No comments about Colonel Albert Pope and His American Dream Machines: The Life and Times of a Bicycle Tycoon Turned Automotive Pioneer.

No comments about The Legend of Noble Drilling.

5 comments about The World According to Peter Drucker.

1. Peter Drucker's philosophies and theories have shaped management all over the world. Drucker is highly respected. He has always taught that people are an organization's most important resource. In 1954, Drucker virtually invented 'management.' Although, of course, management existed before, nobody had ever treated it as a distinct field.

   Jack Beatty's book about Peter Drucker is not just another biography. Beatty criticizes Drucker in some areas and extols his virtues in others. The book is sometimes entertaining and consistently well written. Enough of Drucker's ideas are included to make you want to read his books. Most of the book summarizes Drucker's work chronologically. Company leaders who want their top people to learn about management should make this required reading. We [...] recommend this book to managers in all industries.




2. This book gives you glimpses of the influence Drucker has had on society. But, unless you are looking for a biography, I do not recommend this book. It is dry and tedious to read.



3. I enjoyed some aspects of this book, especially the concise biography of Drucker at the start, but found it a bit dull overall. The author takes a good look at all Drucker's work, the developments in his thinking over his long and productive life, even his writing style, but it is all done in a rather dry, humourless, academic manner. It is clear that Drucker is a great thinker on management and society, but it doesn't always come across like that when reading the passages from his books that are quoted. I think the way the passages are quoted, in boxes separate from the main body of text, serves to decontextualize them, making some of them appear rather shallow and commonplace.

   Having said this, The World According to Peter Drucker is still a worthy introduction to/critique of Drucker's writings and worth reading. It is largely concise and to the point, which helps given that it is not all that exciting.




4. In this superb, slim 186-page volume, the author manages to capture the quintessence of Drucker's life-work on management. Drucker's neo-Weberian sociology, the search for the moral basis of capitalism, the influence of Schumpeter (the renegade Austrian economist), the roles of European intellectual currents, his spiritual underpinnings in Kierkegaard, and the social context of Drucker's thought and development--all are ably portrayed here, in all the richness of their context. Penetrating, insightful and never blinded by adulation, the book is also extremely well written. I read a chapter a night and was done inside a week. There are only 2 blemishes. First, he is a bit skimpy on some biographical details (*when* was Drucker born, for example?). Secondly, what in the world does "elide" mean? Here's the sentence: "...Drucker's bold reinvention of government...elides the cardinal difference between government and business...--democratic accountability." You can't even infer the meaning of this strange word from its context. Before I was even finished, I was able to use information in this book to choose (and purchase) 3 other Drucker classics. And excellent, valuable read--don't miss it.



5. When I first read Peter Drucker in 1982 I was bored to tears
   by a pompous man telling us the pol correct. Unfortunately,
   those who teach business are not those good at practicing
   it. In fact, many of them loathe it and seek revenge for
   their own unemployability. Recently, with the advent of
   differential pay, we have faculty who don't even care, but
   who switched form teaching operations in engineering, psychology or economics in liberal arts or even
   biostatistics. This is why you don't see Drucker
   (who proclaimed Japanese "participative" management
   before it came into fashion - MacArthur deliberately
   forced socialism on Japan to de-fascistify it) apologising
   for the failures in Japan today. No, now they tell us
   to emulate communist China, or the "knowledge" feudalism
   of the university. Wait, didn't the university-style
   environment they promote cause Arthur Andersen and KPMG
   so much trouble? Did they ever tell you that large USA
   made cars weren't the problem in the 1970s, but that gas
   prices made consumers buy smaller USA-name cars made
   with defective Asian parts and yet somehow the peaceniks
   who rebelled and bought "pacifist" Japanese cars turned
   this into something else. Also, as USA education was deteriorating, our mechanics weren't telling us the
   reason they preferred foreign cars was because they had
   no clue how to upkeep the computerised USA carborateurs.
   Now, as customer service has returned to 1970s levels,
   did anyone mention it was caused by the inflationary
   environment, and the excellent customer service of
   the 1980-90 era was due to low inflation, as inflation is intimately involved with mass paranoia and irrationality?

2 comments about Life and Death of an Oilman: The Career of E.W. Marland.

1. This book is an easy read. There are really two stories told: Marland's biography, and also, an history of early economic development in the northern part of the young state of Oklahoma. In a few chapters you will read about geology, Native American tribes, seizure of Indian lands in the "Cherokee Strip", early oilmen, New York bankers, the roaring 1920's and the Great Depression. They all influenced Marland's career as an oilman. The author's (often acerbic) opinions about persons and events are freely given throughout his book.



2. I should have read the title better...."Life and Death of An Oilman: The CAREER of E.W. Marland". (capital letters mine). This was mainly 90% about the business life of Marland, whereas a true life story would have been VERY interesting. How he married his step daughter and lived in that wonderful mansion, but very little is said about any of that. Hence, I skipped through the book and read hardly any of it. Glad I bought it used.

No comments about What Makes Dan Bollom So Tall?: A Memoir Of Life Experiences And Advice From A Retired CEO.

No comments about Entrepreneur to Investor the Hard Way.

4 comments about Henry Ford: A Hearthside Perspective.

1. I have just read a facinating book on Henry Ford. What makes this book unique is it's unusual social context, interpretative history, and experiential presentation. As Americans we have a picture of Henry Ford, his industrial accomplishments and short comings; however we have never been taught his social commitment to working people, his fellow workers, and communities.

   This book allows you to visualize a camping trip with Henry Ford, an ardent conservation and preservationist, John Burroughs, America's esteemed naturalist, Harvey Firestone, a rubber industry magnate, and Thomas Alva Edison, America's true genius inventor. A social time-line technique is used which allows the reader the opportunity to easily follow such events as Ford's committment to education from industrial trade schools to Tuskegee Institute.

   A unique facination of this work for this author-publisher was the perfect placement of text and corresponding photos. This layout allows for maximum visualization of the content. A family can read this work together and then choose to experience the working powerhouse on site at the Henry Ford Estate---Fair Lane, or visit the Upper Peninsula site of the Pequaming Mill and school on the shores of Lake Superior, or enjoy the Grand Ole Opry that Henry Ford helped establish.

   This is experiential learning at its best. A blueprint to interpretive history of many unknown facts and stories and musical verse about Henry Ford. Once you read this work, you will want to share your experience with many others. Awards and recognition for creative style and historical context will be forth coming!

   Karl W. Grube, Ph.D., Author-Publisher of gamesbygrube.com - Ann Arbor, Michigan




2. Wirling masterfully writes of a historic man whose life affected each of ours. Utilizing one of Ford's favorite places, the hearth, Wirling spins this industrialist's story around song and story recreating history in a simple, yet profound way.

   Ford is ever the energetic industrialist, yet his agriarian roots constantly play out. Wirling's style of writing this book fits so well this orientation of Mr. Ford. Delightful read which displays the many interests of this man who was so prominent in many disciplines besides the auto sector that so prominently bears his influence. Delightful work.




3. Donn Werling's book presents a different view of Henry Ford. This book presumes a working knowledge of Henry Ford and all of what he was about. It is a "thinking man's" perspective approach. Mr. Werling is the director of the Henry Ford Estate and takes his approach to Henry Ford as not just a job, but as a truly interested person. It is well worth the investment of your money in buying the book and of your time in reading it.
   Rich Jonas-Schererville, IN



4. Donn Werling writes about little-known aspects of Ford's life, especially his home life, so for "Fordophiles" the book is interesting. But it assumes a lot of knowledge about Ford, and often does not explain rather obscure references. The writing is inconsistent, sometimes rambling. If you are looking for a basic history of Ford's life, this is not the book for you. If you are an enthusiast who wants to know more interesting factoids, and are willing to wade through to find them, then get this book.

1 comments about Building a Global Success: The Story of Samih Darwazah and the Rise of Hikma.

1. Written by the founder and chairman of Hikma Group, a billion-dollar multinational pharmaceutical company, Building A Global Success is the true story of how one man combined centuries of Middle Eastern wisdom with American values and know-how to build a successful business - one that put people first, respected employees, emphasized research and invention, encouraged education, and invested in America. Building A Global Success is about the power and enlightened self-interest of positive values rather than the greed, ruthlessness, hypocrisy, and poor quality that have spelled out financial as well as moral ruin of so many other businesses. Offering valuable lessons to businesses and corporations of all sizes, Building A Global Success is a positive-minded, true testimony of how business practices and ethics can be combined for greater success on all levels.

No comments about Opportunity Dubai: How I Made a Fortune in the Middle East.

2 comments about Out on the Deep Blue: Women, Men, and the Oceans They Fish.

1. Reading this book, I felt right on the water--pitching and rolling with the waves. The first essay by Marie Beaver brings the reader directly into the essence of what it means to work in a natural environment and to make choices about one's life. Thank you to Fields for collecting a reminder of a natural world and an occupation now in decline.



2. This book is a collection of storys of commercial fishing from fishing in the bering sea or around alaska sea urchin fishing in the atlantic also fishing in louisana.Some are well known authors for those familar with commercial fishing and books that i would definitely recommend if you like this book.Such as linda greenlaws book "The hungry ocean" spike walkers book "working on the edge working in alaskas most dangerous profession" an excellent book .This book cover some womens roles in fishing as in fishing for crabs in the bering sea some tough women. I would also recommend any book by william mccloskey whether it be fiction or non fiction