22 Aug 10 Robert’s Rules of Order [Paperback] chapter summaries and review
Robert’s Rules of Order [Paperback] chapter Summaries:
Amazon.com Review
Since Robert’s Rules of Order first was published in 1896, it’s been the means to orderly, smooth, and fairly conducted meetings. This ninth edition of the famous manual of parliamentary procedure includes everything from the first edition, but all of the information is clarified, cross-referenced, and carefully indexed. "Where there is no law, but every man does what is right in his own eyes, there is the least of real liberty," said General Henry M. Robert, and his gift of order is as indispensable now as it was a century ago.
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Review
“A powerful brand name and an American classic.” — New York Times Book Review, 5/20/07
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Robert’s Rules of Order [Paperback] Book Reviews:
This is the one indispensable book to have at all of your meetings. In over 20 years of being a parliamentarian and 15 years as a teacher of Rules of Order, I have not found a better reference. If you’re just learning, you might want to get a simpler, abridged version as a primer – just to let you know what is most important. It won’t be long, however, before you’ll want this book to use as a real tool to help meetings run more efficiently, in a shorter period of time and with a minimum of disagreements. It will also help you with those "problem" people at meetings. If you don’t know Rules of Order you’re at the mercy of those who do, or more often, those who pretend to.
As a lawyer, when I am asked about proper procedure at a meeting, my first question is: What rules do you use? Is there an applicable statute, or bylaws or rules that the organization has adopted? Nine times out of ten, the answer is: "Robert’s Rules of Order." Robert’s is the most widely used parliamentary manual in the United States.General Henry M. Robert published the original "Robert’s Rules" in 1875 and 1876 and, since the copyright on that edition (and the next few editions) has long since expired, there are numerous unofficial editions on the market. The third edition, published in 1893, is still marketed in paperback by more than one publisher as the "original" Robert’s Rules. With the copyright expired, even the name "Robert’s" has passed into the public domain, and many imitators have slapped the name "Robert’s" on books of parliamentary procedure that bear minimal relation to General Robert’s work (much as many dictionaries claim the name "Webster’s" without any connection to Noah Webster or the Merriam-Webster brand that carries on his work). This book is the real Robert’s, composed by an editorial board appointed by General Robert’s heirs (including his descendants Sarah and Henry III, both eminent parliamentarians). Now in its tenth edition, published in 2000, this book "supersedes all previous editions and is intended automatically become the parliamentary authority in organizations whose bylaws prescribe ‘Robert’s Rules of Order’ . . . or the like, without specifying a particular edition."Robert’s is not necessarily the best parliamentary manual on the market: "Modern Parliamentary Procedure" by Ray Keesey is far more logical and user-friendly, and "The Standard Code of Parliamentary Procedure" by Alice Sturgis (commissioned by the American Institute of Parliamentarians as a contemporary alternative to Robert’s) is more readable and more rooted in modern practice. But no other book has gained as much as a toehold in Robert’s dominance in the market. If you are interested in parliamentary procedure, or figuring out how most organizations work in the twenty-first-century United States, this Robert’s is indispensable.
I first came into contact with this book during the summer between my freshman and sophomore years of high school. I was going to be participating in something called Student Congress in the fall, and although I had never heard of it before, all of my teachers and teamates told me to get a copy of Robert’s Rules. Not knowing of any of the "watered down" versions that existed, I simply purchased the official copy. Having cut my teeth on that copy (dutifully reading the entire book that summer) I have little sympathy for people who shy away from it because it’s too complicated 
But honestly, this book has become a source of pride to me. Although I have been criticized for perhaps too zealously insisting on adhering to the rules in the book, I am also accepted as a Parliamentary expert and some have remarked I know more than the Parliamentarians who run our exercise (although I would be loathe to admit that, they are very intelligent people). Anyway, given a proper forum Robert’s Rules of Order have been a very rewarding thing for me, as they have given me something to study and learn and be recognized at, and I intend on buying all future editions of the text to make sure I stay on top of any developments. Truly the best book of its kind!
Tags: Business & Finance
22 Aug 10 Delivering Health Care in America: A Systems Approach [Paperback] chapter summaries and review
Delivering Health Care in America: A Systems Approach [Paperback] chapter Summaries:
Review
“…very interesting and informative to those in the health care “system” of America…worth adding to your library.”(AAMA Executive — Journal of the American Academy of Medical Administrators) — AAMA Executive (journal of the American Academ
“Let me begin by saying that I liked this book very much…will be well received within the academic community.” — University of North Carolina at Charlotte, June 7, 2001
For anyone returning to the U.S. to practice in health care, this book provides the missing evolutionary pieces that “time away” may have created.” — Hanrahan, Susan, PT, PhD, Physical Therapy, March 2001
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In a clear, cohesive format, Delivering Health Care in America provides a comprehensive overview of the basic structures and operations of the US health system from its historical origins and resources, to its individual services, cost, and quality. Using a unique systems approach, it brings together an extraordinary breadth of information into a highly accessible, easy-to-read text that clarifies the complexities of health care organization and finance, while presenting a solid overview of how the various components fit together.
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Delivering Health Care in America: A Systems Approach [Paperback] Book Reviews:
() This is one of the worst text books I have ever used for a course. The content is dense and difficult.
Chapters are not well outlined and don’t follow sequence provided in text.
Too many inconsistencies in the data and materials. Chapter 12, page 524 says that the HEDIS quality review has 56 measures, the glossary says 71. This is only one of many I identified. I spotted far too many grammatical errors, incomplete sentences and more for a 3rd Edition book.
It is more than obvious that some updates have occured in certain sections but have not been rolled throughout the entire text. This textbook is in dire need of an overhaul and condensing. Major points are diluted with it’s over-complicated verbiage, poor flow and lack of comprehensive outline.
The book is a good basic introduction to the American health care system. If you are doing advanced health policy research this book is not for you. If you are teaching a class for undergraduates (or are someone who wants to know about ‘nuts and bolts’ issues) this would be perfect. For what it does (basic intro), it does well but do not look for sophisticated analysis here.
This book is near 600 pages, but it could be condensed to 300 easily: by cutting back on some simplistic flow charts and over-explanation. Maybe the goal was to make the book readable for the high school level, but I didn’t find its style or level appropriate for a graduate (MBA) textbook. One further annoyance was the authors’ shameless and open promotion of socialized health care. A more balanced take would give the authors greater credibility.
Tags: Business & Finance
22 Aug 10 Intellectual Property in the New Technological Age, 2009 Case and Statutory Supplement [Paperback] chapter summaries and review
Intellectual Property in the New Technological Age, 2009 Case and Statutory Supplement [Paperback] chapter Summaries:
Product Description
<p> The intellectual property laws change nearly every year. To keep your Intellectual Property course up to date, rely on this comprehensive <b>2009 Case and Statutory Supplement </b>to provide the latest legislative and international developments in all areas of Intellectual Property. </p> <p> <b>Up-to-date developments in case law, including:</b> </p> <ul> <li> Changes in patentable subject matter, obviousness, and the law of willfulness </li> <li> New developments in digital copyright </li> <li> Updated treatment of trademark use </li> <li> The first cases interpreting the Trademark Dilution Revision Act </li> </ul> <p> <b>Updating Patent Law, Trademark Law, and Copyright Law:</b> </p> <ul> <li> The Copyright Act </li> <li> The Lanham Act </li> <li> International Agreements </li> <li> Legislative Developments </li> </ul> <p> </p> <p> </p>
Intellectual Property in the New Technological Age, 2009 Case and Statutory Supplement [Paperback] Book Reviews:
Tags: Business & Finance
22 Aug 10 The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine [Large Print] chapter summaries and review
The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine [Large Print] chapter Summaries:
From Publishers Weekly
Although Lewis is perhaps best known for his sports-related nonfiction (including The Blind Side), his first book was the autobiographical Liar’s Poker, in which he chronicled his disillusionment as a young gun on Wall Street in the greed is good 1980s. He returns to his financial roots to excavate the crisis of 2007–2008, employing his trademark technique of casting a microcosmic lens on the personal histories of several Wall Street outsiders who were betting against the grain—to shed light on the macrocosmic tale of greed and fear. Although Lewis reads the book’s introduction, narration duties are assumed by Jesse Boggs, a veteran narrator of business titles (including Lewis’s own 2008 book Panic!). Boggs’s rich baritone is well suited to the task and trips lightly through a maze of financial jargon (CDOs, derivatives, mid-prime lending) and a dizzying cast of characters. Lewis returns on the final disc for a 10-minute interview about the crisis’s aftermath, including a savvy assessment of the wisdom of the financial bailout and where-are-they-now updates on the book’s various heroes and villains. A Norton hardcover. (Mar.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Bookmarks Magazine
Michael Lewis has written from the perspective of a financial insider for more than 20 years. His first book, Liar’s Poker, was a warts-and-all account of Wall Street culture in the 1980s, when Lewis worked at the investment bank Salomon Brothers. Everything Lewis has touched since has turned to gold, and The Big Short seems to be another of those books, combining an incendiary, timely topic with the author’s solid, insightful, and witty investigative reporting. Only the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette criticized what it felt was a rush job of writing and a failure to integrate the individual stories. Few readers will care for the message here (despite laugh-out-loud moments of absurdity), but Lewis is a capable guide into the world of CDOs, subprime mortgages, head-in-the-sand investments, inflated egos–and the big short. However, as Entertainment Weekly points at, if you’re only going to read one book on the topic, perhaps this should not be the one.
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The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine [Large Print] Book Reviews:
() Based on reading Michael Lewis’ Liar’s Poker and Moneyball, I wondered whether The Big Short would prove to be entertaining and informative. If you’ve read some of Lewis’ books, you might agree that the “entertaining” part would seem to be a reasonably safe bet. It turns out, it is. The Big Short is fast-paced, straightforward, conversational and salty–very much like his earlier works. Indeed, if you didn’t know Michael Lewis had written this book, you could probably guess it. It is easy reading and very hard to put down. In short (no pun), The Big Short doesn’t disappoint in being entertaining.
In a sense, this book is similar to Moneyball in that Lewis tells his story by following a host of characters that most of us have never heard of–people like Steve Eisman (the closest thing to a main character in the book), Vincent Daniel, Michael Burry, Greg Lippmann, Gene Park, Howie Hubler and others.
How informative is the book? Well, it may seem that Lewis has his work cut out for himself, since the events of the recent financial crisis are already well known. More than that, lots of people have their minds made up concerning who the perps of the last few years are–banks and their aggressive managers, “shadow banks” and their even more aggressive managers, hedge funds, credit default swaps, mortgage brokers, the ratings agencies, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the Fed’s monetary policy, various federal regulators, short sellers, politicians who over-pushed home ownership, a sensationalist media, the American public that overextending itself with excessive borrowing (or that lied in order to get home loans), housing speculators, etc. The list goes on–and on. Okay, so you already know this. The defining aspect of this book, however, is that it asks (and answers) “Who knew?” about the impending financial crisis beforehand. Who knew–before the financial crisis cracked open for everyone to see (and, perhaps, to panic) in the fall of 2008–that a silent crash in the bond market and real estate derivatives market was playing out? Indeed, the good majority of this book addresses events that occurred before Lehman’s failure in September of 2008. In describing what led up to the darkest days of the crisis, Lewis does a good job helping the reader to see how the great financial storm developed. All in all, this is an informative book.
Interestingly, in the book’s prologue, Salomon Brothers alumnus Lewis explains how, after he wrote Liar’s Poker over 20 years ago, he figured he had seen the height of financial folly. However, even he was surprised by the much larger losses suffered in the recent crisis compared to the 1980s, which seem almost like child’s play now.
For a taste of The Big Short, Steve Eisman was a blunt-spoken “specialty finance” research analyst at Oppenheimer and Co., originally in the 1990s, and he eventually helped train analyst Meredith Whitney, who most people associate with her string of negative reports on the banking industry, primarily from late 2007. Giving a flavor of his style, Eisman claims that one of the best lines he wrote back in the early 1990s was, “The [XYZ] Financial Corporation is a perfectly hedged financial institution–it loses money in every conceivable interest rate environment.” His own wife described him as being “not tactically rude–he’s sincerely rude.” Vinny Daniel worked as a junior accountant in the 1990s (and eventually worked for Eisman), and he found out how complicated (and risky) Wall Street firms were when he tried to audit them. He was one of the early analysts to notice the high default rates on manufactured home loans, which led to Eisman writing a 1997 report critical of subprime originators. Michael Burry (later Dr. Michael Burry) was, among other things, a bond market researcher in 2004 who studied Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger, and who correctly assessed the impact of “teaser rates” and interest rate re-sets on subprime loans. In 2005, Burry wrote to his Scion Capital investors that, “Sometimes markets err big time.” How right he would be.
Greg Lippmann was a bond trader for Deutsche Bank, who discussed with Eisman ways to bet against the subprime mortgage market. Before home prices declined, he noted, for example, that people whose homes appreciated 1 – 5% in value were four times more likely to default than those whose homes appreciated over 10%. In other words, home prices didn’t need to actually fall for problems to develop. (Of course, home prices fell a lot.) When Lippmann mentioned this to a Deutsche Bank colleague, he was called a Chicken Little. To which, Lippmann retorted, “I’m short your house!” He did this by buying credit default swaps on the BBB-rated tranches (slices) of subprime mortgage bonds. If that’s not a mouthful, read further in the book for a description of Goldman Sachs and “synthetic subprime mortgage bond-backed CDOs.” Then there’s the AIG Financial Products story, told through the story of Gene Park, who worked at AIG, and his volatile boss, Joe Cassano.
Did I say this book is informative? Here’s a bit more: Did you know that a pool of mortgages, each with a 615 FICO score, performs very differently (and better) than a pool of mortgages with half of the loans with a 550 FICO score and half with a 680 FICO score (for a 615 average)? If you think about it, the 550/680 pool is apt to perform significantly worse, because more of the 550 FICO score loans develop problems. Think about how that got gamed.
There’s more, but hopefully you’ve gotten the point. This is a very interesting, entertaining and informative book that accomplishes what it sets out to do. Chances are you’ll enjoy it.
() Let me get the easy part of this out of the way first. Michael Lewis is a remarkably gifted writer, and I have often found his books impossible to put down. When I first read his debut at book authorship, Liar’s Poker, I literally read it straight through. I was not alone in this, as Liar’s Poker rightfully made Michael a very well-respected author and a very wealthy man. Moneyball, The Blind Side, and numerous other best-sellers built on that reputation. The long-awaited newest contribution from Michael Lewis, The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine, is 264 pages long, and I also read this in 24 hours. However, I doubt many others will feel the same. The book was compelling, I thoroughly enjoyed reading it, and nothing in the book modified my view that Michael Lewis is one of the most interesting writers of this era. I simply doubt that this book evoke the same response from the masses of people who will buy it. Perhaps I am wrong. So before I begin to disect the important parts of the book (its underlying messages, etc.), I will say that it was another hard-to-put-down book from Michael Lewis. Thumbs up, and all that stuff.
So what did I really think of the book? Well, Lewis should be commended for writing a book on the 2008 financial crisis from the most unique perspective thus far. Rather than focus on the major characters that a plethora of other books have focused on (Paulson, Bernanke, Geithner, etc.), Lewis tells his story using some extremely obscure characters as his lead actors: A handful of hedge fund managers who made massive bets against the subprime industry (and by hedge fund managers, I am not referring to high profile, well-known hedgies; I am talking about very, very minor players). Readers will feel connected to the characters when they are done with the book, and a less gifted writer could have never pulled this off. It was a difficult task for Lewis as well, but he skillfully made the points he wanted to make and simultaneously told a story, all through a narrative of four or five unconnected characters of whom the public has never heard.
What are these points Lewis wanted to make? I suppose the major tension of the book is the teeter-tottering between the greed/evil genius of the major Wall Street firms (on one hand), and then the utter stupidity and incompetence of Wall Street (on the other). It is a difficult balance to strike, and one reason it is difficult is because, well, one can not have it both ways. Lewis can not claim, as he astonishingly and explicitly does, that Goldman Sachs made AIG write credit default swaps on the subprime mortgage industry, guaranteeing AIG’s demise and Goldman Sachs flourishing, but then on the other hand claim that the firms had no idea what they were doing, and were completely shell-shocked by what happened to their CDO’s (the collateralized debt obligation instruments which served as the toxic assets you hear so much about). This inconsistency permeates the book, and tonight on 60 Minutes I heard Lewis repeat what his major thesis is: Wall Street did not know what they were doing. This is the correct thesis. But it is wholly imcompatible with the obscene Goldman Sachs conspiracy movement that has taken over the Oliver Stone mainframe of our society. Even a Michael Lewis fan like myself was taken aback by the audacity of this oft-repeated contradiction.
Perhaps the most disappointing message of the Lewis book is the conclusion he saved for the final chapter – the one I have heard him preaching for some time now on the media circuit. Lewis has been preaching since the days of Liar’s Poker that the great sin of Wall Street was when all of the major firms went public (i.e. rather than function as closely-held partnerships, they sold shares to the public in the IPO market and now have no reason to ever check their evil inhibitions at the door). It is a rhetorically effective charge, but one that is not up for the most routine of examinations. The individuals most responsible for the massive money-losing operations of 2005-2007 were the largest shareholders in the firms. Jimmy Cayne of Bear Stearns saw his stock holdings decline from $1 billion of value to $50 million of value, directly under his watch. Richard Fuld was thrown to the lions as Lehman Brothers burned to the ground, but it burned up his $550 million of Lehman stock as well. The gentlemen running these firms were wealthy, and they were driven by a desire to get even wealthier, but it is absurd to postulate that the performance of these companies in the public stock markets were not important to them. It was all that was important to them. Are we really to believe that Wall Street would not have found more creative ways to raise capital in the capital markets if they were partnerships? Whether the firms were partnerships or public corporations, they lived off of balance sheet capital that they mostly raised in the debt markets. It was the bondholders who were on the verge of utter collapse in September of 2008. Why would that be different if they were partnerships? The most obvious refutation of Lewis’s thesis is the question many are probably dying to point out to him after reading it: If being a public corporation corrupts the intentions of financial firms, why couldn’t the same broad brush be used for all public corporations of all industries? If the removal of the partner capital from the company capital is a self-corrupting event, why should any corporation ever be allowed to go public? What exactly is the difference? Do not huge retail businesses, manufacturing firms, and technology outfits also use shareholder money to grow and operate? Does Lewis really want to advocate the abolition of public equity markets in America? It is absurd to even carry that argument through to its logical conclusion.
I do not want readers to be confused. There are some stellar observations in Lewis’s newest book. He gets inside some of the most confused and ridiculous financial transactions ever conducted in the history of civilization, and he does it with the precision of a surgeon. But Lewis does not use his 264-page book to even apply one word – not one single utterance – against the malignant government policies behind much of this malaise. He could easily counter that his book was not meant to be a comprehensive introspection of the financial crisis, and that would be a fair response. But readers hoping for a biog-picture analysis of this crisis will not get it here. They will see the worst of a very small number of Wall Street traders, and they will see a system that was clueless to keep this process from ballooning out of control (his section on the high seven-figure bond traders being regulated by the high five-figure ratings agency analysts is choice). The risk management processes of Wall Street broke down. The hubris of a select number of people grew to a point of perversity. Contrary to Lewis’s assertion, the bulk of these CEO’s and executives did lose their jobs (Citi, Merrill Lynch, UBS, Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns, etc.) all fired their Presidents and CEO’s as their houses burned to the ground. But overall, the book has a ton of good to say about the crisis. Most notably, he demonstrates how “in an old-fashioned panic, perception creates its own reality” (a concept that I want to explore much further in the future). He summarizes in a single sentence the most important thing that can be said about Lehman Brothers (“the problem wasn’t that Lehman had been allowed to fail; the problem was that Lehman had been allowed to succeed”).
I am truly glad that I read this book, and I do recommend it. However, as the pivotal work of evaluating the big picture of the crisis continues, the conclusion that Wall Street’s transition to a shareholder-owned entity was at the heart of the matter is quite lacking. Unfortunately, both evil and incompetence exist in all kinds of business structures.
() Mike Lewis has the gift for watching America and picking stories that are interesting to the public: in the last ten years Moneyball (the effect of statistical analysis on baseball) and The Blind Side (Importance of Left Tackles in American Football and rescuing an impoverished athlete). But his undying fame was Liars Poker, the story of Solomon Brothers Investment firm where he worked when 24 and made bonuses of about $200,000 without really understanding what he was doing. Possibly the most interesting part of this book is the foreward where Lewis describes how he felt when writing Liars Poker Wall Street provided worthless value to the economy and it was just a matter of years before the market recognized this. Unfortunately he was about 24 years too late. Couple this with his closing lunch with John Gutfruend and you have a great bookend for closure.
Now Lewis presents us with this bookend to Wall Street, how it universally missed the bad securities being issued backed by subprime securities destroying over $1 trillion in wealth. And his vehicle for this exploration is not a complete rehash but rather documenting the very few people (he estimates fewer than 20) that recognized that market crash coming and profiting immensely, people like Michael Burry, a Stanford Medical student who left to manage his own Hedge Fund. Actually there were many more than 20 people that knew this was coming. I began giving speeches in 2004 on “The Coming Crash in Home Prices”. But these people he mentioned left conventional wisdom in believing that the subprime mortgages were worthless AND discovered the newly created tools to profit from them: credit default swaps and the ABX index. With the belief and knowledge these investors were rewarded handsomely whereas the rest of us suffered through a very downbeat market. But they deserved it and in Lewis’ upbeat writing style he conveys eloquently but simply how the decisions were made and how they profited beyond belief.
There is one problem with this book. The subject was just covered quite well in The Greatest Trade Ever by Gregory Zuckerman which was released in November 2009. I’ve now read both books and there is an overlap. Greatest Trade is a very fast read and tells the story well focusing on John Paulson. This book doesn’t delve on Paulson but does cover Michael Burry who was featured in the other book also.
Since so many reviews seem to be more interested in giving their political view of this tragic occurence, I’m compelled to weigh in on this issue even though I know this will upset some politcally closed minds. We must recognize if it was so easy to comprehend and solve we would have all profited in the manner these investors did rather than suffer through the last two years. We wouldn’t have had the meltdown that we had. The smart people on Wall Street would not have overleveraged creating the steep downward ascent in destruction of wealth as we deleveraged. Specifically, I’m startled how many people want to blame politicians and FNMA/FHLMC. As a seller of $1 billion a year to these entities and some knowledge of their loss history as well as debating this issue with a former Vice Chairman of one of these entities who is a neighbor, it is shocking when you hear people talk of the subprime mortgages that FNMA/FHLMC owned. Did they do some such targeted loans? Yes. But half their losses came from their foray into Alt A loans. Coupled with the drop in property value and low equity position (they were leveraged at an unsafe 30 to 1 ratio) their insolvency was guaranteed if there was a downturn. Why were they not managing for this? It wasn’t politically motivated. It was profit motivated. Quasi-guaranteed by the govt. they could issue callable agencies, their drug of choice, and arbitrage this money into a higher yielding security which they did. UNTIL the losses started. With 3% equity/custion, the 30 to 1 leverage immediately worked against them. Where were the regulators? Where was management managing risk? As the Vice Chairman said, the problem was property value drop. Well, with much advance notice and concern, WHY WEREN’T YOU MANAGING FOR THIS?????
With that as a background, let’s approach the question of should there be a FNMA/FHLMC? I believe there should be. Exactly what do they do? When they are not leveraging for earnings which BTW they started in the early 90s when loan volume dropped and they recognized they needed to do something else to “gin” earnings, they perform their intended function to make borrowing cheap for homeowners. If there were no FNMA/FHLMC for the past two years 30 year mortgage rates for the last two years would not have been 4.25% to 5.25% but rather approximately 5.75% to 7.50%. In addition there would have been a lot more balloon or adjustable rate loans. Now, does America want this higher rate when an effective “NON-Profit” or govt. entity could maintain this function? I think not and I think we need to recognize that the recovery would have been much slower if many people would not have had the availability of this lower cost money to buy homes and refinance to lower rates. Enough with policy and now back to a conclusion.
But Lewis’ writing style makes this book and his credibility from having written Liars Poker and the unique perspective of having worked in the industry and left it will make this a big hit. I strongly recommend this well written, important book.
Tags: Business & Finance
21 Aug 10 Intellectual Property in the New Technological Age, 2009 Case and Statutory Supplement [Paperback] chapter summaries and review
Intellectual Property in the New Technological Age, 2009 Case and Statutory Supplement [Paperback] chapter Summaries:
Product Description
<p> The intellectual property laws change nearly every year. To keep your Intellectual Property course up to date, rely on this comprehensive <b>2009 Case and Statutory Supplement </b>to provide the latest legislative and international developments in all areas of Intellectual Property. </p> <p> <b>Up-to-date developments in case law, including:</b> </p> <ul> <li> Changes in patentable subject matter, obviousness, and the law of willfulness </li> <li> New developments in digital copyright </li> <li> Updated treatment of trademark use </li> <li> The first cases interpreting the Trademark Dilution Revision Act </li> </ul> <p> <b>Updating Patent Law, Trademark Law, and Copyright Law:</b> </p> <ul> <li> The Copyright Act </li> <li> The Lanham Act </li> <li> International Agreements </li> <li> Legislative Developments </li> </ul> <p> </p> <p> </p>
Intellectual Property in the New Technological Age, 2009 Case and Statutory Supplement [Paperback] Book Reviews:
Tags: Business & Finance
21 Aug 10 Marketing [Hardcover] chapter summaries and review
Marketing [Hardcover] chapter Summaries:
Product Description
Marketing 10/e by Kerin, Hartley and Rudelius continues a tradition of leading the market with contemporary, cutting-edge content presented in a conversational student-oriented style, supported by the most comprehensive, innovative, and useful supplement package available. This text and package is designed to meet the needs of a wide spectrum of faculty—from the professor who just wants a good textbook and a few key supplements, to the professor who wants a top-notch fully integrated multimedia program.
Marketing utilizes a unique, innovative, and effective pedagogical approach developed by the authors through the integration of their combined classroom, college, and university experiences. The elements of this approach have been the foundation for each edition of Marketing and serve as the core of the text and its supplements as they evolve and adapt to changes in student learning styles, the growth of the marketing discipline, and the development of new instructional technologies. The distinctive features of the approach are illustrated below: High Engagement Style – Easy-to-read, interactive, writing style that engages students through active learning techniques. Personalized Marketing – A vivid and accurate description of businesses, marketing professionals, and entrepreneurs—through cases, exercises, and testimonials—that allows students to personalize marketing and identify possible career interests. Marketing Decision Making – The use of extended examples, cases, and videos involving people making marketing decisions. Integrated Technology – The use of powerful technical resources and learning solutions. Traditional and Contemporary Coverage – Comprehensive and integrated coverage of traditional and contemporary concepts. Rigorous Framework – A pedagogy based on the use of Learning Objectives, Learning Reviews, Learning Objectives Reviews, and supportive student supplements.
Marketing [Hardcover] Book Reviews:
() Ordered new textbook, had the understanding that purchasing new would include access code for “connect”. Did not, Amazon said contact publisher, publisher said talk to amazon.
So while I am looking around to buy access code, some fool customer service jerk orders me another copy of the book, supposed with the access code. In the meantime, I find I can purchase the code elsewhere. Call amazon to say WTF is somebody ordering another book for, it would mean I have to return one of them. Guy on phone says it was noted I would not have to return one of the two books, however email instructing that the book was reordered by this CSR included instructions on how to return the book I have. Kicker is, I look at the book that was reordered, and I am not seeing that it included access to “connect”. What has happened to Amazon????????? And where in the hell does some CSR take it upon themselves to reorder a $100 textbook, and either I get it free or I get two for the price of one, or maybe, well who knows.
Tags: Business & Finance
21 Aug 10 Human Resource Management [Hardcover] chapter summaries and review
Human Resource Management [Hardcover] chapter Summaries:
Product Description
Trust the authoritative resource for human resource management to offer the most current look at HR and its impact on today’s organizations. The best-selling HR solution worldwide, Mathis/Jackson’s HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT, Thirteenth Edition, effectively prepares both future and currently practicing HR professionals for HR success with new or thoroughly updated cases and unforgettable, recent examples–90 percent of which are from 2006 and beyond. The leading resource in preparing for professional HR certification, this edition incorporates the latest 2009 HRCI outline with solid, readable coverage that clearly introduces all major topics for the PHR and SPHR professional examinations given by the Human Resource Certification Institute (SHRM). Readers examine the latest HR research with numerous learning features and meaningful cases in every chapter that demonstrate how HR and emerging trends in technology, globalization, and HR Metrics impact today’s organizational strategy. HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT, Thirteenth Edition, is a resource you will rely on now and continuously reference later for ongoing career and HR success.
About the Author
Professor Emeritus of Management at the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO), Dr. Robert Mathis was born and raised in Texas. He received his BBA and MBA from Texas Tech University and his PhD in Management and Organization from the University of Colorado. Dr. Mathis has been recognized for his instruction with the University’s “Excellence3 in Teaching” award at UNO. Throughout the last 25 years, he has coauthored several books and has published numerous articles covering a variety of topics. On the professional level, Dr. Mathis has held numerous national offices in the Society for Human Resource Management and other professional organizations. He also has served as president of the Human Resource Certification Institute (HRCI) and is certified as a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) by HRCI. He has extensive consulting experience with organizations of all sizes and within a variety of industries. Dr. Mathis has extensive specialized consulting experience in establishing and revising compensation plans for small and medium-sized firms. Internationally, Dr. Mathis has consulted and trained professionals for organizations in Australia, Lithuania, Romania, Moldova, and Taiwan.
Dr. John H. Jackson is Professor of Management at the University of Wyoming. Born in Alaska, he received his BBA and MBA from Texas Tech University. He worked in the telecommunications industry in human resources management for several years before completing his PhD in Management and Organization at the University of Colorado. During his academic career, Dr. Jackson has authored six other college texts and more than 50 articles and papers, including those appearing in ACADEMY OF MANAGEMENT REVIEW, JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT, HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT, and HUMAN RESOURCES PLANNING. He has consulted with a variety of organizations on HR and management development matters and served as an expert witness in a number of HR-related cases. At the University of Wyoming, he has served two terms as department head in the Department of Management and Marketing. Dr. Jackson received the university’s highest teaching award and has been recognized for his work with two-way interactive television for MBA students. Two Wyoming governors have appointed him to the Wyoming Business Council and the Workforce Development Council. Dr. Jackson serves as president of Silverwood Ranches, Inc.
Human Resource Management [Hardcover] Book Reviews:
There’s a reason this book is a standard in the field. It explains both fact and theory, in just enough depth, to support HR generalist efforts. The current edition — for those of us who haven’t seen the inside of a school for quite a few years — features on-line resources that are particularly useful in work situations. Call it a textbook for OJT.
I (had to) read this book for school and it was definately worth my time. Working in a small (7 person) office, we had been lagging behind on HR knowledge. Having the resources this book provides within reach has helped us immensely. Highly recommended!
I used this textbook for my MBA Human Resource Management course in the spring of 2001. I found the textbook quite up to date with great case studies and end of chapter exercises. They were quite relavent to current issues and the ongoing AOL-Time Warner case was an used throughout the book.
Tags: Business & Finance
21 Aug 10 The Smart Swarm: How Understanding Flocks, Schools, and Colonies Can Make Us Better at Communicating, Decision Making, and Getting Things Done [Hardcover] chapter summaries and review
The Smart Swarm: How Understanding Flocks, Schools, and Colonies Can Make Us Better at Communicating, Decision Making, and Getting Things Done [Hardcover] chapter Summaries:
From Publishers Weekly
Insects are social creatures, perhaps even more social—in the strict scientific sense—than humans since they lack such socially obstructing attributes as ego, personality, and opinion. Miller, senior editor at National Geographic, examines hives, mounds, colonies, and swarms, whose complex systems of engagement and collective decision making have catalyzed innovations in engineering and can suggest solutions to such problems as climate change. The sophisticated system of decentralized interdependence exhibited by termites invites a lesson on how to respond to emergencies, while the chemical-based communications among African ants helped officials at Southwest Airlines define their seating policy. Insects, birds, and fish variously demonstrate the plausibility and success of disorganization leading to self-organization and leaderless processes. Adding understanding to the dark side of group dynamics and, inevitably, mob behavior is the study of locusts, innocuous until they become part of a crowd. Miller informs, engages, entertains, and even surprises in this thought-provoking study of problem making and problem solving, and through the comparison of human and insect scenarios, shows how social cues and signals can either bring about social cooperation or destruction. (Aug.)
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Review
“I loved The Smart Swarm. It’s been a while since I was this stimulated by a book, or saw so many practical applications. And what a great read.”
-Don Tapscott, author of Wikinomics
“With an eye for detail and an easy style, Peter Miller explains why swarm intelligence has scientists buzzing.”
-Steven Strogatz, author of Sync, and Professor of Mathematics, Cornell University
“Most people can’t fathom that ants, bees, and other social insects have found solutions to some of modern society’s most vexing problems. In The Smart Swarm, Peter Miller offers a fascinating and articulate tour of what these creatures can do, how they do it, and the lessons for humans. This book is a gem, with a message that is as extraordinarily counter intuitive as it is valuable.”
-Michael J. Mauboussin, Chief Investment Strategist at Legg Mason Capital Management and author of Think Twice: Harnessing the Power of Counterintuition
“[Peter Miller] has proven that there is intelligent life on earth, but it is not necessarily us. What a delightful, eye-opening book.”
-Martin Cruz Smith, author of Gorky Park and Stalin’s Ghost
See all Editorial Reviews
The Smart Swarm: How Understanding Flocks, Schools, and Colonies Can Make Us Better at Communicating, Decision Making, and Getting Things Done [Hardcover] Book Reviews:
In today’s world of total global competition and global social networks where the future of the world is being discussed, the field of biomimicry is being embraced by leading thinkers in order to capitalize on nature’s hard earned lessons. This book brings those lessons to life and provides a basis for better understanding the true impact of our wired world. After you’ve digested Miller’s work, you may want go further and read Ken Thompson’s . Bioteams reveals how business enterprises, supply chains, high-tech ventures, public sector organizations and not-for-profits are turning to nature’s best designs to create agile, high performing teams –and provides the human protocols that are needed for successful teams.
I loved it and found it captivating.
The book explains how things like ant colonies interact (more interesting than you would think). First thing in the morning the scout ants take off. When they return, the gatherer ants leave but only if there is the right number of scouts returning – not enough or too many at once – danger. And if they find food, they carry it back to the nest and release a scent that other ants follow to find the food. Fascinating.
Ant colonies accomplish great things (especially termites that build termite hills to vent the carbon dioxide from the colony and provide fresh air from the wind).
Although colonies accomplish great things, the individual ants are not too bright.
Case after case in the book (like why birds that flock don’t bump into each other) point out the intelligence of the group even if the individuals only focus on the few individuals around them. They are leaderless groups. Even the bee hive does not have a leader. The queen lays eggs but does not decide where they live or where the food is. Specialists each do their job.
So how does this relate to business? Studies have shown that the collective group is more intelligent than the individual.
So what does this say about the CEO or leader? As I always knew – often a leader can hinder decision making. It is incumbent on the leader (whether by formal position or just by reputation/expertise) to make others feel worthy of speaking up. And in many senses, minimizing themselves so the group can make the best decision.
Awesome book – captivating read.
I listened to the author on NPR. This is no doubt a well researched treatise on animal bahavior. Admittedly, ‘going along with the crowd’ is possibly one of the strongest human traits, other than sexual opportunism, and self aggrandizement.
Like most so called scientists today, animal behavior is studied with the specific intention to explain and define human behavior, and why we behave as we do. This is all nice and fine as long as we all believe that …”Life was an accident, there is no divine creator, no judgment day, no heaven or hell.” ( That’s NPR and Public TV in one sentence – and our our education system, all rolled up into one neat world view ).
There is only one small fly in this erudite ointment: we are expected to transcend our animal nature. God Himself said so plainly, and so did His Son, the Co-Creator ” who said so in plain language.
First God: ” Come out from among them, and be a separate person, and I will take you in”. And Jesus: ” Wide is the gate and wide is the road that leads to perdition ( destruction ); Narrow is the gate, and narrow the way to Heaven – and few there be that find it”.
This is especially true today. All we have to do is see on the news, those folks lining up at the store at midnight to be the ‘first’ to receive the iPad….and therefore, be considered “cool”, “acceptable”, “hip”, “knowledgable”…when in fact 98% of this very population is woefully misguided and misinformed.
This was made so by systmatically eliminating the name of God, or Jesus, nor any mention of the book of Genesis, the account of how we all came to be, as dictated by God personally to Moses. Now, when anyone, like me, comes forward to draw one’s attention to the opposite of what this book teaches, we are considered shabby, backward, ignorant, wild eyed nutballs, with signs saying “the end of the world is near”…we are not like that…but we are heard from so rarely, this is the immediate picture ‘the crowd’, the ‘swarm’ has of anyone even mentioning Genesis.
Yes…we do have a powerful animal nature. But we are strongly advised to transcend that overwhelming tendency to look at our neighbor and do what our neighbor is doing. ( This only leads to : “My neighbor is coveting my ass…therefore, I will covet his ass” …see how absurd this is? )
The evolutionists thinks this is somehow ” blessed, pure, and holy”, since it has gone on for, they assume, “billions of years”. It has not. First John, First Chapter, First Verse : ” Jesus was there at the Creation of the World”. This world is somewhere between 10 and 5 thousand years old. Dinosaurs walked the earth in Adam’s day, and for the 9 generations after him…and were all buried in mud all a-jumble, as we find them today, in places like the Gobi, and Dinosaur National Monument. These huge animals were mobile enough to escape the flood waters for a while, but eventually were all washed away, en masse, and buried in muck, en masse. This is how we find fossils today, and this is why they are all piled up helter skelter for miles…in now dessicated regions of the planet where the fossils were laid down.
We behave like animals…but we are strongly advised not to do so.
Buy this book, and study this book.Understand this phenomena. And then, observe what role this behavioral mechanism plays in our culture today – namely the “Dumbing Down of America”. Case in point: as you take your lunch break, and get away from your cubicle, enjoying the fresh air and sunshine, see how many late model cars you can identify. Do not look at the front or back where you may find a distincitve grill shape or a logo…but just the sides. I’m certain you will have great difficulty distinguishing between a Lexus, say, and a Hyundai…or anything else for that matter. We are in what I call “The Non- Descript Generation”. Listen carefully totoday’s music, and observe how virtually all the melodies descend 3 or 4 notes, and repeat; and that goes from a resonably soft first verse, to a whiny anguished cry, and there remains repeating the same lame melody line. Case in point: Rihanna’s “Ooh Baby, I’m a Rock Star”, which she performed on Am. Idol, singign the exact same lyric, andlame, descending, simplistic melody about 60 times. I lost count. Do you not see all this as “Swarm Behavior”? Monkey see, monkey do? Inciddentally, before you think I heartily approve of church folk…I do not. They too behave as a “swarm”…dumb peopel following other dumb people, imagining that they are on some sort of Carnival cruise to Heaven, and think themselves “In Like Flynn”, simply because they are “hanging” with a group that will swarm into eaven. They will not. God is not impressed with mindless copy cats. And listen to modern “praise and worship music” if you really want to hear some incredibly dumb music full of whining sycophants, fawning on the Lord…which He detests.
I had a very low rating for this book – one star – but bumped it back up. This nice , soft spoken author has invested a huge amount of time and money in this book. And now it’s sink or swim for him. I don’t want the poor guy to sink. So I encourage you to buy the book. But not to imagine in any way that it is a desirable way to behave. It is not. As outlined above, you will find yoursef ‘swarming with your peers into Hell”. Do NOT, repeat Not – follow the crowd. The crowd is dumb as a bag of rocks. This is the problem I have with the book…its title shuld be “The Dumb Swarm”. The mindless swarm…the blithering idiot swarm.
Tags: Business & Finance
