Canadian Business Presents Who's Who in Canadian Business

Book Description

One of Canada's most respected biographical reference books listing more than 5,000 of Canada's business leaders. Indexed by company. Includes the Canadian Business Performance 2000 plus the Profit, The Magazine for Canadian Entrepreneurs Profit 100, along with a section listing brief sketches of noted business associations. The CD ROM is Mac/PC compatible with a built-in key word search engine.

Chatelaine Presents Who's Who of Canadian Women

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Chatelaine Presents Who's Who of Canadian Women
Gillian Holme
Manufacturer: University of Toronto Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Business | Professionals & Academics | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Reference & Collections | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Women | Specific Groups | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Reference | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Women's Studies | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Science | Dictionaries & Thesauruses | Reference | Subjects | Books

Directories | Catalogs & Directories | Reference | Subjects | Books

General | Reference | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0920966551

Book Description

Who's Who of Canadian Women is a guide to the most powerfuland innovative women in Canada. Celebrating the talents and achievement of over 3,700 women, Who's Who of Canadian Women includes women from all over Canada, in all fields, including agriculture, academia, law, business, politics, journalism, religion, sports and entertainment. Each biography includes such information as personal data, education, career history, current employment, affiliations, interests and honours. A special comment section reveals personal thoughts, goals, and achievements of the profiled individual. Entries are indexed by employment of affilitation for easy reference.

Published every two years, Who's Who of Canadian Women selects its biographees on merit alone. This collection is an essential resource for all those interested in the achievements of Canadian women.

Book Description

With more than 300 creative activities for primary and intermediate school age children, this book is the only resource educators and program directors will need in promoting learning and fun with children. Creative, developmentally appropriate activities centered on fine arts, language arts, math, physical activities, science and social studies bring these subjects to life. The book's content reflects standards from national organizations and includes projects that work well for individual children, small groups and large groups. Plus, implementing these projects and activities is easy in any setting, even with limited time, money, space or materials.

Creative Resources for Elementary Classrooms & School Age Programs

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Creative Resources for Elementary Classrooms & School Age Programs
Ron Wheeler
Manufacturer: Wadsworth Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Education | Reference | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Education | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Lesson Planning | Education | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

General | Education | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Business & Investing | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Nonfiction | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Professional | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
ASIN: 0827372817

Book Description

An invaluable reference source that teachers and parents will want to refer to time and time again. Creative Resources for Elementary Classrooms & School Age Programs contains over 50 inventive themes with goals, activities, resources, bulletin board ideas, and a section on computer software. Contains a complete resource list of books and software available for teachers and students.

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Excellent book on negotiation

Create a quantum game shift without you boss even knowing it

Not for Women Only!

Turn 'Weaknesses' into Strengths

Not for women only!

The Shadow Negotiation: How Women Can Master the Hidden Agendas That Determine Bargaining Success
Deborah Kolb , and Judith Williams
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Women & Business | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Management & Leadership | Women & Business | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
General | Organizational Behavior | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Leadership | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Management | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Negotiating | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
General | Women's Studies | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
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Nice Girls Don't Get the Corner Office: 101 Unconscious Mistakes Women Make That Sabotage Their Careers

The Secret Handshake: Mastering the Politics of the Business Inner Circle

Women Don't Ask: The High Cost of Avoiding Negotiation--and Positive Strategies for Change

The Handbook of Family Dispute Resolution: Mediation Theory and Practice (The Jossey-Bass Library of Conflict Resolution)

Narrative Mediation : A New Approach to Conflict Resolution

ASIN: 0684838400

Book Description

At last, here is a book that shows women how to recognize the Shadow Negotiation -- in which the unspoken attitudes, hidden assumptions, and conflicting agendas that drive the bargaining process play out -- and how to use that knowledge to their advantage.

Each time people bargain over issues -- a promotion, a contract with a new client, a bigger role in decision-making -- a parallel negotiation unfolds beneath the surface of the "formal" discussion. Bargainers constantly maneuver to determine whose interests and needs will hold sway, whose opinions will matter, and how cooperative each person will be in reaching an agreement.

How the issues are resolved hangs on the actions people take in the shadow negotiation, yet it is in this shadow negotiation that women most often run into trouble. The most productive negotiations take place when strong advocates can connect with each other. Good results depend equally on a bargainer's positioning her ideas for a fair hearing and on being open to the other side's point of view. But traditionally women have not fared well on either front. Often, they let negotiable moments slip by and take the first "no" as a final answer, or their efforts to be responsive to the other side's position are interpreted as accommodation. As a result, women can come away from negotiations with fewer dollars, perks, plum assignments, or less say in decision-making than men.

To negotiate effectively, women must pay attention to acts of self-sabotage as well as to the moves others make in the shadow negotiation. By bargaining more strategically, women can establish the terms of their advocacy, their voice, and at the same time encourage the open communication essential to a collaborative discussion in which not only acceptable, but creative, agreements can be worked out.

Written by Deborah M. Kolb and Judith Williams, two authorities in the field, The Shadow Negotiation shows women a whole new way to think about the negotiation process. Kolb and Williams identify the common stumbling blocks that women encounter and present a game plan for turning their particular strengths to their advantage. Based on extensive interviews with hundreds of business-women, The Shadow Negotiation provides women with a clear, insightful guide to the hidden machinations that are at work in every bargaining situation.

Download Description

Written exclusively for women, this title shows how to master the hidden agendas that determine bargaining success. Tips include how to recognize the shadow negotiation--unspoken attitudes, hidden assumptions, and conflicting agendas that drive the bargaining process.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent book on negotiation.......2003-04-18

I've gone through several books on negotiation and this book ranks up there with the best. Don't let the title fool you. This book isn't just for women. It's just as good for everyone. If you're short on time in learning about negotiation, this book and the Getting to Yes book should arm you with most concepts to handle negotiation in your favor.

The strength of this book lies in its numerous examples, especially in relation to salary negotiation and promotion.

Create a quantum game shift without you boss even knowing it.......2001-01-07

I recently completed a three month negotiation process at my job and came out from being the lowest paid executive to one of the top three with the help of Shadow Negotiation. What came as the biggest surprise was, after getting out of my own way and following the structured steps suggested by the authors, each phase of the negotiations left me stronger and more focused rather than at a loss as to what the next step could be. Through the guidelines set forth in this book, I feel I can shift a negotiation process intuitively rather than strong arming it as we as women have always been led to believe was the only option. Not only do I now realize I am smarter than I thought, I can more likely conclude a negotiation process with all parties feeling the winner. Thank you again for your book.

Not for Women Only!.......2000-11-30

As I flipped through the Harvard Business Review's Top Ten Business Books Of 2000 , I was intrigued by the review of "The Shadow Negotiation". Having a background in sociology, my curiosity was piqued by the book's focus on gender issues and interpersonal communication.

It turned out to be a riveting read and I lost count of the number of times I thought "Hey, that's happened to me!"

The Shadow Negotiation teaches by example, and delves into the psychological and social intracacies of negotiation. This book has enriched my understanding of the layers of negotiations that occur long before arriving at the table.

Turn 'Weaknesses' into Strengths.......2000-11-30

Is the female knack for empathy a weakness? Not when it helps you see negotiations from the other person's point of view and identify what's most important to the other side . . . and your side. This very practical book gives plenty of examples that one can apply to real-life work situations, and without a lot of 'win-win' palaver.

Not for women only!.......2000-11-29

It turned out to be a riveting read and I lost count of the number of times I thought "Hey, that's happened to me!"

Book Description

Develops concrete steps as part of a phased approach by which the United States and Russia can improve nuclear safety and U.S.-Russian realtions.

In the Shadow of the Bomb: Physics and Arms Control (Masters of Modern Physics, Vol 6)

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In the Shadow of the Bomb: Physics and Arms Control (Masters of Modern Physics, Vol 6)
Sidney D. Drell
Manufacturer: AIP Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Arms Control | Current Events | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Science | Subjects | Books

General | History & Philosophy | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Physics | Science | Subjects | Books

Applied | Physics | Science | Subjects | Books

Book Description

"Brilliant expositions on elementary particle physics, and graceful eulogies on several well known physicists." Physics World "The book exudes the warmth of its author. It is often moving, at times funny, never dull, and sometimes quite profound." American Journal of Physics In the Shadow of the Bomb probes the theoretical constraints that underlie science policy questions, addresses past and developing themes in the arms control and national security debate, and discusses the underpinnings and morality of nuclear deterrence. Includes Drell's personal reminiscences of friends and colleagues, among them, Wolfgang K.H. Panofsky, T.D. Lee, and Victor F. Weisskopf. Several essays are devoted to Andrei Sakharov, with whom Drell enjoyed a close friendship.

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Scholarly Worthwhile

Out of the Nuclear Shadow

Manufacturer: Zed Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Strategy | Military | History | Subjects | Books

Arms Control | Current Events | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Book Description

In May 1998 one-sixth of humanity was thrust into the bomb's shadow by nuclear test explosions in India and Pakistan. This collection of historic public statements, recent writings by scholars, and resources, gathers the diverse voices, traditions, and approaches of the anti-nuclear movement in the two countries. It attempts to understand and challenge the causes and consequences of the nuclearization of South Asia, and to confront governments that see nuclear weapons as moments of glory in an otherwise dismal contemporary history.

Customer Reviews:

Scholarly Worthwhile.......2002-07-07

Pacifist leanings entwined with much revelant data about India and Pakistan's nuclear arsenal make this book a good read for University.

Peace Negotiations in the Shadow of Violence (International Negotiation Series)

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Peace Negotiations in the Shadow of Violence (International Negotiation Series)
Kristine Hoglund
Manufacturer: Hotei Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Law | Subjects | Books

General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Shadow hangs over peace talks.(Focus): An article from: Winnipeg Free Press

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Shadow hangs over peace talks.(Focus): An article from: Winnipeg Free Press
Gale Reference Team
Manufacturer: Thomson Gale
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
ASIN: B000PLX70E
Release Date: 2007-04-17

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Winnipeg Free Press, published by Thomson Gale on April 17, 2007. The length of the article is 763 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: Shadow hangs over peace talks.(Focus)
Author: Gale Reference Team
Publication: Winnipeg Free Press (Magazine/Journal)
Date: April 17, 2007
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Page: a15

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Jakob Ammann's shadow: Cultural factors affecting the amenability of descendants of Amish and Mennonites to psychotherapy, mediation, and negotiation

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Jakob Ammann's shadow: Cultural factors affecting the amenability of descendants of Amish and Mennonites to psychotherapy, mediation, and negotiation
Diana Avery Amsden
Manufacturer: s.n
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B0007C9UVQ

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Shadow Negotiation
Deborah Kolb
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

General | Women & Business | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Leadership | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Management | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Negotiating | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Women's Studies | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0743215125

Book Description

In this competitive age, the need for qualified facilitators is constantly growing. A facilitator is a mediator and a negotiator, an organizational development consultant and process observer, a statistician and TQM expert, and an agent for positive change within an organization. A facilitator trains and educates, builds successful teams, and solves problems by listening and communicating well with others. The TQM Facilitator's Guide is for those interested in becoming facilitators and those who want to improve their present facilitation skills. It gives clearly defined standards on the role of a facilitator in an institutional organization and elaborates upon the characteristics of effective facilitators-flexible, constructive individuals who enjoy working with people. It also classifies facilitators into three distinct performance levels: Facilitator I for highly performing teams, Facilitator II for non-performing teams and Facilitator III for an organization's most critical teams. Both a practical handbook and a self-directed learning workbook, the TQM Facilitator's Guide is packed with interactive exercises and detailed descriptions of the Total Quality Management process and the methods by which facilitators go about initiating one. This book can help you transform your currently dysfunctional workplace into a productive, highly functioning environment full of teamwork, understanding and cooperation.

Book Description

The Corporate Executive Survival Guide answers questions Americans are asking! How do I protect myself, my family or my company from terrorist and criminal attacks?

This 323 page book contains critical information you need to know about: Terrorist & Criminal Threats, Crisis Management, Telephone Threat Plans, Bomb Threat Plans, VIP Protection, Travel Security, Office Security, Residential & Dependent Security, Communication Systems, Espionage, Hijacking, Kidnappings, Computer Security and Aviation Security.

Customer Reviews:

Worth Reading!.......2002-12-15

In this day and age when terrorism is happening all around us, I'm glad I found this survival guide. The information in it is valuable not only when traveling in foreign countries, but here at home as well. Mr. Doyle is certainly qualified to write on this subject, and has done a great job in explaining what I need to do to protect me and my family from terrorism. The content is to the point and easy to read. I highly recommend this book to anyone who travels abroad, but also to those of us who are concerned about terrorism here in the US. Thank you, Mr. Doyle.

Book Description

A contemporary classic in Peru, where it was first published in 1986, this book explores changes in the political identity and economic strategies of the Peruvian working class in the 1970s and 1980s. Jorge Parodi uses a case study of Metal Empresa, a large factory in Lima, to trace the surge and decline of the labor movement in Peru—and in Latin America more generally—through the successes and frustrations of the members of a once-powerful union as they coped with the nation's deteriorating economic situation.

By the early 1970s, Metal Empresa was the site of one of the most radical and aggressive unions in Peruvian industry. But as the decade drew to a close, political and economic crises soured the environment for trade unionism and rendered unions less able to produce palpable benefits for their members. Through in-depth, often poignant interviews, including an extensive oral history of one of the workers, Jesus Zuniga, Parodi shows how workers desperate to support themselves and their families were increasingly forced to seek opportunities outside the industrial sector. In the process, he shows, they began to question their very identities as workers.

Customer Reviews:

Class-consciousness isn't so easy after all.......2005-03-24

"It is not a question of what this or that proletarian, or even the whole proletariat, at the moment regards as its aim. It is a question of what the proletariat is, and what, in accordance with this being, it will historically be compelled to do."
- Karl Marx, The Holy Family

Jorge Parodi's analysis of the rapid development and subsequent decline of the Metal Empresa union offers both an opportunity to examine the emergence and extent of class-consciousness in the workers at Metal Empresa, as well as a history of trade unionism in Peru. Parodi, through his ethnography at the Metal Empresa plant, charts the evolution of the metallurgical unions by dissecting the history of working conditions and the internal conflicts at Metal Empresa; examining the political situation and the influence of outside actors; and the individual motivations that converged and, in the end, did not provide a sufficient base for sustaining a strong clasista consciousness and, subsequently, a strong union movement.

The workers' motivations for establishing a union are clear: workers received inadequate compensation for their labor, worked under repressive management, and as a result of the intense competition for jobs, were left with few options for steady employment. Until 1970, workers at Metal Empresa were largely constrained from unionizing in any effective capacity due to the threat of firing. However, following the enactment of the Law of Security of Labor Employment, there was motivation without constraint. This also converged with an outside interest: political competition by the nueva izquierda with the military regime.

Although circumstances aligned for creating a union at Metal Empresa, as the rationale for doing so was in the self-interest of all workers, competition among workers could potentially undercut solidarity. The conflicting identities that the workers ascribed to themselves and to those around them immediately established the boundaries that needed to be overcome in order to establish a collective identity. The serranos held firmly to their self-image as hard working, versatile, and saving for the future. They considered the criollos to be lazy and only interested in immediate comforts and gains, and therefore inferior workers. Likewise, the disdain that the criollos felt for the serranos separated them from each other, at least in their own consciousnesses. Simply because both groups were workers, and therefore in natural competition with their employers, did not mean in their perceptions of each other that they were equals.

Marx was aware of the natural conflict of self-interest to class-consciousness, which is why he emphasized solidarity. In the case of the Metal Empresa workers, was needed to overcome the management's efforts to divide them by favoring some groups, such as the talareños, over others, as well as their own self-ascribed competing identities. Instead of viewing each other as serranos, criollos, and talareños, they would need to identify themselves as workers in solidarity with each other against management.

Lenin, however, argued that only a shallow "trade union consciousness" could emerge from the proletariat directly and that an intellectual cadre needed to foster and direct the sense of class-consciousness within the proletariat. This is obviously the role that the university students and the nueva izquierda sought to play in relation to the Metal Empresa workers. Because although the workers knew that they wanted to obtain better compensation for their labor, they largely felt that they did not know how to organize and obtain such compensation. The university students that offered such assistance did so with the expectation that the workers would be willing foot soldiers in their political campaign against the regime. On the students' part, this either required them to assume that the workers were aligned with them politically, or that if they were not, it was because they needed intellectual leaders to expand their struggle beyond that of fighting for better working conditions to fighting for a better political situation for their country. The first assumption, that the workers would be politically aligned, is flawed inasmuch as many of the workers express their frustrations to Parodi with political demonstrations; they simply want to obtain and maintain acceptable labor conditions for themselves.

The second assumption that the workers would want to participate in political struggles of the nueva izquierda also assumes the subordination of the workers' class-consciousness to the political goals of the nueva izquierda. This, according to Luxemburg, is contrary to the workers' ability to maintain solidarity and continue progress in their struggle. However, Marx acknowledges the importance of the union and party leaders, which in the case of the Metal Empresa union were steeped in clasista thinking, who were able to mobilize the workers and articulate their grievances to management.

In the end, the Metal Empresa workers were uninterested in larger political battles, and as Parodi suggests, capitalists at heart. The documentation of the workers who engaged in enterprises outside the factory, time and again, regardless of the gains made by the union, suggest that the workers were seeking a personal security for themselves in the future. This security was individualistic and trumped the concerns of the union and the clasista leaders. In fact, it is interesting to note that clasista thinking was only adopted by the union leaders, such as Jesus Zuñiga, and not by the body of workers. Although workers accepted that leaders subscribed to the ideology of class thinking, which may have been necessary for the leaders to accept in order to effectively fight for union interests, the workers themselves showed no need to personalize such beliefs.

Parodi also points to a paradox that conscribed la lucha for the Metal Empresa workers. Despite the nueva izquierda's opposition to the military regime, without the Law of Security of Labor Employment, enacted by the regime, the labor unions would not have had the ability to mobilize. Without the mobilization of the unions, the nueva izquierda would have been deprived of their largest and most reliable source or protest and legitimization.

Unexplored by Parodi, but nonetheless a possible epilogue to his analysis, is the possible impact that the void of political opposition created by the decline of unionism may have played in the rise of Sendero Luminoso in the early to mid 1980s.

Considering that the Vanguardia Revolucionaria (VR) could not foster a movement beyond the individual struggles for workers' rights in industry, it seems plausible that the intellectual Left may have turned to more anti-system options to pursue its political goals. In fact, Sendero was founded primarily by a group of frustrated intellectuals from Ayacucho, and it received a significant Leninist contribution from VR.

If one accepts this theory, then it is reasonable to suggest that the military regime in the 1970s may have taken a lesson from Bolivia's history. In Bolivia the strong militancy of the miners' unions possibly prevented the rise of an armed guerilla movement. By purposefully providing a "release valve" for leftist frustrations in allowing unions to form, the regime offered the VR and nueva izquierda a possible outlet for political development, although in the end, not a lasting one. It would have been a gamble for the regime, because if the VR were able to create a powerful militancy in the unions, major confrontations may have ensued. In the end, the radical Left's battle took place in the 1980s and 1990s, with Presidente Gonzalo at the helm.

References

Bottomore, T. (1991). A Dictionary of Marxist Thought. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.

Lenin, V.I. (1902). What is to be Done?

Marx, K. (1852). The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Napoleon (S. Padover, Trans.).

Marx, K. & Engels, F. (1845). The Holy Family (R. Dixon & C. Dutts, Trans. 1956.).

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The Collected Writings of John Maynard Keynes: Volume 7, The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money
John Maynard Keynes
Manufacturer: Cambridge University press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000ND7L0Q

Book Description

While theories on `learning organizations' and `knowledge-based companies' have recently emerged, little attention has yet been given either to the underlying structures of these developments, or to the link between these underlying structures and the resources available to manage them. Organizational Learning and Knowledge Technologies in a Dynamic Environment attempts to fill this gap. It thus presents practical and concrete ways for companies to be adaptable and flexible whilst operating effectively and efficiently. Underlying concepts and insights into flexible management and chaotic market behavior are translated into a pragmatic approach to knowledge management within companies, using the latest technology. Corporate knowledge is increasingly proving to be not only an important resource, but possibly unique in its sustainability. Managing knowledge as a resource, as well as managing learning as the process which creates that resource, can only be done using appropriate information technologies. The foundational concepts discussed emerge from such fields as neurobiology, cognitive sciences, physics, and organizational theory. These are applied to management and substantiated with examples. New developments in knowledge management, such as connectionist approaches, are outlined and illustrated with real cases. The author further describes an approach for developing knowledge networks in companies. The annex offers readers with an advanced interest in the matter an epistemological discussion on scientific methods for management research and touches in a broader sense on the measurability of management processes.

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Insightful

Corporate Turnaround - Quick Reference

Corporate Turnaround: Nursing a Sick Company Back to Health
Michael Teng
Manufacturer: Prentice-Hall (Australia)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Industrial | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Leadership | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Corporate Turnaround: How Managers Turn Losers into Winners

Harvard Business Review on Turnarounds

Leading Corporate Turnaround: How Leaders Fix Troubled Companies

ASIN: 0130083828

Book Description

Is downsizing the answer to solving corporate woes? Why is my company not growing? Why do companies fall sick, recover and subsequently succumb to the same ailments? If these questions sound familiar, chances are your company is in a slump and it does not seem like the situation will improve any time soon. Like many companies, yours has fallen sick due to corporate viruses such as global economic slowdowns, the rapid changes of globalization, terror attacks and incompetent management. However, even dying companies can attain holistic and long-term recovery by applying the new breakthrough prescription of surgery, resuscitation and nursing.

Using medical analogies, Corporate Turnaround: Nursing a Sick Company Back to Health prescribes effective and easy-to-administer turnaround techniques in the right doses. These techniques have been successfully applied by many turnaround specialists globally and re-formulated to be both universally applicable and user friendly.

Customer Reviews:

Insightful.......2004-01-24

This is the first book I read on corporate turnaround and I learnt a lot from this book.This book has provided insightful information about corporate turnaround, especially dealing with Asian corporations.

Corporate Turnaround - Quick Reference.......2003-07-03

Good and concise presentation on the subject of Corporate Turnaround through innovative use of medical terminologies. Simple case studies also helped the reader to appreciate the subject matter. In short, this is a good introductory reference book for readers who wish to find out what it entails during a Corporate Turnaround exercise.

Chin Chuan,WEE
President, Corporate Turnaround Interest Group
Marketing Institute of Singapore
Jun 2003

Average customer rating:
Corporate Turnaround: Nursing a Sick Company Back to Health
Michael Teng
Manufacturer: Prentice-Hall (Australia)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OH9OF6

Book Description

Information has been called everything from the new gold standard to the fundamental building block of the universe. No matter where we live or what we do for a living, it is ever present in our lives, and many of us are barraged with it daily. Yet few of us know how to distinguish information from mere data, worthwhile communication, or real knowledge—in short, few of us know how to make sense of it.

In InfoSense, noted mathematician Keith Devlin shows how to make sense of the constant flow of information that swirls past us daily. What is crucial, Devlin points out, is to understand the differences between data, information, and knowledge. By exploring the nature of each, and describing what distinguishes them from one another, he shows how businesses and individuals alike can benefit from better information management. Using clear, non-technical language, simple diagrams, and many real-life examples, Devlin explains

• Why people can beat computers
• How culture influences work
• The hidden rules of conversation
• How to conduct a successful meeting

As information becomes the single most valuable asset in many industries, the key to success lies in our ability to manage that information. With InfoSense, Keith Devlin offers an easy and accessible way to learn not only how to manage it but also how to use it to live and work successfully in the Knowledge Age.

Customer Reviews:

InfoNonsense? Frustration from a reader who enjoys Devlin's other math books.......2007-04-30

The title of this review is vastly exaggerating. An author with
credentials including PhD in mathematics and a researcher at Stanford
doesn't usually talk nonsense, but I need an expression to voice my
frustration about the book. I have been enjoying many Devlin's more
mathematically-oriented books and his MAA column. This book,
InfoSense, however, is very different. How would I expect a
mathematician to write a book about data, information, and knowledge? I
was looking in vain for clean and concise definitions of these terms
in the first few chapters of the book. I almost stopped reading when
I saw the following equation (pp. 14):

Information = Data + Meaning

I feel the algebra notation is abused. I expect more from an
mathematician. In the beginning of the book the author proclaims "it
[the book] is built on a sound, theoretical investigation of
information that this book differs from the majority of business
books." Replacing logical arguments with anecdotes, stories, and
superficial equations and figures doesn't convince me the book is
really different from other business books.

Low-tech path to higher productivity.......2001-08-14

Information is everywhere. To paraphrase Yoda, "it surrounds us, it binds us." It has become the only "tangible" product many of us work with. As information becomes the most valuable asset a company has, how do we manage it all?

In InfoSense, noted mathematician and popular science writer Keith Devlin shows us how to make sense of the constant flow of information that bombards us daily. What is crucial, Devlin says, is to understand the difference between data, information and knowledge.

Devlin's mathematical inclinations show with his equations that illustrate his points. Equations like "Information = Data + Meaning" and "Knowledge = Internalized information + ability to utilize the information." Essentially, information only turns into knowledge when we attach meaning to it. When we understand it. Distinguishing between the various types of info in the flow is all-important. Here are some key points addressed in the book:

* Why people, not computers, are the most effective way to transfer knowledge * How social and cultural factors influence work * The hidden rules of everyday communication * How to conduct a meeting to achieve what you want * How to avoid miscommunication

Devlin's low-tech way to higher productivity is straightforward, learn how to communicate better. He shows how to converse more efficiently, how to run more effective meetings, and how to avoid miscommunication (with some shocking airline accident examples) with clear unambiguous language.

Devlin uses Situation theory to illustrate how to increase productivity within a group. He says that the ideal group size is two or three. As you add more group members the likelihood of confusion increases.

It seems that the more participants in a meeting, the higher the likelihood that the group will spend most of the time discussing information already known. This is because people have a tendency to discuss what they already know, and not bring up new subjects in conversation. They lack adequate "common knowledge" and need to be consciously guided to be effective.

An example: here's how to avoid going over familiar ground in a meeting:

1. Get participants to submit in advance the points they wish to make. 2. Adapt a round-robin format where each person in turn is asked to contribute something new. 3. List each new item introduced on a flipchart or a whiteboard. 4. Constantly remind the participants that the aim is to examine new information or ideas. 5. Cast the task at hand in an open-ended fashion as one of examining all the options, rather than making ajudgement or arriving at a decision. 6. Ensure that everyone in the group has a clearly defined and clearly understood area of expertise. 7. Build up the team over time, so everyone becomes familiar with one another's areas of expertise and with their strengths and weaknesses.

Columbo was really creating context when, at the last minute, he turned around at the door and said "Oh, and one more thing I don't understand...." Experts are those who know the rules so well, they routinely break them. To become an expert at the art of communication, this is a good place to start. From WebReference.com.

lackluster.......2001-01-24

I was excited to read Infosense. Its a topic I'm interested in. And on page 1 I was excited. And on page 10 I was excited and on page 15 , and 30 and 40 I began to be less excited...Devlin, who is supposedly a real master in the field didn't seem to provide any answers. Sometimes he would ask a good question and I got excited that there would be an equally good answer and instead found an answer that seemed like one a smart guy with very little time would come up with. This books reads like a disjointed work, like a publisher wanted another book...and fast and Devlin had to race to put together some ideas. I don't doubt Devlin is intelligent, but his assumptions seem to lack any kind of depth or definition.

Lack of Theory is A Critical Downfall.......2000-10-05

As a student in the field of Communication I was interested in reading Devlin's INFOSENSE to broaden my knowledge of the study of information, data, and knowledge and how the three are related to each other. Devlin's background as a mathematician results in his explanations of these terms in comparative equation form. He explains the transition of data into information and ultimately the gaining of knowledge through these mathematical concepts. If you are a newcomer to the field, Devlin does a thorough job of teaching tips for a more successful office atmosphere by suggesting ways of gaining information from data and turning that into knowledge. However as a veteran to the concepts of information, I was unimpressed by his lack of theory. In fact, his equations almost limit the possibilities of gaining information. According to communication theory researcher, Stephen W. Littlejohn, in his book THEORIES OF HUMAN COMMUNICATION, communication, as a process is "too complicated to be approached [with set step by step formulas]." In fact reducing information communication to these equations "inevitably fail as circumstances become more complex." Littlejohn continues that theories are far more crucial at helping to understand the information concept because by understanding the theory of a concept, one can apply that to any situation. Devlin's only attempt at a communication theory is the concept he introduces as "situational theory." Ultimately this idea is never exactly defined or stated for the reader rather he writes more about definitions and comparisons of the process of information gain. I would only recommend this book to a businessperson interested in learning about the process of gaining knowledge through information rather than actually learning how to improve their success rate of gaining knowledge. As a student in the field this book offers a different approach to the controversial definition of information however in the end fails to reveal any new breakthrough concepts in the study.

> >**Littlejohn, Stephen W. THEORIES OF HUMAN COMMUNICATION. Wadsworth Publishing Company, (ITP), -6ed.

Devlin: Surviving the Information age.......2000-09-20

I would recommend this book for everybody. I personally believe it truly depends on the audience. I found the book far from being boring or "mind boggling". I was a bit lost towards the beginning but caught up what Devlin was getting at through reading the chapters that followed. Its pretty good for business oriented people. As a college student I would say its above average. The chapters are short and have useful summaries. Well atleast to me it shows the author took the readers into consideration while writing 'Infosense'.

As a mathemetician, Devlin used equations to distinguish between information, data and knowledge. He wants his readers to understand knowledge and information based on a scientific logical foundation. The author provides equations such as "Information = Data + Meaning" (p.14) and "Knowledge = Internalized information + ability to utilize the information."(p.15). In essence information only turns into knowledge when we attach meaning to it. Anyone can obtain information but comprehending it makes it meaningful.

Devlin and his colleagues have used Situation theory, which they have procured mathematically and come up with interesting strategies to increase productivity and improvement within a group. He mentions that the ideal group size is two or three and with the addition of more group members the likelihood of confusion increases. I think this is obvious. This reminds me of a newspaper article I recently read. It was in the Baltimore Sun, and the article discussed the enormous class size of the University of Maryland. Imagine you are a student in a class of 450(or so). It is pretty obvious that it would be easier for Western Maryland College students (in a class of 30 or less) to deal with the information (class lectures) when you communicate back and forth with the professor and your classmates. We in a small group of people are more likely to attach meaning to the data and gain knowledge faster than would UMD students.

Incidentally my College Park friends disagree with me on this argue that it all depends on the professor capability to manage the class. They are mistaken ofcourse, because our chances of confusion and misunderstandings multiply far faster than our brainpower. But,I have no doubt Devlin is right on the right track with this idea. Furthermore, Devlin has also discussed that "information immersion" can make communication more efficient by increasing the overlap between team member's individual contexts. Also, he has used good examples to point out the situation theory view of information and how it can prevent complexities. The airline disasters and the poorly designed ATM are examples of this.

Also, like others I found the tiles of the chapters intriguing. I think the author is very good at specifying examples. In page 161 he discusses IBM's computer Deep blue, which beat world champion Garry Kasparov in 1997. Devlin explains that while computers process information human expertise involves knowledge.

As I mentioned before this book is highly recommended for the average businessperson because of the practical information that Devlin provides in this book. He has discussed Microsoft's electronic knowledge guide (SPUD) and People and information finder (PIF) which could better help manage organizations. Hence, to turn this fruitful information into knowledge a business person would have to apply it.

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