Dealing with the New Russia: Management Cultures in Collision

Book Description

'Despite economic woes and murky data, global investors are pouring in. Is the bubble set to burst?' was the question posed by Business Week in March 1997. Not according to current data which sees an ever-growing river of foreign cash flowing into Moscow. But how long can it last? Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia and the CIS have become a hunting ground for business and management adventurers. Management consultants, business people, educators, and economists have rushed to do business in the New Russia, taking advantage of the huge sums of money poured into Russia by global investors. But dealing with a fragile, volatile and unpredictable economy is only part of the difficulty facing those wishing to take advantage of a bargain-priced if risky marketplace. Westerners are often faced with serious and sometimes intractable communication problems. The differences in economic and political systems, infrastructures, national and business cultures and managerial attitudes and habits present difficulties not previously encountered elsewhere. To achieve long term success in this part of the world it is essential, perhaps more than anywhere, to build relationships. This means genuinely understanding the past as well as the present. To understand Russia today it is crucial to understand where it has come from. Only then can you have a stake in its future. In order to have any hope of meeting long-term business objectives in this most restless of countries, it is essential to build intense interpersonal relationships. Knowing how to do this requires an informed understanding of Russia's past as well as an appreciation of the complexities of the present transition to market-economy conditions and insights into the Russian business mentality. Without such knowledge, all forms of management cooperation with Russia are placed under severe stress. Dealing with the New Russia helps to demistify the boundaries which must be crossed by focusing on:
* Russian and their assumptions about and attitudes to the West
* the new-style Russian manager/business executive
* the skills needed to initiate and develop a business relationship with Russians
* the Russian approach to business negotiation
Extensively researched, this practical, accessible and informative book, which includes a glossary of Russian management expressions, will be invaluable for all those contemplating, or embarking on, major involvement with their Russian partners.

Book Description

Since 1997, on the second Monday of each month, twenty-six of the most powerful men in business, the Vanderbilts and Morgans of their time, would gather to eat dinner, hear investment pitches, and take one of the few breaks they got all month with the handful of people on earth they saw as their peers. When Washington Post reporter Shannon Henry heard about these meetings, she knew that the story of the dinners and the tales told at them would provide a fascinating portrait of the greatest business boom in the history of the world.

What went on in these four-star restaurants and private dining clubs is the inside story of the 1990s...the unimaginable growth of the economy, and in hindsight, its all-too-predictable fall. Henry, widely labeled the "dot-com diva," was the only reporter who had ever been allowed continued access to this intimate and influential group, which included America Online co-founders Steve Case and Jim Kimsey, NASDAQ vice chairman Al Berkeley, WorldCom CEO John Sidgmore, chief executive of MicroStrategy Michael Saylor, Virginia governor and former tech investor Mark Warner, and AOL executive and Washington Wizards co-owner Ted Leonsis. In The Dinner Club, Henry brings readers right to the dinner table, providing an unprecedented behind-the-scenes look at these stories of ego, greed, dreams realized, dreams dashed, and the handful who continue to thrive.

From bankrupt companies to blockbuster surprise deals, Henry paints a ruthless, charismatic, and at times humorous portrait of the '90's boom. At one point the mercurial nature of the group and its members' concern about their reputations caused them to un-invite Henry to the meetings. But in the end, she was allowed to return and to chronicle the rise and fall of many of their companies. And now, with so many of these companies in disarray, Henry gives extraordinary insight into what these men were thinking and saying. They didn't think failure could happen to them, because they thought that they were different. But it did.

The Dinner Club is not only the inside story of this historic time, but also a glimpse into the future of America, as the members of the club created a legacy that will forever affect us all.

Customer Reviews:

A valuable look inside.......2004-08-06

This is one of those books that will gain in value as time passes. The Dinner Club looks at the critical time frame when the opening wave of success in the new technologies broke and retrenched. The useful insight this book provides is the snapshot of the individual club members and their focus on the future. Northern Virginia and its cultivation of technology is portrayed as well. Worth reading.

Personalities.......2004-01-19

As is the case with a lot of business reporting, this is personality-driven. Capital Investors consisted of a group of friends mainly working in the technology sector and situated in Washington, D.C. Michael Maccoby called Capital Investors productive narcissists.

There were twenty six members of the all male club. In Washington there is proximity to political and economic elites. Social networking was a chief reason to keep attending the group functions. The friendships were calculated.

Exclusive investing groups are rare. A woman has said that in times of economic turmoil, Capital Investors has become a support group. Investing clubs and other tech networking groups served as social interaction during the rise of the technology sector businesses.

Steve Case called 2000 the internet century. In the late 1990's AOL was talking to everyone, treating everything as a possible acquisition. In a market frenzy one should know that if everyone is getting into your business, it is time to sell. In the year 2000 in the tech world there was a blinders-on overworked mentality prevailing.

By 2001 talk shifted to pink slips, the dearth of venture capital, the market. In the downturn the group's portfolio of companies was fading.

In March 2000 MicroStrategy was advised by its auditors it had to restate earnings for two previous years. The stock price fell by sixty per cent in one day. The CEO of the company, Michael Saylor, was one of the members of the dinner club, Capital Investors.

Among the Capital Investors, Saylor fell the hardest. Other members of the group include the afore-mentioned Steve Case, James Kimsey, Art Marks, Mario Moreno, Alex Mandl, Jeong Kim, Bill Melton, Raul Fernandez, Ted Leonsis, Bill Gorog, Russ Ramsey, Mark Warner, Al Berkeley, Jonathan Silver, Raj Singh, Marc Andressen, John Sidgmore, Alan Spoon.

Fascinating...not necessarily insightful.......2003-07-18

Having been part of the high-tech community in the NoVA, I rushed out to buy this book so I could get a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the personalities and characters that unarguably drive the business and (to some extent) culture of this area.

Overall, the book does deliver the insider perspective. It is successful at communicating the general feel of the 'era' - that bizarre blend of change-the-world optimism, unrealistic expectations, and at times mass-delusion.

This is a chronicle of a particular time...not an insightful story about the personalities, or what drives them. The pacing and arrangement of the chapters was very disorienting...Ms Henry jumps between characters and anecdotes without good reason at times. In all, the book reads as a set of mostly independent vignettes, rather than a compelling story.
(Incidentally, at the same time, I was reading Codename Ginger by Steve Kemper, which I highly recommend, which was technically a better written book...but other comparisions are unfair)

In any case, this still makes for fascinating reading, even if it's sometimes in a superficial voyeuristic sense.

Nothing we haven't seen before........2003-02-20

I found this book limited; the author was handed opportunity for deep insight in an increasingly relevant topic and missed the opportunity entirely. Not nearly the insight of Barbarians at the Gate or other classics that have been written since. Most painful is probably the editing; she re-tells anecdotes several times, which grew tiring.

Fascinating.......2003-02-06

An inside look at an elite group of angel investors who helped elect a governor and rode the Internet boom and bust through the startups they backed and the companies they ran. As a volunteer with a Washington, D.C. entrepreneur's networking group, where I heard Ms. Henry speak, I was fascinated to read how mundane some up or down decisions can be when a company asks for financial support - a lesson to those looking for funding. These titans knew that vision, intelligence, and drive aren't everything and their penetrating questions of candidate startups suggest they tried to pass this knowledge on. The world changed and Ms. Henry was taking notes when it happened! I am grateful for her insights and unvarnished view.

Average customer rating:

Good Summer Read
Disappointing
fine Dutch mystery
Tremendously Disappointing
Reviewed by Barb Radmore

The Dinner Club
Saskia Noort
Manufacturer: Bitter Lemon Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Mystery | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

General | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 1904738206

Book Description

"Are you a Nicci French fan? Then read The Dinner Club."- Beau Monde

"A thrilling read."- De Telegraaf

"An exciting novel that is also a morality tale laced with biting satire."- Het Parool

When Evert dies in his burning villa, everything points to suicide. The other members of the "dinner club," a group of five women who meet regularly and whose husbands do business together, rally around to support Babette, his grieving widow. But events soon spiral out of control. Within weeks, a member of the club falls from the balcony of a hotel and dies. Something is poisoning their smug world of flashy SUVs, coffee mornings, and wine-filled evenings and bringing death in its wake.

This is a high-spirited, sexy, and ingeniously plotted tale about people desperate to hang on to the trappings of success-at any cost.

Imagine Desperate Housewives scripted by Patricia Highsmith. That's The Dinner Club.

Saskia Noort is a freelance journalist and writes features for, among others, the Dutch editions of Marie Claire and Playboy. Her first thriller, Back to the Coast, was published to great acclaim in 2003. The Dinner Club followed in 2004 and, with over 300,000 copies sold, has topped the Dutch bestseller list.

Customer Reviews:

Good Summer Read.......2007-07-19

This is not a literary masterpiece of mystery writing a la Ruth Rendall, but a good summer read.

You can finish it in a few train rides or on the beach.

The characters are at first interesting but become stock figures by the end. The one sour note for me was the obvious dyke stereotype of the female detective (who turned out to be straight) who's character never added anything to the plot except for a cheesy device where she knew one of the other characters because he had cheated her father but there really wasn't any depth to the side story.

Although I've only given the negatives, I still felt it was a worthwhile read. The plot goes back a forth in time and I liked this device for this story, but I would have really wanted more in the way of character development. I believe Ms. Noort has talent and I look forward to reading more novels by her and hope she develops her skills in storytelling.

Disappointing.......2007-04-28

I agree with a previous reviewer that the writing was sort of banal. It seemed like a true representation of the point of view of the character Karen. And I feel a little unfair in knocking the book for not being something else.

It was interesting to see the depiction of the lives of a certain strata of dutch society. Except for the frequent use of bicycles, things seem pretty much the same as the analogous suburban american social set.

fine Dutch mystery.......2007-04-05

The inferno destroyed the villa killing wealthy Evert Struyck; his wife Babette was injured but their two children, Luuk and Beau, managed to escape. Babette's four female friends (Karen van de Made, Patricia Vogel, Hanneke Lemstra and Angela Bijlsma) who make up along with her the female part of "the dinner club" couples, try to help the distraught woman. Adding to the shock is that the police found Evert's "farewell" note in his car asking the others for forgiveness leading to the police to conclude suicide.

However, not long afterward Hanneke falls from a hotel balcony. Unable to ignore what is happening to her friends and fearing her family is next, Karen begins to piece together the motive behind the two deaths as she begins to understand that The Dinner Club and its male spousal equivalent are tied not by friendship and caring, but by crime and adultery.

The tale starts off as an extended family drama in which the audience sees how each of the surviving seven members of the Dinner Club and their offspring cope with the first death of one of them though that look is mostly filtered by Karen. Half way into the story, when Karen calls to speak to Hanneke, but instead gets an Amsterdam cop the story line turns into an amateur sleuth mystery. Thus the audience will know the key players at least through the Karen sieve before the thriller kicks into first gear. Well written but somewhat slow at first, this is a fine Dutch mystery.

Harriet Klausner

Tremendously Disappointing.......2007-04-05

After finishing this Dutch import, it's not at all clear what took this book to the bestseller list in Holland, nor why anyone would find it necessary to publish it in translation. The back cover asks the reader to: "Imagine Desperate Housewives scripted by Patricia Highsmith." The Desperate Housewives part is dead on, but any comparisons to Patricia Highsmith are purely aspirational and way off the mark in realization.

The story focuses on Karen, a married mother of two who has moved to a village somewhere in the Amsterdam suburbs. She's a self-employed graphic designer, her husband's a TV producer, and they've fled the city for a better life for their children. The story charts their transition to full yuppiedom, as they meet several other white collar city transplants with kids and plenty of cash. Of course all is not well behind the facade of designer clothes, fancy cars, and upscale foodstuffs. When one of their circle dies in a fire apparently of his own devising, doubts, suspicion, and recrimination threatens to destroy the circle of friends, not to mention their own marriages.

The chief problem here is that who cares? A bunch of wealthy yuppies wreck their lives due to their shallow greed and selfish desires. So what? Why should anyone care a whit for their squabbles and self-inflicted misery? We spend page after page with Karen as she agonizes over whether or not to cheat on her husband, whether or not her new friends really like her, which of her new friends is her best friend, etc. This is not thriller material -- this is Sweet Valley High material.

The secondary problem is that the writing is utterly banal (this is not the fault of the translator, who has done some fine work elsewhere). Here's a representative sample of Noort's prose from pages 147-48: "I had no idea what I felt: was I in love with him or just a bored mother longing for risk and adventure? At the same time I was consumed by a fear as violent and stormy as the wind outside. I was as much afraid of _______ as I wanted him, but I was even more afraid of myself, of the feeling that drove me towards him and over which I seemed to have no control. Self-destruction, that's the name of the game I was playing." If you like that sample, well, there's plenty more where it came from.

Finally, the book doesn't have much to offer those of us who read crime from other countries in order to gain insight to foreign cultures. Other than smoking cigars on a regular basis and a propensity to hop on a bike instead of into a cab, the Dutch yuppies at the heart of this book might just as well be living just outside London or Houston, or any number of Western cities. Overall, the paint-by-numbers plotting, utterly shallow characters, and awful prose result in a tremendously disappointing book.

Reviewed by Barb Radmore.......2007-03-26

The Dinner Club is another quality offering from Bitter Lemon Press, this one from the Netherlands. It is a well done translation by Paul Vincent from its original Dutch edition.

Life in the suburbs of Amsterdam can be comfortable but also restrictive. When Karen and her family move there for a more peaceful place to raise the children she finds it a lonely existence. Used to her busy days working and taking care of her family, Karen is disturbed by the lack of activity and friends in this small town. So she is thrilled to get to know some of the other women who also live in the area. They quickly become a social group, a dinner club of 5 women and their husbands. They are the upper class of the neighborhood, the comfortably elite with assets and attitude. But when one of the men dies when his house burns down and one of the women falls off the balcony of a hotel, it begins to look like it is not such a happy group after all.

The Dinner Club looks at the under side of suburban life. It is not only a tale of crime, mystery and suspense but also a look at the role social status plays in a small town. It deals with betrayal of business partners, spouses and friends. The plot takes few turns, the ending is not as predictable as one might expect. Each character is a sketch of a role, a piece of the unit that makes up The Dinner Club.

Food for Thought: Bringing Estate Planning to Life

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Food for Thought: Bringing Estate Planning to Life
Jean Blacklock , Judy Miyashiro , and Susan Murphy
Manufacturer: Wiley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Popular Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Financial Planning | Personal Finance | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Personal Finance | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Estate Planning | Personal Finance | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Administrative Law | Law | Subjects | Books

Consumer Law | Business | Law | Subjects | Books

Estates & Trusts | Taxation | Law | Subjects | Books

General | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 047164644X

Book Description

Writing a will and taking care of other aspects of estate planning can be intimidating and complicated. But putting off dealing with these issues, or avoiding them altogether, is not the solution. Food for Thought takes you by the hand and allows you to listen in on a group of people coming to terms with the kind of estate planning questions we all face. And while the characters may be fictional, the issues are only too real.

Food for Thought follows a dinner club — seven friends at various ages and stages of life — through the course of a year. Each chapter revolves around a dinner party where the friends and neighbours gather to share fun and good food (recipes included!), but also their experiences with some of life's major events and tougher situations, all related to estate planning. As the characters work their way through experiences with aging parents, sudden death in their circle of friends, planning for the welfare of their children, and more, readers will learn how to deal with these legal and financial issues as well.

Each chapter is in three parts. First the lively conversation and bon temps of the dinner party, which touches on one or two estate planning subjects. Part tow follows with an informative discussion of the legal and financial issues, in the tone of an experienced but friendlier estate lawyer. And part three features the dinner party menu, complete with seasonal recipes and advice on preparation and serving.

Customer Reviews:

Good light read.......2006-11-27

After reading Girls Dinner Club, I was left a little informed, a little overexposed, and a little touched. It had it's overly innapropriate scenes and was written for an older teen, but I still liked it. The food sounded so good! Celia's crush on Henry was a bit predictable, but so romantic! The book made me laugh, cry, and grimace. But most of all, it made me realize how important it is to have close friends. A good read.

Courtesy of Teens Read Too.......2006-11-11

Celia, Junie, and Danielle all become friends on a whim. Celia and Junie are already friends when GIRLS DINNER CLUB starts, and one night, Danielle was at Celia's house while Junie was there. Danielle offers to make them both dinner, and because of this all the girls become friends by regularly meeting at each others houses and making and having dinner together. They celebrate with each other through the good times and the bad. Some of the things that happen to the girls include: crushes, boyfriend problems, and family issues; just the basic teenage girl problems. It's definitely not written in a depressing way, as there are so many funny things that happen in the book. During one of their dinners together they even get in a food fight! It shows a great friendship that grows between the girls. I would recommend this book to any girl who loves to read about friendships, relationships, and great food.

While I was reading GIRLS DINNER CLUB all I could think about was how good of friends the girls became. All formed such a close bond over something everyone loves--food! This is the first book that Jessie Elliot has written and there will hopefully be more to come. Even though this is Ms. Elliot's first book, it feels like she has written a million stories! GIRLS DINNER CLUB is so well-written and the characters seem so real that it feels like you could be their friend, as well.

Reviewed by: Taylor Rector

The Girl's Dinner Club leaves me wanting .......2006-10-30

I've been trying to figure out why the book left me wanting. The story lacked a certain emotional intensity. Perhaps it's because the author tried too hard. The three girls, three different ethnicities, three different lifestyles, three different schools concept left me with the feeling of seeing too much of the author's hand at work as I read through the story. It felt too contrived. The author could have mined the dinner club concept more, too, as it came off more as a plot contrivance. In the end I wanted to know more.

The novel is clearly for the older teen (grades 10 and up) and not for those who are still young emotionally. I do think the author's handling of Julie's reaction to having sex is provocative. Her sudden need to distance herself from her boyfriend is something many girls may be surprised to learn happens.

While I do have problems with the scope of this novel, I would certainly be interested in reading any future books by the author.

Wonderful.......2006-08-05

I am an adult who enjoys well written teen fiction.

The Girls Dinner Club is a wonderfully crafty novel. All of the main characters are flawed, but through it all, the author manages to keep them enjoyable.

You can feel the camaraderie of these three girls, despite the fact that they are all so different. They each, in their own ways are suffering, but still manage to be there for each other.

I thought the whole dad and eccentric girlfriend was a tad cliché, but yet the author makes it work with a bit of a twist at the end of this storyline.

The writing is wonderful and entertaining and the pacing was just right!

I hope this author is working on another novel of this quality. It would be great if she would bring back these characters. It would be interesting to see them grow together.

An Awesome Read.......2006-05-06

This book has it all: great friendship, food, heartbreak, boys, and everything in between. This is one of my favorite books. I can really relate to everything the girls are going through, because it is well written and is about things everyone goes through. It is a great story about finding friendship where you least expect it, and having good friends who are going to help you through tough times. Junie, Danielle, and Celia are so realistic and fun to read about! I recommend it!

Supper Club: Creative Ideas for Small-Group Fellowship

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Supper Club: Creative Ideas for Small-Group Fellowship

Manufacturer: Baker Pub Group
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0801052637

Dinner at Aunt Connie's House (Hippo Cafe Club)

Average customer rating:

Wonderful encouragement
A VERY SLOW READ.
This was an inspirational and motivating story!

Dinner at Aunt Connie's House (Hippo Cafe Club)
Faith Ringgold
Manufacturer: Scholastic
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

ASIN: 0590137131

Customer Reviews:

Wonderful encouragement.......2003-10-02

Dinner at Aunt Connie's House tells of a african-american family gathering where paintings of *great women* come to life. This is a wonderful book that encourages young children that all dreams are possible, no matter what the obsticles. The only draw back is that the flow of the book is sometimes hard to follow. I would strongly encourage this book for any child, expecially girls, to let them know that anything is possible as long as they have a dream.

A VERY SLOW READ........2001-01-19

It was very difficult for my students to sit through this book. It was PACKED full of useful information on many different women, but didn't have much of an overall story to keep the listeners interested. It went from woman to woman to woman, teling about each life story and accomplishment. It caused the children to think divergently. The storyline was touched upon briefly, mostly at the beginning and at the end. Personally, I liked this book because I enjoy black history. However, I do not advise reading this book to a large group of small children.

This was an inspirational and motivating story!.......1999-08-30

My name is also Connie so I found this book quite interesting and so did my neice and nephew! The story was a great way to introduce several different African-Americans and their accomplishments in a very novel way. I found it to be quite an inspiring story. I am also a teacher. My class really enjoyed the book. The suspense built by the author kept my students actively engaged. They enjoyed painting their own portraits after hearing the story!

Catering for bridal showers and all pre-nuptial parties, weddings, bar mitzvahs, anniversary parties, business and club lunches, breakfasts, lunches, teas, dinners

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Catering for bridal showers and all pre-nuptial parties, weddings, bar mitzvahs, anniversary parties, business and club lunches, breakfasts, lunches, teas, dinners
Howard F Lange
Manufacturer: Ahrens Pub. Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

General | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books

Showers | Weddings | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B0007DN7QO

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THE 1805 CLUB: THE ANNUAL DINNER 1992.

Manufacturer: Hoylake
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 0951705326

1882-1892. Tenth Anniversary of the Founding of The Authors Club. A Dinner at the Hotel St. Denis, Eleventh Street and Broadway, February 28, 1893.

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1882-1892. Tenth Anniversary of the Founding of The Authors Club. A Dinner at the Hotel St. Denis, Eleventh Street and Broadway, February 28, 1893.
Authors Club.
Manufacturer: NY:
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000ITH77C

An address by Daniel Willard ... at the annual dinner of the Traffic Club of Pittsburgh, March 27, 1914: Memorial Hall, Pittsburgh, Pa

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An address by Daniel Willard ... at the annual dinner of the Traffic Club of Pittsburgh, March 27, 1914: Memorial Hall, Pittsburgh, Pa
Daniel Willard
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

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