Our selection

Book Twsm Selection

Our selection

Paul Krugman, The return of depression economics and the crisis of 2008, Norton (2008), 224 pp., ¤ 20.

In this a new, greatly updated edition of The Return of Depression Economics, Krugman shows how the failure of regulation to keep pace with an increasingly out-of-control financial system set the United States, and the world as a whole, up for the greatest financial crisis since the 1930s. He also lays out the steps that must be taken to contain the crisis, and turn around a world economy sliding into a deep recession.

Steve Kerr, Reward Systems: Does Yours Deliver?, Harvard Business Press (2008), 144 pp., ¤ 13.

In Reward Systems, Steve Kerr shows you how to get the most from employees. You don’t need to add headcount, upgrade your It capabilities, or hire consultants. You must take some specific steps in order to develop the right reward system: clarify what you mean by “performance” for your employees, devise an effective performance-measurement system, design a reward system that motivates people to do what you want them to do while also meeting their needs. Brian E, Becker, Mark A. Huselid, Richard W. Beatty, The differentiated workforce, Harvard Business Press (2008), 272 pp, ¤ 25.

Do you think of your company’s talent as an investment to be managed like a portfolio? You should, according to authors Becker, Huselid, and Beatty. In The Differentiated Workforce, they outline ways to rise above talent management ‘best practice’ to create a differentiated workforce that cannot be easily copied by competitors. Based on two decades of academic research and experience working with hundreds of executives, The Differentiated Workforce gives you the tools to translate your talent into strategic impact.

Mark Huselid, Brian Becker and Dave Ulrich, HR Scorecard, Harvard Business Press (2008), 256 pp, ¤ 25.

Three experts in HR introduce a measurement system that convincingly showcases how HR impacts business performance. This book describes a seven-step process for embedding HR systems within the firm’s overall strategy, what the authors describe as an HR Scorecard, and measuring its activities in terms that line managers and Ceos will find compelling. V. Kumar, Managing customer for profit. Strategie sto increase profits and build loyalty, Wharton School Publishing (2009), 320 pp, ¤ 29.

Leading marketing expert V. Kumar shows how to use Customer Lifetime Value (Clv) to target customers with higher profit potential, manage and reward existing customers based on their profitability and invest in highprofit customers to prevent attrition and ensure future profitability. Drawing on his extensive experience in consulting, Kumar illuminates the challenges of transitioning from a product-centric to a customer-centric approach and presents proven solutions.

Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett, The Spirit Level: more equal societies almost always do better, Allen Lane (2009), 320 pp, ¤ 23.

This groundbreaking book, based on thirty years’ research, demonstrates that more unequal societies are bad for almost everyone within them-the well-off as well as the poor. The remarkable data the book lays out and the measures it uses are like a spirit level which we can hold up to compare the conditions of different societies. The differences revealed, even between rich market democracies, are striking.