New Business Book Summary Available for The Bubble Economy

A volatile combination of housing bubbles, subprime mortgages, bank bailouts, financial deregulations, Wall Street manipulations, and overseas debt crises crashed the global economy in 2008. Since then, slow growth and rising inequality have kept the global economy unstable. In The Bubble Economy, Robert U. Ayres connects economic instability and the economics of energy by describing the role of energy, the history of bubbles and busts, the failure of financial regulation, and the environment of climate change. Ayres also provides a plan for replacing instability with sustainability. His plan suggests that governments redirect investments toward renewable energy to trigger economic growth, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, increase employment, and improve long-term investment opportunities.

New Business Book Summary Available for The Essential Workplace Conflict Handbook

Wherever there is people, there will inevitably be conflict, because all people are different. Properly handled, conflict can spark creative solutions to problems, foster innovative thinking, and boost productivity, while mishandled conflict can lead to bullying or even violence. Managers at all levels must therefore know how to resolve conflict in the workplace. Specific skills they must acquire include the ability to ask the right questions until all the facts emerge; active listening and ease of dialogue; an awareness of differing conflict styles and how best to handle them; and when to back away from conflict, recognizing that the problem belongs to someone else. The Essential Workplace Conflict Handbook by Barbara Mitchell and Cornelia Gamlem offers managers the training and guidelines necessary for managing conflict.

New Business Book Summary Available for The Evolution of Everything

Evolution is a concept that is associated most commonly with the natural world. However, in The Evolution of Everything, Matt Ridley argues that evolution happens in every aspect of human culture. In domains as diverse as morality, technology, money, and religion, there is evidence that the world is a self-organizing, self-changing place that cannot be controlled or commanded by mankind. Ridley purports that evolution occurs not from top-down design but from bottom-up emergence.

New Business Book Summary Available for HBR Guide to Leading Teams

HBR Guide to Leading Teams by Mary Shapiro is a handbook designed to help leaders get better results from their teams. The book covers the team-building process from beginning to end, including insight on what to look for when assembling a team to how to properly wrap up a project.

New Business Book Summary Available for Presentation Advantage

Presentation Advantage by Kory Kogon, Dr. Breck England, and Julie Schmidt provides individuals with detailed, practical guidelines for creating successful presentations. Through examples, case studies, and references to Stephen R. Covey's principles, the authors describe both the philosophy and the literal tasks presenters must follow to be effective.

New Business Book Summary Available for Return on Character

In Return on Character, Fred Kiel provides evidence that the character of leaders has a direct impact on the success of their organizations. Between 2006 and 2013, Kiel oversaw a survey of over 120 CEOs and their employees and examined the affect that their behaviors had on the financial results of their organizations. The surprising finding was that the most principled CEOs, the Virtuoso CEOs, achieved almost five times the return on assets of Self-Focused CEOs, or those with the lowest character habits.

New Business Book Summary Available for The Genius of Opposites

In The Genius of Opposites, Jennifer B. Kahnweiler explores the importance of building relationships in the workplace. Using interviews from over 40 introvert/extrovert partners across varying professional fields, genders, ages, nationalities, and organizations, Kahnweiler embarks on a massive study to determine how to help introverts and extroverts acknowledge differences, embrace them, and ultimately achieve the most optimal working relationships.