in ‘Professional Men, Professional Women: The European professions from the nineteenth century until today'.

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Automation helps an organisation achieve multiple objectives

Books 2 Byte
Automation Testing
Saurabh Chandra
(http://www.tatamcgrawhill.com/)

Disciplined testing is winning code

When the software market started becoming competitive, the focus of organisations shifted to releasing high-quality software products from just software products, writes Saurabh Chandra in Automation Testing.

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Flyover shock

BookValue
From the Brink of Bankruptcy
Vinay Bharat-Ram
(Penguin)

Chronicles of a classical corporate

Seeing the start-ups of today forging ahead, Vinay Bharat-Ram feels wistful. “We could have been part of India’s growth story, but that was not to be, at least not during the past fifteen years of my life,” he rues in ‘From the Brink of Bankruptcy: The DCM story’ (Penguin). “Nevertheless, if keeping the dam from bursting can be called an achievement, we have achieved much,” adds the author.

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Every game means something

Book Mark
Standing My Ground
Matthew Hayden
(Harper)

Tests deserve a bigger audience

"Speaking as a player, there is nothing more exciting and challenging than the opportunity to play amongst the best players in the world. The Twenty20 format is high-impact, colourful and attractive. I truly believe the formula works and that the IPL, the world's premier franchise competition, is here to stay,” reads a snatch from his book Standing My Ground (Harper).

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'A Players' - the best of the best employees

Books 2 Byte
Built on Values
Ann Rhoades
(http://www.josseybass.com/)

Craft the culture that connects your people

How much time would it take for a company to determine its new values and behaviours for a culture change? It can be done within two days, proves the example of Juniper Networks, narrated by Ann Rhoades in Built on Values: Creating an enviable culture that outperforms the competition.

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A guide for market analysts

BookValue
Writing Securities Research
Jeremy Bolland
(http://www.wiley.com/)

Writing tips for market analysts

The choice of words used gives the reader an impression of how the analyst thinks, Jeremy Bolland notes in Writing Securities Research: A best practice guide, second edition.

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Find work that taps your talent

Manage Mentor
Great Work Great Career
Stephen R. Covey and Jennifer Colosimo
(FranklinCovey Publishing)

Prepare your contribution statement

The reassuring message of Great Work Great Career by Stephen R. Covey and Jennifer Colosimo (FranklinCovey Publishing) is that anyone can have a great career, irrespective of the line of work.

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Much about costing

Books of Account
China Inside out
Bill Dodson
(http://www.wiley.com/)

Cost, currency and finance dynamics in China

To those who do not think much about costing, it can be shocking to read in China Inside Out about how ‘classified costing information of the Chinese steel companies involved in benchmark negotiations' allegedly found in Rio Tinto's hard disks was seen as ‘theft of state secrets.' ...
A chapter called ‘The global sugar daddy' – in the book sub-titled ‘10 irreversible trends reshaping China and its relationship with the world' – opens by introducing us to Stern Hu, one of the jailed employees, as ‘a Chinese, a naturalised Australian citizen sent to China to be the lead negotiator representing the interests of Rio Tinto, one of the largest producers of iron ore in the world.'
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Design decision

Books 2 Byte
Game Cultures
Jon Dovey and Helen W. Kennedy
(http://www.tatamcgrawhill.com/)

Insights of value from computer gaming

Just as the US military is able to use games as a recruitment and training tool, so too oppositional groups use the potential of games to offer a powerful way of creating counter-propaganda, write Jon Dovey and Helen W. Kennedy in ‘Game Cultures: Computer games as new media' .

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Find a new goal that satisfies your core values and drivers!

Book Mark
Guerrilla Social Media Marketing
Jay Conrad Levinson and Shane Gibson
(http://www.tatamcgrawhill.com/)

Social media plan in seven sentences

First in the ‘seven-sentence' social media plan that Jay Conrad Levinson and Shane Gibson lay out in Guerrilla Social Media Marketing is the statement of ‘goals' – the purpose of your marketing.

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