Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't

Review
One of the top ten business books of 2001 -- Business Week

Review
One of the top ten business books of 2001 (Business Week )

Product Description

The Challenge
Built to Last, the defining management study of the nineties, showed how great companies triumph over time and how long-term sustained performance can be engineered into the DNA of an enterprise from the verybeginning.

But what about the company that is not born with great DNA? How can good companies, mediocre companies, even bad companies achieve enduring greatness?

The Study
For years, this question preyed on the mind of Jim Collins. Are there companies that defy gravity and convert long-term mediocrity or worse into long-term superiority? And if so, what are the universal distinguishing characteristics that cause a company to go from good to great?

The Standards
Using tough benchmarks, Collins and his research team identified a set of elite companies that made the leap to great results and sustained those results for at least fifteen years. How great? After the leap, the good-to-great companies generated cumulative stock returns that beat the general stock market by an average of seven times in fifteen years, better than twice the results delivered by a composite index of the world's greatest companies, including Coca-Cola, Intel, General Electric, and Merck.

The Comparisons
The research team contrasted the good-to-great companies with a carefully selected set of comparison companies that failed to make the leap from good to great. What was different? Why did one set of companies become truly great performers while the other set remained only good?

Over five years, the team analyzed the histories of all twenty-eight companies in the study. After sifting through mountains of data and thousands of pages of interviews, Collins and his crew discovered the key determinants of greatness -- why some companies make the leap and others don't. About the Author
Jim Collins is a student and teacher of enduring great companies -- how they grow, how they attain superior performance, and how good companies can become great companies.Having invested over a decade of research into the topic, Jim has co-authored three books, including the classic Built to Last, a fixture on the Business Week bestseller list for more than five years, generating over 70 printings and translations into 16 languages.His work has been featured in Fortune, The Economist, Business Week, USA Today, Industry Week, Inc., Harvard Business Review and Fast Company.

Driven by a relentless curiosity, Jim began his research and teaching career on the faculty at Stanford Graduate School of Business, where he received the Distinguished Teaching Award in 1992.In 1995, he founded a management laboratory in Boulder, Colorado, where he now conducts multi-year research projects and works with executives from the private, public, and social sectors.

Jim has served as a teacher to senior executives and CEOs at corporations that include: Starbucks Coffee, Merck, Patagonia, American General, W.L. Gore, and hundreds more.He has also worked with the non-corporate sector such as the Leadership Network of Churches, Johns Hopkins Medical School, the Boys & Girls Clubs of America and The Peter F. Drucker Foundation for Non-Profit Management.

Jim invests a significant portion of his energy in large-scale research projects -- often five or more years in duration -- to develop fundamental insights and then translate those findings into books, articles and lectures.He uses his management laboratory to work directly with executives and to develop practical tools for applying the concepts that flow from his research.

Crash Proof 2.0: How to Profit From the Economic Collapse

Product Description
A fully updated follow-up to Peter Schiff's bestselling financial survival guide-Crash Proof, which described the U.S. economy as a house of cards on the verge of collapse, with over 80 pages of new material

The economic and monetary disaster which seasoned Wall Street prognosticator Peter Schiff predicted is no longer hypothetical-it is here today. And nobody understands what to do in this situation better than the man who saw it coming. For more than a decade, Schiff has not only observed the U.S. economy, but also helped his clients restructure their portfolios to reflect his outlook. What he sees today is a nation facing an economic storm brought on by growing federal, personal, and corporate debt; too little savings; and a declining dollar.

Crash Proof 2.0 picks up right where the first edition-a bestselling book that predicted the current market mayhem-left off. This timely guide takes into account the dramatic economic shifts that are reshaping America and provides you with the insights and information to navigate the dangerous terrain. Throughout the book, Schiff explains the factors that will affect your future financial stability and offers a specific three step plan to battle the current economic downturn.

* Discusses the measures you can take to protect yourself-as well as profit-during these difficult times
* Offers an insightful examination of the structural weaknesses underlying the economic meltdown
* Outlines a plan that will allow you to preserve wealth and protect the purchasing power of your savings
* Other titles by Schiff: Crash Proof and The Little Book of Bull Moves in Bear Markets

Filled with in-depth insights and expert advice, Crash Proof 2.0 will help you survive and thrive during the coming years of economic uncertainty. About the Author
Peter D. Schiff is a seasoned Wall Street prognosticator best known for his accurate predictions of the performance of the stock market, commodities, gold, and the dollar. He is one of the few unbiased investment advisors to have predicted the current bear market and positioned his clients accordingly. Schiff began his career at Shearson Lehman and joined Euro Pacific Capital in 1996, becoming President of the firm in 2000. He appears frequently on Fox Business News, CNN, CNBC, and Bloomberg TV, and has been quoted in such publications as the Wall Street Journal, Barron's, the Financial Times, and the New York Times. Schiff is also the author of the original edition of Crash Proof as well as The Little Book of Bull Moves in Bear Markets, both published by Wiley.

Jim Cramer's Getting Back to Even

Product Description
In his new book, Cramer offers the most detailed guidance he has ever given on how to invest in a changed market. Savvy investors will not just survive; they will thrive. Cramer begins with six rules for protecting the money you have and making sure that you have the money you need. (Rule Number 3: Skip the first four stages of portfolio grief: denial, anger, bargaining, and depression.) Your portfolio won't fix itself; you have to do that. It's easy to close your eyes and pretend that it all never happened, but you'll never get back to even that way, much less profit from the opportunities that this new market offers to investors who know where to put their money. One key to making investment decisions is to watch what the mutual-fund managers are doing and -- better yet -- to anticipate their moves. Cramer tells you how to do this. Their decisions will move markets, and you want to profit from these moves.

Cramer explains why dividends may be another key to picking winners in the post-crash stock market, and he introduces a category he calls the accidental high yielders -- stocks whose prices have taken a beating, boosting their yields. Some of these stocks could make a major move upward; Cramer tells you how to spot the ones that could take off.

For the first time in any of his books, Cramer offers a portfolio of twelve stocks that he says are poised to profit from the economic recovery. And he gives investors a list of five regional banks that could make big moves and return a handsome reward to shareholders. As always, Cramer explains why investors can't just take his word but have to "buy and homework" on these stocks to make sure that their stories don't change.

If you're near or in retirement, your opportunities to recover and profit are more limited than those of younger investors. Cramer tells you why stocks should still be an important part of your investment portfolio. And for younger investors, Cramer explains why you must take advantage of what could be a rare opportunity to buy stocks at fabulous prices and set up a terrific portfolio.

Cramer offers advanced tips for investors who have the time and are willing to invest it to profit from the post-crash stock market. Call options may seem like exotic and dangerous investment tools, but Cramer shows why they can be a conservative investing strategy that can bring quick returns in a recovering market. He explains how to use IPOs and secondary offerings wisely to juice your investment portfolio.

And as if all that weren't enough, Cramer has come up with twenty-five new rules for the post-crash market. (Rule Number 4: It pays to follow the dumb money.)

Getting Back to Even is indispensable for any investor still reeling in shock from the 2008-2009 market collapse and wondering where to go from here. From investment strategies to specific stock recommendations, it's the foundation for the portfolios that will soar when the economic recovery takes hold.

About the Author
James J. Cramer is host of CNBC's Mad Money; cofounder of TheStreet.com, where he is also an online columnist; and "Bottom Line" columnist for New York magazine.

Frontline Profit Machine: The Khoury Blueprint for Exploding Profits at the Point of Sale

Product Description
In most businesses you have very little control over your competitors, their pricing and their occasional perplexing strategies. You have no control over the economy or the litany of outside influences that affect the health of your business.What you do have control over is the performance of your own team, the environment you help create and the people you invite into this environment to be part of your team. For many businesses, improving the service and sales ability of the frontline-the customer-facing staff-usually provides the opportunity for the biggest upside impact for the organization. For many companies a 5% to 10% improvement in top line revenue can mean 100% improvement for the bottom-line. Front Line Profit Machine helps businesses increase profits by improving service and sales at the frontline.This is not just a matter of up-selling customers, rather it requires a cultural transformation in the organization, encompassing training, a sense of ownership and empowerment among frontline employees, measurement and appropriate financial incentives -- all part of the Khoury Performance equation blueprint.

About the Author
Ziad Khoury is the originator and developer of the Khoury Performance Equation. A comprehensive and proven blueprint on how to create a high performing service based sales culture. The result is happier employees, happier customers and exploding profits at the point of sale.

Crush It!: Why NOW Is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion

Review
"Gary Vaynerchuk has become a walking, talking (and oh, such talking!), webbing and Tweeting example of how believing in what you do and keeping it fun can step up your life in all ways. There is nobody I would rather talk sports with-or wine or life." (Scott Simon, host of Weekend Edition Saturday on NPR )

"Gary Vaynerchuk is one of those entrepreneurs who has discovered the secret to combining passion with business. He is always an inspiration and always entertaining. You owe it to yourself to read this book!" (Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos.com )

"Gary is a force of nature. His authentic, raw passion and caring touches everyone. His insights into social media & his message of opportunity could not be more timely." (Tony Robbins )

"Gary was the first person to push me on the importance of personalbrand and transparency - this was months before anyone was talkingabout it, he's always two steps ahead of anyone else." (Kevin Rose, Founder of Digg.com )

"Anyone looking to supercharge their career should beg, borrow, and steal to learn Gary Vee's techniques. He reinvented the rules to build a $60-million business from scratch-on his own terms." (Tim Ferriss, #1 NY Times bestselling author of The 4-Hour Workweek )

Product Description

Do you have a hobby you wish you could indulge in all day? An obsession that keeps you up at night? Now is the perfect time to take that passion and make a living doing what you love. In Crush It! Why NOW Is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion, Gary Vaynerchuk shows you how to use the power of the Internet to turn your real interests into real businesses. Gary spent years building his family business from a local wine shop into a national industry leader. Then one day he turned on a video camera, and by using the secrets revealed here, transformed his entire life and earning potential by building his personal brand. By the end of this book, readers will have learned how to harness the power of the Internet to make their entrepreneurial dreams come true. Step by step, Crush It! is the ultimate driver's manual for modern business.


About the Author

Gary Vaynerchuk has captured attention with his pioneering, multifaceted approach to personal branding and business. After primarily utilizing raditional advertising techniques to build his family's local retail wine business into a national industry leader, Gary rapidly leveraged social media tools such as Twitter and Facebook to promote Wine Library TV, his video blog about wine. Gary has always had an early-tomarket approach, launching Wine Library's retail website in 1997 and Wine Library TV in February of 2006. His lessons on social media, passion, transparency, and reactionary business are not to be missed!

The Art of Advertising: CEOs from Mullen Advertising, Marc USA, Euro RSCG (Inside the Minds Series)

Product Description

Inside the Minds: The Art of Advertising is the most authoritative book ever written on the essentials behind building successful brands and implementing creative communications solutions. This title features the founders, presidents and CEOs from some of the country's leading advertising agencies, who have each contributed chapters akin to objective, experience-related white papers or essays on the core issues surrounding success in such a competitive market. In an over-arching as wel as in-depth presentation of the fundamentals, authors articulate the unspoken rules and the important issues facing any agency now, and what will hold true into the future. From effective branding strategies to industry trends and challenges, this title pulls readers through all facets of advertising, from beginning to end. The different niches represented and the various perspectives presented enable readers to really get inside the great minds of advertising and glean practical advice, as the experts go back to basics in a must-read for anyone interested in this dynamic, unique industry.
Product Details

* Amazon Sales Rank: #1567967 in Books
* Published on: 2003-04-01
* Number of items: 1
* Binding: Paperback
* 150 pages

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher
This book is written by:

Joe Grimaldi, President & CEO, Mullen Advertising - Beyond Traditional Boundaries: Being Creative & Inventive

David Hadeler, President & CEO, MARC USA Dallas - Developing a Strategic Platform: You Just Can't Wing It

Stan Richards, Principal, The Richards Group - Assessing Good Creative: $10 of Value for Every Dollar Spent

Ron Berger, CEO, Euro RSCG MVBMS Partners - How Advertising Works: Common Sense & Clarity

Jordan Zimmerman, CEO & Chairman, Zimmerman & Partners Advertising - Brandtailing: Advertising at the Speed of Smart

Ernest W. Bromley, CEO & Chairman, Bromley Communications - Breakthrough Advertising: A Mix of Science & Art

G. Steven Dapper, Founder & Chariman, Hawkeye Worldwide Communications - A Few True Golden Rules: Keep Current, Be Curious, Never Stop Listening

Mike Toth, CEO & Chief Creative Director, Toth Brand Imaging - The Future of Advertising: Merging with Entertainment

Christopher Santry, President & CEO, Kupper Parker - Active Branding: Combining Branding & Direct Marketing

Paul S. Allen, CEO, Allen & Gerritsen - Company to Customer Relationship: The Business of Building Businesses

Street Smarts: High Probability Short-Term Trading Strategies by Laurence A. Connors

Product Description

Published in 1996 and written by Larry Connors and "New Market Wizard" Linda Raschke. This 245 page manual is considered by many to be one of the best books written on trading futures. Twenty-five years of combined trading experience is divulged as you will learn 20 of their best strategies.

Among the methods you will be taught are:

* Swing Trading - The backbone of Linda's success. Not only will you learn exactly how to swing trade, you will also learn specific advanced techniques never before made public!
* News - Among the strategies revealed is an intra-day news strategy they use to exploit the herd when the 8:30am economic reports are released. This strategy will be especially appreciated by bond traders and currency traders.
* Pattern Recognition - You will learn some of the best short-term set-up patterns available. Larry and Linda will also teach you how they combine these patterns with other strategies to identify explosive moves.
* ADX - In our opinion, ADX is one of the most powerful and misunderstood indicators available to traders. Now, for the first time, they reveal a handful of short-term trading strategies they use in conjunction with this terrific indicator.
* Volatility - You will learn how to identify markets that are about to explode and how to trade these exciting situations.
* Also, included are chapters on trading volatility, trading Crabel, trading the smart money index, trading gap reversals, a special chapter on professional money management, and many other trading strategies!
Product Details
Amazon Sales Rank: #157220 in Books
Published on: 1996-01-01
Number of items: 1
Binding: Hardcover
238 pages
Editorial Reviews

Commodity Traders Consumer Report, March 1996
* * * * (out of 4 stars) ... excellent!, Commodity Traders Consumer Report, March 1996
Customer Reviews

You need the sophistication to appreciate it.
This is an advanced book, and it does no hand holding. It is a trading niche book. It is not about day trading, nor momentum trading, but a unique subset of short term trading called "swing trading". If you do not know the difference, this book is not for you. It is not earth shattering. But, it is written by traders who have done it for a living for decades. Thus, it is worth knowing how they think, and how they have earned a living. And, yes, you mostly only make a few hundred bucks at a time, if you are good. Not riches, but "a living".

The price is high, but this is a small niche market. They will sell few copies. Linda Raschke has done this technique of swing trading and earned a living at it for decades. I would not expect her to take time off to write about it for chump change. If it were a mass market, a lower price would be in order, but this book is good for very few people.

I give it four stars only because of the terse format. BUT, they are traders not literary artists. I cannot fault them for not writing War and Peace.

If you are an experienced trader, and expect nothing more than a few hundred bucks when a trade goes well, and protection from loss when it does not, this book will either confirm what you know, which is helpful, or add a trick or two that you did not know, which is more helpful. Traders are successful who earn a living, a few hundred dollars at a time, several times a day, day after boring day. It is not a book for others at all, and not a book to start with. If you magically expect more money than this, buy another book. And, nothing in short term trading is really new over time. This is not a breakthrough book of new and novel ideas. The first idea, "Turtle Soup" came from the Turtles which have been around many decades. It is nice to read that this pattern has not yet worn itself out, and is still used. I am happy to have it in my library. I am happy to know that old tricks still work for old dogs.

VERY BAD AND OVER PRICED !!!!
I cant this book is $175 !!! for the material inside is plain junk, i have read ALLOT of books from gann to elliot to andews and this has to be the worst book i have ever read the methods taught are very indicator based and will not work in the long run the wolf wave method is basicly elliot wave rehased, there are better books to learn the elliot wave best book in my opinion robert miner's book, as for momentum is concerned larry williams. and for breakouts edward's and magee. I have been trading for 10 years but i constantly buy books just to see if i can atleast get one golden nugget out of them, this book however has no good insight into anything i did not get one good idea out of this book. As for some of the reviews on here if you click see all my reviews this is the only book they have reviewed ....hmmm but if you are serious about trading the books i reccomended above are very insightfull atleast they were for me, miners book is old but is full of new ideas and less based on indicators and has very easy to follow rules for elliot, i guess what they say is right old is gold. good luck

if you don't like this, you don't understand trading
you can always spot s loser by one of (or both) of two reactions:

1- They want to get into a business to make money but think $200 is too much!!

2- They expect what they read to agree with their bias

Anyone who wants to make money but thinks a book is expensive at $170 has the wrong personality for trading. If you are like that, you have no business trading because you are too greedy and a coward.

Secondely, when you are making a comment about someone, it is really important to REALLY be sure that what you are saying is acccurate. The implication that Linda does not make money trading is just ridiculous. The woman is a bloody Market Wizard, for God's sake! She is also a pretty crap promoter of her services.

The book is excellent. The question is: does it contain methods that can make you money? Of course it does. You guys are clearly sleep walking because you are concentrating on believing that every method in the book will make you money all the time under any circumstances. Quit believing that and pick the ones that work under different market conditions.If you can't, it is your fault, not the book's.

If you watch Linda trading, you will see her using those setups under the right conditions. The fact is, if you cannot make money trading the setups in the book, you are either new and have to learn the basics first, or you are not cut out for this business.