Corporate-finance

This book explains the business plan in sufficient detail to let you understand what is needed to create a business plan. If you're not proficient already in writing business plans, you'll need a Ernst & Young consultant to have any use of the book. Of course, then you'll probably get the book for free ater having paid their fees. In short, nice to read but absolutely not the first bookon the subject to recommend to anyone.

I think this book does of a great job of succintly outlining the dos and donts of business plan writing. I also think that the example plan is most instructional. The only thing it could do better is to put in a sample business plan that is based on a services model, rather than a products model. It also could touch on the Internet as a special information resource.

This book says it all very concisely, no fluff. I've written three business plans with it. Read a chapter in the book, write a chapter of the plan. The examples are very good. I just hit $1MM in sales on my third try - I give this book a lot of credit for helping me get organized.

"The Art" is simply a refresher course in management theories and practices. The "grand" concept of this book is the use of intuition and business expertise in making decisions.... This book is recommended if you are on a plane on a business trip and have nothing better to read...

I really liked the author's "Napoleon's Glance" book so I picked this up too. In my opinion this book is quietly revolutionary about how change in society happens and it is providing new insight into the concept of "expert intuition". It is important new reading for anyone interested in business, especially consultants like myself in business strategy. I used to work in nonprofits too and it is very important for people in that world as well. It is totally different style of thinking that Michael Porter's stuff on strategy, and much more useful!!

This book is excellent for businessmen who have had little or no exposure to Sun Tzu or the Art of War. In very plain, simple and easy to read language it makes a clear bridge between the art of business and the art of warfare.
Some will say that this book is too simplistic, but the real question is why would this book have to be difficult or too involved? The Art of War is a simply written book, but it is the lessons that are hard to grasp and understand. Plain language does not automatically denote simple thoughts. The best authors and teachers in the world are the ones who can simplify the most difficult theories and make them accessible to everyone.
I think this book does just that and is an excellent beginning point for businessmen and their introduction to The Art of War and Chinese philosophy.

What I liked about Krause's book was the way he explains the teachings of Sun Tzu for the simple folk. He wrote the book to help the business man or woman. It helped me see the deeper lessons Sun Tzu has to offer as well--lessons about life.

This is a great guide. If your a serious scholar of "the art of war" then this book will be too simple for you. Although The strength of this book is how easily it conveys the principles of the art of war. It's a great guide for the lay person, if you find yourself struggling in your personal and professional life read this book. I found myself working extremely hard and getting no where fast. I have begun applying it's principles to my day to day life. I have noticed a change. This book has helped me come out on top in a few business situations, and I find myself rereading it from time to time.

If you are like me, you arrived with no idea of what to do the first time you sat on a nonprofit board. If that board was not well organized, you sat down on your second nonprofit board with about the same level of understanding.

Nonprofit organizations, especially smaller and newer ones, tend to be "amateur hour" operations. They usually have neither good governance nor good management. Unfortunately, they need both much more than most for profit and nonprofit organizations that do have them.

The nonprofit organizations that focus relentlessly on improving governance and management do far more good than those who do not. So these are important subjects. I doubt if you can have very good management without good governance first. Governance creates the organizational direction and the discipline that encourages good management. Unless someone is reviewing how you are doing, even the most talented manager will soon become lazy about learning from experience.

I recommend that anyone who is on a nonprofit board or is considering joining one should read this book. You will have a much more rewarding board experience if you do. You can also share this book with others on the board, and challenge them to work with you to make the needed changes. I certainly plan to do this with the board I sit on now.

By the way, chances are that your board will never quite get to this "gold standard" described here. But at least you will know what you are and are not doing, and can focus on the more important steps.

The book breaks the board's responsibility down into mission, responsibility for money, and for management.

Top priority is "establishing the mission and monitoring the organization's progress in achieving that mission." This may involve modifying the mission from time to time. This is very critical, because you either have a mission that gets volunteers and donors excited or you are dead in the water. Habitat for Humanity and the Girl Scouts have done this well.

The board next needs to create a "vision for the future of the organization and [develop] a plan for achieving that vision."

After that, the board needs to ensure "progress in serving the mission of the organization . . . [in meeting] the needs of clients" and in the effectiveness of programs.

The board also needs to be sure that the mission and programs are communicated "effectively with its various publics."

The money side all fits under being a "steward for organizational resources." The tasks include having a formal development plan, making an annual contribution to the organization, and participating in fund-raising activities. In addition, risks should be identified and ensured and insured against as best as one can.

In the area of management, the board has to select, support, evaluate, (and terminate, when necessary) the CEO. The board has to evaluate its own effectiveness at each meeting, as well.

If your board isn't willing to start working on this items, I suggest you consider looking for another board that is. Certainly, you may be in for a lot of heartache if you a join a board that is going to ignore these areas.

Create more good by having a more effective board!

E- Book review
The art of long view
Peter Schwartz, a futurist, predicts what will happen in 2005 by developing future scenarios. As the consultant of the Shell Group of companies in London, Peter Schwartz developed future strategies for them and successfully reduced the uncertainties of their problems during oil crises. In this book, he tries to cover the possible factors that influence future scenarios. These factors include energy, political factors, technology explosions, global pragmatism, demographic problems, environmental concerns, and global information economy. The author discusses the why and how those factors above will influence future development.
The most interesting point to me is technology as a driving force of future development. This is because Peter Schwartz sounds like a technology determinist. Many scholars agree that technology or information technology is a crucial element in both economic and social aspects. Accordingly, Peter Schwartz suggests that technological change might alone be strong enough to guarantee global prosperity. Moreover, Peter Schwartz also addresses the interaction of technology and other factors such as economic factors. For example, he argues that the uncertainty of investments in technology will hamper the technological infrastructure and lead to a "change with process" scenario.
Both Peter Schwartz and Alvin Toffler share the same point of view about the importance of China in the future. Peter Schwartz foresees that the population is a crucial driving force, and the advantage of China is its rapid growth of population, which will push up energy demand. I agree with his idea and I think the political situation will be changed because of the prosperity of China. This leads to another factor, the military uncertainty that Peter Schwartz mentions. Since economic power is correlated to military power, it is realizable that Peter Schwartz predicts the military factor will be an important element, which is another uncertain factor nowadays.
Drawing on his rich practical experience, Peter Schwartz explains his ideas of future scenarios thoroughly. By looking at the factors that he points out, I find that the development of the future scenario is a reasoning logic process that uses clues to predict possible future outcomes. This book also provides a list of scenario development steps, which is very useful to students start their first future planning.

In "The Art of the Long View," Peter Schwartz, one of the world leading futurists introduces the concepts of scenario planning. He argues that scenario thinking is an art not a science, and people in general has an innate ability to build scenarios, and to foresee the future. From the book, the readers can learn how to build their own future scenarios. They are neither predictions nor mere extrapolations of the present trends. They help us to know the shape of unfolding future reality. A good scenario must have surprised elements with power to break the stereotypes.

The general principles of scenario planning are neatly summarized in the appendix, "Steps to Developing Scenarios." They compose of: Step One: identify the focal issue or decision; Step Two: list the key Micro-Factors relevant to that issue or decision; Step Three: list the key Macro-Driving Forces; Step Four: cross-rank Factors and Forces in terms of importance and uncertainty; Step Five: select Scenario Logic; Step Six: flesh out Scenarios; Step Seven: identify Probable Implications; and Step Eight: select Leading Indicators and Signposts. However, the order of the steps may be muddled in some cases.

For me, as a former employee of Shell in Cambodia, it is an eye-opening reading. I wish I had read this book before I started to develop the promotion plan for Shell Cambodia. The great pleasure of adopting a constant futurist's perspective on things is that it forces you to think of different possible ways things may happen and have at hand the answers to the "what if...?" questions either plausible or implausible. Then comes a shift in the mindset that leads to the change in behavior in managing organization, let it be global corporation like Royal Dutch Shell or AT&T and small family businesses. It is an excellent read if you want to liberate your insights from your existing "mental map".

You have to buy The Art of the Long View. I don't know how to explain how great the book is. Don't hesitate to grap one

The book consists of questions and answers. They are divided into chapters by topic. This format makes this a reference book, but not one which you want to read cover to cover. If you are hungry for all 101 answers, you are better off with another book on the subject.
But it sits on my shelf for use as a reference.