AMACOM
From difficult to disturbed; understanding and managing dysfunctional employees.
A clinical psychologist describes the personality traits of employees ranging from avoidant to narcissistic, and offers managers advice on communicating with such workers. Later chapters characterize the symptoms of specific mental disorders, share stories of employees getting help, and outline a program for addressing workplace misconduct and aggression. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
India arriving; how this economic powerhouse is redefining global business.
Dossani (South Asia programs, Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center, Stanford U.) traces the political and economic development of India since independence and draws a portrait of its present institutional, economic, and social realities. He argues that the South Asian country is becoming like developed countries in its institutions and like East Asia in economic growth, while still maintaining a unique role for services in economic growth and maintaining its pluralism. His treatment examines India's federalism, the structure of its economy, the emergence of the Indian information technology industry, religious diversity, Indians living in the United States, rural India, the Indian stock exchanges, and the media. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Parenting a defiant child; a sanity-saving guide to finally stopping the bad behavior.
Philip S. Hall, a licensed psychologist, and Nancy D. Hall, who works in education administration, provide an approach for parents for dealing with defiant children, with practical ideas for improving their behavior and changing the relationship parents have with them. Preventing defiant behavior is first discussed, including getting a diagnosis, reducing stressors and lessening their impact, changing the home environment, strengthening the parent-child relationship, communicating better, and establishing routines. The second section focuses on managing noncompliance and defiance, with tips on handling specific situations and rules and punishment. The book ends with a discussion of how to help the child when at school or in the community. The authors also wrote Educating Oppositional Defiant Children. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Spiral up; and other management secrets behind wildly successful initiatives.
Formerly with the Harvard Business School, Linder has years of executive experience in the technology industry; she now works as a consultant in Charlestown, Massachusetts. Based on 145-plus interviews of everyday, frontline managers, she reports findings from a study of 46 wildly successful initiatives produced by these everyday people when they chose to step outside the practice of conventional management. She identifies five characteristics linking each of the 46 initiatives, and uses case studies and examples from an array of organizations to demonstrate how readers in business and management might utilize the concepts to achieve exceptional results in their own organizations. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Successful local broadcast sales.
Drawing on 30 years of experience in the field, Weyland (media sales, University of Texas-Austin) shows novice and veteran television, radio, and cable salespeople how to prospect for clients, how to sell against other media, how to overcome call reluctance, and how to collect on bills without losing clients. Negotiation, branding, calculating return on investment, countering objections, and creating customized marketing and advertising proposals are some areas covered. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Understanding action learning.
O'Neil (Teachers College, Columbia U.), who is associated with a firm that specializes in action technologies, and Marsick (adult and organizational learning, Teachers College, Columbia U.) explain how to use Action Learning in organizations wishing to improve learning on the job. They detail four designs (tacit, scientific, critically reflective, and experiential); how to choose and implement an approach; and the role of the coach. Evaluation is also discussed. Examples from companies such as Pfizer, Volvo, and Chubb are incorporated, as are tools and templates. The book is mainly aimed at learning and organization development specialists, but also executives and other leaders, managers, coaches and consultants, and teachers of work-based learning, human resources development, and organizational development. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
