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The Best Practice: How the New Quality Movement is Transforming Medicine  Americans have always thought their healthcare system was the best in the world. But starting in the late 1990s, shocking reports emerged that showed this was far from the truth. Treatment-related deaths or “complications” were found to be the fifth leading cause of death for Americans, and hundreds of thousands of patients were being harmed by botched medical procedures. Spurred by the quality crisis, a group of visionary physicians led by Donald Berwick and Paul Batalden embarked on a study of industrial “quality improvement” techniques, daring to apply them to the practice of medicine despite resistance from the medical community. The Best Practice tells the story of this burgeoning movement, and of how the medical landscape is being radically transformed—for the better. Author: Charles Kenney Hardcover: 336 pages Company: PublicAffairs (2008-07-21) ISBN: 1586486195 List Price: $26.95 Amazon Price: $16.89 Used Price: $18.38 The Fred Factor: How passion in your work and life can turn the ordinary into the extraordinary  Meet Fred. Author: Mark Sanborn Hardcover: 128 pages Company: Doubleday Business (2004-04-20) (2004-04-20) ISBN: 0385513518 List Price: $15.95 Amazon Price: $3.45 Used Price: $3.25 The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism  Naomi Klein's The Shock Doctrine advances a truly unnerving argument: historically, while people were reeling from natural disasters, wars and economic upheavals, savvy politicians and industry leaders nefariously implemented policies that would never have passed during less muddled times. As Klein demonstrates, this reprehensible game of bait-and-switch isn't just some relic from the bad old days. It's alive and well in contemporary society, and coming soon to a disaster area near you."At the most chaotic juncture in Iraq'' civil war, a new law is unveiled that will allow Shell and BP to claim the country's vast oil reserves… Immediately following September 11, the Bush Administration quietly outsources the running of the 'War on Terror' to Halliburton and Blackwater… After a tsunami wipes out the coasts of Southeast Asia, the pristine beaches are auctioned off to tourist resorts… New Orleans residents, scattered from Hurricane Katrina, discover that their public housing, hospitals and schools will never be re-opened." Klein not only kicks butt, she names names, notably economist Milton Friedman and his radical Chicago School of the 1950s and 60s which she notes "produced many of the leading neo-conservative and neo-liberal thinkers whose influence is still profound in Washington today." Stand up and take a bow, Donald Rumsfeld. There's little doubt Klein's book--which arrived to enormous attention and fanfare thanks to her previous missive, the best-selling No Logo, will stir the ire of the right and corporate America. It's also true that Klein's assertions are coherent, comprehensively researched and footnoted, and she makes a very credible case. Even if the world isn't going to hell in a hand-basket just yet, it's nice to know a sharp customer like Klein is bearing witness to the backroom machinations of government and industry in times of turmoil. --Kim Hughes Fish! A Remarkable Way to Boost Morale and Improve Results  Here's another management parable that draws its lesson from an unlikely source--this time it's the fun-loving fishmongers at Seattle's Pike Place Market. In Fish! the heroine, Mary Jane Ramirez, recently widowed and mother of two, is asked to engineer a turnaround of her company's troubled operations department, a group that authors Stephen Lundin, Harry Paul, and John Christensen describe as a "toxic energy dump." Most reasonable heads would cut their losses and move on. Why bother with this bunch of losers? But the authors don't make it so easy for Mary Jane. Instead, she's left to sort out this mess with the help of head fishmonger Lonnie. Based on a bestselling corporate education video, Fish! aims to help employees find their way to a fun and happy workplace. While some may find the story line and prescriptions--such as "Choose Your Attitude," "Make Their Day," and "Be Present"--downright corny, others will find a good dose of worthwhile motivational management techniques. If you loved Who Moved My Cheese? then you'll find much to like here. And don't worry about Mary Jane and kids. Fish! has a happy ending for everyone. --Harry C. EdwardsAuthor: Stephen C. Lundin, Harry Paul, John Christensen Hardcover: 115 pages Company: Hyperion (2000-03-08) (2000-03-08) ISBN: 0786866020 List Price: $19.95 Amazon Price: $4.00 Used Price: $3.01 West's Business Law tenth edition  A market leader used by more colleges and universities than any other business law text, West's Business Law continues to set the standard for making classic black letter law accessible, interesting, and relevant to business students. This Tenth Edition refines and builds upon traditions established when the book was first introduced: authoritative content blended with cutting-edge coverage of contemporary topics and cases and an unmatched selection of innovative, high-quality support materials.Author: Kenneth W. Clarkson, Roger LeRoy Miller, Gaylord A. Jentz, Frank B. Cross Hardcover: 1400 pages Company: Thomson/West (2006-01-01) ISBN: 0324303904 List Price: $208.95 Amazon Price: $90.00 Used Price: $74.50 Fast Food Nation  On any given day, one out of four Americans opts for a quick and cheap meal at a fast-food restaurant, without giving either its speed or its thriftiness a second thought. Fast food is so ubiquitous that it now seems as American, and harmless, as apple pie. But the industry's drive for consolidation, homogenization, and speed has radically transformed America's diet, landscape, economy, and workforce, often in insidiously destructive ways. Eric Schlosser, an award-winning journalist, opens his ambitious and ultimately devastating exposé with an introduction to the iconoclasts and high school dropouts, such as Harlan Sanders and the McDonald brothers, who first applied the principles of a factory assembly line to a commercial kitchen. Quickly, however, he moves behind the counter with the overworked and underpaid teenage workers, onto the factory farms where the potatoes and beef are grown, and into the slaughterhouses run by giant meatpacking corporations. Schlosser wants you to know why those French fries taste so good (with a visit to the world's largest flavor company) and "what really lurks between those sesame-seed buns." Eater beware: forget your concerns about cholesterol, there is--literally--feces in your meat. Schlosser's investigation reaches its frightening peak in the meatpacking plants as he reveals the almost complete lack of federal oversight of a seemingly lawless industry. His searing portrayal of the industry is disturbingly similar to Upton Sinclair's The Jungle, written in 1906: nightmare working conditions, union busting, and unsanitary practices that introduce E. coli and other pathogens into restaurants, public schools, and homes. Almost as disturbing is his description of how the industry "both feeds and feeds off the young," insinuating itself into all aspects of children's lives, even the pages of their school books, while leaving them prone to obesity and disease. Fortunately, Schlosser offers some eminently practical remedies. "Eating in the United States should no longer be a form of high-risk behavior," he writes. Where to begin? Ask yourself, is the true cost of having it "your way" really worth it? --Lesley Reed Stop the 401(k) Rip-off!: Eliminate Costly Hidden Fees to Improve Your Life  -- How would you spend an extra $4,000 a year for the next twenty-five years? -- How much more secure would your retirement be with an extra $100,000 or more? -- How much more time could you spend at your family dinner table if you could work an hour less each day? -- What would you do in retirement if you could retire three years earlier? Your 401(k) plan is probably one of your most important future sources of financial security. This book makes it easy for you to take the five steps needed to add more than $100,000 to your retirement nest egg without taking more risk or saving more money. This can allow you to improve your lifestyle, increase your benefits, identify the hidden costs and also improve your standing within your company by proactively helping your employer to take needed action. Author: David B. Loeper Hardcover: 197 pages Company: Bridgeway Books (2007-10-15) ISBN: 1934454109 List Price: $19.95 Amazon Price: $6.77 Used Price: $3.34 Consumer Behavior (8th Edition)  Solomon goes beyond the discussion of why people buy things and explores how products, services, and consumption activities contribute to shape people’s social experiences. Social networking, sensory marketing, illusion of truth effect, interactive mobile marketing, cross-cultural value differences, impression management, doppelganger brand image, red campaign, CSR, low literate consumer, crowdsourcing, and multigenerational marketing. For marketing professionals to understand the latest trends in consumer behavior.
Author: Michael R. Solomon Hardcover: 720 pages Company: Prentice Hall (2008-03-07) ISBN: 0136015964 List Price: $173.33 Amazon Price: $119.99 Used Price: $118.68 Raving Fans: A Revolutionary Approach To Customer Service  "Your customers are only satisfied because their expectations are so low and because no one else is doing better. Just having satisfied customers isn't good enough anymore. If you really want a booming business, you have to create Raving Fans." This, in a nutshell, is the advice given to a new Area Manager on his first day--in an extraordinary business book that will help everyone, in every kind of organization or business, deliver stunning customer service and achieve miraculous bottom-line results. Written in the parable style of The One Minute Manager, Raving Fans uses a brilliantly simple and charming story to teach how to define a vision, learn what a customer really wants, institute effective systems, and make Raving Fan Service a constant feature--not just another program of the month. America is in the midst of a service crisis that has left a wake of disillusioned customers from coast to coast. Raving Fans includes startling new tips and innovative techniques that can help anyone create a revolution in any workplace--and turn their customers into raving, spending fans. Author: Ken Blanchard, Sheldon Bowles Hardcover: 160 pages Company: William Morrow (1993-05-19) (1993-05-19) ISBN: 0688123163 List Price: $21.95 Amazon Price: $6.94 Used Price: $2.18 Consumer Behavior (9th Edition)  With a strong empirical and market segmentation approach, this book focuses on how the Internet has changed the way people obtain information about potential purchases, giving readers the most up-to-date material on how technology is changing their lives as consumers. The Thirty-two mini-cases help readers learn by applying the theory, drawing on current business news to demonstrate specific consumer behavior concepts. This edition now includes thirty-two Active Learning mini-cases. A clear consumer decision making model is set out in each chapter to facilitate learning–presented in the first chapter, this model serves as a structural framework for the concepts–the building blocks–examined in the following chapters. The book's final chapter ties all of these concepts together so readers see the interrelationships and relevance of individual concepts to consumer decision-making. For those studying consumer behavior and/or marketing. Author: Leon Schiffman, Leslie Kanuk Hardcover: 656 pages Company: Prentice Hall (2006-02-27) ISBN: 0131869604 List Price: $173.33 Amazon Price: $74.31 Used Price: $66.90 |