In Search of Shareholder Value: Managing the Drivers of Performance (2nd Edition)
Average customer rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
  • Keep it Simple
  • Mr. Black - I stand by my judment, Your book is unscientific
  • An Author comments !
  • Public-Relations-Appetizer - no scientific value
  • Easy to read, well laid out for a complex subject
In Search of Shareholder Value: Managing the Drivers of Performance (2nd Edition)
Andrew Black , Philip Wright , and John E. Bachman
Manufacturer: Financial Times/Prentice Hall
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0273650831

Book Description

Shareholder value-- the real key to creating wealth. --Fortune Magazine

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Keep it Simple.......2003-05-14

I despair of acedemics intent on picking holes in the acedemic rigour of books on shareholder value. Businesses are run by business managers. They leave "trendy" financial concepts for the FD to trot out to the board, in vain and ad infinitum. Bridge the gap between those who run the business and the cerebral numerates who keep score and you will...create shareholder value...hurray. This book does just that.

1 out of 5 stars Mr. Black - I stand by my judment, Your book is unscientific.......2002-10-03

Dear Mr. Black, as You did critize my review of your pamphlet, I hereby reply, that I stand by my former judgement. My former review does NOT accuse You of 'selling yourself' to SAP, nor does it question the features of SAP-products, or PWC. However, the scientific content of Your book was so low, that it had to be contradicted. These are my main points of criticism: (1) It does not catch the microeconomic logic behind EVA/CFROI: The concept of microeconomic producers rent. EVA is based on a static concept of economic rent, CFROI on a dynamic concept of economic rent.

(2) EVA implies linear simulation, CFROI non-linear simulation (e.g. experience curve effects).

(3) CFROI can be more easily aligned mit Real Options for strategic decisions.(e.g: the experience-curve-effect is a system dynamics modell for a dynamic Cournot/Nash-Oligopoly, which includes a Real Option for capacity extension during the growth phase of an homogenous product one produces with a substitutional technology with an S-shaped path for performance improvements ). If you try to align EVA with Real Options, you run the danger of creating unrealistic scenarios, which violate the laws of oligopolistic theory .

(4) EVA encourages managers to milk a business as it is based on linear depreciation concepts,nominal values,undervalues growth options, and implies linear simulation.

(5) In my 1998 edition there were indeed many mathematical errors (e.g. On the last past text page there was a formula with missing brackets). Your definitions of EVA and CFROI were grossly simplified, and can lead novices to misunderstandings.

(6) Your book fails to mention, that VBM requires consolidated financial statements for the last 5 years, and it does not explain, how to filter the relevant data. E.G: To use VBM in a senseful way, you must factor out transfer pricing, tax shelter effects, accounting distortions by cost budgeting techniques, the shelter effect of financial leverage e.g. Copelands 'Valuation' covers those topics without shocking novices with overly complex formulas - but your book totally ignores these topics.

(7) Some pictures in Your book have got a striking similarity with some charts in earlier editions of Copelands 'Valuation', but You did not have the courtesy to thank Copeland/McKinsey.

(8) You do not warn the reader about the dangers of VBM: Milking a business. If EVA/economic profit had an effect on industrial productivity, we would expect the UK to have the highest productivity in the world, because economic profit was invented by british companies such as BTR and Hanson in the late 1960's. The opposite is true !! In the 1970's the british industry collapsed - because economic profit + primitive linear simulation methods encouraged british managers to milk their companies, keeping prices high and deffering investments, until their assets/market share shrank below minimum-efficient scales.
A chart in Copeland 'Valuation' shows, that in the 1970/1980#s british productivity stagnated both in absolute and relative terms - while german and japanese companies manged to catch up.
Michael Gould "Corporate Level Strategy" ( a Boston Consulting Group publication which dates back to 1994) describes in much detail, how your 'financial controll style' encouraged BTR and Hanson to withdraw from high technology, to burn out assets and employes, to defer any investment in quality, research and education. Poorly applied Economic-Profit-Models were not the only reason for Great Britains industrial decline, but they did reinforce other problems: notoriously confrontational labour-relations and a poor level of professional education. If a CEO milks his company, cutting down investment in education/new machinery, his labour union will retaliate and do the same,asking for higher wages.

Summary: Your book has no scientific value and proposes a grossly simplified approach to VBM, that leads to desastrous, strategic mistakes. Poor Economic-Profit-Models achieved in no more than two decades, what 6 years of incessant bombing by the German Luftwaffe in world war two did NOT achieve: The total desindustrialisation of Great Britain. An industrial heritage created over a period of 100 years was sold off for a few years of high shareholder value.

Does that mean, that VBM is nefarious ? No, it does not.
VBM has got a future, if you ask real experts to simulate CFROI with system dynamics models and Real Options. CFROI, real options and system dynamics were first applied by the Boston Consulting Group back in the early 1970's - about 30 years ago. Therefore I stand by my judgement: Your book is dangerous and not scientific.

5 out of 5 stars An Author comments !.......2002-07-09

I couldn't help but look at some of the reviews, admittedly rather a long time after the 2nd edition now. The book is really designed as a primer on the subject, and also to maintain the links between what is going on in the equity market, and what is going on internally inside the corporates. As such we steered a path between making the book overly complicated and hence off-putting, and between making it overly simple. It was never designed to sell SAP software, as one reviewer suggested, and indeed, its overall position in the PwC offering was less clearcut than it should be. Perhaps to remind readers that it originated from the old PW company might explain rather more. The descriptions and analysis of the models are reasonably correct, including that of the CFROI model - at least judging by the materials I had to hand. The critique on the replacement value of assets and the corresponding weakness of the EVA model is a valid point, made elsewhere, but also picked up in the book I believe. Yes the book has been used extensively by PwC people, but by no means exclusively so. Yes, we did go on to develop a VBM offering out of it, but again not exclusively around the book - though it helped. The combination of the approach (Valuebuilder, which is not for sale), capital markets, consultancy and corporate governance issues remains very useful, and rather distinct from a number of other offerings in the market. So, do continue to buy it and read it !!

1 out of 5 stars Public-Relations-Appetizer - no scientific value.......2001-05-24

I do NOT recommend this PriceWaterhouseCoopers-publication, because it is an appetizer, which PWC use to sell their 'ValueBuilder'-Toolset, and they use their ValueBuilder-Toolset in order to sell SAP R/3-Software to their customer.

I know what I am saying, because I have got a degree in Business Administration and 6 years of experience as a consultant. Their book is superficial, and most mathematical formulas have been simplified, so that they are wrong. This book does give you an overview over Shareholder-Value-Methods and it might entertain a layman, but it does NOT - enable you to calculate SHV - enable you to design Value-Based-Management-Systems (VBM) - enable you to integrate VBM with ERP-Software such as SAP R/3

The book does not catch the underlying microeconomic logic behind shareholder-value-methods, its explanation of CFROI is wrong,and it does not warn you about the downsides of EVA: - the tendency to milk a business because EVA does not force a manager to reinvest assets at their replacement cost - EVA'distortion by inflation - its low correllation with shareholder value

It seems, that this book has been hastily scribbled together by a ghost writer, who stole most formulas und most charts from Copeland#s McKinsey-Handbook 'Valuation', but who did not have the courtesy to quote his source.

All in all, this book is worthless. Anybody with a serious interest in Shareholder-Value should read Copeland 'Valuation'.

5 out of 5 stars Easy to read, well laid out for a complex subject.......2001-03-17

Most people hate lots of numbers and formulas. This book handles them well. This book clearly describes the concepts of Shareholder Value. I think this book, and many of its SV kind, are great for corporate financial people who have (mostly) accurate accounting numbers.

But for investors looking in from the outside, SV becomes difficult to implement. For example, what truly is EBITDA? Cash Flow? Which one? These illusive investor numbers make the SV process hard to implement for those of us without access to the real corporate books. Or at least, the process of determining the correct numbers is more difficult than the SV process lets on... in the world where accounting numbers and forecasts can be made to be anything the CEO or CFO want.

All in all, this methodology has brought a revolution to the corporate financial world. Divisions can now be compared with more rigor. This book easily and clearly explains the logic. The authors care about their subject and it shows.

John Dunbar
In Search of Values: 31 Strategies for Finding Out What Really Matters Most to You
Average customer rating: 3 out of 5 stars
  • Not strategies, no focus
In Search of Values: 31 Strategies for Finding Out What Really Matters Most to You
Dr. Sidney B. Simon
Manufacturer: Grand Central Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

GeneralGeneral | Self-Help | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
GeneralGeneral | Psychology & Counseling | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
Ethics & MoralityEthics & Morality | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
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  1. Values Clarification Values Clarification
  2. Getting Unstuck: Breaking Through Your Barriers to Change Getting Unstuck: Breaking Through Your Barriers to Change
  3. What Are Your Goals: Powerful Questions to Discover What You Want Out of Life What Are Your Goals: Powerful Questions to Discover What You Want Out of Life
  4. What Matters Most : The Power Of Living Your Values What Matters Most : The Power Of Living Your Values
  5. Forgiveness: How to Make Peace With Your Past and Get on With Your Life Forgiveness: How to Make Peace With Your Past and Get on With Your Life

ASIN: 0446394378

Book Description

Simon contends that the more we understand our own values, the better equipped we are to make the best choices for a happy and productive life. In a dynamic tool for personal growth--a companion to Values Clarification--he provides guided exercises to help readers determine what really counts.

Customer Reviews:

3 out of 5 stars Not strategies, no focus.......2006-03-23

In Search of Values (1993) by S.B. Simon offers 31 different and separate exercises (not strategies as the author calls them) to help you clarify your values. The related and partially overlapping book Values Clarification (first edition 1972) by S.B. Simon, L.W. Howe & H. Kirschenbaum offers 76 such exercises. Not all exercises will be equally appealing and useful to the reader. Unfortunately the authors do not help the reader tie the results of the separate exercises together in a straightforward and sensible manner. Better books on values are What Matters Most (2000) by Hyrum W. Smith, Lasting Change (1997) by Rob Lebow & William L. Simon, and Managing by Values (1997) by Ken Blanchard & Michael O'Connor. They offer more focused and coherent approaches to clarifying personal and group/organizational values.
True Esoteric Traditions: A Search for the Source of Western Cultural Values
Average customer rating: Not rated
    True Esoteric Traditions: A Search for the Source of Western Cultural Values
    M. Dale Palmer
    Manufacturer: Noetics Institute
    ProductGroup: Book
    Binding: Hardcover

    Psychology & CounselingPsychology & Counseling | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books | Adolescent Psychology | Applied Psychology | By Topic | Child Psychology | Clinical Psychology | Cognitive | Counseling | Creativity & Genius | Developmental Psychology | Education & Training | Ethnopsychology | Experimental Psychology | Forensic Psychology | General | History | Hypnosis | Industrial Psychology | Logotherapy | Medicine & Psychology | Mental Illness | Movements | Neuropsychology | Occupational & Organizational | Pathologies | Personality | Philosophy of Psychology | Physical Illness & Psychiatry | Physiological Aspects | Psychiatry | Psychoanalysis | Psychobiology | Psychopharmacology | Psychosomatic Medicine | Psychotherapy, TA & NLP | Reference | Research | Sexuality | Social Psychology & Interactions | Statistics | Suicide | Testing & Measurement
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    ASIN: 0964263300
    Day of Reckoning: Columbine and the Search for America's Soul
    Average customer rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
    • saturated with religious fat
    • An All-Right Book
    • Good but a question at begining
    • It is a ok book about Columbine
    • Awesome, Thorough, Zoba did her homework
    Day of Reckoning: Columbine and the Search for America's Soul
    Wendy Murray Zoba
    Manufacturer: Brazos Press
    ProductGroup: Book
    Binding: Hardcover

    GeneralGeneral | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
    Morals & ResponsibilityMorals & Responsibility | Parenting | Parenting & Families | Subjects | Books
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    2. No Easy Answers: The Truth Behind Death at Columbine No Easy Answers: The Truth Behind Death at Columbine

    ASIN: 1587430010

    Customer Reviews:

    2 out of 5 stars saturated with religious fat.......2004-03-25

    Like others said before, the book does shed some light on the characters involved and affected by the massacure but the author's religious beliefs sometimes outshine the subject matter. Her stance on the shooters is at least somewhat sympathetic so I praise her for not making them out to be one-dimensional human beings with the KILLKILLKILL feelings dominating their personalities. But her writing is often punctuated with other's words and not her own.
    Also, the whole pretending she's a columbine mother is rather annoying as well. So, if you're a seasoned columbine expert you don't need this book but if you're curious and just recently got interested in columbine/don't know your information/whatever the book would be good to check out from the library(but don't buy it!) its a waste of money.

    3 out of 5 stars An All-Right Book.......2002-11-23

    I think that the book is all right, since it does give some intresting info about people like Rachel, Cassie, Eric and Dylan and I do like that the author has shown at least some sympathy towards the Harris and Klebold families.

    But I do think that the author should have had more info on Eric and Dylan. I'm also personally very skepticial on the notions that Cassie was the one who said "yes" and that Rachel Scott was the Rachel that was named on the "basement tapes".

    4 out of 5 stars Good but a question at begining.......2002-11-01

    the book was good. very nice details about the day of the shootings. but what struck me as odd is that in the first sentence of chapter 1 ( you can see the page on this site) she says 15 died, yet on the back cover shes says that 13 died. any help with this one?

    3 out of 5 stars It is a ok book about Columbine.......2002-06-21

    This is a ok book about columbine. I am olny giving it 3 stars because it was to religious for me. I would read the parts on the details of what happened at columbine and skip all the religious stuff. It does tell you interesting facts about eric and Dylan.
    It also tells what it was like for the author to visit the area, see the Graves and the school. It talks about Rachels Life and Cassies and tells there storys .

    5 out of 5 stars Awesome, Thorough, Zoba did her homework.......2002-01-07

    I have read many books about Columbine and I have found that this one was by far the best researched and written that I have read. Mrs. Zoba was very logical and thorough and you can tell that she did her homework. There were many facts in this book that I had either never read or heard before or had overlooked. Excellent for anyone wanting a good throrough book on the tragedy.
    Latin American Philosophy in the Twentieth Century: Man, Values, and the Search for Philosophical Identity (Frontiers of Philosophy)
    Average customer rating: Not rated
      Latin American Philosophy in the Twentieth Century: Man, Values, and the Search for Philosophical Identity (Frontiers of Philosophy)

      Manufacturer: Prometheus Books
      ProductGroup: Book
      Binding: Paperback

      GeneralGeneral | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
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      ASIN: 0879753331
      In Search of the Saveopotomus (reissue) (Serendipity)
      Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
      • I remember reading this often...
      In Search of the Saveopotomus (reissue) (Serendipity)
      Stephen Cosgrove
      Manufacturer: Price Stern Sloan
      ProductGroup: Book
      Binding: Paperback

      GeneralGeneral | Fairy Tales, Folk Tales & Myths | Literature | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
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      4. Hucklebug/Rev (Serendipity Books) Hucklebug/Rev (Serendipity Books)
      5. Muffin Dragon (reissue) (Serendipity) Muffin Dragon (reissue) (Serendipity)

      ASIN: 0843104295

      Book Description

      The nervous Hordasaurus worries about the other creatures stealing his treasures, until he meets the Saveopotomas and learns that it is better to share with his friends and keep only what he needs.

      Customer Reviews:

      4 out of 5 stars I remember reading this often..........2004-09-28

      I was in a Spanish language magnet program as a kid and I remember well what the title of this book was, translated into Spanish - "En Busca Del Huchapotamo". I remember loving it as a kid, loving the silly, yellow dinosaur. During quiet reading time at school, I would take this book to read more often than any other. Great illustrations, great story.
      In Search of Business Value: Ensuring a Return on Your Technology Investment
      Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
      • Spread the enlightenment!
      • A no-nonsense guide to steering clear of trouble
      In Search of Business Value: Ensuring a Return on Your Technology Investment
      Robert L. McDowell , and William L. Simon
      Manufacturer: Select Books (NY)
      ProductGroup: Book
      Binding: Hardcover

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      ASIN: 1590790626

      Book Description

      In today's high-tech business world, few issues are more important than how companies can gain competitive advantage from using new technology, especially information technology (IT). In 'In Search of Business Value', Microsoft vice president Robert McDowell and best-selling business author William L. Simon address that problem head-on, describing the steps every organization must take to "get the best bang from each buck spent" on IT infrastructure.

      Drawing on their own personal experience and that of over twenty-five corporate and IT leaders from the worlds of business and government, 'In Search of Business Value' covers in detail such issues as bringing organizational leaders on board in promoting the use of IT, enlisting staff support, using IT to lower costs and improve productivity, integrating the IT and business sides of an organization, and using IT to support best business practices.

      IT these days is an indispensable tool in defining and achieving corporate goals. 'In Search of Business Value' is an indispensable tool for corporate leaders and managers looking to make IT work successfully for their organizations.

      Customer Reviews:

      5 out of 5 stars Spread the enlightenment!.......2006-06-20

      Most business-self-help-type books put me to sleep pretty fast. I appreciate the direction, examples, and insight given by this book. It points out many issues I have seen at past employers and gave me a lot to think about as far as 'the right ting to do' as far as technology implementations go.

      From the trenches, all I usually saw was 'how do I sell this to my boss to get funding'. By changing my perspective a little, I am able to see a much bigger picture.

      The problem is not too hard, it just needs to be approached with the proper respect and consideration by all parties involved. Accountability, governance, common sense, leadership, communications and honesty -- it all takes work, but it is the only way to achieve excellence.

      5 out of 5 stars A no-nonsense guide to steering clear of trouble .......2005-06-13

      A key Microsoft vice president and a skilled author of the business world (among other venues) combine their talents to present In Search of Business Value, a management self-help book for both corporate and IT leaders that offers real-life examples showing how best to extract the maximum business value from technology. Framing the achievement of business value as a leadership issue, not a technology issue, chapters address how to make a business case for types of technology, the role governance can play in order to improve the useage of IT, how to cope with controversy and miscellaneous problems, and much more. A no-nonsense guide to steering clear of trouble and gaining optimum benefit, written especially for managers and lay people who themselves may be only minimally familiar with the latest technological innovations.
      The Three Pillars of Judaism: A Search for Faith and Values
      Average customer rating: Not rated
        The Three Pillars of Judaism: A Search for Faith and Values
        Jonathan Wittenberg
        Manufacturer: Trinity Press International
        ProductGroup: Book
        Binding: Paperback

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        The Spirit Searches Everything: Keeping Life's Questions
        Average customer rating: Not rated
          The Spirit Searches Everything: Keeping Life's Questions
          Frederick Borsch
          Manufacturer: Cowley Publications
          ProductGroup: Book
          Binding: Paperback

          GeneralGeneral | Christian Living | Christianity | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
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          ASIN: 1561012262

          Book Description

          In an inquisitive and pastoral voice, the author takes on the matters of thinking, awareness, creation, the possibility of a Spirit of life that underlies it all, good, evil, and meaning.
          Latin American Philosophy for the 21st Century: The Human Condition, Values, and the Search for Identity
          Average customer rating: Not rated
            Latin American Philosophy for the 21st Century: The Human Condition, Values, and the Search for Identity

            Manufacturer: Prometheus Books
            ProductGroup: Book
            Binding: Paperback

            GeneralGeneral | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
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            4. Hispanic/Latino Identity: A Philosophical Perspective Hispanic/Latino Identity: A Philosophical Perspective
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            ASIN: 1573929786

            Book Description

            This excellent collection is the most complete anthology of Latin American philosophers in English available today. Updated and revised, LATIN AMERICAN PHILOSOPHY combines the richness, the diversity, and the intensity of twenty-three great minds -- the result of which is a testament to the philosophical power that is uniquely Latin American. Though the main focus is upon the rich contemporary period, several key texts from the colonial and independentist period are included to provide the reader with some historical background. Dividing the work into four major sections -- Colonial Beginnings and Independence, Philosophical Anthropology, Values, and The Search for Identity -- the editors complement their selections with introductions to the themes covered in each section and brief biographies of each author. An up-to-date bibliography provides the reader with information on the latest work done in the field, both in English and Spanish.

            This outstanding compilation is accessible enough to serve as an introduction to the field, while at the same time it is sufficiently sophisticated to be of use even to advanced scholars specializing in Latin American philosophy. It will serve as an important resource for students and teachers dedicated to a more pluralistic canon of philosophical texts.

            Silicon Gold Rush: The Next Generation of High-Tech Stars Rewrites the Rules of Business
            Average customer rating: 3 out of 5 stars
            • Not relevant with all the hypes -- too general
            • A Couple Years Later, This Is Irrelevant
            • Insightful!
            • There are some valuable nuggets in this one
            • Let me catch my breath
            Silicon Gold Rush: The Next Generation of High-Tech Stars Rewrites the Rules of Business
            Karen Southwick
            Manufacturer: Wiley
            ProductGroup: Book
            Binding: Hardcover

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            ASIN: 0471246468

            Amazon.com

            The fortunes generated by America's technology companies--from Hewlett Packard to PeopleSoft--have created tremendous pressure to generate more fortunes. These financial windfalls have resulted from efforts to identify markets that haven't yet been served, create products for those markets, build a dominant position, and then maintain that market share by continually improving the original product while also pursuing new avenues of enrichment. Silicon Gold Rush looks at this new business model and the management style that makes it possible. Gone is hierarchical management. If a new idea can't be implemented until it's gone up a ladder of managers and committees, then there's no point in bothering; a competitor with less bureaucracy will beat you to the market with something similar.

            Besides flattening out management structures, high-tech companies have also created an entirely new take on employee relations. The engineer or programmer or salesperson walking out the door at the end of the day carries the future of the business in his or her head. Give that person a take-it-or-leave-it ultimatum, and in a wink he or she is working for your competitor. Karen Southwick presents this new business paradigm in plain English, attaching useful, if sometimes bizarre, examples of how real companies deal with these issues. For example, a valued engineer at one company didn't like working in a cubicle--he needed a quieter space. To keep him happy, his company, Ipsilon Networks, built a roof over his cubicle, and gave him a door with a working doorbell. One can't imagine General Motors or Chase Manhattan Bank going this route, but who knows? This may be the model for 21st-century business, and companies that don't learn it could be doomed to the tar pits of commercial history. --Lou Schuler

            Book Description

            A hotbed of activity for far-sighted thinkers and determined doers, the high technology industry has given rise to a pioneering group of entrepreneurs and executives which is not only behind today's most innovative technological advances, but at the forefront of a dynamic new movement in business. Armed with groundbreaking management philosophies and practices, the members of this visionary group are changing the way corporate structures are modeled and altering conventional conceptions of how companies should be run. Having helped their own organizations survive and thrive in a highly competitive, pressure-filled arena, they offer invaluable lessons for executives and managers in all industries. Now, in Silicon Gold Rush, their inspirational stories are told and their strategies for success revealed.

            Written by Karen Southwick, editor of Upside Magazine's book division, this enlightening behind-the-scenes account spans the gamut of emerging technology management styles, from proven successes such as Cisco Systems to new kids on the block like Crossworlds Software. Providing valuable insights into a myriad of key issues, from nurturing creativity and motivating employees to finding new markets and weathering tough times, Silicon Gold Rush examines the modi operandi of the technology world's emerging stars and heavyweights.

            The book reveals the maverick leadership techniques that are finding their way into mainstream corporate culture with far-reaching consequences. As Southwick points out: "Everywhere you look today, you will see older companies and those in traditional industries adopting the organizational structures, business strategies, and operational methods of the Silicon Valley gang. . . . [These] technology companies are changing more than the markets in which they operate, they are transforming the way America does business." Along with an overview of the high-tech environment, Silicon Gold Rush delivers in-depth coverage of the changing role of the high-tech CEO, the growing importance of the customer in the development and marketing processes of technology companies, the essentials of internal corporate organization, and the increasing frequency of mergers and alliances.

            To illustrate the dynamics of the technology industry that make it so exciting and instructive to watch-the scramble for financing, the feverish move of product from design to delivery, the constant risk of failure-it tracks the progress of CrossWorlds Software Inc., a start-up venture headed up by Katrina Garnett, founder and chief executive. Delivering insider analysis of the thinking and motivations that drive today's cyber-Powerhouses, this eye-opening volume presents illuminating interviews with more than twenty trailblazing CEOs and senior executives, including Yahoo!'s Tim Koogle, 3Com's Eric Benhamous, PeopleSoft's Dave Duffield, Cisco's John Chambers, and Novell's Eric Schmidt.

            A one-of-a-kind book that delves into the management ideas and strategies of high-tech leaders who are "rewriting the rules of business," Silicon Gold Rush is essential reading for anyone-in any industry-seeking the inside track on contemporary business transformations.

            Customer Reviews:

            1 out of 5 stars Not relevant with all the hypes -- too general.......2004-01-04

            Being a person working in SF bay area, I quickly learned that this book was among the inferiors of the book on the Valley.
            The descriptions are too general -- the interviews were too shallow and no specific issues are presented in a clear-lighted manner.

            Good selections for books on the Valley I think is "Accidental Empires" by Cringely.

            1 out of 5 stars A Couple Years Later, This Is Irrelevant.......2001-02-17

            This is a somewhat entertaining read if you can get over the basic fact that the information is outdated. Almost all of the statistics are from 1998 and some of the companies cited as future stars never realized their potential. It was relevant in 1999 but quickly lost all significance in the dot-com meltdown of 2000 that is still continuing as I write this in 2001. Dot-coms now require a path to profitability and companies just don't engage in the same behaviors any more.

            This books still has value for anyone wanting to know some historical background from the times of "irrational exhuberance" but the changes in business priorities that have taken place since this book was written have doomed it to irrelevance.

            4 out of 5 stars Insightful!.......2001-02-17

            In light of the recent declines in tech stocks, you must give author Karen Southwick credit - for the most part she's profiled companies that are still around, although they've taken some hits. Southwick synthesizes her observations of Silicon Valley over the last decade or so. She takes a broad and sustained look at the practices of such companies as Ascend, Audodesk, Ciena, Cisco, Crossworlds, Net Noir, Open Market, Peoplesoft, Yahoo and others. Using an anecdotal, feature-story style, Southwick dissects these firms, covering CEOs' personal histories, corporate funding and corporate culture - down to dress code and wilderness team-building exercises. Some stories aren't new (insiders know Yahoo's culture is wacky) and there are some small inaccuracies (i.e. you could challenge Crossworlds CEO Katrina Garnett's argument that turnover is still a massive problem). Nonetheless, whether you're an insider or just an observer seeking an overview of Silicon Valley and its players, we at getAbstract.com recommend this accessible, reader-friendly compilation.

            4 out of 5 stars There are some valuable nuggets in this one.......2000-02-25

            Definitely worth a look. Well laid out easy to read with summaries from some of today's leading thinkers.

            OK Karen Southwick seems to be using her friends (just look at the back of High Noon to find the same names she cites as experts in this book).

            She cites the success of companies such as Cisco, 3Com and PeopleSoft, HP,Intel and Yahoo! There is a lot to learn from these masters (even if it is nothing more than no-one has the whole answer) and Southwick takes us on a journey from start-up, through to marketing (mind she she calls it)and to prospecting. The graphs at the end of her book even show you profiles of the qualities CEOs need to have at various stages of their careers.

            I like this book because it has great quotes, e.g. Differentiating your product from others is more important than having the better product, it covers a vast range of topics, it intergrates well with other material (e.g. the work of Geoffrey Moore) and it offers a number of warnings.

            Well worth having a good look at

            1 out of 5 stars Let me catch my breath.......2000-02-20

            There are enough self-proclaimed "management bestsellers," and this one is too effusive and devoid of original content, from the boxed pundit words of wisdom, to the "terrific" blurbs from the people glowingly spotlighted within. Southwick's myopia is perhaps best captured by her claim that "the Regis Touch" transformed Apple. Maybe it was too long ago to remember, but back then, having an actual product made a difference. The idea that things are now moving so fast that intellectual property doesn't matter any more is ludicrous.

            The work seems primarily descriptive, rather than prescriptive, making it ironically backward-looking, and already dated.
            After the gold rush: Silicon Valley vendor rebuilds by diversifying customer base: Apple Custom Vending Services in San Jose, Calif. rode the tech boom ... An article from: Automatic Merchandiser
            Average customer rating: Not rated
              After the gold rush: Silicon Valley vendor rebuilds by diversifying customer base: Apple Custom Vending Services in San Jose, Calif. rode the tech boom ... An article from: Automatic Merchandiser
              Elliot Maras
              Manufacturer: Cygnus Business Media
              ProductGroup: Book
              Binding: Digital

              GeneralGeneral | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
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              ASIN: B00082G8P6
              Release Date: 2005-08-01

              Book Description

              This digital document is an article from Automatic Merchandiser, published by Cygnus Business Media on July 1, 2004. The length of the article is 2271 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: After the gold rush: Silicon Valley vendor rebuilds by diversifying customer base: Apple Custom Vending Services in San Jose, Calif. rode the tech boom while it was hot; in the wake of the dot-com implosion, the company has added education accounts and strengthened customer communication.(Operation Profile)
              Author: Elliot Maras
              Publication: Automatic Merchandiser (Magazine/Journal)
              Date: July 1, 2004
              Publisher: Cygnus Business Media
              Volume: 46 Issue: 7 Page: 38(4)

              Distributed by Thomson Gale
              Silicon Gold Rush: The Next Generation of High-Tech Stars Rewrites the Rules (Unabridged)
              Average customer rating: Not rated
                Silicon Gold Rush: The Next Generation of High-Tech Stars Rewrites the Rules (Unabridged)
                Karen Southwick
                Manufacturer: audible.com
                ProductGroup: Book
                Binding: Audio Download
                ASIN: B000K2VB38
                Silicon Gold Rush : The Next Genreation of high-Tech Stars Rewrites the Rules of
                Average customer rating: Not rated
                  Silicon Gold Rush : The Next Genreation of high-Tech Stars Rewrites the Rules of
                  Karen Southwick
                  Manufacturer: John Wiley and Sons
                  ProductGroup: Book
                  Binding: Hardcover
                  ASIN: B000O5XQMK

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