Classic Business Books: Home

"A History of Interest Rates" presents a very readable account of interest rate trends and lending practices over four millennia of economic history. Despite the paucity of data prior to the Industrial Revolution, authors Homer and Sylla provide a highly detailed analysis of money markets and borrowing practices in major economies. Underlying the analysis is their assertion that "the free market long-term rates of interest for any industrial nation, properly charted, provide a sort of fever chart of the economic and political health of that nation." Given the enormous volatility of rates in the 20th century, this implies we're living in age of political and economic excesses that are reflected in massive interest rate swings. Gain more insight into this assertion by ordering a copy of this book today.

The History of the Standard Oil Company is a book written by journalist Ida Tarbell in 1904. It was an exposé of the Standard Oil Company, run at that time by oil tycoon John D. Rockefeller, the richest figure in America's history. Originally serialized in 19 parts in McClure's magazine, the book was a seminal example of muckraking, and inspired many other journalists to write about trusts, large businesses that (in the absence of strong antitrust law in the 19th century) attempted to gain monopolies in various industries. The History of the Standard Oil Company was credited with hastening the breakup of Standard Oil, which came about in 1911. [Source: Wikipedia]

Dale Carnegie was a highly successful public speaker and author of books on public speaking and confidence development. How to Win Friends and Influence People provides practical advice on the universal challenges of face-to-face communication. As the familiarity of the title proves, the book has had a great impact. The first edition had a print run of a mere 5,000, but the book has since sold over 15 million copies. Carnegie holds it essential to handle people effecticvely, and to make them like you to ensure your own success. His book is littered with illustrative anecdotes from lives of the famous--Clark Gable, Marconi, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Mary Pickford--and the not so famous. Carnegie presented the fundamental techniques in handling people: don't criticize, condemn, or complain; give honest and sincere appreciation; arouse in the other person an eager want. He added advice on other ways to make people like you: become genuinely interested in other people; smile; remember that a person's name is to that person the sweetest and most imporatnt sound in any language; be a good listener; encourage others to talk about themselves; talk in term's of the other person's interests; make the other person feel important, and do it sincerely. [Source: Business: the Ultimate Resource, 2nd, ed., 2006]

The author was part of the team conducting the Hawthorne Studies at Western Electric's Chicago plant between 1927 and 1932, early studies into motivation in the workplace. The book shows the important link between workforce morale and organizational performance, and paved the way for policies and management theories based on teamwork and effective communicatiion. [Source: Business: the Ultimate Resource, 2nd ed. 2006, p.1099]

"What are your assumptions (implicit as well as explicit) about the most effective way to manage people?" So began Douglas McGregor in this 1960 management classic. It was a seemingly simple question he asked, yet it led to a fundamental revolution in management. Today, with the rise of the global economy, the information revolution, and the growth of knowledge-driven work, McGregor's simple but provocative question continues to resonate-perhaps more powerfully than ever before. Heralded as one of the most important pieces of management literature ever written, a touchstone for scholars and a handbook for practitioners, The Human Side of Enterprisecontinues to receive the highest accolades nearly half a century after its initial publication. Influencing such major management gurus such as Peter Drucker and Warren Bennis, McGregor's revolutionary Theory Y-which contends that individuals are self-motivated and self-directed-and Theory X-in which employees must be commanded and controlled-has been widely taught in business schools, industrial relations schools, psychology departments, and professional development seminars for over four decades.

A "New York Times" Bestseller for over three years To discover the secrets of the art of management, Peters and Waterman studied more than 43 successful American companies. The companies specialized in a number of areas: consumer goods, high technology, and services. What he discovered was that regardless of how different each company was, they shared eight basic principles of management that anyone can use on their way to success. Here they are, amply illustrated with anecdotes and examples from the experiences of the best-run companies in the world.

Industrial dynamics nowadays is the study of: innovation, as an economic phenomenon that transforms industries in an endogenous manner. It is at the core of industrial dynamics approaches and at the same time is one of the key challenges for a growing part of the scientific community. The economic analysis captures and measures regularities of the complex processes of industry evolution. The modelling of industrial dynamics, supported by empirical evidence, allows for the existence of heterogeneity in the characteristics of firms within an industry in terms of size, entry/exit, performance, innovation strategies, etc. The industrial dynamics approaches are uncovering new evidence about how firms compete and how competition should operate. That is in sharp contrast with the results of more basic industrial organization studies.Originally, industrial dynamics encompassed the study of the different variables characterizing industries (such as entry/exit, penetration-rate, innovation rate, R&D expenses, number of patents), and their comparison from one period to another. Though these initial developments included important elements related to the quantitative functioning of industries, it is nowadays largely accepted that the early contributions often neglected the genuine determinants of the evolution of innovative industries. Industrial Dynamics (1961) was the first book Forrester wrote using System Dynamics to analyze industrial business cycles. [Source: Wikipedia]

Leavitt's views on the importance of marketing are highly regarded. His article "Marketing Myopia" (reprinted in the book) was one of the most popular Harvard Business Review articles ever published. Historical forces encouraged the belief that low-cost production was the key to success, but this inevitably leads to narrow perspectives. In the author's view, companies must broaden their view of the nature of their business, and should be marketing-led rather than production-led. The emphasis is on creating customer-creating value satisfactions. There is no such thing as a growth indusrtry: success comes from being perceptive enough to spot where future growth may lie. Companies fail because they assume continued growth, believe that a product cannot be improved, and concentrate on improved production techniques to deliver lower costs. Mass-production industries aim to produce all they can and maketing gets neglected. [Source: Business: The Ultimate Resource, 2nd ed.]

First published in 1776, the year in which the American Revolution officially began, Smith's "Wealth of Nations" sparked a revolution of its own. In it Smith analyzes the major elements of political economy, from market pricing and the division of labour to monetary, tax, trade and other government policies that affect economic behaviour. Throughout he offers seminal arguments for free trade, free markets and limited government. Criticizing mercantilists who sought to use the state to increase their nations' supply of precious metals, Smith points out that a nation's wealth should be measured by the well-being of its people. Prosperity in turn requires voluntary exchange of goods in a peaceful, well-ordered market. How to establish and maintain such markets? For Smith the answer lay in man's social instincts, which government may encourage by upholding social standards of decency, honesty and virtue, but which government undermines when it unduly interferes with the intrinsically private functions of production and exchange. Social and economic order arise from the natural desires to better one's (and one's family's) lot and to gain the praise and avoid the censure of one's neighbours and business associates. Individuals behave decently and honestly because it gives them a clear conscience as well as the good reputation necessary for public approbation and sustained, profitable business relations.

Twenty years ago, he wrote the bible on corporate strategy. Now, Igor Ansoff returns to meet the challenges of today’s changing economy… The New Corporate Strategy. An indispensable guide to identifying, understanding, and adapting to changes in today’s business environment. Here’s how to set your company’s strategy straight and get the hundred percent effort you need from your people to achieve it. What the experts say about Igor Ansoff and The New Corporate Strategy… "Vintage Ansoff, with the kind of updating and currency one would expect from him." —E. Kirby Warren Professor of Management and Vice Dean, Columbia University "Igor Ansoff is the father of strategic management. Corporate Strategy remains the most elaborate model of strategic planning in the literature." —Henry Mintzberg Bronfman Professor, McGill University "Igor Ansoff has been a pioneer in strategic management for over 20 years. He has written a milestone work." —Robert Boyden Lamb Editor-in-Chief, The Journal of Business Strategy

The author was a pioneer of attitude surveys and introduced an attitude scale that is now widely used in business research. The book explains how he used his research tools to identify patterns of participative management and organization that would bring success in an increasingly competitive environment. Renis Likert was a pioneer of attitude surveys and poll design, as well as social research as a whole. According to Likert, there are four types of management style: exploitative and authoritarian; benevolent autocracy; consultative; and participative. Participative management is the best option, as increased participation and individualism is essential to meet increased competition. Participative groups can improve management and performance. The greater the loyalty of a group, the greater the motivation to achieve goals. An organization's style can be linked directly to its performance. The route to understanding managerial performance is improved measurement. [Source: Business: The Ultimate Resource, 2nd ed., 20060

For the past two decades, Michael Porter's work has towered over the field of competitive strategy. On Competition, Updated and Expanded Edition brings together more than a dozen of Porter's landmark articles from the Harvard Business Review. Five are new to this edition, including the 2008 update to his classic "The Five Competitive Forces That Shape Strategy," as well as new work on health care, philanthropy, corporate social responsibility, and CEO leadership.

Regarded as one of the most important sociological and business commentaries of modern times, "The Organization Man" developed the first thorough description of the impact of mass organization on American society. During the height of the Eisenhower administration, corporations appeared to provide a blissful answer to postwar life with the marketing of new technologies--television, affordable cars, space travel, fast food--and lifestyles, such as carefully planned suburban communities centered around the nuclear family. William H. Whyte found this phenomenon alarming. As an editor for "Fortune" magazine, Whyte was well placed to observe corporate America; it became clear to him that the American belief in the perfectibility of society was shifting from one of individual initiative to one that could be achieved at the expense of the individual. With its clear analysis of contemporary working and living arrangements, "The Organization Man" rapidly achieved bestseller status.

In this third edition of his classic book first published in 1985, Edgar Schein shows how to transform the abstract concept of culture into a practical tool that managers and students can use to understand the dynamics of organizations and change. Organizational pioneer Schein updates his influential understanding of culture--what it is, how it is created, how it evolves, and how it can be changed. Focusing on today's business realities, Schein draws on a wide range of contemporary research to redefine culture, offers new information on the topic of occupational cultures, and demonstrates the crucial role leaders play in successfully applying the principles of culture to achieve organizational goals. He also tackles the complex question of how an existing culture can be changed--one of the toughest challenges of leadership. The result is a vital resource for understanding and practicing organizational effectiveness.

"Organizational Learning II" expands and updates the ideas and concepts of the authors' ground- breaking first book. With new examples and the most up-to-date information on the technical aspects of organizational and management theory, Argyris and Schon demonstrate how the research and practice of organizational learning can be incorporated in today's business environment. Features chapters focused around the Introduction to Organizational Learning; Defensive Reasoning And The Theoretical Framework That Explains It; Inquiry-Enhancing Intervention and Its Theoretical Basis; and Strengths and Weaknesses Of Consultation and Research In The Field Of Organizational Learning.

This book is regarded as a classic of literature on quality management. It reflects Deming's experience in introducing quality to Japan, and its goal was to transform the style of U.S. management. Deming is regarded as the leading figure on quality and this book sets out the methods that taught industry the power of quality. Deming argues that profit comes from repeat customers--and they respond to good quality. Statistical quality control produces spectacular results, so senior managers must take charge of quality, and quality training should begin at the top of the organization. Quality is a way of living, Deming says: it is not the preserve of the few but the responsibility of all. He argued that factory workers already understood the imporatnce of quality but were stymied by managers focused on increasing productivity regardless of quality. Japanese culture is uniquely receptive to the quality message. [Source: Business: The Ultimate Resource, 2nd ed., 2006]

Updated with a new chapter that draws on behavioural finance, the field that studies the psychology of investment decisions, here is the best-selling, authoritative and gimmick-free guide to investing. Burton Malkiel evaluates the full range of investment opportunities, from stocks, bonds and money markets to insurance, home ownership and tangible assets such as gold or collectibles. This edition includes new strategies for rearranging your portfolio for retirement, along with the book's classic life-cycle guide to investing, which matches the needs of investors in any age bracket. "A Random Walk Down Wall Street" long ago established itself as the first book to purchase before starting a portfolio and this "entertaining and informative" ("Financial Times") book remains the best investing guide money can buy.

First published in 1923, Reminiscences is a fictionalized account of the life of the trader Jesse Livermore. The book tells the story of Livermore's progression to day trading in the then so-called New England "bucket shops", from there to market speculator, market maker, and market manipulator, and finally to Wall Street where he made and lost his fortune several times over. Along the way, Livermore learns many lessons, which he happily shares with the reader. Despite the book's age, it continues to offer insights into the art of trading and speculation. In Jack Schwage'rs Market Wizards, Reminiscences was quoted as a major source of stock trading learning material for experienced and new traders by many of the traders who Schwager interviewed. [Source: Wikipedia]

The Road to Serfdom is a book written by Friedrich Hayek (recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 1974) which had significantly shaped the political ideologies of Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan and the concepts of ‘Thatcherism’ and of ‘Reagonomics’.[1][2] The Road to Serfdom is among the most influential and popular expositions of classical liberalism and libertarianism. [Source: Wikipedia]

Leading anthropologist Hall analyzes the many aspects of non-verbal communication and considers the concepts of space and time as tools for transmission of messages. His stimulating work is of interest to both the intelligent general reader and the sophisticated social scientist.

Chandler's book is regarded by many commentators as a masterpiece. It demonstrate's the critical link between a company's strategy and its structure, and played an influential role in the profitable decentralization of many leading corporations. The book's findings remain relevant to new forms of organization such as the federated organization, the multi-company coalition, and the virtual company. According to the author, structure should be driven by strategy--and if it isn't, inefficiency results. The structure of many corporations is driven by market forces: so a recognition that production had to be market-driven led large organizations to change to a looser divisional structure. Increases in scale also lead to business owners having to recruit a new breed of professional manager, as professional management coordinates the flow of product to customers more efficiently than market forces can ever do. A planned economy is important to long-term organizational success.

The role of large-scale business enterprise--big business and its managers--during the formative years of modern capitalism (from the 1850s until the 1920s is delineated in this pathmarking book. Alfred Chandler, Jr., the distinguished business historian, sets forth the reasons for the dominance of big business in American transportation, communications, and the central sectors of production and distribution. The managerial revolution, presented here with force and conviction, is the story of how the visible hand of management replaced what Adam Smith called the invisible hand of market forces. Chandler shows that the fundamental shift toward managers running large enterprises exerted a far greater influence in determining size and concentration in American industry than other factors so often cited as critical: the quality of entrepreneurship, the availability of capital, or public policy.

"Once I picked it up I did not put it down until I finished. . . . What Schwed has done is capture fully-in deceptively clean language-the lunacy at the heart of the investment business." -- From the Foreword by Michael Lewis, Bestselling author of Liar's Poker ". . . one of the funniest books ever written about Wall Street." -- Jane Bryant Quinn, The Washington Post "How great to have a reissue of a hilarious classic that proves the more things change the more they stay the same. Only the names have been changed to protect the innocent." -- Michael Bloomberg "It's amazing how well Schwed's book is holding up after fifty-five years. About the only thing that's changed on Wall Street is that computers have replaced pencils and graph paper. Otherwise, the basics are the same. The investor's need to believe somebody is matched by the financial advisor's need to make a nice living. If one of them has to be disappointed, it's bound to be the former." -- John Rothchild, Author, A Fool and His Money, Financial Columnist, Time magazine Humorous and entertaining, this book exposes the folly and hypocrisy of Wall Street. The title refers to a story about a visitor to New York who admired the yachts of the bankers and brokers. Naively, he asked where all the customers' yachts were? Of course, none of the customers could afford yachts, even though they dutifully followed the advice of their bankers and brokers. Full of wise contrarian advice and offering a true look at the world of investing, in which brokers get rich while their customers go broke, this book continues to open the eyes of investors to the reality of Wall Street.