Riding the Waves of Culture

Understanding cultural diversity in global business
by Alfons Trompenaars and Charles Hampden-Turner

One of the classic books about the role culture plays in business and the bestselling guide to cross-cultural leadership.

Since its original publication, Riding the Waves of Culture has been considered the definitive guide to one of the 21st century’s most pressing management concerns―effectively leading people and organizations in an increasingly global business environment.

Today’s business landscape is barely a shadow of what it was only a few years ago, when managers’ main concerns were being aware of cultural differences and preventing embarrassments. Now, you must take it a step further to leverage cultural differences for maximum competitive advantage.

The highly anticipated third edition of this business classic brings you completely up-to-date in a world transformed by radical changes in politics, society, the economy, and technology. Retaining its detailed descriptions of the underlying cultural frameworks that affect day-to-day business, Riding the Waves of Culture, Third Edition, provides new, evidence-based information and insight on:

  • M&A―how dealing with (national and corporate) cultural differences can enhance and improve chances of success in these often risky endeavors
  • An Increasingly Diverse Business World―including improved and expanded measurements of competences, dilemmas and their reconciliations, servant leadership, innovation, and remote-team effectiveness
  • Cultural Convergence―analysis of changes in the past 25 years bringing the world closer to a single “global village”

The ability to lead effectively in a global business environment is perhaps the most valuable skill anyone can bring to an organization. The most thoroughly researched and highly respected resource of its kind, Riding the Waves of Culture doesn’t just help you stay afloat in today’s diverse work environment; it provides the knowledge you need to seize the advantage and compete for the long run.

Presentations Plus

by David A. Peoples

Solid hints and tips for becoming a more effective presenter, especially to American audiences.

From the reviews of Presentations Plus --

"If you want some distilled wisdom on how to improve, read this book. The author shows how to develop and deliver an effective and exciting presentation, based on his own success on the battlefield of business. His methods are simple, practical, and proven; his approach is effective. Read the book and find out for yourself."
--Business Executive

"Who knows, reading [Presentations Plus] and applying its advice might just make you too valuable to keep in your present job at your present pay."
--Memphis Business Journal

"Crammed with pithy advice and tips"entertaining, readable...All very convincing, as it should be from someone of David Peoples' experience".
--British Business

"[David Peoples] dresses bare-bones theory with lively examples taken from his own experiences."
--Small Business Magazine

"Probably the best book on making oral presentations yet published."
--Management Accounting

Now, the best selling presentations how-to book ever written is better than ever! Containing a wealth of new material, this Second Edition includes all new chapters on team presentations, presentations as a marketing tool, hi-tech vs. low-tech visuals, and a "follow the bouncing ball" presentation planning guide. There are also more illustrations and checklists than in the first edition.

Whether you're pitching your services to a new account, presenting a formal report to top management, speaking before your professional association or even your town council, Presentations Plus, Second Edition is packed with all the strategies, guidelines, and principles you'll ever need to present, persuade, and win.

Please Understand Me II

Temperament, character and intelligence
by David Keirsey

Inspired by the personality typing work of Carl Jung which was used by Myers and Briggs to create the MBTI, this book provides profiles for each of the types and explores how they interact.

Does your spouse's need to alphabetically organize books on the shelves puzzle you? Do your boss's tsunami-like moods leave you exasperated? Do your child's constant questions make you batty? If you've ever wanted to change your mate, your coworkers, or a family member, then "Put down your chisel," advise David Keirsey and Marilyn Bates in this book of personality types. We are different for a reason, and that reason is probably more good than bad. Keirsey and Bates believe that not only is it impossible to truly change others (which they call embarking on a "Pygmalion project"), it's much more important to understand and affirm differences. Sounds easier than it is, you might say. Well, this book is a guide for putting an end to the Pygmalion projects in your life and starting on the path to acceptance.

A People's History of the United States: 1492-Present

by Howard Zinn

Interesting and informative but detailed American's view of American history.

Since its original landmark publication in 1980, A People's History of the United States has been chronicling American history from the bottom up, throwing out the official version of history taught in schools—with its emphasis on great men in high places—to focus on the street, the home, and the workplace.

Known for its lively, clear prose as well as its scholarly research, A People's History of the United States is the only volume to tell America's story from the point of view of—and in the words of—America's women, factory workers, African-Americans, Native Americans, the working poor, and immigrant laborers. As historian Howard Zinn shows, many of our country's greatest battles—the fights for a fair wage, an eight-hour workday, child-labor laws, health and safety standards, universal suffrage, women's rights, racial equality—were carried out at the grassroots level, against bloody resistance.

Covering Christopher Columbus's arrival through President Clinton's first term, A People's History of the United States, which was nominated for the American Book Award in 1981, features insightful analysis of the most important events in our history. 

One Minute Manager

by Kenneth Blanchard and Spencer Johnson

This small, quick-to-read book explains the "management by walking around" approach to how good American managers interact with their subordinates.

The blockbuster #1 national bestselling phenomenon is back... not that it ever really went away. An easily-read story which quickly demonstrates three very practical management techniques, it also includes information on several studies in medicine and in the behavioral sciences, which help readers understand why these apparently simple methods work so well with so many people. The book is brief, the language is simple, and best of all...it works.

Nonviolent Communication

A  language of life
by Marshall B. Rosenberg

Discover how the language you use can strengthen your relationships, build trust, prevent conflicts instead of causing anger and disharmony.

1,000,000 copies sold worldwide • Translated in More Than 30 Languages. What is Violent Communication? If “violent” means acting in ways that result in hurt or harm, then much of how we communicate—judging others, bullying, having racial bias, blaming, finger pointing, discriminating, speaking without listening, criticizing others or ourselves, name-calling, reacting when angry, using political rhetoric, being defensive or judging who’s “good/bad” or what’s “right/wrong” with people—could indeed be called “violent communication.”

Nonviolent Communication is the integration of 4 things:

  1. Consciousness: a set of principles that support living a life of empathy, care, courage, and authenticity
  2. Language: understanding how words contribute to connection or distance
  3. Communication: knowing how to ask for what we want, how to hear others even in disagreement, and how to move toward solutions that work for all
  4. Means of influence: sharing “power with others” rather than using “power over others”

Nonviolent Communication serves our desire to do three things:

  1. Increase our ability to live with choice, meaning, and connection
  2. Connect empathically with self and others to have more satisfying relationships
  3. 3: Sharing of resources so everyone is able to benefit

“Nonviolent Communication shows us a way of being very honest, without any criticism, insults, or put-downs, and without any intellectual diagnosis implying wrongness.” — Marshall B. Rosenberg, PhD

Newcomer's Handbook for Moving to and Living in the USA

by Mike Livingston (Author), Holly Tri (Editor)

According to the latest report by the Office of Immigration Statistics, about 1 million individuals immigrate to the USA each year. The Newcomer's Handbook for Moving to and Living in the USA is designed to help these new arrivals and other newcomers to our country know what to expect as they explore and adjust to their new home. While providing a wealth of practical information on all aspects of life in the USA, from navigating our legal, health care, and educational systems to finding places to live, worship, volunteer, and shop; to understanding U.S. culture, holidays, sports, and customs, the Newcomer's Handbook for the USA also focuses on the importance of exploiting local resources in this rapidly changing environment, stressing use of the internet, local yellow pages, and the public library.

There are also separate issues of this series for a number of major cities.

Leading at a Higher Level

by Ken Blanchard

The latest book by the co-author of the situational leadership concept (along with Paul Hersey) shows managers and leaders how to go beyond the short term and zero in on the
right target and vision. Blanchard's team also describes how companies can empower
people and unleash their incredible potential. Topics in this book include:

  • How to ground your leadership in humility.
  • Ways to focus on the greater good of people and the organization.
  • Why it is important to have an engaged work force of self leaders.
  • How to go beyond the short term and zero in on the right target and vision.
  • Ways to deliver legendary, maniacal customer service and earn raving fans.
  • How to determine your leadership point of view.

Inside the Tornado

Strategies for developing, leveraging, and surviving hypergrowth markets
by Goeffrey A. Moore.

If you are in high-tech marketing, you need to read this book!

In this, the second of Geoff Moore's classic three-part marketing series, Moore provides highly useful guidelines for moving products beyond early adopters and into the lucrative mainstream market. Updated for the HarperBusiness Essentials series with a new author's note.

Once a product "crosses the chasm" it is faced with the "tornado," a make or break time period where mainstream customers determine whether the product takes off or falls flat. In Inside the Tornado, Moore details various marketing strategies that will teach marketers how to reach these customers and how to take advantage of living inside the tornado in order to reap the benefits of mainstream adoption.

In Search of Excellence

Lessons from America's Best-Run Companies
by Thomas J. Peters and Robert H.Waterman, Jr.

Based on a study of forty-three of America's best-run companies from a diverse array of business sectors, In Search of Excellence describes eight basic principles of management -- action-stimulating, people-oriented, profit-maximizing practices -- that made these organizations successful.

I'm OK, You're OK

by Thomasd Harris

An enormously popular (7-million copies sold) and insightful classic of popular psychology based on Eric Berne’s theory of Transactional Analysis that has helped millions of people who never before felt OK about themselves find the freedom to change, to liberate their ADULT effectiveness, and to achieve joyful intimacy with the people in their lives.

This book has special significance for leaders who must deal with their relationships with their employees and also sometimes mediate conflicts between employees.

Transactional analysis (see book listing for Games People Play) delineates three ego-states (parent, adult and child) as the basis for the content and quality of interpersonal communication. “Happy childhood” notwithstanding, says Harris, most of us are living out the not ok feelings of a defenseless child wholly dependent on ok others (parents) for stroking and caring. At some stage early in our lives we adopt a “position” about ourselves which very significantly determines how we feel about ourselves, particularly in relation to other people. And for a huge portion of the population, that position is that I’m Not OK-You’re OK. This negative Life Position, shared by successful and unsuccessful people alike, contaminates our rational adult potential, leaving us vulnerable to the inappropriate, emotional reactions of our child and the uncritically learned behavior programmed into our parent. By exploring the four basic “life positions,” we can radically change our lives.

I'm A Stranger Here Myself

Notes on returning to America after 20 years away
by Bill Bryson.

I first got hooked on Bill Bryson's humor and insights into cultural differences reading "A Walk Through the Woods". This book is really rich with insights about the differences between the US and Europe.

After living in Britain for two decades, Bill Bryson recently moved back to the United States with his English wife and four children (he had read somewhere that nearly 3 million Americans believed they had been abducted by aliens—as he later put it, "it was clear my people needed me"). They were greeted by a new and improved America that boasts microwave pancakes, twenty-four-hour dental-floss hotlines, and the staunch conviction that ice is not a luxury item. 

Delivering the brilliant comic musings that are a Bryson hallmark, I'm a Stranger Here Myself recounts his sometimes disconcerting reunion with the land of his birth. The result is a book filled with hysterical scenes of one man's attempt to reacquaint himself with his own country, but it is also an extended if at times bemused love letter to the homeland he has returned to after twenty years away.

Hug Your Customers

by Jack Mitchell

If you want some insight into the American view about customer relationship, this is the book to read.

A master of customer service reveals his secrets for developing long-lasting business relationships and customer loyalty. "We shower our customers with attention. There's no doubt in my mind that our philosophy can be applied to selling just about anything -- from aircraft engines to beanbags." (Jack Mitchell) The only way to stay in business is with customers, and Jack Mitchell knows how to attract them, and how to keep them.

He has a deceptively simple but winning relationship approach to customer service -- that a relationship is at the heart of every transaction. Jack's business philosophy is based on "hugs" -- personal touches that impress and satisfy the customer, such as: -- Remembering the name of your customer's dog
-- Calling a customer to make sure he's satisfied after a purchase
-- Having a "kids' corner" with TV, books, and treats
-- Knowing your customers golf handicap
-- Introducing customers to business contacts
-- Letting your customer use your office to make a personal phone call This is a proven theory -- hugging works! Mitchells/Richards achieves among the highest margins in its industry, as well as amazing customer loyalty. Complete with anecdotes that exemplify outstanding customer service, Hug Your Customers shows how any business can adapt this hugging philosophy to attract great staff, lower marketing costs, and maintain higher gross margins and long-term revenues. At a time when customer service has become the difference between success and failure, Hug Your Customers shows how Jack's one-of-a-kind philosophy brings the results you're looking for.

High Tech, High Touch

Technology and our search for meaning
by John Naisbitt, Nana Naisbitt and Douglas Philips

Another book by the author of "Megatrends", and "Global Paradox", a brilliant futurist looks at where technology is taking us.

The one great megatrend of the new millennium. In this important and timely book encompassing the key trends of our time, John Naisbitt, the world's foremost social forecaster and bestselling author, takes us on a compelling and kaleidoscopic tour of our contemporary 'technology immersion' and our accelerated search for meaning. High Tech/High Touch shows how we need to understand technology through a human lens - to comprehend life-science technologies through theology, consumer technology through high-touch time, science of the body through art. Exploring everything from the effect of consumer and genetic technologies (the most influential of all technologies to come) to the problems that parents face contending with violent electronic games, the authors' insights span science, religion, commerce, communications, art, leisure and many other areas of our daily lives.

Good to Great

Why some companies make the leap and others don't
by Jim Collins

The Challenge:
Built to Last, the defining management study of the nineties, showed how great companies triumph over time and how long-term sustained performance can be engineered into the DNA of an enterprise from the very beginning.

But what about the company that is not born with great DNA? How can good companies, mediocre companies, even bad companies achieve enduring greatness?

The Study: 
For years, this question preyed on the mind of Jim Collins. Are there companies that defy gravity and convert long-term mediocrity or worse into long-term superiority? And if so, what are the universal distinguishing characteristics that cause a company to go from good to great?

The Standards:
Using tough benchmarks, Collins and his research team identified a set of elite companies that made the leap to great results and sustained those results for at least fifteen years. How great? After the leap, the good-to-great companies generated cumulative stock returns that beat the general stock market by an average of seven times in fifteen years, better than twice the results delivered by a composite index of the world's greatest companies, including Coca-Cola, Intel, General Electric, and Merck.

The Comparisons: 
The research team contrasted the good-to-great companies with a carefully selected set of comparison companies that failed to make the leap from good to great. What was different? Why did one set of companies become truly great performers while the other set remained only good?

Over five years, the team analyzed the histories of all twenty-eight companies in the study. After sifting through mountains of data and thousands of pages of interviews, Collins and his crew discovered the key determinants of greatness -- why some companies make the leap and others don't.

The Findings:
The findings of the Good to Great study will surprise many readers and shed light on virtually every area of management strategy and practice. The findings include:

  • Level 5 Leaders: The research team was shocked to discover the type of leadership required to achieve greatness.
  • The Hedgehog Concept: (Simplicity within the Three Circles): To go from good to great requires transcending the curse of competence.
  • A Culture of Discipline: When you combine a culture of discipline with an ethic of entrepreneurship, you get the magical alchemy of great results. Technology Accelerators: Good-to-great companies think differently about the role of technology.
  • The Flywheel and the Doom Loop: Those who launch radical change programs and wrenching restructurings will almost certainly fail to make the leap.

“Some of the key concepts discerned in the study,” comments Jim Collins, "fly in the face of our modern business culture and will, quite frankly, upset some people.”

Perhaps, but who can afford to ignore these findings?

Global Mom

by Melissa Dalton-Bradford

After more than twenty years living internationally sixteen addresses, eight countries, and five different languages, writer Melissa Bradford shares a fantastic journey of motherhood that will inspire any family. 

Follow this family of six on their passage extraordinary, hilarious and heartbreakingly poignant from Bright Lights (of New York City) to the Northern Lights (of Norway) to the City of Light (Paris) to the speed-of-light of the Autobahn (in Munich). Continue deep into the tropics of Southeast Asia (Singapore) and end your voyage in the heights of the Swiss Alps (Geneva). 

As varied as the topography the craggy fjords, the meandering Seine, the black forests, the muggy tropics, the soaring Alps this multicultural tale traverses everything from giving birth in a château in Versailles to living on an island in a fjord. From singing jazz on national Norwegian T.V. to judging an Indonesian beauty contest. From navigating the labyrinth of French bureaucracy and the traffic patterns of Singapore to sitting around a big pine table where the whole family learns languages, cultures, cuisines where they, in short, learn to love this complex and diverse world and, most importantly, each other.

Getting to Yes

Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In
by Roger Fisher, William Ury and Bruce Patton

The Harvard concept of negotiating easily explained by the people who developed it. Translated into many languages. German title is "Das Harvard-Konzept".

Since its original publication nearly thirty years ago, Getting to Yes has helped millions of people learn a better way to negotiate. One of the primary business texts of the modern era, it is based on the work of the Harvard Negotiation Project, a group that deals with all levels of negotiation and conflict resolution. Getting to Yes offers a proven, step-by-step strategy for coming to mutually acceptable agreements in every sort of conflict. Thoroughly updated and revised, it offers readers a straight- forward, universally applicable method for negotiating personal and professional disputes without getting angry-or getting taken.

"This is by far the best thing I've ever read about negotiation. It is equally relevant for the individual who would like to keep his friends, property, and income and the statesman who would like to keep the peace." --John Kenneth Galbraith.

Games People Play

The Definitive Guide to Transactional Analysis
by Eric Berne

We play games all the time - relationship games with loved ones, power games with our bosses, and competitive games with our friends. Dr. Berne exposes the secret ploys and unconscious maneuvers that rule our intimate lives.

More than five million copies later, Dr. Eric Berne's classic book is as astonishing--and revealing--as it was on the day it was first published. In this new edition, Dr. Berne exposes the secret ploys and unconscious maneuvers that rule our intimate lives.

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team

A leadership fable
by Patrick Lencioni

Lencioni once again offers a leadership fable that is as enthralling and instructive as his first two best-selling books, The Five Temptations of a CEO and The Four Obsessions of an Extraordinary Executive. This time, he turns his keen intellect and storytelling power to the fascinating, complex world of teams.

Kathryn Petersen, Decision Tech's CEO, faces the ultimate leadership crisis: Uniting a team in such disarray that it threatens to bring down the entire company. Will she succeed? Will she be fired? Will the company fail? Lencioni's utterly gripping tale serves as a timeless reminder that leadership requires as much courage as it does insight.

Throughout the story, Lencioni reveals the five dysfunctions which go to the very heart of why teams even the best ones-often struggle. He outlines a powerful model and actionable steps that can be used to overcome these common hurdles and build a cohesive, effective team. Just as with his other books, Lencioni has written a compelling fable with a powerful yet deceptively simple message for all those who strive to be exceptional team leaders.

Fish!

by Stephen C. Lunden, Harry Paul, and John Christensen

Over 5 Million Copies Sold! Imagine a workplace where everyone chooses to bring energy, passion, and a positive attitude to the job every day.

A powerful parable that will help you see your life and work in a new way.

It's a rainy day in Seattle, and on the third floor of First Guarantee Financial, people have stopped believing they can make a difference. To new manager Mary Jane Ramirez, the challenge of bringing life back to her unenthusiastic and unmotivated team seems impossible, until she discovers an incredibly successful workplace down the street where the employees are so alive and passionate that people stop just to watch them work! 

FISH! is the remarkable story of what happens when Mary Jane seeks the help of these unlikely business "experts" and learns their secret: four simple practices that, when applied daily, help anyone to be more energized, effective, and fulfilled. 

Filled with inspiration and timeless wisdom that will resonate with anyone in any field or career level, it's easy to see why FISH! is one of the most popular business parables of all time. People in organizations around the world use its practical lessons to improve customer service, build trust and teamwork, bolster leadership, and increase employee satisfaction. They also use the lessons to strengthen personal relationships, fulfill lifelong dreams, and realize their ambitions. 

FISH! will help you discover the amazing power that is already inside you to make a positive difference-wherever you are in life.

Based on a bestselling ChartHouse training video which has been adopted by corporations including Southwest Airlines, Sprint, and Nordstrom.

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