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

Buyology : How Everything We Believe About Why We Buy Is Wrong

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.

Rokda : How Baniyas Do Business

Baniya - a derivative of the Sanskrit word Vanij, is a term synonymous with India's trader class. Over the decades, these capitalists spread their footprint across vast sectors of the economy from steel and mining to telecom and retail. And now even e-tail. Nikhil Inamdar's Rokda features the stories of a few pioneering men from this mercantile community - Radheshyam Agarwal and Radheshyam Goenka, founders of the cosmetic major Emami, Rohit Bansal, co-founder of Snapdeal, Neeraj Gupta, founder of Meru Cabs and V.K. Bansal, a humble mathematics tutor whose genius spawned a massive coaching industry in Kota - amongst others. Through the triumphs and tribulations of these men in the epoch marking India's entire post independence struggle with entrepreneurship from the License Raj to the opening up of the floodgates in 1991 and the dawn of the digital era - Rokda seeks to uncover the indomitable spirit of the Baniya.

Leading From The Top : Directors Who Make The Difference

Although corporations have been around for well over half a millennium, Corporate Governance as a distinctive field of study and specialization is of relatively recent origin. With corporate footprints escalating across industry and service sectors over different geographies around the world, governing the corporation has become an increasingly complex exercise. Professor Balasubramanian explains the three pillars of governance???the shareholders, the board and the executive management including the dynamics of managing board effectiveness???through real life case studies and interactive examples. The author aims to encourage dialogue about leading corporations in an ethical and sustainable manner. In the wake of corporations like Satyam, Sahara, Sardha, SKS Microfinance, and National Spot Exchange making headlines for all the wrong reasons???Leading from the Top becomes essential reading for aspiring directors, budding professions, and the conscientious citizens.

How The Mighty Fall : And Why Some Companies Never Give In

Amidst the desolate landscape of fallen great companies, Jim Collins began to wonder: How do the mighty fall? Can decline be detected early and avoided? How far can a company fall before the path toward doom becomes inevitable and unshakable? How can companies reverse course? In How the Mighty Fall, Collins confronts these questions, offering leaders the well-founded hope that they can learn how to stave off decline and, if they find themselves falling, reverse their course. Collins' research project-more than four years in duration-uncovered five step-wise stages of decline:

IIMA - Strategies for the Future : Understanding International Business

Have you wondered why international business seems magically simple in text books but inescapably complex in reality? With international business pushing horizons, cross border activity is rampant and national boundaries are getting blurred. Economies have opened their doors and globalization is the watchword of the hour. Strategies for the Future explores the opportunities of a mingling world with remarkably discerning anecdotes and hands you the tools to master international trade. Professor Ajeet N. Mathur helps you formulate assumptions and make decisions under uncertainty in response to differences in business environments, national competitiveness, and regional and global strategies of other business players. As part of a competitive global village, this book is indispensable for any manager or entrepreneur bounding forward in the promising world of international business.

IIMA - How to Make the Right Decision

Business analytics, the method by which data around a business is analysed to better determine the choices we make, is your answer. In this accessible, user-friendly book, Professor Arnab Laha explains the relevance of this growing field in business and looks at its uses in marketing, finance, operations and HR. He also devotes a special section to setting up business analytics for your workplace. With examples and case studies, How to Make the Right Decision is the most useful book you can buy for yourself and your business.

Great By Choice

Ten years after the worldwide bestseller Good to Great, Jim Collins returns with another groundbreaking work, this time to ask: Why do some companies thrive in uncertainty, even chaos, and others do not? Based on nine years of research, buttressed by rigorous analysis and infused with engaging stories, Collins and his colleague, Morten Hansen, enumerate the principles for building a truly great enterprise in unpredictable, tumultuous, and fast-moving times.

Day To Day Economics

Economics and its applications are everywhere around us; however it is not easy for a layman to understand the complex theories and concepts of this subject. To ensure that the subject of Economics can be understood by common people, Satish Y. Deodhar has written this book, 'IIMA - Day to Day Economics???. This book explains the most difficult Economics terms in a simple and easy to understand language. This book explains the role of the Government and the various policies that affect daily economic activities. This book is published by Random House India publications in 2016. The main focus of the book is to showcase the various features of Economics using simple terms which will come to the aid of readers of all proficiency levels. It starts with the various economic institutions and the work that they do. Plus, it emphasizes on the different functions carried out by the government along with the significance of private sectors. The author then stresses on the needs of having a clear demarcation on the various functions carried out by every institution and having roles for each sector. The next chapter is focused on government budgets and deficits and its effects on the common man. The book describes the complete procedure of creating the budget and how various aspects of budget are calculated. The third chapter is based on the stock markets and banks; giving details of its fluctuations and how it affects the economy. The topic of free trade is addressed in the fourth chapter while the fifth chapter addresses the concept of inflation and the sixth chapter talks about various factors that affect an economy???s growth and recession.

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.

India's Economic Policy

A lucid and brilliantly argued book on India's recent economic reforms. Nearly fifty years after Independence, India remains a very poor country. It ranks near the bottom in terms of per capita income, and is similarly placed in the Human Development Index which measures social well-being. Economic growth in India has been less than half that of China or even other countries in Asia. And governments, at the Centre as well as in the states, are close to insolvency. The reason for our spectacular underachievement lies in the continuation of policies which had a certain validity as a response to the colonial experience, but which have long outlived their usefulness. The global economic scene has changed dramatically since they were formulated, and we must respond to the new realities. Bimal Jalan, the well-known economist and former governor of the RBI, in this lucid and well-argued book, makes a case for governments doing what they alone can best do, and less of what they cannot do effectively.

Business Mantras

Why are some people more successfull than others? What drives super achievers? How is their thinking radically diffrent? What does vision mean and how important are values? These are some of the issues covered in this punchy collection of business wisdom from the finest minds in industry and management. Including here are G.D. Birla, J.R.D. Tata, Azim Premji, N.R. Narayana Murthy, V. Kurien, Sumantra Ghoshal et al. Their perceptive observations on management skills, growth and motivation are of special relevance in the context of a globalizing economy and make this collection, carefully edited by leading business athor Gita Piramal, a one-stop guide to business success.

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.

Rebooting India : Realizing a Billion Aspirations

India is sitting on a demographic dividend, expected to become the world???s youngest country by 2020, with 64 per cent of its population, roughly 800 million people, of working age. But our country cannot become a global powerhouse unless we resolve the contradictions and bridge the gaps that distort our society. According to Nandan Nilekani and Viral Shah, the only way to do this is by using technology to radically reimagine government itself. Rebooting India identifies a dozen initiatives where a series of citizen-friendly, high-tech public institutions can deliver low-cost solutions to India???s grand challenges. Based on the learnings from building Aadhaar, the proposed initiatives would save the government a minimum of Rs 1,00,000 crore annually, about 1 per cent of India???s GDP. These visionary, cutting-edge ideas, the authors hope, will enable each one of India???s 1.2 billion citizens to realize their aspirations.

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.

When To Rob A Bank

Over the past decade, Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner have published more than 8,000 blog posts on Freakonomics.com. Now the very best of this writing has been carefully curated into one volume, the perfect solution for the millions of readers who love all things Freakonomics. Discover why taller people tend to make more money; why it's so hard to predict the Kentucky Derby winner; and why it might be time for a sex tax (if not a fat tax). You'll also learn a great deal about Levitt and Dubner's own quirks and passions. Surprising and erudite, eloquent and witty, Freaks and Friends demonstrates the brilliance that has made their books an international sensation.