| 2007 |
| The
Wal-Mart Effect: How the World's Most Powerful Company
Really Works--and How It's Transforming the American Economy.
By: Charles Fishman. This was interesting to read immediately
after finishing McKibben's Deep Economy (below).
In an environment dominated by black and white opinions on
Wal-Mart, Fishman attempts an even-balanced and
insightful account of the retailer visited by 98% of the US
Population each year. On balance, Fishman comes across as convinced
that Wal-Mart walmart is broken and needs to be fixed. Fishman's
reporting doesn't convince me. |
| Deep
Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future
By: Bill McKibben. I've been a fan of Bill McKibben's work for
many years. This book echos, and seems an extension of, many
themes found in his Hope:
Human and Wild. McKibben offers the farmers market as the
metaphor/prototype for a future model. Oddly, while I'm sympathetic
to the thrust of McKibben's theme, I don't find this book compelling.
This stems, partly, from McKibben's reliance
on extrapolating from newspaper article profiles of single
cases in which I have limited faith. |
| The
Origin and Evolution of New Businesses. By: Amar V. Bhide.
There are myriad books on entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs. Most
are grounded in anecdote or unique personal experience. Bhide's
findings from studies of Inc. 100 companies provide a refreshing
and essential grounding in the realities. A must read. |
| Creating
Significant Learning Experiences: An Integrated Approach
to Designing College Courses.
By: L. Dee Fink. Essential reading. Excellent. If I were to recommend
one book on course design, this is it. |
| One
Hundred Semesters: My Adventures as Student, Professor, and
University President, and What I Learned along the Way
By: William M. Chace. An interesting autobiography. Reinforces
the value of a meaningful general educaiton curriculum. |
| Teaching
Management: A Field Guide for Professors, Consultants, and
Corporate Trainers By: James G. S. Clawson,
Mark E. Haskins. OK. Long on tactics (e.g., when writing on
a white board, don't stand between the board and your students),
short on strategy. |
| 2006 |
| The
Entrepreneurial Imperative: How America's Economic Miracle
Will Reshape the World (and Change Your Life)
By: Carl J. Schramm. An excellent read (despite the bombastic
title). Traces the entrepreneurial roots of many higher education
institutions. Offers a valuable critique of current b-school
curriculum and a list of what should be changed. Worth the
read. |
| Stone
By Stone: The Magnificent History in New England's Stone
Walls
by Robert Thorson |
| The
Wealth of Networks: How Social Production Transforms Markets
and Freedom.
By: Yochai Benkler. An economist makes the case for peer-production.
An interesting read. |
| Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide: Where
Old and New Media Collide.
By: Henry Jenkins. Interesting. Some predict the emergence of
a single device through which all media will flow. Jenkens, in
contrast, argues that the future will hold a plurality of devices;
that content will become available in any form desired. |
| The
Laws of Simplicity (Simplicity: Design, Technology, Business,
Life).
by John Maeda. An interesting meditation on simplicity. |
| Small
Giants: Companies That Choose to Be Great Instead of
Big.
by Bo Burlingham. A collection of company profiles. You might
find some fodder for class examples here. I got bored and didn't
finish it. |
| Flock
and Flow: Predicting and Manging Change in a Dynamic
Markeplace By Grant McCracken. Disappointing. |
| Academic
Strategy: The Management Revolution in American Higher
Education
By: George Keller |
| Transforming
a College: The Story of a Little-Known College's
Strategic Climb to National Distinction
by George Keller. Excellent! |
| Hundred
Dollar Holiday: The Case For A More Joyful Christmas
by Bill McKibben. Excellent. A must read! Elegant,
passionate, useful. |
| The
Long Tail : The Radical New Shape of Culture and Commerce By:
Chris Anderson |
| The
Lobster Gangs of Maine By: James M. Acheson |
| The
Lobster Coast: Rebels, Rusticators, and the Struggle for
a Forgotten Frontier
by Colin Woodard |
| Clearing
Land: Legacies of the American Farm by Jane
Brox | Excellent! |
| On
the Wing: To the Edge of the Earth with the Peregrine Falcon by
Alan Tennant |
| Six
Degrees: The Science of a Connected Age By: Duncan J. Watts |
| Blogs,
Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms By: Will Richardson |
| The
Entrepreneurial Mindset by Rita Gunther McGrath
and Ian MacMillan. A nice effort. I can envision using this either
as a text for an entrepreneurship class or as a key resource
when creating an eship class. |
| The
Culture Code: An Ingenious Way to Understand Why People Around
the World Live and Buy as They Do by Clotaire
Rapaille | A Frenchman's take on US and world culture. My code
for this book: LAME. |
| An
Army of Davids : How Markets and Technology Empower Ordinary
People to Beat Big Media, Big Government, and Other Goliaths By:
Glenn Reynolds |
| The
Substance of Style: How the Rise of Aesthetic Value Is
Remaking Commerce, Culture, and Consciousness
By: Virginia Postrel. Essential and Excellent! |
| The
Art of Possibility: Transforming Professional and Personal
Life By: Rosamund Stone Zander, Benjamin Zander. Interesting. |
| The Wisdom of Crowds: Why the Many Are Smarter Than the Few
and How Collective Wisdom Shapes Business, Economies, Societies
and Nations
By: James Surowiecki |
| Good
to Great and the Social Sectors: A Monograph to Accompany Good
to Great by
Jim Collins |
| Naked
Conversations: How Blogs are Changing the Way Businesses
Talk with Customers,
By: Robert Scoble, Shel Israel |
Communities
Dominate Brands By:
Tomi T. Ahonen, Alan Moore |
| 2005 |
| Everyday
Life in Early America | By: David F. Hawke | |
| Culture
and Consumption II: Markets, Meaning, and Brand Management
| by Grant McCracken | |
| Shakespeare,
Einstein, and the Bottom Line : The Marketing of Higher Education, by David L. Kirp |
| Problem-Based Learning in the Information Age: New Directions
for Teaching and Learning #95 By: Dave S. Knowlton (Editor),
David Sharp (Editor) |
| Surviving
the Extremes: What Happens to the Body and Mind at
the Limits of Human Endurance By: Kenneth Kamler |
| Reflections
in Bullough's Pond: Economy and Ecosystem in New
England (Revisiting New England) |
by Diana Muir | an excellent economic and ecological history
of New England. |
| Seeing What's Next: Using Theories of Innovation to
Predict Industry Change |
By: Clayton M. Christensen, et al. | Another nice volume by Christensen. More
applied than his previous books. A worthy read. |
| McKeachie's Teaching Tips: Strategies, Research, and
Theory for College and University Teachers |
By: Wilbert J. McKeachie, Barbara K. Hofer | Probably useful to a rookie. |
| The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first
Century | By: Thomas L. Friedman | The first half offers a nice synopysis
of contemporary economic reality. More comments here. |
| The
Company of Strangers : A Natural History of Economic Life |
By: Paul Seabright | A decent read. |
| Meaningful Marketing: 100 Data-proven Truths And 402
Practical Ideas For Selling More With Less Effort |
By: Doug Hall, Jeffrey Stamp. | OK, if you happen to be marketing
average consumer goods to average consumers. |
| Freakonomics : A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden
Side of Everything |
By: Steven D. Levitt, Stephen J. Dubner | An OK (not great) read,
despite the hyperbolous title. |
| On
Bullshit |
By: Harry G. Frankfurt. BS to the Max. | Um, yep. |
| On
Intelligence |
By: Jeff Hawkins, Sandra Blakeslee. | Interesting but needs more development. |
| The
Presence of Self |
By: Robert S. Perinbanayagam | Excellent! |
How
Brands Become Icons : The Principles of Cultural Branding
By: Douglas B. Holt |
The Brand Called You: The Ultimate Brand-Building and Business
Development Handbook to Transform Anyone into an Indispensable
Personal Brand
By: Peter Montoya, Tim Vandehey |
The Brand You 50 : Or : Fifty Ways to Transform Yourself from
an 'Employee' into a Brand That Shouts Distinction, Commitment,
and Passion!
by TOM PETERS |
| 2004 |
Mountains
Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who
Would Cure the World
by Tracy Kidder. OK. I enjoyed House much more. |
| Branded
Nation: The Marketing of Megachurch, College Inc., and
Museumworld |
By: James B. Twitchell | Good stuff. I expecially enjoyed Twitchell's treatment
of higher ed. |
| Blog
: Understanding the Information Reformation That's Changing
Your World |
by Hugh Hewitt | Pretty much what the title would lead you to
expect. |
| We
the Media
|
By: Dan Gillmor | Why blogs will replace the main stream media. |
| What
the Best College Teachers Do
|
By: Ken Bain | A great read. Excellent. Raises issues some of my colleagues find
controversial ... but I don't. |
| The Misbehavior of Markets |
By Benoit Mandelbrot; Richard L. Hudson | Mendelbrot applies fractal geometry
to financial markets. |
| The
Geese of Bever Bog
|
By: Bernd Heinrich | Another great read by Heinrich. |
| Clued In : How to Create Customer Experiences so They Will
Come Back Again and Again |
By: Lewis Carbone | Useful if you are designing an experience. |
| The
Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less |
By: Barry Schwartz | Excellent. |
| Ready for Anything: 52 Productivity Principles for Work and
Life |
By: David Allen | An inspiring collection of essays from the Get It Done Guru. |
| Critical
Mass
: How One Thing Leads to Another |
By: Philip Ball | An OK summary of complexity theory. |
| The Things They Carried |
By: TIM O'BRIEN |
| The Culting of Brands: When Customers Become True Believers |
By: Douglas Atkin |
| The Americans: The Colonial Experience |
By: Daniel J. Boorstin | An excellent account of Colonial America. |
| Life of Pi |
By: Yann Martel |
| Digital Fortress |
By: Dan Brown |
| Why Not? How to Use Everyday Ingenuity to Solve Problems Big
and Small |
By: Barry J. Nalebuff, Ian Ayres |
| |
