For an extraordinary fifty-seven-year period, one of the nation's largest and fastest-growing companies was run by two men who were flesh and blood. The chief executives of the International Business Machines Corporation from 1914 until 1971 were Thomas J. Watson and Thomas J. Watson, father and son. That great corporation bears the imprint of both men -- their ambitions and their strengths -- but it also bears the consequences of a family that was in near-constant conflict.Sometimes wrong but never in doubt, both Watsons had clear -- and farsighted -- visions of what their company could become. They also had volcanic tempers. Their fights with each other combined with their commitment to leadership and excellence made IBM one of the most rewarding, yet gut-clutching firms to work for in the history of American business.We are accustomed to describing professional behavior as if men and women leave their emotions and vulnerabilities at home each day. In the case of the Watsons, filial and sibling strife could not be excluded from the office. In closely studying the desires and frustrations of the Watson family, eminent historian Richard S. Tedlow has produced something more than a family portrait or a company history. He has raised the nearly forbidden issue of the role of emotion in corporate life.This book explores the interplay between the person- alities of these two extraordinary men and the firm they created. Both Watsons had deeply held beliefs about what a corporation is and should be. These ideas helped make "Big Blue" the bluest of blue-chip stocks during the Watsons' tenure. These very beliefs, however, also sowed the seeds for IBM's disasters in the late 1980s and early 1990s, when the company had lost sight of the original meaning behind many of the practices each man put into place.Tracing the family's idiosyncratic ability to cope with each other's weaknesses but not their strengths, The Watson Dynasty is a book for every person who ever went to work but didn't want to check his personality at the door.

Explaining the methods that have made her -- and her stock picks -- famous, Maria Bartiromo tells investors how to use hot information to make money in any market, raging bull or lumbering bear. Packed with sage advice from the most influential people on Wall Street, Use the News is an indispensable investment handbook that will disclose the Wall Street insiders' secrets and show you how to take control of your investments.

Every office has someone who's no fun to be around. But getting along with that person and managing them effectively can make both your jobs easier. Difficult People, a comprehensive and essential resource for any manager on the run, shows you how.Learn to: Recognize why and when people act out Identify different types of difficult people Cope with difficult behavior Get the most out of trouble employees Nurture a harmonious work environment The Collins Best Practices guides offer new and seasoned managers the essential information they need to achieve more, both personally and professionally. Designed to provide tried-and-true advice from the world's most influential business minds, they feature practical strategies and tips to help you get ahead.

There are only twenty-four hours in a day, but you can make them count. Time Management, a comprehensive and essential resource for any manager on the run, shows you how.Learn to: Set and prioritize goals, objectives, and tasks Create an effective schedule Avoid distractions and interruptions Respect other people's time Build a time-conscious organization The Collins Best Practices guides offer new and seasoned managers the essential information they need to achieve more, both personally and professionally. Designed to provide tried-and-true advice from the world's most influential business minds, they feature practical strategies and tips to help you get ahead.

In today's high-pressure workplace, motivating all employees to consistently contribute their best can mean the difference between success and failure. Motivating Employees, a comprehensive and essential resource for any manager on the run, shows you how.Learn to: Inspire employees to succeed Improve performance through coaching Minimize the impact of common de-motivators Create a fair and consistent reward system Turn negative experiences into positive, motivational opportunities The Collins Best Practices guides offer new and seasoned managers the essential information they need to achieve more, both personally and professionally. Designed to provide tried-and-true advice from the world's most influential business minds, they feature practical strategies and tips to help you get ahead.

Beat the Pros at Their Own Game All too often, you learn about good stocks far too late to profit from the information. By the time you actually buy a stock, professional investors have already been there, bought the stock, driven up the price, and are just waiting to unload it at an inflated price.All That's About to Change. . . .In Ahead of the Market, Mitch Zacks shows investors how they can spot stocks that are poised to take off long before the rest of the crowd learns about them. HowBy unlocking the gems of priceless information buried in Wall Street's often self-serving research. Ahead of the Market is the first book, ever, that enables you to profitably use the analyst stock research for which Wall Street firms pay more than one billion dollars annually. Many investors have rightly felt misled in the past by analysts who continued to hype stocks as prices plummeted. You may have even concluded that Wall Street research is totally worthless. But it's not.In Ahead of the Market, Mitch Zacks shows that analysts actually provide a wealth of market-moving information that can generate exceptional returns if interpreted correctly.The key is to use the research produced by Wall Street analysts the same way the professional money managers do.Pioneered by the firm Zacks Investment Research and based on more than twenty years of intensive analysis, the investment strategies revealed in this book are indeed the same ones used by successful professional investors everywhere.In these pages you will learn how to form an investment plan by locating stocks that are poised for price appreciation and avoiding stocks heading for a fall. Zacks shows how you could have prevented being burned when the recent bubble burst, if you had known how to use analyst research correctly and teaches you the rules of the research game so you will not fall victim the next time around. In sum, this book is your guide to picking the right stock at the right time.Mitch Zacks's groundbreaking research provides new insights and new strategies to: Use revisions to analysts' earnings estimates to predict the rise and fall of stock prices Interpret the real meaning behind analysts' stock recommendations Employ the "cockroach" phenomenon and other methodologies to predict earnings surprises before they occur Determine how to react when a company reports earnings and how to profit from "post-earnings announcement drift" Understand and profit from "analyst creep" the reason that earnings estimate revisions occur incrementally over time Avoid being duped by the games that companies play with their earnings reportsWhether the economy is healthy or stalled, whether the market is up or down, by focusing on the strategies contained in this book you will always come out ahead. Well-picked individual stocks will always carry the day. Now with Ahead of the Market, you will finally have the same tools institutional investors have and will be able to find great stocks in any market environment.

Take an ordinary business. A bike shop. An auction company. An ice cream parlor. A sock manufacturer. In thoroughly mundane businesses like these, an entrepreneur must outsmart the multitudes of competitors, leap to the head of the pack, and become a dominant Alpha Dog.Exactly how does an everyday company distinguish itself in the marketplace, generate much higher sales than its competitors, and earn the lasting loyalty of customers and employeesIs it cutting-edge productsBrilliant serviceIngenious branding?Donna Fenn, a twenty-year veteran of Inc. magazine, has discovered the people who have the answers. In a personal and probing style, she introduces you to eight Alpha Dogs. These men and women share their solutions and insights on how to rise to the top, despite multiple competitors, from Chinese manufacturers to Wal-Mart.Readers will meet: Chris Zane, an intense, ambitious father of three boys. His Branford, Connecticut, retail bike shop has flourished among Wal-Mart, Sports Authority, and independent bike stores. He's done it by seeking out new markets and perfecting the art of customer service. Deb Weidenhamer, a tough woman in a male-dominated industry who transformed a traditional auction company with cutting-edge technology. While her competitors were still fretting about eBay, she was using the online auction giant as a training ground for her own innovative Web site. Amy Simmons, a former premed student who fell in love with the ice cream business in Boston and then founded her own ice cream parlor in Austin, Texas. With twelve Amy's Ice Creams stores in Austin, Amy's is the Austin hometown favorite, despite her deep-pocketed rivals, Ben Jerry's and Cold Stone Creamery. In accessible, conversational style, Donna Fenn tells each entrepreneur's personal story, shares their winning formulas, and offers nuts-and-bolts advice and practical tips. Alpha Dogs is a lively handbook for every current and aspiring entrepreneur.

The quintessential self-made man, master of brand identity, New York Times bestselling author, and award-winning executive KISS's Gene Simmons shares his manifesto for business success.KISS did not become one of the most successful rock bands in history by accident. Long before he first took the stage, Gene Simmons had a clear-cut operating plan for the business. Over the past forty years, KISS has sold more than 100 million CDs and DVDs worldwide and manages 5,000 licensed merchandise items from comic books and coffins to action figures and video games. The band received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and in 2014 was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In addition to KISS, Simmons's lucrative ventures include two hit reality shows, a professional sports team, a restaurant chain, and a record label. A recipient of the Forbes Lifetime Achievement Award, this brilliant executive runs all of his businesses on his own no personal assistant, few handlers, and as little red tape as possible.In Me, Inc., Simmons gives aspiring entrepreneurs the critical tools they need to succeed. He discusses how to build a solid business strategy, harness the countless tools available in the digital age, educate yourself, and be the architect for the business entity that is you. Inspired by The Art of War, Me, Inc. is organized around thirteen specific, easy-to-understand principles for success "The Art of More" drawn from Simmons's own triumphs and failures. From finding the confidence necessary to get started, to surrounding yourself with the right people, to knowing when to pull the plug and when to double-down, these principles can help you attain the freedom and wealth of your dreams.

All In: Poker Night Lessons for Winning Big at Your Career goes beyond any of the other bestselling poker books on the market and at last tells you how to put your poker playing skills to use in the business world. What if the rules and strategies of poker were the same as those More...you use in your real lifeWhat if your real life were an exciting game filled with challenging opponents and chances to win bigWhat if your job was as much fun as your weekly poker gameWell, it can be - and All in will show you how. With this book you'll learn how to: know the rules and know your opponent; define your playing style and leave your emotions at the door; make the most out of a great hand and minimize your mistakes; know when and how to bluff, and know when you're beat; and always keep them guessing, and know when to go all in! The modern-day world of corporate politics is very similar to poker. It's a game where anticipating your opponent's next move and making educated guesses at the cards they hold in their hand is just as important as knowing how to play your own hand and having a strategy for how you want to be perceived by others. All you have to know are the basic rules of the game to benefit from this book. Its theories and ideas can be applied to all facets of the business world. From the student to the CEO, anyone who is looking for a way to take control of their career and have fun while doing it will benefit from this book.

Never before have we attempted to measure as much as we do today. Why are we so obsessed with numbers? What can they really tell us? Too often we try to quantify what can’t actually be measured. We count people, but not individuals. We count exam results rather than intelligence, benefit claimants instead of poverty. The government has set itself 10,000 new targets. Politicians pack their speeches with skewed statistics: crime rates are either rising or falling depending on who is doing the counting. We are in a world in which everything designed only to be measured. If it can’t be measured it can be ignored. But the big problem is what numbers don’t tell you. They won’t interpret. They won’t inspire, and they won’t tell you precisely what causes what. In this passionately argued and thought-provoking book, David Boyle examines our obsession with numbers. He reminds us of the danger of taking numbers so seriously at the expense of what is non-measurable, non-calculable: intuition, creativity, imagination, happiness… Counting is a vital human skill. Yardsticks are a vital tool. As long as we remember how limiting they are if we cling to them too closely. Americans who claim to have been abducted by aliens = 3.7 million Average time spent by British people in traffic jams every year = 11 days Number of Americans shot by children under six between 1983 and 1993 = 138, 490

The time management secrets that experts and top professionals use. Get results fast with this quick, easy guide to the fundamentals of Time Management. Includes how to: ? Identify your biggest priorities and find time to achieve them ? Deal with the biggest hidden time-wasters ? Communicate effectively with colleagues and clients ? Cope with information overload ? Take control of your inbox and voicemail

The presenting secrets that experts and top professionals use. Get results fast with this quick, easy guide to the fundamentals of Presenting. Includes how to: ? Enjoy presenting and approach it with confidence ? Assess your audience and their reactions ? Prepare presentations for maximum impact ? Use your voice and body to make your point ? Use visual aids and handle questions

The leadership secrets that experts and top professionals use. Get results fast with this quick, easy guide to the fundamentals of Leadership. Includes how to: ? Understand and develop your leadership style ? Identify strategic goals for your department ? Motivate and manage teams of all sizes ? Build a culture of results and responsibility ? Lead the way out of a crisis

The communication secrets that experts and top professionals use. Get results fast with this quick, easy guide to the fundamentals of Communication. Includes how to: ? Use body language to build rapport with anyone ? Deal with clients and colleagues at all levels ? Get what you want in sales or negotiation ? Excel in meetings and presentations ? Master email and written communication

The interview secrets that experts and top professionals use. Get results fast with this quick, easy guide to the fundamentals of Interviews. Includes how to: ? Research the needs of the employer ? Focus the interview on your strengths ? Use body language to impress ? Deal with difficult questions ? Negotiate the perfect package

The people management secrets that experts and top professionals use. Get results fast with this quick, easy guide to the fundamentals of People Management Includes how to: ? Build a business-like relationships with your direct reports ? Set clear targets and monitor them ? Understand different personality types and how to manage them ? Deliver criticism and compliments in the right way ? Mentor your employees to produce fantastic results

The secrets that experts and top professionals use to get things done. Get results fast with this quick, easy guide to the fundamentals of Getting Things Done. Includes how to: ? Get more done in less time ? Manage upwards, downwards and sideways ? Under-promise and over-deliver ? Overcome difficult people and issues ? Deliver projects on time and on budget

The secrets that experts and top professionals use to stay at the top of their game. Get results fast with this quick, easy guide to the fundamentals of Mind Power Includes how to: ? Produce creative and innovative ideas ? Remember names, numbers and concepts ? Sharpen your mental reflexes, whatever your age ? Ask the right questions and understand other points of view ? Make good decisions and stick to them

The team management secrets that experts and top professionals use. Get results fast with this quick, easy guide to the fundamentals of Team Management Includes how to: ? Understand how different personalities interact in a team ? Set up clear structures and goals for your team ? Implement change effectively and as painlessly as possible ? Overcome personality clashes and team difficulties ? Manage your team so that it delivers fantastic results

In ‘Eyes Wide Open’ Noreena Hertz does for decision-making what Daniel Kahneman did for thinking. ? Why should you be wary of experts? ? Are emails destroying your ability to think? ? How do you know which sources of information are credible? ? Whose advice should you trust? ‘Eyes Wide Open’ will help you through the data deluge and show you how to make better and smarter decisions. By weaving together cutting-edge research with real-world examples from Hollywood to Harry Potter, NASA to World War II spies, Hertz constructs a path to more astute and empowered decision-making in ten clear steps. With razor-sharp insight and an instinct for thought-provoking storytelling, she offers counterintuitive, effective guidance for making better choices—whether you are a businessperson, a professional, a patient, or a parent. ‘Eyes Wide Open’ is a game-changing book that empowers readers to become confident and wise decision-makers —savvy to how our emotions and habits can trip us up.

Are you interested in learning more about the complex area of structured trade financeStructured Trade Finance (STF) is a highly specialised area of trade finance that has evolved directly from practice. As it grows and becomes more complex in an increasingly risk-based regulatory environment, there is a need for more detailed guidance on the subject. Foundations of Structured Trade Finance will provide you with exactly this. Written by Dr Oramah — President of Afreximbank and a professional who played an important role in the evolution of STF — this report will: Address the philosophical foundations and risks associated with structured trade finance Provide step-by-step guidance on how deals can be structured Outline the scope of coverage outside the confines of commodities Examine real life case studies and draw out lessons that can be learned from these STF has proven itself as an effective instrument for attracting trade finance to those regions that receive limited trade finance and which lag behind in trade and economic performance. Ensure you're aware of the risks associated with it.