2004 Nebraska Manufacturers Register

Book Description

Covers the preparatory finances and life expectancy when retiring early (pre-60), regularly, or late (post-70).

Book Description

Now you can ready your business for the new age of digital commerce with a strategic business plan and an understanding of the numerous benefits of the Internet. businessplan.com not only gives you a step-by-step guide to creating your own plan, it gives you the tools to integrate your real and virtual offices for increased profits and efficiency.

businessplan.com:
* Goes to the heart of the subject making it quick, easy, and simple to understand
* Does not sacrifice proven worldwide standards for funding or managing a company
* Does not compromise its techno-savvy, yet is very easy to follow
* Saves business owners research time and frustration at not knowing how to address the new world of commerce
* Has seven success stories featuring dynamic companies sharing their many how-tos
* References more than 125 top companies and organizations to give readers immediate help in finding solutions to their business and technology needs
* Uses sample text and easy to follow instructions, charts, and graphs
* Provides the how-to for extranets, intranets, funding resources, new sales techniques, media and product distribution, organization structure, staffing, training using the latest technologies, and a glossary.

Customer Reviews:

Horrible book!.......1999-11-25

If you intend to buy this book, think twice. Realize that the scattering of bad reviews for this book are there for a reason. I was very disappointed by this title and its message. This book skirts on being a real business plan how-to book, but never succeeds.

A GOOD BOOK FOR WRITING AN E-COMMERCE PLAN.......1999-10-20

Our investment firm has suggested businessplan.com to our clients as a way to facilitate the plan writing process relevant to our preparing their prospectuses. Most of the plans are e-commerce related. The worksheet guides and the accompanying explanations are very clear and easy to use saving us time and in the process have clarified many operational issues that are not always easy to articulate.

Where is the no star option?.......1999-10-17

This book is a horrible waste of money. I really don't know what I am missing? Perhaps a few chapters... because I found nothing to rave about with this book. If you are looking for a business plan book for Internet startups, try a book with that title. Because beyond the flashy title of this book, there is nothing else.

You would think there would be more..........1999-10-17

I purchased this book on Amazon.com based on all of the rave reviews... and the not so rave reviews. It made the book seem like it was really groundbreaking. Let me tell you its not. Its okay. Good information, but nothing special. The truth is: this book is just another business plan book. Nothing special. Nothing totally groundbreaking for e-Commerce. Rather vanilla if you ask me. I don't see what all of this artificial hype is about, but its obviously not really about this book.

Good Integration of Business Plan / E-Commerce Fundamentals.......1999-10-16

Ross' book provides a solid integration of business plan writing with e-commerce fundamentals. I found the book very practical, organized and hands-on, with good examples and benchmarks as references. The book provides good step-by-step guidelines to help entrepreneurs quickly codify business ideas into a credible business plan in an e-commerce environment.

I speculate the source of previous reviewers' disappointment in the book may have been an unrealistic hope/expection that Ross' book would write their business plan for them. No credible business book can or should be expected to provide that. What a credible business book should do is provide a spark for stimulating good business ideas and a vehicle to deliver those ideas. In that regard, Ross' book is on the mark.

Customer Reviews:

Extraordinary true stories of greatness..........2006-01-09

I am a history and economics teacher and use this book as a core textbook in my classroom.

We hear many a story of nasty businessmen these days, but seldom are we presented with stories of heroism, other than in fantasy movies or fairy tales. This is a book of real, historical heroes and villains from Michigan history.

Unlike most books about businessmen, this book illustrates historic battles between government-sponsored (political) entrepreneurs and free-market (market) entrepreneurs with riveting results that run contrary to what you generally read in your grade-school history textbooks. If you cross-reference them, you will notice that the traditional history textbooks don't generally contradict the facts of this book. Instead the present select facts without the complete context and let you infer false conclusions.

The fastideous refrencing and historic detail does not attempt to whitewash successful businessmen into flawless white knights, but it does not endeavour to unjustly demonize them as "robber barons" either.

If you appreciate honest history, told as a chronological story with fascinating detail, this book is for you.

The same author has written others of the same nature, the most well-known being "The Myth of the Robber Barons." The author teaches at Hillsdale College, which shares the author's principles.

From my experience, students reading this book learn to view history with interest and inspiration rather than boredom and cynicism. It helps them to leave my classroom believing that honest effort can lead to great success.

Just a fool for Horatio Alger stories.......2005-04-29

This book is a follow-on to Folsom's, "the myth of the robber barons", a great piece on the golden age of American industrialization in the last half of the 19th century. However, This book specifically focuses on "those Michigan entrepreneurs who helped make America great" (the sub-title).

The story of John Jacob Astor in the fur business says it all. It was his fur business against that of the US governments'. Incentives being what they are, Astor florished while the government agent was a miserable failure, but not before dishonestly trying to run Astor out of business. It's the same story with the railroads both in Michigan and across the Pacific northwest; the ones built with private money versus the ones built with government subsidies. Always the same old story! Private ventures have to satisfy market demand while the purveyors for the government ignore it, as though they're living in some parallel dimension. One suceeds while the other is a collosal waste of time and money.

The ensuing chapters catalogue the exploits of Herbert Dow (chemicals), of Will Kellogg (cereal), of William Durant (GM), of Stevens Mason (the first govenour), and of Henry Ford. All of these men were tireless workers with incredible judgement, who engaged in sound business practices while possesing unparalleled visions of the future. It's truly remarkable to live their stories thru these chapters. I own a business with a partner like this and it's fascinating just watching how he operates day-to-day. It's a lot of unusual qualities all bottled up in one person. They don't come along every day, and when you recognize that socialists have always tried to neuter them, you realize why socialist seconomic systems are always doomed to failure.

These men created thousands of jobs by pursuing their own personalized self interests. It's right out of Adam Smith's "the wealth of nations." This is an inspiring read, one all would be entrepreneurs should familiarize themselves with.

Juicy Story, Not Boring at All.......2000-09-09

I grew up in Michigan, but had little idea of these ripping good tales. If you liked this book, try also the delightful "Eighty Acres."

A classic in its own time.......1998-07-26

Burton Folsom's Empire Builders is a stunning tour de force--a compelling tale of great entrepreneurs and how their contributions carved a great state out of a mosquito-infested, swamp-filled territory.

The stories of how Will Kellogg got going in the corn flakes business, how Herbert Dow whipped the German bromine cartel, how John Jacob Astor built a flourishing fur trade in direct competition with the federal government, and how Henry Ford and Billy Durant made Michigan a car-producing behemoth are among the fascinating accounts Folsom weaves into this book. Underlying it all is a time-honored principle that so many of today's historians (being left-leaning tenured academics living in their own world while feeding off the toil of the very risk-taking businesspeople they love to criticize)seem to ignore: get government involved in enterprise and the result is poverty and disaster; leave people alone in a free society and the result is opportunity and prosperity for ! all.

Thank you, Dr. Folsom, for this most enlightening and lively history. I hope your employer lets you write many more such works.

Average customer rating:

From the Author

Very basic stuff and NO PIZAZZ at all...

Great Tips!

A Superb Resource!

I hope my kids' teachers read this book!

Presenting With Pizzazz
Sharon L. Bowman
Manufacturer: Bowperson Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Training | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Running Meetings & Presentations | Skills | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
General | Self-Help | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
Pedagogy | Education | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

How To Give It So They Get It

Preventing Death By Lecture!

Shake, Rattle & Roll: Using the Ordinary to Make Your Training Extraordinary

The Ten-Minute Trainer: 150 Ways to Teach it Quick and Make it Stick! (Pfeiffer Essential Resources for Training and HR Professionals)

If Lazarus Did It, So Can You!

ASIN: 0965685101

Book Description

Do you teach, train, or give information to other people? This book is for you! Presenting With Pizzazz gives you a host of easy-to-apply tips and activities for getting learners of all ages more actively involved in their own learning. Based on accelerated learning research and written in a fun, conversational style, this book is a resource gem for today's busy teachers and trainers.

Customer Reviews:

From the Author.......2007-04-05

"Pizzazz" isn't about the presenter. And it's not about "the show," that is, entertaining audiences with a snazzy presentation where all the attention focused on the presenter. It's about turning audiences of passive listeners into audiences of active learners - big difference. When a presenter involves his/her audience in the learning, then the presentation is filled with pizzazz. And, which is even better, learners can remember and use what they heard afterwards - something that doesn't happen when the audience is simply listening to the presenter, no matter how entertaining the presenter may be.

While not all books are for everyone, there are many folks who have learned a great deal from this book (as evidenced by emails I receive and book sales - over 20,000 copies to date). These people are using what they have learned in effective ways to add lots of pizzazz to their presentations.

Carry on! Sharon Bowman

Very basic stuff and NO PIZAZZ at all..........2005-08-16

I was very disappointed with this book. I am a speaker and this book will not help me much. The basic message of the book: the audience must be involved so it learns. No kidding!?
This book was "presenting with pizazz" and NOT "tricks to become a better trainer"!!! The title is completely misleading, since I didn't learn how to add any creativity, showbiz or "pizazz" to my presentations!
In fact, being known for my surprising presentations, I will really think about writing this book myself, as it was meant to be.
I do not recommend this book since it contains only minimal content.

Great Tips!.......2003-07-29

Almost every book on presentation commanded at least a few hundred pages of text, so you could imagine my sceptism when I bought this book.

I am glad to say that I have not regretted this purchase. :)

You realise that this book is a no-nonsense, straight to the point tip book, the moment you flip to the content page. The elaborations are concise and punchy. You don't have to mull through numerous pages of boring academia but you get very useful tips. Sharon Bowman is quite obviously an old hand at training.

What I also loved were the punchy and witty little words of wisdom that Sharon Bowman boxed up in various parts of the book. It made lots of common sense when you read them, and of course, served to tickle your funny bones.

My only reservation about this book is that while the tips are great, its suggested games/pair shares do not seem very useful for most situations - to some extent, these pair shares can seem rather common and boring.

Nevertheless, I would take this with a pinch of salt, and rather use these suggested games/pair shares not as the hard and fast model answers, nor as templates, but more as suggested examples. Ultimately any game can become boring and mundane if too many people keep repeating it in different trainings. Your job as a trainer is to make sure this doesn't happen, and that creativitiy is always maintained.

A Superb Resource!.......2002-01-21

The first time I read Presenting With Pizzazz, I applied two ideas to a Negotiation Skills workshop. I plan to go back and use additional ideas for my other sessions. This has a wealth of unique ideas for active learning!

I hope my kids' teachers read this book!.......2002-01-06

This book makes involving students easy, quick, and fun. It makes sense to teach this way. I wish more teachers for both kids and adults would use these ideas.

Book Description

Complementing Dibb and Simkin's established reputation in their field, this text presents a punchy overview of the leading 50 themes of marketing, each concisely summarized for revision purposes or quick-learning. While appealing primarily to students undertaking marketing exams, many practitioners will also find this 'glossary of current marketing' hard to resist.

The title builds on the earlier works of Dibb and Simkin, whose Houghton Mifflin text, 'Marketing: Concepts and Strategies', is the current business school market leading text in the United Kingdom, while their Thomson Learning text, 'The Marketing Casebook: Cases and Concepts', has just been revised and is the most widely used marketing casebook.

From understanding customers, branding and positioning, relationship marketing, social responsibility through to value-based marketing and one-to-one marketing, this book covers all the issues the modern marketer must address.

The text itself is organized into short structured chapters, the Briefs, each including:

* Core definitions
* A bulleted key point overview
* Thorough yet concise explanation of the concept and primary issues
* Illustrative examples
* A selection of examination style case, essay and applied questions
* Recommended further reading and sources.

Together these offer a rounded, concise and topical appreciation of each theme within a clear and accessible framework designed to aid revision. Also included are revision tips and 'golden rules' for tackling examinations, specimen examination papers with answer schemes, and a full glossary of key marketing terms.

The short, snappy and succinct nature of the book

structured chapters, which include a bulleted overview, illustrative examples and example examination questions and further reading / sources

companion website to support the text (http://www.bh.com/companions/0750653868)

Amazon.com

Despite its uninviting title, this useful guide provides the "senior executive" with strategies for making important decisions about information technologies (IT), even when some of the specific issues may be clouded in jargon, technical uncertainty, or corporate politics. The essays in this collection attempt to separate these outside factors from the basic business issues surrounding IT. Competing in the Information Age helps senior management focus on long-term good policy, define the ultimate value of IT--both including and excluding cost, understand the far-reaching impact of electronic commerce, and manage IT issues around organizational goals.

Although the presentation is a bit dry and academic at times, the authors do attempt to provide realistic examples from successful practitioners in business. Managers who see that their company's competitiveness is hinged on information technology, but who are fearful or uncertain about how to align that vision with everyday practice will benefit from this book.

Book Description

Most managers realize that information is among their company's most important assets. However, many don't know how to leverage their investments in information technology. Often, says Jerry N. Luftman, companies rush to acquire state-of-the-art systems without considering their long-term impact. For example, in the 1980s, retail banks invested heavily in ATMs--until ATMs ceased to be a competitive advantage and became merely another (and increasingly expensive) cost of doing business. Stemming from IBM's highly regarded Consulting Group, combining the expertise of consultants and leading academics, Competing in the Information Age shows managers how to avoid being blindsided by information technology. It outlines how to match information systems with business strategy to forge a strong competitive edge and bring powerful solutions to bear on real-world problems. The bottom line, Luftman contends, is that a firm must coordinate, or align, four elements: its business strategy, the strategy of its information systems, its organizational infrastructure, and its information technology infrastructure. To this end, he adds to his own expertise contributors who offer models, frameworks, and methods that can help companies in any industry discover their ideal strategic alignment. The contributors have a wide variety of backgrounds and approach information technology from a number of illuminating angles. They discuss how to distinguish between information systems that automate human skills and those that augment them; how to put together worldwide, flexible information structures that seamlessly connect people, products, and processes; and how to gauge the benefits of object-oriented programming and connected computer networks. A recurrent theme is the amount to which an executive should be versed in technology, with the caveat that technological jargon sometimes inhibits business opportunities. Other crucial topics include how inter- and intra-organizational systems (IOS) and Electronic Data Exchange (EDI) are creating a whole new raft of management challenges; and how corporate culture affects attitudes toward information technology. The book also offers a six-stage process of transformation to technology, with suggested roles for the CEO, CIO, and other players, and gives advice on coping with the changes and clashes sparked by new information systems. Managers also get advice on how to benchmark information technology strategic alignment, looking at the results of an IBM benchmarking project. Citing examples from companies as diverse as Federal Express, a Swiss bank, a fresh produce supplier, four airlines contemplating a merger, and a consumer finance organization, this volume will be valuable to managers from small firms to global corporations, at various stages of contemplating--or implementing--leveraging information technology. It gives companies the key to unlock the power of information, and boost their competitiveness in a tough global marketplace.

Customer Reviews:

Business Strategy of Information Systems and Alignment.......2005-01-12

The models, framworks and methods given in this book are very useful especially for executives. It gives interesting insights as to how to align information systems with business strategies to bring solutions to critical business problems. This book has been a very good reference for me. A little tough/detailed but fun to read/understand. It contains essential information for CEOs about their role/involvement in strategic planning of IT and alignment within the organization.

PERFECT FOR THE INDUSTRY.......2002-03-13

Having my PHD and MANY years in the IT field at several TOP managerial positions, Professor Luftmans book really inspired several companies to initiate new programs that ALL have benefited from...As well, I refer to this in all my lectures as well as w/in the company that I am CEO for....

Complete description o IT Planning. But too theorical!.......2000-11-26

I found this book very rich in concepts and models for the ITStrategic planning and Alignment. The book is a tough reading ifyou're looking for something more practical. It has been a goodreference for me in a couple of cases but there are other books thatcan give a less theorical explanation and tips to embrace the ITstrategic alignment.

If you're in Research or at a University, thisbook if for you. If you're an IT Manager, CIO, CTO o else, you maywant to try another books (perhaps "Leveraging the NewInfraestructure" or "The Business Value of IT" fromHarvard Business School also available at Amazon.com)

COMPETING IN THE INFORMANTION AGE.......2000-04-02

The book contains the essential details for strategic management of an IT organization. It contains interesting concepts about the essential ways to manage a company from the perspective of CEO

Competing in the Information Age: Strategic Alignment in Practice

Average customer rating:

Competing in the Information Age: Strategic Alignment in Practice
Jerry N. Luftman
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OKNFDK

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