Barons Of Banking : Glimpses of Indian Banking History

Barons of banking highlights the contributions of six distinguished personalities from the world of banking???Sir Sorabji Pochkhanawala, Sir Purshotamdas Thakurdas, Sir Chintaman D. Deshmukh, A.D. Shroff, H.T. Parekh, and R.K. Talwar???who not only played a pioneering role in the growth of the institutions which they founded, or were actively associated with, but left an indelible mark on the banking industry as a whole. Through the narration of the history of five key institutions???the central bank of India, the reserve bank of India, the state bank of India, the industrial credit and investment corporation of India ltd and the housing development and finance corporation ltd???the author gives us a keen insight into the contributions of these luminaries to banking in India. Also included is a narration of the recommendations of important committees and commissions which influenced the course of Indian banking. Divided into four parts, the book uses hitherto unused archival material recently put in the public domain by the RBI, of particular interest is a discussion of the acrimonious relationship between Sir James grigg, the finance member of the viceroy???s executive council and Sir Osborne Smith, the first governor of the RBI, which throws fresh light on a spat which remains unprecedented not only in the bank???s history, but possibly in all of banking history.

Built To Last

"This is not a book about charismatic visionary leaders. It is not about visionary product concepts or visionary products or visionary market insights. Nor even is it about just having a corporate vision. This is a book about something far more important, enduring, and substantial. This is a book about visionary companies." So write James C. Collins and Jerry I. Porras in this groundbreaking book that shatters myths, provides new insights, and gives practical guidance to those who would like to build landmark companies that stand the test of time. Drawing upon a six-year research project at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business, Collins and Porras took eighteen truly exceptional and long-lasting companies -- they have an average age of nearly one hundred years and have outperformed the general stock market by a factor of fifteen since 1926 -- and studied each company in direct comparison to one of its top competitors. They examined the companies from their very beginnings to the present day -- as start-ups, as midsize companies, and as large corporations. Throughout, the authors asked: "What makes the truly exceptional companies different from other companies?" What separates General Electric, 3M, Merck, Wal-Mart, Hewlett-Packard, Walt Disney, and Philip Morris from their rivals? How, for example, did Procter & Gamble, which began life substantially behind rival Colgate, eventually prevail as the premier institution in its industry? How was Motorola able to move from a humble battery repair business into integrated circuits and cellular communications, while Zenith never became dominant in anything other than TVs? How did Boeing unseat McDonnell-Douglas as the world's best commercial aircraft company -- what did Boeing have that McDonnell-Douglas lacked? By answering such questions, Collins and Porras go beyond the incessant barrage of management buzzwords and fads of the day to discover timeless qualities that have consistently distinguished outstanding companies. They also provide inspiration to all executives and entrepreneurs by destroying the false but widely accepted idea that only charismatic visionary leaders can build visionary companies. Filled with hundreds of specific examples and organized into a coherent framework of practical concepts that can be applied by managers and entrepreneurs at all levels, Built to Last provides a master blueprint for building organizations that will prosper long into the twenty-first century and beyond

Poor Economics : Rethinking Poverty & The Ways To End It

Imagine you have a few billion dollars and want to spend it on the poor. How do you go about it? Billions of government dollars and thousands of charitable organizations and NGOs, are dedicated to helping the world's poor. But much of their work is based on assumptions about the poor and the world that are untested generalizations at best, harmful misperceptions at worst. Abhijit V. Banerjee and Esther Duflo have pioneered the use of randomized control trials (RCTs) in development economics through their award-winning Poverty Action Lab. They argue that by using RCTs and more generally, by paying careful attention to the evidence, it is possible to make accurate and often startling assessments on what really impacts the poor and what doesn't. Revelatory and impassioned, Poor Economics is a pathbreaking book that will help you to understand the real causes of poverty and how to end it.

Rework : Change The Way You Work Forever

From the founders of the trailblazing software company 37signals, here is a different kind of business book - one that explores a new reality. Today, anyone can be in business. Tools that used to be out of reach are now easily accessible. Technology that cost thousands is now just a few pounds or even free. Stuff that was impossible just a few years ago is now simple. That means anyone can start a business. And you can do it without working miserable 80-hour weeks or depleting your life savings. You can start it on the side while your day job provides all the cash flow you need. Forget about business plans, meetings, office space - you don't need them.With its straightforward language and easy-is-better approach, Rework is the perfect playbook for anyone who's ever dreamed of doing it on their own. Hardcore entrepreneurs, small-business owners, people stuck in day jobs who want to get out, and artists who don't want to starve anymore will all find valuable inspiration and guidance in these pages.

High Output Management

The essential skill of creating and maintaining new businesses???the art of the entrepreneur???can be summed up in a single word: managing. Born of Grove???s experiences at one of America???s leading technology companies, High Output Management is equally appropriate for sales managers, accountants, consultants, and teachers, as well as CEOs and startup founders. Grove covers techniques for creating highly productive teams, demonstrating methods of motivation that lead to peak performance???throughout, High Output Management is a practical handbook for navigating real-life business scenarios and a powerful management manifesto with the ability to revolutionize the way we work.

Jugaad Innovation : A Frugal And Flexible Approach To Innovation For The 21st Century

Jugaad is a word often heard in general conversation in India. Whether to find ingenious solutions to problems or turn adversity into opportunity Indians swear by it. In this seminal book, Navi Radjou, Jaideep Prabhu and Simone Ahuja challenge the very way a traditional organization thinks and acts. Leading companies such as Facebook, Future Group, GE, Google, PepsiCo, Philips, Renault-Nissan, Siemens, Suzlon, Tata Group and Yes Bank, among others, are already practising jugaad to generate original ideas and pioneer growth. In the midst of rising global competition and swelling R & D budgets, Jugaad Innovation presents ways to innovate, be flexible and do more with less. Peppered with examples of innovative entrepreneurs in emerging markets such as Africa, India, China and Brazil, Jugaad Innovation illuminates paths to engender breakthrough growth in a complex and resource-scarce world.

India 2020 : A Vision For The New Millennium

In this ground-breaking vision document, first published in 1998, Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and Y.S. Rajan offer a blueprint for India to be counted among the world's top five economic powers by the year 2020. They cite growth rates and development trends to show that the goal is not unrealistic. Past successes - the green revolution and satellite-based communication linking remote regions of the country, for instance bear them out. The same sense of purpose can make us a prosperous, strong nation in a matter of years, assert Kalam and Rajan. This is a book that every citizen who hopes for a better India must read.

Target 3 Billion - Pura : Innovative Solutions Towards Sustainable Development

Target 3 Billion: Innovative Solutions Towards Sustainable Development talks about the 3 billion people across the globe who live in villages and are often deprived of basic resources. The authors explain how the global model of development has failed to eradicate poverty. India's 750 million people living in villages constitutes the world's largest rural population. Target 3 Billion: Innovative Solutions Towards Sustainable Development integrates the challenges and opportunities of the present human civilization. It elaborates on providing Urban Amenities in Rural Areas (PURA), a sustainable and environment friendly system that will uplift the rural masses. Instead of relying on government subsidies, Dr. Kalam says that entrepreneurship with community participation can empower villagers. PURA is a blend of people, technology, entrepreneurial spirit, traditions and skills. Readers will come across many examples throughout the book which demonstrate how PURA can change the lives of millions. Some of these include Seed Club at Chitrakoot Pura and Warana Cooperative Sugar Factory

Beyond 2020

India 2020 is about to become a reality. Are we ready? As Dr Kalam and Y.S. Rajan had contended in their landmark vision document, India 2020, India has steadily moved towards becoming one of the top five economic powers in the twentyfirst century. India s growth story has seen new opportunities and emerging technologies that make faster and more inclusive growth viable. In Beyond 2020, Kalam and Rajan argue that a renewed policy focus is now needed for agriculture, manufacturing, mining, the chemicals industry, healthcare and infrastructure to invigorate these sectors and boost economic growth. India can still make it to the list of developed nations in a decade. This timely book provides an action plan for that transformation.

Misbehaving : The Making of Behavioural Economics

Why are we more likely to forgo the opportunity to sell a ??100 bottle of wine rather than actually taking money out our wallet to pay for it, when ultimately the 'opportunity cost' of doing so is the same? Why would the 'endowment effect' mean that we value a free ticket worth hundreds of pounds more than the money we would get from selling it? In this new, ambitious work, Thaler presents his findings in behavioural economics and breaks down the biases and irrational tendancies in our thinking, showing us how to avoid making costly mistakes in life.

The World Is Flat : The Globalized World in The Twenty-First Century

The beginning of the twenty-first century will be remembered, Friedman argues, not for military conflicts or political events, but for a whole new age of globalization ??? a ???flattening??? of the world. The explosion of advanced technologies now means that suddenly knowledge pools and resources have connected all over the planet, levelling the playing field as never before, so that each of us is potentially an equal ??? and competitor ??? of the other. The rules of the game have changed forever ??? but does this ???death of distance???, which requires us all to run faster in order to stay in the same place, mean the world has got too small and too flat too fast for us to adjust? Friedman brilliantly demystifies the exciting, often bewildering, global scene unfolding before our eyes, one which we sense but barely yet understand. The World is Flat is the most timely and essential update on globalization, its successes and its discontents, powerfully illuminated by a world-class writer.In his new chapters: 'If It's Not Happening, It's Because You're Not Doing It' and 'What Happens When We All Have Dog's Hearing?' the author explores both the benefits and disadvantages of the very latest developments in global communication. The emergent popularity of blogging, pod-casting, YouTube and MySpace enable the modern world citizen to broadcast their views to a potential audience of billions, and the proliferation of Internet access to even the poorest communities gives everyone who wants to the tools to address issues of social injustice and inequality. On the other hand the technology that seems to improve communication on a global scale causes it to deteriorate on a local scale. Identifying ours as 'The Age of Interruption', Friedman discusses the annoyance and dangers of BlackBerrys in meeting rooms, hands-free kits in conversation and using a phone or iPod whilst driving. In an age when we are always 'connected' via email or mobile phone how can we hope to concentrate on one thing without interruption? As expected the author has revitalised this new edition of The World Is Flat with timely insights into the nature of our flat world.

Hot, Flat And Crowded : Why The World Needs A Green Revolution - And How We Can Renew Our Global Fut

Thomas Friedman's phenomenal The World is Flat helped millions of people see globalization in a new way. Now he takes a fresh, provocative look at the biggest challenge facing us today - our hot, flat and crowded world. Climate change and rapid population growth mean that it's no longer possible for businesses, or the rest of us, to keep doing things the same old way. Things are going to have to change - and fast. Here Friedman provides a bold strategy for clean fuel, energy efficiency and conservation that he calls 'Code Green'. It will change everything, from what we put into our cars and see on our electricity bills to how we live our lives. Hot, Flat and Crowded is fearless, forward-looking and rich in common sense about the challenge - and the promise - of the future.

A Better India A Better World

What will it take for India to bridge this great divide? When will the fruits of development reach the poorest of the poor, and wipe the tears from the eyes of every man, woman and child, as Mahatma Gandhi had dreamt? And how should this, our greatest challenge ever, be negotiated? In this honest, bold and remarkably well-argued book, N.R. Narayana Murthy, who shows us that a society working for the greatest welfare of the greatest number samasta jananam sukhino bhavantu must focus on two simple things: values and good leadership. Drawing on the remarkable Infosys story and the lessons learnt from the two decades of post-reform India, Narayana Murthy lays down the ground rules that must be followed if future generations are to inherit a truly progressive nation.

Super Economies : America, India, China And The Future Of The World

Our times are characterized not by estranged Superpowers building formidable arsenals but by engaged societies building a robust global economy. Emerging countries are redefining the geo-economic (and geopolitical) dynamic. The twenty-first century will be led, says Raghav Bahl, by a handful of Super Economies???large, prosperous countries with a high growth rate, ranking among the world???s top trading partners, commanding 15 to 20 per cent of global GDP, having nuclear arms but using economic leadership to effect significant change. With its demographic advantage, a surplus of skilled labour, a potentially rising GDP, a strategic geographic location and a new, decisive political leadership, India has every chance of becoming the third Super Economy after the USA and China. Drawing on history, current affairs and political and economic analyses, Super Economies projects how India can soon become a world leader and help secure a future of peace and prosperity for all.

The Elephant Paradigm : India Wrestles With Change

The Elephant Paradigm: India Wrestles with Change is, quite simply, about an ancient civilization's reawakening to the spirit and potential of its youth. Following up on the success of India Unbound, which took up the process of India s transformation in the 1990s from a closed to an open economy, The Elephant Paradigm ranges over a vast area covering subjects as varied as panchayati raj, national competitiveness, and the sacred and philosophical concerns of the average Indian consequent to India's entry into what the author calls the age of liberation. While India may never roar ahead like the Asian tigers, Das argues, it will advance like a wise elephant, moving steadily and surely, pausing occasionally to reflect on its past and to enjoy the journey.

Freakonomics

Cult bestseller, new buzz word... Freakonomics is at the heart of everything we see and do and the subjects that bedevil us daily: from parenting to crime, sport to politics, fat to cheating, fear to traffic jams. Asking provocative and profound questions about human motivation and contemporary living and reaching some astonishing conclusions, Freakonomics will make you see the familiar world through a completely original lens.

The Success Sutra : An Indian Approach To Wealth

Most human beings hunger after riches and success. There are any number of management books which provide theories and techniques on how to become rich and successful. All of them advise us to chase Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, in order to make her our own. But the Indian approach to prosperity and fulfilment warns against the relentless pursuit of the goddess, writes noted thinker and mythologist Devdutt Pattanaik, as it will result in conflict. Rather, we have to give in order to get, we have to satisfy the hunger of others in order to satisfy our own. If we learn and practise this fundamental truth, Lakshmi will enter our homes and our lives.

Capital (Das Kapital) Includes Volume 1, 2, 3

???Money is the alienated essence of man???s labour and life; and this alien essence dominates him as he worships it.??? From the concepts of commodities and money, surplus-value of labour, the accumulation of capital, and its process of circulation, to the conversion of surplus value into profit and transformation of surplus-profit into ground rent, Karl Marx???s Capital presents his theory of the capitalist system. Regarded as a significant work of the modern economic thought, this magnum opus is a comprehensive critique on the political economy. This edition contains all the three volumes of the Capital. Out of the three, only the first volume was published by Marx during his lifetime. The remaining two were prepared by Friedrich Engels using Marx???s notes.

The 4-Hour Work Week : Escape The 9-5, Live Anywhere And Join The New Rich

Forget the old concept of retirement and the rest of the deferred-life plan - there is no need to wait and every reason not to, especially in unpredictable economic times. Whether your dream is escaping the rat race, experiencing high-end world travel, earning a monthly five-figure income with zero management, or just living more and working less, this book is the blueprint.

My Years With General Motors

My Years with General Motors is a modern classic for those who love management books. After it was published the book went on to become an immediate success and made its way to The New York Times bestseller list. This book is written by Alfred Sloan and editions in Portuguese and Polish are also available. During his fifty years in General Motors, Sloan achieved some of the most impossible triumphs. Alfred Sloan took over the company in the first half of 1920's when it was experiencing a great downturn. Till he took over, the company was going through heavy losses but within the next decade the tables turned drastically, with General Motors soaring high with profits.The book is divided into two parts. The first part is about the consistent progress of the GM including the development and origin of the company. The first part describes the steady growth of the company and its relevance and impact on the automobile industry. The second part describes the details of the different segments like distribution, engineering, overseas operations, defense products and the war. Through the years since its release in 1964 the book has been providing insight on the perfected levels of management and leadership experience by an industrial stalwart, Alfred Sloan.