Showing results by publisher "Instaread" in Business & Careers

Most companies rely on manipulations to attract customers and employees; they use short-term motivators that do not inspire or encourage loyalty. Customers who are not inspired will stop buying the product as soon as the company cannot keep up the manipulative strategies, and employees are less motivated and less productive when they are not inspired.

Platforms connect two types of users in order to exchange something of value. This is different from the traditional pipeline model of business where something of value is created by transferring it from producer to producer with the consumer receiving it at the last step. Platforms are dominating production processes particularly because they reduce the costs of value creation, consumption, and quality control.

Strengths Based Leadership by Tom Rath and Barry Conchie introduces listeners to the Gallup-designed survey that identifies a person's unique leadership strengths. Many leaders try to improve their skills by emulating other leaders, but in reality the most capable leaders are the ones who use their existing talents to provide what teams need.

Team of Teams by General Stanley McChrystal is an examination of the process he began of restructuring the Joint Special Operations Command management style, from a rigid command structure to a cooperative team comprised of smaller specialized teams. While fighting Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), General McChrystal noted how the United States and coalition militaries were efficient war-fighting machines, but they were not adaptable or effective against the seemingly disordered AQI.

The Intelligent Investor: The Definitive Book on Value Investing by Benjamin Graham, with commentary by Jason Zweig, is a thorough guide to the principles of portfolio creation, cost management, stock and bond picking, and stock ownership for the defensive, long-term investor....

Leaders Eat Last by Simon Sinek advocates for a leadership style that focuses on serving others rather than pursuing shareholder goals or personal interests. Modern trends in leadership prioritize profits and executive bonuses over creating a healthy environment for employees. Leaders who think of themselves as serving their employees like family can increase job satisfaction and engagement, which reduces stress and increases productivity because employees feel secure.

Good Profit: How Creating Value for Others Built One of the World's Most Successful Companies is a nonfiction book that outlines the management strategy of Charles G. Koch, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Koch Industries, Inc.

The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement by Eliyahu Goldratt and Jeff Cox describes a process by which an unprofitable manufacturing operation can be made profitable. It conveys proven factory turnaround principles through a fictional story....

This is key takeaways and analysis of the book and not the original book. Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty is an examination of the causes of economic inequality. Authors Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson conclude that underdevelopment is caused by political institutions and not by geography, climate, or other cultural factors. Elites in underdeveloped countries deliberately plunder their people and keep them impoverished.

Salt Sugar Fat by Michael Moss is a compelling nonfiction investigation into how corporate food manufacturers have come to rely on salt, sugar, and fat as the mainstays of processed and prepackaged food.

Awaken the Giant Within by motivational speaker Tony Robbins is a comprehensive self-help book designed for people who want to feel in control of all aspects of their lives and fulfill their greatest potential in their relationships, career, finances, and personal lives.

The 4 Disciplines of Execution is a guide for businesses to reliably commit to the goals and plans they set, authored by associates from FranklinCovey, a management consultancy. Rather than focusing on what a business must accomplish to be successful, the four disciplines establish how to accomplish those things.

Please note: This is key takeaways and analysis of the book and not the original book. The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich is a manifesto calling for workers everywhere to rise up and flee their cubicles in pursuit of a life guided by their passions and not their paychecks. It offers a practical, step-by-step guide that can be followed by people who are not independently wealthy but who don't want to be slaves to their jobs until retirement.

The Anatomy of Peace: Resolving the Heart of Conflict, Second Edition, is an expanded version, including additional appendices, of a successful 2006 publication by the Arbinger Institute. The book, which uses fictional characters to illustrate its points, details strategies for defusing political, personal, and business conflicts. It argues that conflict must be approached with a heart at peace rather than a heart at war. Before people can change another's behavior, they must rid themselves of hatred and self-deception.

Please note: This is a summary, analysis and review of the book and not the original book. Inside you will find an overview of the book, important people, and key takeaways.

Blue Ocean Strategy is the 2015 update to the classic business strategy text of the same name originally published in 2005. The text offers a practical handbook to business students and entrepreneurs who wish to rise above the fray of the competition, become pioneers in previously uncharted market territory, and gain access to impressive growth opportunities and an untapped customer base.

The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon recounts the rise of Amazon since it was founded in 1994. Simultaneously, the book is a partial biography of the company's CEO and founder, Jeff Bezos, whose personality, values, and life experiences have had enormous influence shaping the company as it exists today. He is a much-feared but much-respected leader whose interactions with Amazon employees have become legendary within the company.

Modern negotiation strategies taught in business school usually center on classic texts that describe negotiation without factoring in emotions or irrational behavior. In reality, all negotiations involve emotional factors and illogical reactions. And in hostage scenarios, "splitting the difference" by accepting the release of half the hostages in exchange of partial fulfillment of demands is never a desired outcome.

Leadership and Self-Deception by the Arbinger Institute is a business fable that illustrates the ways that self-deception can undermine interpersonal relationships and productivity. It begins with a new product-line lead employee, Tom Callum, at the fictional Zagrum Company. He's meeting with the company's executive vice president, Bud Jefferson. Bud says that Tom has a problem with self-deception, as they all do, and begins a long meeting to mentor Tom on how to avoid self-deception.

In the 1980s, Toyota revolutionized manufacturing with its application of the lean production philosophy. Today, DevOps seeks to apply the principles of lean manufacturing to the technology industry. To do so, DevOps unites the two traditionally clashing bodies of the corporate IT department: development and operations. In traditional IT departments, the development group builds products and then hands them off to operations to launch them and keep them up and running.