The enchanted world of alpine flowers

Book Description

You'll never feel intimidated and awkward about the customs and etiquette of another country again. With the insights provided in this CULTURE SHOCK! Guide, you'll learn to see beyond the stereotypes and misinformation that often precede a visit to a foreign land. Whether you plan to stay for a week or for a year, you'll benefit from such topics as understanding the rules of driving and monetary systems, religious practices and making friends. There are tips on political traditions, building business relationships, and the particular intricacies of setting up a home or office. Great for the business traveler, the foreign exchange student, or the tourist who makes a sincere attempt to cross the bridge into a new and exciting culture.

Customer Reviews:

we use it as a textbook!.......2001-03-02

We teach a summer elective in Mexico for health professional students. Our 2 week in-country course focuses on learning the culture and language and health care systems of Mexico. This book is very useful because it gives a quick down and dirty synopsis of Mexican history (much longer and messier than U.S.history)that allows us, as teachers, to move into what we see as the aftermath, in the country today. It then moves onto the author's own experiences navigating the culture, with excellent tips, "to blend in" and understand what is going on around you. The details the author provides, such as going up to a stranger's house in the country, and asking "do you have any extra food today?" were true 20 years ago and are still true today. This provides the cultural context and informational detail we need, dealing with immigrants from these areas, in health care settings. It is not a guidebook. It is a hybrid...and very useful for those travelers who blaze their own paths, not the usual tourist tracks of Mexico.

Social and Cultural Mexico.......2000-03-29

I read this after reading the US State Travel Dept. Info Sheet which tends to be overly conservative and makes places sound like demilitarized zones. This guide put a little reality back into it. The author gives some cultural tips mainly for the gringo (US citizen) to help mostly in social situations. Especially useful, were the tips on how to recognize a good Mexican restaurant, how to address people in social situations, and other Mexicanisms such as various commonly used slang. The author also describes regional differences and urban/rural differences you may come across. I feel this is a good guide to get a feel for the people and the place especially for the casual visitor going to the non-tourist areas of Mexico so you don't act like such a gringo. Not really a book to keep as a long-term reference to Mexico, I'd try to borrow it before buying it. The author does give minor Mexican differences in pronouncing Spanish, but I think he assumes most readers have a basis for Spanish, or will have a phrase book for this.

What a Shock.......1999-11-24

Not recommended. The biggest shock was the author's pedantry. The first third of the book is an obscure treatment of history which assumes too much knowledge on the part of the reader. The book needs a glossary with the pronunciation of unusual spanish words, names, and places. I found myself constantly stumbling over them.

Fascinating anecdotes, but needs an editor.......1998-06-16

This entry in the Culture Shock! series provides a wealth of information about Mexico, but the author's presentation is rambling and disorganized. Of course, one could take this as a metaphor for Mexico: things appear to be chaotic, but generally they can be made to work. Tips for doing business in Mexico and handling social occasions are generally well-presented. The section on personal safety, in which the author relates his attempts to stay overnight in the worst sections of two Mexican cities to tempt fate, is instructive (he emerges unscathed) but does leave me wishing the jacket carried a photo of this fearless adventurer. (See the review of Culture Shock! Japan for general info on the series.)

Average customer rating:

A quick and satisfying read

Out of Arkansas
Doris Price Fisher
Manufacturer: Trafford Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1412007372
Release Date: 2006-07-06

Product Description

This is a collection of life stories written by a woman well accomplished in the art of story telling. WHen her tone is humorous or lightly ironic onw is reminded of Erma Bombeck or Mark Twain. The action is fast pased and the cultural settings, the human relationships and the moods are so varied that you will never be bored.

Customer Reviews:

A quick and satisfying read.......2007-08-06

Doris Price Fisher sure can tell a story. I laughed, I cried and I learned a lot. The depression era was a hair before my time so it was interesting to see how simple folks got along. Especially curious to me was how they stored their big quilt racks in small places. I would recommend this book to anyone and am ordering one for a friend right now. I appreciate that she shared her life with us- The good, the bad and the bald faced honesty that gives us permission to own our own history- the good - the bad- well you know...
I wish she would write more stories for us. Charming and passionate as this book reads.

Culture shock.(diversity in the workplace)(Brief Article)(Column): An article from: Business Mexico

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Culture shock.(diversity in the workplace)(Brief Article)(Column): An article from: Business Mexico
Ilya Adler
Manufacturer: American Chamber of Commerce of Mexico A.C.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

Workplace | Organizational Behavior | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

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Book Description

This digital document is an article from Business Mexico, published by American Chamber of Commerce of Mexico A.C. on May 1, 2001. The length of the article is 652 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Culture shock.(diversity in the workplace)(Brief Article)(Column)
Author: Ilya Adler
Publication: Business Mexico (Magazine/Journal)
Date: May 1, 2001
Publisher: American Chamber of Commerce of Mexico A.C.
Volume: 11 Issue: 5 Page: 21

Article Type: Brief Article, Column

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Estupor de los especialistas ante Fonart.(cultura, México)(TT: Specialists are in shock over Fonart.)(TA: culture, Mexico): An article from: Proceso

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Estupor de los especialistas ante Fonart.(cultura, México)(TT: Specialists are in shock over Fonart.)(TA: culture, Mexico): An article from: Proceso
Judith Amador Tello
Manufacturer: CISA Comunicacion e Informacion, S.A. de C.V.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
ASIN: B0008FJTR2
Release Date: 2005-07-30

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Proceso, published by CISA Comunicacion e Informacion, S.A. de C.V. on September 22, 2002. The length of the article is 2695 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Estupor de los especialistas ante Fonart.(cultura, MÃ©xico)(TT: Specialists are in shock over Fonart.)(TA: culture, Mexico)
Author: Judith Amador Tello
Publication: Proceso (Magazine/Journal)
Date: September 22, 2002
Publisher: CISA Comunicacion e Informacion, S.A. de C.V.
Page: 65(3)

Distributed by Thomson Gale

The heavy toll of culture shock: dealing with new surroundings often extends beyond simple assimilation into realm of mental health. (Management).: An article from: Business Mexico

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The heavy toll of culture shock: dealing with new surroundings often extends beyond simple assimilation into realm of mental health. (Management).: An article from: Business Mexico
Ilya Adler
Manufacturer: American Chamber of Commerce of Mexico A.C.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Business Mexico, published by American Chamber of Commerce of Mexico A.C. on March 1, 2003. The length of the article is 676 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: The heavy toll of culture shock: dealing with new surroundings often extends beyond simple assimilation into realm of mental health. (Management).
Author: Ilya Adler
Publication: Business Mexico (Magazine/Journal)
Date: March 1, 2003
Publisher: American Chamber of Commerce of Mexico A.C.
Volume: 13 Issue: 3 Page: 19(1)

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Book Description

Catch the sale that others let get away! Todd Duncan--sales guru, bestselling author, storyteller. Through the detailed accounts of salespeople not just earning dollars, but trust and a good reputation as well, Who Stole My Sale? illustrates through light-hearted true stories, important lessons about making the sale, closing the deal, and keeping clients for the long term. With vulnerability and everyday authenticity, the stories span several industries, and teach and motivate salespeople at any stage of their careers.

Who stole that sale? The wise person who followed the advice in this book!

Customer Reviews:

It's not just a sale.......2006-12-31

Reviewed by Cyndy Zoch for Reader Views (12/06)

Having never been a salesperson, I wondered how well I was going to enjoy Todd Duncan's latest book, "Who Stole My Sale?" I was afraid I was picking up a book that would describe how to corner people, how to make small talk and then how to move in for the kill. When I read the title of the first chapter, "Cleaning up the Chicken Meat," I began to realize that just maybe I was jumping to conclusions.

Mr. Duncan's book is not so much about how to close the deal in the sense that we would normally expect as it is how to build long-lasting relationships with your customers. Rather than lecture us on research findings and sales techniques, he uses short (usually two to three pages in length) stories to illustrate a skill or characteristic of a great salesperson. For example, in "Cleaning up the Chicken Meat," Mr. Duncan shares his less-than-ideal experience in a new restaurant and how the incident was handled first by the waiter and then by the owner. The way in which the owner accepted responsibility for the failed service and took steps to correct the situation ended up turning the author into a loyal customer. Following each story is a short lesson summary that lays out for the reader the main point of the story. Mr. Duncan then includes a couple of short passages and sayings, intended to reinforce the concept and motivate you to implement it.

The book covers a wide range of topics. The short lessons include handling service recovery, having a servant heart, knowing your products, keeping your life in balance, delegating, and managing your time well. The information given, while limited, is pointed, easily understood, and easy to duplicate.

This book was written for salespersons, but I would recommend it for anyone involved in customer service. Most of the 23 tips can be used by anyone in any organization to improve their customer service skills. The book is short, less than 140 pages, light and compact. It would fit easily into a purse, briefcase or travel bag. I would recommend purchasing it and keeping it with you. Whenever you have a free minute, take that time to review a concept or reinforce a skill you are working on. "Who Stole My Sale?" is a book that you will refer to over and over again.

Average customer rating:

Finally someone who really 'gets it'
A so so strategic CRM book for CEOs.
Insightful, practical, actionable, simply brilliant!
Finally an author that really "gets it"

Who Stole My Customer?? Winning Strategies for Creating and Sustaining Customer Loyalty
Harvey Thompson
Manufacturer: FT Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0131453564

Customer Reviews:

Finally someone who really 'gets it'.......2006-05-19

A second book by author Harvey Thompson that shows his mastery of the real meaning of customer value and loyalty. This book is clearly targeted to CEO's and other executives who want to learn more about how to get and keep customers/clients - not someone who thinks they are currently a master of the subject.

Harvey balances his real world expertise and examples with an easy to understand approach for how to relate to your customers/clients. Simply one of the best books I have read on the subject. I highly recommend this book for anyone wanting to learn more about how to develop and maintain a valuable relationship with your customers/clients.

A so so strategic CRM book for CEOs. .......2006-02-21

Dont know whether I had read so many CRM books beforehand that I am not particulary impressed nor disappointed by it. The author, an ex IBM executive, draws upon his "reengineering" experience in dealing primarily within IBM and with many big banking/auto clients, tells the importance, difficulties and high level strategies of transforming a product oriented corp into a solution/customer/touchpoints service value oriented corp.

In short, you may be enlightened if you have not read any CRM book before. If you are a frequent reader of CRM books, you wont lose much for giving this a pass.

As usual, below please find some of my favorite passages for your reference.

Businesses often expend precious energy and limited resources trying to address customer satisfaction levels on things that have no correlation between whether they will buy again or leave....They fail to differentiate between customer satisfaction and customer loyalty, between satisfaction or loyalty measurement and satisfaction or loyalty management. pg 40

What is your definition of loyalty? When do you most feel that you are being loyal? Is it when you return to buy as a repeat customer...and buy additional...giving them an increased share of your total wallet spending?...What is it that they provide of such value that they win your loyalty? If they did not not provide that, would you be more likely to leave/defect and be stolen away as their customer? pg 61

The Ten Common Myths. Our customrs:- pg 102
1. Want the lowest price - period
2. Other key wants are known by us
3. Cannot envision what does not exist
4. Do not want to be telephoned at home - always
5. Do not want to be sold to when they call us
6. Do not want to provide us personal information
7. Hate to be transferred when they call
8. Wont accept an apology, so dont do it
9. Are unique, and so are their needs
10. Their needs (not wants) are known by us

Lessons learned during the transformation of IBM:- pg 161
1. A case for action and buy-in vs lack of urgency
2. Actionable customer input vs we know what customers want
3. Enterprise wide executive ownership vs optimize my silo
4. cultural transformation and teaming vs knowledge is power.

p.s. I am obliged to remark that the title "Who stole my customer?" and the excercise in the end of each chapter "You are the customer. What...?" are brilliant differentiators of it amongst its sea of competitors.

Insightful, practical, actionable, simply brilliant!.......2004-10-08

Want to know where your customers have gone and how your competitor got them? Better yet, want to be the competitor with those customers? Read this book.

Harvey Thompson has written an outstanding book that combines his global, multi-industry real world experience and some of the best thinking in business and academics (Jan Carlsen, Dr. Noriaki Kano, Dr. Valerie Zeithamel, Dr. John Henderson, Dr. N. Akao, Dr. Michael Hammer, Dr. Terry Vavra, Dr. William H. Davidson and Dr. James W. Cortada) into a tour de force on customer value. Moving way beyond concepts of customer satisfaction, Thompson very pragmatically helps you understand how to design highly successful businesses from the customer view in. This book advances the groundbreaking work of his first book, The Customer Centered Enterprise, and in many ways is more readable, more practical and more actionable.

This quick read provides very pointed questions, exercises, information and motivation to help any organization move closer to a customer defined ideal vision of a value creating future state. It encompasses business strategy, customer loyalty, company culture, and operational excellence in ways that few works attempt, much less achieve. If customer loyalty and retention are important to your organization and you want to gain some real insight into today's strategic imperatives - start right here. Part 4: "The Winning Customer Experience" alone is worth the price of admission. It should be required reading for every management team.

Finally an author that really "gets it".......2004-08-05

A second book by author Harvey Thompson that shows his mastery of the real meaning of customer value and loyalty. Harvey balances his real world expertise and examples with an easy to understand approach for how to relate to your customers/clients.

Simply one of the best books I have read on the subject. I highly recommend this book for anyone wanting to learn more about how to develop and maintain a valuable relationship with your customers/clients.

Average customer rating:

WHO STOLE MY CUSTOMER? WINNING STRATEGIES FOR CREATING AND SUSTAINING CUSTOMER LOYALTY

Manufacturer: Pearson/Prentice Hall Upper Saddle River, NJ
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000IA912U

Average customer rating:

Who Stole My Customer?? Winning Strategies for Creating and Sustaining Customer Loyalty
Harvey Thompson
Manufacturer: FT Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OIAD28

Customer Reviews:

Knowledge.......2001-06-12

This book was very through in explaining the breed. It was eazy to understand and follow. Would recommend this book to people thinking of breeding or showing. It was very informative.

Amazon.com

Now that The Year in Trees from the North Carolina State University Arboretum is available in paperback, there's no reason that every American town park designer, landscaper, home gardener, and "plantsman" (a pet term of late coauthor J.C. Raulston) shouldn't have a copy. In her extensive portraits of 150 woody plants (trees, shrubs, and vines), Kim Tripp reveals herself to be a plantsman on a mission. Whether rescuing underappreciated plants like Catalpa from undeserved weed-tree status, introducing readers to nonnative varieties like Korean lilac that have proved easy to grow in the United States, or reintroducing gardeners to "grande dames" like the southern magnolia, Tripp's goal to encourage greater diversity in landscape plantings is in passionate evidence.

The authors risk alienating readers--or at least commercial nursery owners--with their repeated case for variety. In his fine introduction, Raulston writes of gardeners "distracted and mesmerized by the many spring blockbusters" available at the local chain nurseries, whose proprietors tend to ignore less common but often more appropriate and interesting plants in pursuit of easy profit. "Azaleas, azaleas everywhere and no relief in sight!" Tripp writes with exasperation in her portrait of Fothergilla, her suggested alternative to the ubiquitous flowering shrub. Her choices are bold and sometimes antagonistic, but always reasonable and based on rigorous, wide-ranging data collection. The featured plants, arranged into spring, summer, fall, and winter sections, are all shown in one or more color photograph, making The Year in Trees an invaluable reference, not to mention a new classic, for home gardeners. --Liana Fredley

Book Description

Kim Tripp assisted the late J. C. Raulston in his pioneering work on plant testing and introduction at the North Carolina State University Arboretum, and together they produced this collection of 150 exciting trees and shrubs that can bring new interest to gardens throughout the year.Published at $44.95 Our last copies available at $22.49

Customer Reviews:

Recommendations from two experts who really know plants!.......1998-09-03

The world of horticulture was shocked when Dr. Raulston was killed in a car accident almost two years ago. He was known worldwide for his plant expertise and especially for the new plants he brought into the public eye. Kim Tripp honed her craft at Harvard's Arnold Arboretum, so when these two recommend a plant they know what they are talking about! The book is well written and easily to follow season by season. Particularly recommended for serious gardeners.

Book Description

Patricians, Professors, and Public Schools argues that the thinking behind efforts to reform American schools in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries emphasized two new ideas--that economic growth and the opportunity it created were more limited than had earlier been thought, and that popular aspirations should be revised downward accordingly. After discussing the thinking that reformers reacted against in the first chapter of the book, later chapters examine those most responsible for these new ideas, especially Felix Adler and John Dewey. These chapters argue that reformers' fears about the social dislocation stemming from economic growth makes the most sense of the educational redirection they promoted. This is a new interpretation of developments that have long been debated by American historians, and should be of interest to a wide variety of readers.

Book Description

Of all the major Hollywood stars, Katharine Hepburn was the least conventional, conforming to none of the stereotypes of female superstardom. She was not an exotic outsider in Hollywood like Greta Garbo or Marlene Dietrich; nor was she a victim of the studios like Judy Garland or Marilyn Monroe; and she was certainly not a creature of the system like Joan Crawford and Lana Turner. Instead, she always appeared intelligent, willful and independent, able to develop her own persona within the confines of the studio system.

Andrew Britton proposes a feminist reading of Hepburn's films, arguing that her persona raises problems about class, female sexuality, and women's oppression that strain to the limits the conventions of a cinema ultimately committed to the reassertion of bourgeois gender roles. Hepburn's work is also used to explore more general issues, such as the functioning of the star system. This is one of the very few analyses of American cinema to focus on a film star rather than a director or a genre and as such is essential reading for anyone interested in the movies.

First published in the United Kingdom twenty years ago, this lavishly illustrated new edition features a foreword by the noted film critic Robin Wood.

Customer Reviews:

Great Psychoanalytical Book about Kate's Roles .......2006-04-19

This book is probably one of the only books on Kate to not focus on her life, but on her movies. The author analyzes each one so intricately and finds how Hepburn was a premiere feminist in each one. It's interesting when you read about his analysis of several Tracy/Hepburn movies, as well as "The Philadelphia Story." The movies, according to the author, try to teach Hepburn a lesson and make her conform to the standards of the patriarchy. Interesting to note, the author also compares and contrasts several films of Bette Davis, Bacall/Bogart, and Astaire/Rogers with Hepburn's films as well. Excellent read- very professional. The best part about this book probably is that it's loaded with glossy, beautiful pictures from almost every movie Kate made.

A sharp and thought-provoking marvel!.......2001-06-19

This is a superb critical evaluation of all of Hepburn's film roles until 1984. It is the only book about Hepburn that did not disappoint me. Hepburn biographies and studies have often tended to "normalize" Hepburn (eg. Kate - Charles Higham) or rationalize some contradictory aspects of her personality (eg. A Remarkable Woman - Anne Edwards) based on *conclusions drawn from* material that is in media circulation. Andrew Britton, in refreshing contrast, meticulously examines the implied beliefs and thought processes *behind* such material. Hepburn, through Britton's book, emerges in an arena all her own, resisting all attempts at conventional compartmentalization.

I absolutely agree with his views on many movies, say, "Woman of the Year", where Hepburn's presence in the title role suggests an independence and authority which the film's contrived, though expertly acted, ending, tries (unsuccessfully) to suppress. His views on the "violence of the performance" in "Summertime", which makes "the film's project untenable", are also very apt.

Apart from a thorough examination of Hepburn's roles with Tracy, Grant and others, this book makes pointed comparisons between the spinster roles of Bette Davis and Hepburn. It also has a very original discussion on The Philadelphia Story (Hepburn), Ninotchka (Greta Garbo), and Destry Rides Again (Marlene Dietrich), which according to Britton, were attempts to humanize (and hence compromise) its three female stars, who had previously been labelled "box-office poison".

For fans of Hepburn, for serious followers of films, and for all those who are concerned about the hidden ideas that films (sometimes inadvertently) propagate into the filmgoer's mind, this is an objective, insightful book which should not be missed.

Average customer rating:
Katharine Hepburn : Star as Feminist (Film and Culture Series)
Andrew Britton; Foreword-Robin Wood
Manufacturer: Columbia University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OPK0KG

Book Description

Paedar O'Donnell (1893-1986) was a major radical figure in the history of twentieth century Ireland. A socialist, Republican and a writer who saw his pen as a weapon in the revolutionary process, he moved from his role as a trade union organizer to the senior ranks of the IRA during the War of Independence and the Irish Civil War. A key figure in the Republican-Communist nexus of the late twenties and early thirties, O'Donnell was the instigator of the mass campaign against the payment of land annuities to Britain, an issue that helped Fianna Fáil to power in 1932 and sparked off the Economic War.

As editor of the legendary "Bell Magazine" in the late forties and early fifties he encouraged writers to engage with social and political realities, while he continued to agitate and campaigning on behalf of emigrants, the small farm countryside and other marginalized sections of Irish society. He grew into his role as "the grand old man of the left", inspiring successive generations of activists to take up the struggle and lending his symbolic weight to many progressive political causes.

In this new biography, Donal Ó Drisceoil critically examines Paeder O'Donnell's political and cultural role and influence, standing on the shoulders of a unique participant in public life to gain new perspectives on the dynamics of Irish politics, culture and society in the twentieth century.

Average customer rating:

The way it was with them
Paedar O'Donnell
Manufacturer: G.P. Putnam's Sons
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

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