I, Steve – Steve Jobs In His Own Words by George Beahm
Steve Jobs, the co-founder and longtime CEO of Apple, Inc., died on 5 October 2011, bringing to an end one of the greatest, most transformative business careers in history. Over the years Jobs gave countless interviews to the media, explaining what he called ‘the vision thing’-his unmatched ability to envision, and successfully bring to the marketplace, consumer products that people find simply irresistible. Drawn from more than three decades of media coverage-print, electronic and online-this book serves up the best, most thought-provoking insights spoken by Steve Jobs: more than two hundred quotations that are essential reading for everyone who seeks innovative inspiration from the legend himself.
Drawing from sources as diverse as the Mahabharata and the Bible, the Vikram-Betal stories, the Iliad and the Odyssey, Islamic tenets, the tales of rishis and kings, and fables from around the world, Devdutt Pattanaik, India’s leading mythologist, provides a fascinating account of what leadership entails. How to choose the right leader, effectively communicate with a boss, maintain the right balance between discipline and leniency? In these and other workplace situations, Pattanaik shows what leaders of today can learn about the art of leadership from stories written thousands of years ago, things no management course can teach.
Billionaire Boy-Mark Zuckerberg In His Own Words by George Editor Beahm
The third in a bestselling series of inspiring quotes from business leaders The Mark Zuckerburg most people know is the one depicted in Academy Award-winning film The Social Network: a nerdy, insecure, and socially awkward young man – hardly the image of a top-flight CEO in command of one of the world’s largest and most successful companies. Achieving the growth of Facebook as fast as Zuckerburg has is no mean feat, especially when you consider that he had never raised a dollar from investors, nor managed a single employee before. At the helm of Facebook, Zuckerburg not only has to run fast to maintain the company’s high-profile success but also needs to fight to stay ahead of some of the richest, most talented, and most aggressive companies in the world. In this collection of quotations taken from interviews, presentations, media announcements, and more, we see a new breed of business leaders with a new way of thinking about business and success in a constantly changing world.
Start-up City by By Moloy Kumar and others Bannerjee | By Moloy Kumar Bannerjee | By P Ranganath Sastray | By Siddharth Bannerjee
Start-up City is an ode to this new idea of enterprise and to a world where everyday people are making modern business history. There is Bharat Goenka, whose father pushed him to develop user-friendly accounting software that has captured more than 80 percent of the market; B.V. Venkatesh, who started his own venture at the ripe age of fifty-eight; Ravi Rangan, who made kiosks a medium of governance to empower the common man; and many more who started out on empty pockets but built companies that are worth crores today. These tales of struggle and success hold lessons too. Policymakers can spot and correct the factors that deter new ventures, while budding entrepreneurs will find ways, means, and the inspiration to strike out on their own. Most of all, though, they are a testament to where grit, determination, and single-minded focus can get you in life.
Become by Sameer Dua
Become is an invitation to you to choose a powerful ‘posture’ in your leadership and life. You don’t ‘become’ by knowing more, you ‘become’ by shifting your practices, and in the case of leadership, by shifting and creating new conversational practices. This is why this book is not about understanding new concepts, but about learning new practices to shift ‘who you be’, moment to moment. The promise of this book is to provide, in simple words, the fundamentals of critical leadership coaching conversations to enable leaders to generate sustainable, extraordinary results.
If yes, you need to ‘dismantle’. In real life, human brains are wired to think in straight lines, suppressing their creative instincts from their childhood. There’s no school that will encourage dismantling or deconstructing their linear thinking. As a result, we are producing economists who cannot predict a financial crisis, doctors who lack clinical empathy, managers who lack people skills and CEOs who can’t look beyond the balance sheet. To generate one idea, you need creative thinking. To generate many fresh ideas, you need a new system for creative thinking. Dismantle breaks your conventional thinking, deconstructs your mind and helps build your personal creativity machine.
In this provocative book, renowned economist Meghnad Desai investigates the evolution of economics and maps its trajectory against the occurrence of major political events to provide a definitive answer. Desai underscores the contribution of hubris to economists’ calamitous lack of foresight, and he makes a persuasive case for the profession to re-engage with the history of economic thought. He dismisses the notion that one over-arching paradigm can resolve all economic eventualities while urging that an array of already-available theories and approaches be considered anew for the insights they may provide toward preventing future economic catastrophes. With an accessible style and keen common sense, Desai offers a fresh perspective on some of the most important economic issues of our time.
Angel Investing by Sanjay Kulkarni
Using his rich experience as an investor and mentor to numerous start-ups, Sanjay Kulkarni provides you a ringside view of this world. In an accessible, jargon- free approach and illustrated with insider stories, the book arms you with all the tools and strategies needed to become a successful angel investor. Like a good guide, this book will help you in navigating the start-up eco-system, avoiding common pitfalls, investing smartly and identifying the next billion-dollar start-up. Look back twenty-five years, Flipkart, Ola, InMobi, weren’t even born. A whole new wave of start-ups is set to define the next twenty-five years.
Sometime in 2015, news of unsustainable bad debts (non-performing assets or NPAs) in the Indian banking sector started to first trickle out, and then became a flood. In the forefront were some of India’s largest government banks, and a series of tycoons who were running their empires on unpaid debts. The banks’ problems landed on the table of Urjit Patel when he became Governor of Reserve Bank of India in September 2016. Based on thirty years of macroeconomic experience, he worked out the ‘9R’ strategy which would save our savings, rescue our banks and protect them from unscrupulous racketeers. In this book, he explains the problem and how it blew up; and how he would have resolved it if he had not been prevented.
I Do What I Do by Raghuram G. Rajan
Rajan’s commentary and speeches in I Do What I Do convey what it was like to be at the helm of the central bank in those turbulent but exciting times. Whether on dosanomics or on debt relief, Rajan explains economic concepts in a readily accessible way. Equally, he addresses key issues that are not in any banking manual but essential to growth: the need for tolerance and respect to assure India’s economic progress, for instance, or the connection between political freedom and prosperity. I Do What I Do offers a front-row view into the thinking of one of the world’s most respected economists, one whose commitment to India’s progress shines through in the essays and speeches here. It also brings home what every RBI Governor discovers for himself when he sits down at his desk on the 18th floor: the rupee stops here.
Business Etiquette by Shital Kakkar Mehra
The first interview. Handling a difficult boss. The power of words. Networking. Small talk. Dressing for a cocktail dinner. Holding chopsticks. Drinking wine. Twitter etiquette. Sexual harassment in office. Remembering names. Receiving compliments. Women travelling alone. Thank you notes. The opportunities created by a fast-globalizing world have led to executives’ jet-setting across the globe wining and dining, negotiating, and networking for business. Indian executives, who are brand ambassadors of both their company and their country, too are making a mark on the global stage, and increasingly find themselves in a number of situations where their people skills can make all the difference. Business Etiquette shows us the art of creating a positive impression through the ABC of good manners: Appearance, Behaviour, and Communication. Shital Kakkar Mehra, one of India’s best-known corporate etiquette trainers, teaches us how to create our own brand, dine with grace, mingle with ease and conduct business keeping in mind racial, gender, and cultural diversities.
The financial crisis of 2008 brought the world to a standstill. Banks and financial firms all over the world had to be rescued by governments – in effect, bailed out by the taxpayer. But have things changed post 2008? Are financial firms and banks operating more responsibly? Are they taking fewer risks than they did in the past? What will happen as and when the next financial crisis hits us? Vivek Kaul answers these and many more questions on how the global financial system is operating in the post-financial-crisis era in the third book in the Easy Money series.
The Third Pillar by Raghuram G. Rajan
The ‘third pillar’ is the community we live in. Economists all too often understand their field as the relationship between markets and the state, and they leave squishy social issues for other people. That’s not just myopic, Rajan argues; it’s dangerous. All economics is actually socioeconomics – all markets are embedded in a web of human relations, values and norms. Rajan presents a way to rethink the relationship between the market and civil society and argues for a return to strengthening and empowering local communities as an antidote to growing despair and unrest. The Third Pillar is a masterpiece of explication, a book that will be a classic for its offering of a wise, authoritative and humane explanation of the forces that have wrought such a sea change in our lives.
In Fault Lines, Rajan makes a case for looking beyond the shortsighted blame-game that targets only greedy bankers. There are serious flaws in the global economy, he writes, and an even more debilitating crisis awaits us if those faults are not addressed right now. Rajan demonstrates how the individual choices-made by bankers, government officials and ordinary homeowners-that collectively brought about the economic meltdown were rational responses to a defective global financial order: specifically, a mismatch between the incentives and the dangers involved in taking on risks. He traces the deepening fault lines in a world overly dependent on the indebted American consumer to power economic growth and stave off global downturns. In Fault Lines, Rajan outlines the hard choices that all nations must make to ensure greater stability and lasting prosperity. Importantly, he examines how the Indian development experience differs from that of other fast-growing economies.
Unemployment, inequality, poverty, climate change: the world is faced with profound challenges, and on an unprecedented scale. So far, we have looked to governments, NGOs and global institutions, such as the World Bank, for action. But another kind of institution–powerful, influential, widespread–is well placed to address these challenges. Global corporations. These giants are today entrenched in the very fabric of our lives. We work in them or their supply chains; we use their goods and services; we invest in them. It is crucial, therefore, that those who lead big corporations see themselves as part of a larger picture and redefine their role. Corporations can and must be a force for good, says Lynda Gratton, professor of management practice at London Business School and among the top business thinkers in the world. This is especially true for emerging markets like India, where the global challenges are more acute, and where the minds that press this change will be found.
Romancing the Balance Sheet by Anil Lamba
Read this book to understand what Profit really means and how Inventory and Sales impact it. Learn to read Balance Sheets and deploy Funds intelligently. Make the most efficient use of your Working Capital and discover the simple secrets of Marginal Costing, Leverage and Funds Flow. Written in a simple conversational style, Romancing the Balance Sheet will teach you all the intelligent ways of Good Financial Management.
Microsoft’s CEO tells the inside story of the company’s continuing transformation, tracing his own personal journey from a childhood in India to leading some of the most significant technological changes in the digital era. As told by Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, ‘Hit Refresh’ is the story of corporate change and reinvention as well as the story of Nadella’s personal journey, one that is taking place today inside a storied technology company, and one that is coming in all of our lives as intelligent machines become more ambient and more ubiquitous. It’s about how people, organisations and societies can and must hit refresh – transform – in their persistent quest for new energy, new ideas, relevance and renewal. At the core, it’s about us humans and our unique qualities, like empathy, which will become ever more valuable in a world where the torrent of technology will disrupt like never before.
More Than You Know by Michael J. Mauboussin
More Than You Know is a unique blend of practical advice and sound theory, sampling from a wide variety of sources and disciplines. Mauboussin builds on the ideas of visionaries, including Warren Buffett and E. O. Wilson, but also finds wisdom in a broad and deep range of fields, such as casino gambling, horse racing, psychology, and evolutionary biology. He analyzes the strategies of poker experts David Sklansky and Puggy Pearson and pinpoints parallels between mate selection in guppies and stock market booms. For this edition, Mauboussin includes fresh thoughts on human cognition, management assessment, game theory, the role of intuition, and the mechanisms driving the market’s mood swings, and explains what these topics tell us about smart investing. More Than You Know is written with the professional investor in mind but extends far beyond the world of economics and finance.
Executive Presence by Shital Kakkar Mehra
Shital Kakkar Mehra, India’s leading Executive Presence coach and bestselling author, has trained numerous CEOs and star performers over the last two decades. In this book, she has shared her proven POISE formula for success; tools to help you maximize your potential and fast-track your career to the coveted role of a CEO. Executive Presence is the mysterious ‘it’ factor in leadership. How do you present yourself? Are you assertive? Do you inspire confidence? How do you engage with stakeholders? Crack the code on Executive Presence with: Physical Presence: Refine body language skills. Online Presence: Build your global personal brand. Influencer Presence: Master executive maturity; learn to ‘speak up’. Stage Presence: Inspire teams with effective public-speaking skills. Engagement Presence: Build strong and diverse networks.
Money Wise by Sharath Komarraju
Do you obsess about money and yet not talk about it with parents or friends – and barely enough with the spouse? Do you worry about how much you have, how much you need, what you need to do to get more of it? The world of money is bewildering. The biggest investment you will ever make is towards your financial education – and this easy-to-read guide provides just that. It answers vital questions such as: Where does money come from? Why do prices go up every year? How do I get out of debt? Should I invest in the stock market? What is the value of gold in our financial system? How do I make my investment portfolio shock-proof? Practical, fun and straight to the point, Money Wise will equip you with the tools to manage your money with confidence and competence.
Infinite Vision by Pavithra K. Mehta and Suchitra Shenoy
Reveals the power of a model that combines business discipline with compassion. May the wisdom of Dr V and Aravind shared here inspire many such initiatives for the wellbeing of future generations’ – Muhammad Yunus, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and founder, Grameen Bank In 1976, fifty-eight-year-old Dr Govindappa Venkataswamy (or Dr V as he is better known) founded Aravind – an eye clinic run out of a rented home, with no money, business plan or safety net. All that the hospital had were eleven beds, a visionary doctor and a seemingly impossible mission: to eliminate curable blindness. Today, Aravind Eye Care System is the largest and most productive blindness-prevention organization in the world. It has performed over four million surgeries and treated over thirty-two million patients. In India, Aravind has made eye-restoring surgery affordable and accessible by treating a third of its patients free of cost. And it has become the global benchmark in eye care, offering a comprehensive range of services, with a marketing strategy that targets those least able to pay. So much so that a case study on Aravind is mandatory reading for every MBA student at the Harvard Business School. Infinite Vision tells this extraordinary story.
Secret Sauce by Jayanth Narayanan and Priya Bala
Secret Sauce is an in-depth look at forty of India’s most iconic and successful restaurants, not just as landmarks and must-visit destinations, but also as businesses that have stood the test of time and upheld their standards of dining and culinary excellence. From a hundred-year-old no-frills eatery in Bengaluru to an award-winning dine-out venue in Delhi, from inventive cafes to nationwide chains that have scaled admirably, this book is a sumptuous treat for aspiring food entrepreneurs, foodies, and anyone interested in the success secrets and inner workings of the restaurant business in India.
In these in-depth profiles, Mini Menon, who has been covering Indian business for the last fourteen years, talks about Ajay Piramal, deal-maker extraordinaire; Gautam Thapar, the unlikely heir to a business legacy; Rajeev Chandrashekhar, who went from being a software engineer to one of India’s big telecom Turks, only to lose his shirt and fight back; Baba Kalyani, who set new milestones in Indian manufacturing; Ronnie Screwvala, India’s shrewdest media mogul; G.M. Rao, the man whose sky-high ambitions have given the country some of its best airports; and Ajit Gulabchand, whose sea link is Mumbai’s glittering diadem. As a portrayal of these fascinating individuals who reflect the cut and thrust of a demanding business environment, Riding the Wave is the best introduction yet to the journey of Indian business in the new century.
Back from the Brink by By Seetha and Sharad Gupta
The Escorts Group, one of India’s most iconic business houses, has seen its fair share of major setbacks in its seventy-five-year history. Founded in 1944 in Lahore, Escorts was first a victim of Partition. In 1960, it set up its manufacturing base in Faridabad on the outskirts of Delhi, and over the years was associated with leading global players such as Ford, JCB and Yamaha. The Rajdoot bikes it produced were a rage in the 1980s. But the same decade also witnessed a hostile takeover bid by Lord Swraj Paul, one of the lowest points in the company’s life. No crisis, though, compared with the downturn that followed the economic liberalization of 1991, with the group exiting several of its business. From then to now, Escorts has seen a remarkable turnaround, led by Rajan Nanda and his son Nikhil. Back from the Brink is the story of how Escorts was turned around – an eye-opening account of management, with crucial lessons for practitioners, professionals and students looking to understand how a quintessentially Indian company is run – and revived.
Beyond The MBA Hype by Sameer Kamat
Whether you are an employee looking for a change in your job profile or a fresh graduate looking for a secure financial future, an MBA degree is often seen as a silver bullet. Alas, the reality is that the MBA system, be it in India or abroad, isn’t all shiny and perfect. Most MBA aspirants are confused when it comes to choosing a B-school and unsure about what to expect once they get in. The problem is particularly acute for those who can’t get into top-notch schools in India and who decide to pursue their MBA ambitions overseas. In Beyond the MBA Hype, Sameer Kamat, one of India’s top admission consultants, shares home truths that no B-school website or consultant will ever tell you. The book will not just help you embark on your MBA journey with more clarity, it will save you time and money, and most importantly, direct you to your career goals.
Over the last decade, Indian banks in general and the government-owned public sector ones in particular have gradually got themselves into a big mess. Their bad loans, or loans which haven’t been repaid for ninety days or more, crossed Rs 10 lakh crore as of 31 March 2018. To put it in perspective, this figure is approximately seven times the value of farm loan waivers given by all state governments in India put together. And this became the bad money of the Indian financial system. In Bad Money, Vivek Kaul answers goes back to the history of Indian banking, providing a long, deep and hard look at the overall Indian economy. The result is a gripping financial thriller that is a must for understanding a crisis that threatens our banking system and economy.
The Big Leap by Sharmila Kantha
For the first time, The Big Leap brings together ten leading Indian companies — from a small enterprise to large conglomerates, across manufacturing and services spaces –to provide a gripping account of how Indian industry was transformed from an inefficient entity to one capable of competing with the best in the global economy. Accustomed to a heavily regulated economic environment since Independence, Indian industry had become unproductive and dull. When the protective walls crumbled in 1991, our entrepreneurs had to adapt overnight to an entirely new way of doing business. They had to re-learn the rules of competitiveness, globalization and innovation in a market of dynamic churn. The Big Leap, initiated by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and benefiting from inputs from the ten companies, is an authentic depiction of a resurgent Indian industry as it made the transition to a brave new India.
Don’t Hire The Best by Abhijit Bhaduri
A very useful book for all involved in the task of hiring high-potential talent’ – Azim Premji, Chairman, Wipro Ltd Qualification, experience, competence and personality -how should a manager weigh these while recruiting? Does it pay to take on a ‘star’ performer? What, indeed, is the secret of good hiring? There’s no organizational process more important than recruitment. However, traditional resume- and interview-based hiring often does not account for the most important factor: personality. But what individual traits must one measure, and how? Skilled interviewers know that the trick lies in not just asking questions that challenge the candidate, but in figuring out whether his or her answer reveals a fit between the company’s expectations and the personality of the interviewee. In Don’t Hire the Best, Abhijit Bhaduri brings his vast experience in leading HR teams at Wipro, Microsoft, PepsiCo, Colgate and Tata Steel to answer these and related questions on hiring judiciously. Bhaduri particularly underlines here the difference between hiring the right fit vis-a-vis hiring the “best’.
Changing Tracks by Nilakant V Ramnarayan S
Authors V. Nilakant and S. Ramnarayan identify four distinctive features associated with the organization’s renewal between 2004 and 2008. The change leveraged the strengths of the organization, instead of being preoccupied with its weaknesses. The aim was to change mindsets about costs, revenues, investment and business models. The momentum of the change process was sustained by fostering positive emotions. Changes were persistently and patiently seen to completion by focusing on results. Confronting several myths about organizational change, the book offers powerful lessons for managers and administrators grappling with the challenges of generating innovation and improving performance radically in a changing world.
Narrative and Numbers by Aswath Damodaran
Aswath Damodaran, finance professor and experienced investor, argues that the power of story drives corporate value, adding substance to numbers and persuading even cautious investors to take risks. In business, there are the storytellers who spin compelling narratives and the number-crunchers who construct meaningful models and accounts. Both are essential to success, but only by combining the two, Damodaran argues, can a business deliver and sustain value. Damodaran considers Uber’s debut and how narrative is key to understanding different valuations. He investigates why Twitter and Facebook were valued in the billions of dollars at their public offerings, and why one (Twitter) has stagnated while the other (Facebook) has grown. He also looks at more established business models such as Apple and Amazon to demonstrate how a company’s history can both enrich and constrain its narrative. Narrative and Numbers reveals the benefits, challenges, and pitfalls of weaving narratives around numbers and how one can best test a story’s plausibility.
Kiss That Frog by Brian Tracy and Christina Tracy Stein
This book contains a series of practical, proven, easy-to-apply ideas and strategies that anyone can use to change their thinking from negative to positive. The ideas in this book are based on more than a hundred years of writing and research in psychology and sychotherapy. These ideas are presented in an easily digestible form that goes directly to the root of the reasons why people feel negatively about themselves and about various factors in their lives. Every idea and instruction in this book have been tested and proven in the crucible of real life experiences, both by the authors and by the millions of other people worldwide whose lives have been positively affected by these simple principles.
The Best Advice I Ever Got by The Business Today Team
Advice is golden. but only if it is implemented and it works. The Best Advice I Ever Got is a treasure trove of advice that worked for the whos who of Indias corporate world and its opinion makers. Featured here are insightful pieces of advice collected over a lifetime by personalities such as A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, Azim Premji, Aamir Khan, Shahrukh Khan, Javed Akhtar, R. C. Bhargava, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Dr Devi Shetty, Rama Prasad Goenka, Prasoon Joshi, Harsh Mariwala and Karan Johar. The range of experiences dealt with covers everything from improving relationships to business skills. For a reader looking for inspiration or simply some practical advice, this is a book well bought.
The Joys Of Compounding by Gautam Baid
In The Joys of Compounding, the value investor Gautam Baid builds a holistic approach to value investing and philosophy from his wide-ranging reading, combining practical approaches, self-cultivation, and business wisdom. Distilling investment and life lessons into a comprehensive guide, Baid integrates the strategies and wisdom of preeminent figures whose teachings have stood the test of time. Drawing on the work of investing greats like Warren Buffett, Charlie Munger, and Ben Graham, as well as philosophers and scholars, he artfully interweaves the lessons learned from his many teachers. Baid demonstrates their practical applications in the areas of business, investing, and decision making and also shows that these ideas can be applied to one’s own life with just as much reward.
The Maruti Story by R C Bhargava
An extraordinary and rare insight into how a few determined entrepreneurs created an icon… – C. K. Prahalad. The targets were stupendous and considered unachievable by almost everyone. Slightly over two years to find a suitable partner, finalize all legal documentation, get governmental approval to these agreements as well as to the investment proposals, build a factory, develop a supplier base to meet localization regulations, create a sales and service network, and develop and launch a peoples car that would sell 100,000 a year, in a sector where Indian expertise was limited. And to do this as a public sector company, having to follow all governmental systems and procedures, and having to please both its masters in the government and Suzuki Motor Corporation. However, the Maruti project succeeded, and in ways that were unimaginable in 1983. It is an incredible story, involving grit, management skill and entrepreneurship of a high order. R.C. Bhargava, who was at the helm of the company, and is currently its chairman, co-writing with senior journalist and author Seetha, shows how it was done in this riveting account of a landmark achievement.
The Google Boys by George Beahm
Google is arguably the most influential company in the world today. Just fifteen years old, it touches the lives of millions globally through the 13 billion searches on its site every month. With its finger on the pulse of the Internet, it understands its consumers more intimately than any company could hope for. The brainchild of Sergey Brin and Larry Page, Google is now engaged in frontline research to push the limits of how we live — whether it is the Google Glass, driverless cars or extending human life. There could be no greater lesson in building up from scratch a model company that people aspire to work for, a giant with the third-highest market value: $382 billion as of May 2014.
Making Breakthrough Innovation Happen by Porus Munshi
India is known as a country not of innovation but of improvisation-or ‘Jugaad’, as they say in Hindi. But that has begun to change. We have enough examples in this country of people who have turned industry norms upside down to pull off the impossible in their fields. Eleven such case studies are featured in the book, including: Titan, which came out with the slimmest water-resistant watch in the world; Su-Kam, a power backup company that did not fit into an existing industry but ended up creating a new one; Shantha Biotech, which developed a low-cost Hepatitis-B vaccine and ushered in the biotechnology age in India; Trichy Police, which rewrote policing paradigms to nip extremism and crime in the bud, thus transforming the city. Through the breakthroughs achieved by these organizations, Porus Munshi shows that to do what is considered ‘impossible’ in your particular industry, you have to be subversive and think differently. In the process, if the existing business model needs to be turned on its head, then so be it!
Negotiating the Impossible by Deepak Malhotra
Some negotiations are easy. Others are difficult. Conflict is escalating, people are getting aggressive, and no one is willing to back off in any situation. And to top it all, you have little power, money, or other resources to work with. Negotiation consultant advisor Deepak Malhotra shows how to defuse even the most potentially explosive situation and to find success in one that is deadlocked. He illustrates key lessons using behind-the-scenes stories of fascinating real-life negotiations, including drafting the US Constitution, resolving the Cuban Missile Crisis, beating the odds in complex business situations, and reiterates that the same principles can be applied in everyday life too.
Igniting Innovation by Ravi Arora
Tata InnoVista is a thirteen-year-old flagship innovation program of the Tata Group. Over the years, Tata InnoVista has fired the imagination of people across Tata companies and has become one of the sought-after platforms for Tata managers. It has been presented to and researched by management experts globally, including those in Harvard Business School, London Business School, and INSEAD. This book explores how InnoVista has inspired thousands of managers and is building a culture of innovation. It also explains how this program is building capability on innovation and serves as a unique measurement system for companies on innovativeness.
Eye on the Bottom Line by Anil Lamba
Dr. Anil Lamba’s bestselling book Romancing the Balance Sheet covered several important aspects of financial management. Eye on the Bottom Line is an attempt to include more areas that are critical for a business owner or manager to understand in order to exercise better control over the figures that a business generates. Gain a deeper insight into making and reading Balance Sheets and Cash Flow Statements. Learn how to evaluate financial reports using Ratio and Funds Flow Analyses. Read this book to get a macro view of the application of the principles of financial management to the running of a nation, stock market investing, and why we must pay taxes. All of it is written in a way that can be understood by anyone.
Too Small to Fail by James Breiding
Too Small to Fail analyzes how several successful ‘small’ countries, with populations under twenty million, have made a virtue out of their physical limitations. The book seeks to understand what it is they do differently, and why. What is their recipe for achieving better-educated, more egalitarian, and wealthier populations? The book looks first at the forest and then the trees. It examines the characteristics shared by small countries, such as Switzerland, Ireland, Singapore, and the Scandinavian states. It draws parallels and discovers patterns shared among them that are common to each of their success stories. The book then looks at the policies of selected countries that have paved the way for remarkable improvements; and considers the individuals, corporations, and institutions that have made a positive and sustainable impact. It further goes on to explain how these small countries are reshaping the world in a never-before manner.
8 Steps To Innovation by Rishikesha T.Krishnan and Vinay Dabholkar
A guide to systematic, as opposed to incidental, ad-hoc innovation Innovation, need not only be jugaad. For the first time a book shows us how in India, innovation can be introduced in one’s organization in a systematic, deliberate way. 8 Steps to Innovation explains how you can do this by building an idea pipeline in your organization, improving the velocity of ideas coming in, and implementing the ideas within the given constraints. All this is shown through nice, snappy examples, mostly homegrown Indian ones. Few books in the market talk about innovation in the Indian context with Indian examples as this one does.
Quick and Nimble by Adam Bryant
In Quick and Nimble, Adam Bryant draws on interviews with more than two hundred CEOs, to offer business leaders the wisdom and guidance to move an organization faster, to be quick and nimble, and to rekindle the whatever-it-takes collective spark of a start-up, all with the goal of innovating and thriving in a relentlessly challenging global economy. By analyzing the lessons that these leaders have shared in his regular ‘Corner Office’ feature in the New York Times, Bryant has identified the biggest drivers of corporate culture, bringing them to life with real-world examples that reflect this hard-earned wisdom. As the world shifts to more of a knowledge economy, the winners will be companies that can attract the best and brightest employees and hold on to them by creating an environment where they can grow, contribute and feel rewarded.
Shakti Leadership by Nilima Bhat and Raj Sisodia
Nilima Bhat and Raj Sisodia revive a feminine archetype of leadership: generative, cooperative, creative, empathetic. While these qualities are often thought of as ‘feminine’, we all have them. However, people in leadership positions, tend to be undervalued and underdeveloped. In the Indian yogic tradition, this feminine principle is recognized as supremely intelligent and responsive. It is personified as the Great Mother or Goddess Shakti and is the source that powers the cycle of life.
Inside the Investments of Warren Buffett by Yefei Lu
Since the 1950s, Warren Buffett and his partners have backed some of the twentieth century’s most profitable, trendsetting companies. But how did they know they were making the right investments? What did Buffet and his partners look for in an up-and-coming company, and how can others replicate their approach? A gift to Buffett followers who have long sought a pattern to the investor’s success, Inside the Investments of Warren Buffett, presents the most detailed analysis to date of Buffet’s long-term investment portfolio. Yefei Lu, an experienced investor, starts with Buffett’s interest in the Sanborn Map Company in 1958 and tracks nineteen more of his major investments in companies like See’s Candies, the Washington Post, GEICO, Coca-Cola, US Air, Wells Fargo, and IBM, accessing partnership letters, company documents, annual reports, and other original sources.
The Big Reverse by Meera Sanyal
8 November 2016 was a black swan event in Indian history. At one stroke, 86 percent of the currency in circulation was demonetized, causing confusion, chaos, and endless misery to the common Indian. While the Modi government claimed that it was the silver bullet that India needed to eliminate many of its longstanding problems such as black money, corruption, tax evasion, and terror funding, the months that followed proved it otherwise. The return of 99.7 percent of the banned 500 rupee and 1,000-rupee notes showed that the RBI’s idea of Demonetization Dividend was nothing but a mirage. In the process, the livelihoods of millions in the informal sector were destroyed, causing enormous distress to farmers and, traders and forcing many micros, small and medium businesses into bankruptcy.
Fossil Free provides a concise introduction to the challenges, realities, and complexities of the global and local energy industry, as well as the trends and forces driving the energy transition. It explains how improved electricity infrastructure, decentralized smart grids, electric vehicles, energy storage, and market design are already providing clear pathways for the transition towards a green, efficient, affordable, and secure renewable energy across the energy-use chain: extraction, conversion, transmission, distribution, and end-use. For over a decade, Sumant Sinha has had a ringside view of the energy scenario. Having founded and helmed India’s leading clean energy company, his understanding of the global energy landscape and climate change brings a unique, holistic perspective on energy. With Fossil Free, Sinha shares his vision for energy, which is not only clean but also practical and affordable.
Strengthsfinder 2.0 by Tom Rath
In Strengths Finder 2.0, Gallop uncovered the updated and revised version of the much popular online assessment along with the language of 34 themes. Written in simple and easy-flowing language, this book can be read through in a single seating but the treasure trove it provides is for a lifetime. Comprising of numerous tips, guides, and strategies to applying for gauging a person’s strengths, this book aims at changing people’s vision about the way they look at themselves and inspire them on to adopt and cultivate their own strengths for personal and professional harmony and benefit. The book also comes with a personalised ‘Strengths Discovery and Action Planning Guide’ with a more customised version of the top 5 theme reports. The redesigned companion website also a strengths community area has a library of downloadable debates and discussions on guides and activities, a strengths screensaver and a separate program to create display card’s in preference to one’s top five themes.
Strengths-Based Leadership by Tom Rath
n Strengths Based Leadership, #1 New York Times bestselling author Tom Rath and renowned leadership consultant Barry Conchie reveal the results of this research. Based on their discoveries, the book identifies three keys to being a more effective leader: knowing your strengths and investing in others’ strengths, getting people with the right strengths on your team, and understanding and meeting the four basic needs of those who look to you for leadership. As you read Strengths Based Leadership, you’ll hear firsthand accounts from some of the most successful organizational leaders in recent history, from the founder of Teach For America to the president of The Ritz-Carlton, as they discuss how their unique strengths have driven their success. Filled with novel research and actionable ideas, Strengths Based Leadership will give you a new road map for leading people toward a better future.
The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz
Ben Horowitz analyzes the problems that confront leaders every day, sharing the insights he’s gained developing, managing, selling, buying, investing in, and supervising technology companies. A lifelong rap fanatic, he amplifies business lessons with lyrics from his favorite songs, telling it straight about everything from firing friends to poaching competitors, cultivating and sustaining a CEO mentality to knowing the right time to cash in. Filled with his trademark humor and straight talk, The Hard Thing About Hard Things is invaluable for veteran entrepreneurs as well as those aspiring to their own new ventures, drawing from Horowitz’s personal and often humbling experiences.
What You Do Is Who You Are by Ben Horowitz
What You Do Is Who You Are explains how to make your culture purposeful by spotlighting four models of leadership and culture-building—the leader of the only successful slave revolt, Haiti’s Toussaint Louverture; the Samurai, who ruled Japan for seven hundred years and shaped modern Japanese culture; Genghis Khan, who built the world’s largest empire; and Shaka Senghor, a man convicted of murder who ran the most formidable prison gang in the yard and ultimately transformed prison culture.
Crushing It! by Gary Vaynerchuk
In Crushing It!, Gary explains why that’s even more true today, offering his unique perspective on what has changed and what principles remain timeless. He also shares stories from other entrepreneurs who have grown wealthier—and not just financially—than they ever imagined possible by following Crush It principles. The secret to their success (and Gary’s) has everything to do with their understanding of the social media platforms, and their willingness to do whatever it took to make these tools work to their utmost potential. That’s what Crushing It! teaches readers to do.
SuperFreakonomics by Steven D. Levitt
Freakonomics lived on the New York Times bestseller list for an astonishing two years. Now authors Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner return with more iconoclastic insights and observations in SuperFreakonomics—the long-awaited follow-up to their New York Times Notable blockbuster. Based on revolutionary research and original studies SuperFreakonomics promises to once again challenge our view of the way the world really works.
Strategic Intuition by William Duggan
Three kinds of strategic ideas apply to human achievement: Strategic analysis – you study the situation you face Strategic intuition – you get a creative idea for what to do Strategic planning – you work out the details of how to do it There is no shortage of books about strategic analysis and strategic planning. This new book by William Duggan is the first full treatment of strategic intuition. It’s the missing piece of the strategy puzzle that makes essential reading for anyone interested in achieving more in any field of human endeavor.
The March Of Mobile Money by Sam Pitroda
The man behind India’s telecom revolution brings us the future – and it’s on our cellphones. Sometime in the early 1990s, as Sam Pitroda watched his wife write cheques for numerous bills, he came up with the revolutionary idea of a digital or mobile wallet – an electronic version of the leather wallet. Pitroda registered his first patent on the mobile wallet in 1994, and since then he and his colleague, Mehul Desai, have been traversing the world, taking this technology forward. Initially resistant to the idea of mobile money, the three stakeholders in mobile telephony – telecom companies, banks and merchants – are now realizing that it is crucial to their growth.
From Financial Crisis To Global Recovery by Padma Desai
In this wise and thoughtful analysis of the global financial crisis, Padma Desai, who teaches at the Columbia University, makes the complexities of economic policy and reform accessible to a wide audience. Merging a compelling narrative with scholarly research, she begins with a systematic breakdown of the factors leading to America’s recent recession, describing the monetary policy, tax practices, sub-prime mortgage scandals, and lax regulation that contributed to the crisis, and frankly assesses whether the US economy is truly on the mend. Expanding her view, she considers the prospects for recovery in North America as a whole, as well as in Europe, Asia, and South America, and the extent and value of US and EU regulatory proposals.
From Incremental To Exponential by Alex Salkever, Ismail Amla and Vivek Wadhwa
Over and over, we see big legacy businesses getting beaten to the punch by energetic little start-ups. It seems like innovation can come from only the bottom up or from the outside in. But tech experts Vivek Wadhwa and Ismail Amla are here to tell you that “big equals slow and stodgy” is a myth. Based on decades of experience working with both the world’s leading brands and disruptive start-ups, this book explores the opportunity legacy companies have to create new markets, supercharge growth, and remake their businesses by combining the mindset and tool belt of start-ups with the benefits of incumbency: boatloads of customer data, decades of brand equity, robust distribution channels, enormous financial asserts, and more.
The Power Of LinkedIn by Bert Verdonck and Jan Vermeiren
The Power of LinkedIn will revolutionize the way you network online with step-by-step instructions that are easily applied and produce immediate results. Here are a few questions they address within these covers: How can LinkedIn land me my dream job? Can sales benefit from online networking? How do I create a network with the right connections on LinkedIn? This quick guide to LinkedIn’s little-known features and time-saving tools has enough to surprise the regular user and give the novice a great start.
Breaking Out and Making Big by Rudrajeet Desai
Rudrajeet Desai, co-founder and CEO of Ideas Innovations, which runs the largest shared access internet application in the world, iCafe manager, gets right to the heart of these and other business concerns any start-up and entrepreneur would have. He offers tips on how to assess the entrepreneur inside you, make the perfect pitch to an investor, how to build a business plan, how to maximize productivity by delegating tasks, and how to build teams and create a ‘happy people company’.
The Bloom in the Desert by D.V. Kapur
In The Bloom in the Desert, Kapur offers first-hand insights into a uniquely Indian style of management of large corporations that holds lessons for management students and professionals across the board. During his time at NTPC, he demonstrated visionary leadership qualities by devising an ingenious workflow. The ‘systems culture’ that he introduced helped run the organisation smoothly, without missing deadlines or incurring extra costs, while increasing its output and meeting global standards of excellence. If these achievements were rare for Indian public sector enterprises in the 1970s and ’80s, they continue to remain relevant, especially today, when the emphasis is on self sufficiency and ‘Make in India’.
The Underage CEOs by Ganesh V.
The Underage CEOs is about the wave of youth entrepreneurship sweeping through India. It tells the stories of eleven youngsters who have set up their own ventures right after college, thereby becoming CEOs in their twenties. They have rejected conventional career paths, fought pressures from society, peers and parents, and are now in charge of their own destinies. They have changed the lives of thousands of people through their businesses. What’s more, they are having a lot of fun too! These young men and women are not exceptions. Today, the business climate in India offers multiple opportunities to those with good ideas. If you have a strong vision and drive, there are investors willing to back you with funds.
Start-Up Your Restaurant by By Jayanth Narayanan
Having overseen the launch and operations of flagship restaurants and witnessed the evolution of several other dining establishments, I can say it’s one thing to start a restaurant, and another to run it like a charm. What pays off in both stages is preparation — comprehensive groundwork coupled with a sound grasp of finances, regulations, team-building, infrastructure, aesthetics, and standards of service and technology. Start-Up Your Restaurant has it all covered. Priya and Jayanth combine their priceless insights and practical knowledge in this invaluable guide to navigating the unique terrain of the Indian restaurant ecosystem.
Islands in Flux by Pankaj Sekhsaria
Pankaj Sekhsaria is the most consistent chronicler of contemporary issues in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and one of the best known. His writings on the environment, wildlife conservation, development and indigenous communities have provided insights and perspective on the life of the islands for over two decades. Islands in Flux is a compilation of Sekhsaria’s writings on key issues in the Islands over this period and provides an important, consolidated account that is relevant both for the present and the future of this beautiful but also very fragile and volatile island chain. The book is both a map of the region as well as a framework for the way forward, and essential reading for anyone who cares about the future of our world.
How to Survive the Boss by Kanika Singal
Working with a bad boss is stressful. Instead of focusing on performance and getting the job done, the focus often shifts to managing the employee-boss equation. A relationship that is supposed to be symbiotic and supportive often turns hostile, interlaced with personality issues. In such situations, both the work and the individual suffer resulting in low quality outputs and unhappy employees. How to Survive The Boss is a helpful guide to enable to you manage this relationship effectively as you navigate your career in a big corporate environment.
From Command to Empathy by Avik Chanda and Suman Ghose
Can an empathetic approach to our relationships at the workplace help us achieve more? Does the onus of creating and sustaining a supportive culture lie only with the top management? There is an urgent need to move away from the traditional command-centered style of management towards an organizational culture that is inclusive, fosters trust and focuses on employee empowerment. From Command to Empathy addresses the tussle between the management and the employees, and investigates the reasons behind them through anecdotes, case studies, questionnaires and self-scoring exercises. Avik Chanda and Suman Ghose draw from real-life examples and their deep industry experience, and research on organizational behaviour and neuroscience, to arrive at practical tips on how to inculcate and use emotional maturity in workplace situations to help readers achieve both professional and personal goals.
Flight of the Unicorns by Soum Paul
In Flight of the Unicorns, Soum Paul takes a deep dive into the trajectory of Indian startups in the recent past and explores the trials and tribulations of starting up. Through the voices of many innovators, entrepreneurs and investors, he studies the patterns in successes and parallels from other emerging markets. He builds on theories around what works and what doesn’t and paints a vision for the future of startups in this part of the world.
Building the Perfect Beast by Neil George
Building the Perfect Beast captures the exciting and often difficult life and career of a brand marketer inside the fictional world of Golden Globe Consumer Products, an FMCG company that makes shampoos and cosmetics. Set in the company’s headquarters in London, the protagonist, Don George, and his four freshman colleagues on joining the firm, are immediately confronted with a very difficult lady boss, tight deadlines for a new product launch and an office eco-system made up of an intriguing, suave international workforce that loves to work hard and party hard. Early missteps and naivety of this group of new hires quickly gives way to a more confident and colourful take-off for their careers.
The Diamond Trail by Shantanu Guha Ray
If you visit Antwerp, the diamond market of the world, you will see for yourself how Indians have taken over the sleepy Belgian town, where bells in the biggest Hindu temple attract thousands of visitors every evening. Global diamond trade is now on a new chapter, and India is playing an important role in that. Diamonds are the second-largest export commodity from India after mineral fuels. With more than 80 percent of the world’s diamonds being cut and polished in Surat, India has become the processing house for the world’s diamonds. But how did we get here? In The Diamond Trail, veteran journalist Shantanu Guha Ray charts the course of India’s rise to domination in the diamond industry.
Baking a Dream by Kainaz M Harchandrai, Kainaz Messman Harchandrai, and Tina M Wykes
Baking a Dream: The Theobroma Story is the story of a ‘food-obsessed family that made their culinary dreams come true. Theobroma founders Kainaz and Tina Messman tell the story of how their ambitious and slightly eccentric Parsi family grew a home catering business into a multi-million business venture. From a single cafe with just four tables, Theobroma has today grown into a chain of 50 outlets across the country. The Messman sisters offer a no-holds-barred look at the challenges of working with family and offer tips on how to turn a passion for baking into a profitable career.
What the CEO Really Wants From You by R. Gopalakrishnan
There are many books on leadership and how to lead. What the CEO Really Wants from You addresses the one key question that is uppermost in the mind of any manager: What should he or she do to make the boss a partner rather than perceive the boss as an extractor of work or an adversary? As Paul Polman, CEO of Unilever, points out in his foreword, partnerships with others, but above all, with your direct boss and organization, are more important than ever before. Few people are so well qualified as R. Gopalakrishnan to guide us on this journey. This is a book that will be of immense value to all managers, and one that just might evoke pragmatic answers to the question of what the CEO really expects from the team.
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