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Business and Personal FinanceOctober 2014
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"Success can be achieved only through repeated failure and introspection. In fact, success represents one percent of your work, which results only from the ninety-nine percent that is called failure." ~ Soichiro Honda (1906-1991), founder of Honda
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New and Recently Released!
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| Dream Year: Make the Leap from a Job You Hate to a Life You Love by Ben ArmentIs there something you really want to accomplish -- and would, if it weren't for all the time you spend at a job you don't enjoy? If so, Ben Arment, head of the Dream Year coaching organization, wants to help get you started on making your dream a reality. Outlining a one-year process for enabling radical changes (in both personal and professional arenas), he offers practical steps for identifying, financing, and executing your dream projects. Encouraging and inspirational, Dream Year will also help you deal with fears of failure. |
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| Factory Man: How One Furniture Maker Battled Offshoring, Stayed Local... by Beth MacyIn the mid-1990s, Chinese companies began flooding American markets with their own, cheaper goods. In response, American corporations shifted jobs overseas to rein in spending on employees and increase profitability. Furniture making was one of the hardest-hit industries, but John Bassett III of Vaughan-Bassett Furniture refused to bow to pressure, fighting to keep his employees through increased efficiency and legal maneuvers on a national level; he even traveled to China to expose price-fixing practices there. It's a fascinating story, as Factory Man shows the effects of globalization at a local level. |
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| The Intel Trinity: How Robert Noyce, Gordon Moore, and Andy Grove Built... by Michael S. MaloneFocusing on the lives of Intel's three most important figures and based on full access to the corporation's archives, The Intel Trinity is a well-researched history of the innovative tech company that created the microprocessor. It also shares the stories of lesser-known individuals associated with Intel's success. Whether you're interested in a readable history of computing or a story of successful entrepreneurs, this "richly detailed, swiftly moving work of modern business history" (Kirkus Reviews) is a good bet; for a more in-depth analysis of the company, try Tom Jackson's Inside Intel. |
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| Driving Honda: Inside the World's Most Innovative Car Company by Jeffrey RothfederCentered around Honda's second U.S. manufacturing plant, in Lincoln, Alabama, this company profile discusses both Honda's manufacturing philosophy and its management techniques. Considered both innovative and successful -- Honda has never posted a loss -- the company is structured quite differently than other car companies (including fellow Japanese firm Toyota); fans of the auto manufacturer will enjoy this insightful look into their practices, as will readers interested in manufacturing in general. |
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| Powers of Two: Finding the Essence of Innovation in Creative Pairs by Joshua Wolf ShenkLennon and McCartney. Watson and Crick. The Coen brothers. If you think about it, there have been a lot of successful duos over the years, in industries as far afield as technology (Jobs and Wozniak) and animation (the creators of South Park). And there have been a lot of productive rivalries, too (Jobs and Gates, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird). In either case, having a critical peer strengthens both sides of the duo. In this unusual book, author Joshua Shenk looks at how such creative partnerships (and rivalries) are formed, how they work, and why they end. Not strictly for business folks, Powers of Two is a great read for those interested in creativity and innovation in any field. |
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| The 24-Hour Customer: New Rules for Winning in a Time-Starved... by Adrian C. OttArguing that the saying "time is money" needs to be updated -- for many, time is now more valuable than money -- author Adrian Ott believes that companies that haven't updated their services, goods, and marketing strategies to follow suit are in trouble. Ott explains how to use current technologies to navigate competitive markets, attract consumer attention, and snag a bigger market share. Along the way she shares case stories from businesses like Digital Chocolate and Amazon, and clearly lays out pertinent information in "Two-Minute Takeaways" and sidebars. |
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| Confessions of an Eco-Sinner: Tracking Down the Sources of My Stuff by Fred PearceAs in Kelsey Timmerman's Where Am I Wearing?, author Fred Pearce personalizes globalization by examining the sources of several different items in his life. This search for the origins of his coffee, his wedding band, and his phone's components uncovers the hidden worlds that sustain Western consumption -- and how that consumption has, in sometimes complex ways, changed the societies that support it. For every Uzbek field destroyed by ruinous cotton-growing, there's a woman empowered by her work in an unregulated Chinese sweatshop. Mixing grim realities with optimism for the future, this engaging book considers the consequences of consumption. |
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| Shiny Objects: Why We Spend Money We Don't Have in Search of Happiness... by James A. RobertsWe all know that money can't buy happiness -- so why do we keep trying? In Shiny Objects, marketing professor James Roberts attempts to answer that question, bolstered by plenty of scientific research, including studies that show that materialism correlates negatively with well-being. In addition, he offers a history of American consumerism, noting a trend away from frugality and towards spending in an economy that depends upon it. In examining the psychology and economics of overspending, he also offers readers a chance to analyze their own spending habits. |
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| The Consuming Instinct: What Juicy Burgers, Ferraris, Pornography, and... by Gad SaadUsing humor and personal stories, evolutionary psychologist Gad Saad argues that companies would do better to cater their goods and services to the biological instincts of their customers -- and that consumer behavior is biologically inherited. Mapped to four Darwinian drives (survival, reproduction, kin selection, and reciprocal altruism), these instincts also explain the popularity of McDonalds, pornography, and boy bands, among other products. Jumping from pop culture references to academic studies, this is a thought-provoking book that should appeal to fans of Geoffrey Miller's Spent. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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512-218-5400, 221 E. Main Street Round Rock, Texas 78664
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