The Prize or The Ultimate Question

The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, and Power

Author: Daniel Yergin

Pulitzer Prize Winner -- and Now an Epic PBS Series

The Prize recounts the panoramic history of oil -- and the struggle for wealth power that has always surrounded oil. This struggle has shaken the world economy, dictated the outcome of wars, and transformed the destiny of men and nations. The Prize is as much a history of the twentieth century as of the oil industry itself. The canvas of this history is enormous -- from the drilling of the first well in Pennsylvania through two great world wars to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and Operation Desert Storm.

The cast extends from wildcatters and rogues to oil tycoons, and from Winston Churchill and Ibn Saud to George Bush and Saddam Hussein. The definitive work on the subject of oil and a major contribution to understanding our century, The Prize is a book of extraordinary breadth, riveting excitement -- and great importance.

Publishers Weekly

Yergin ( Shattered Peace ), a much-quoted energy consultant, here offers a timely, information-packed, authoritative history of the petroleum industry, tracing its ramifications, national and geopolitical, to the present day. Oil, ``the world's biggest and most pervasive business,'' he shows, has played a central role in most of the major wars and many of the critical international situations of the 20th century, has changed the lives of virtually everyone on the planet and is currently at the heart of the first post-Cold War crisis of the 1990s. Yergin describes how, after an oil glut replaced the panic at the pump of the early 1980s, ``Hydrocarbon Man'' once again took petroleum for granted--only to be shattered by Iraq's invasion of Kuwait this past August. Whatever the evolution of the international order, oil will remain the ultimate strategic prize, predicts the author in a book that will be widely discussed. He points out, however, that the environmental movement is gaining significant strength as more and more citizens of the world express a willingness to trade off energy production for environmental protection. Photos. Major ad/promo. (Jan.)

Library Journal

This book does not require recent events in the Persian Gulf to make it an essential addition for most public libraries as well as all college libraries. Written by one of the foremost U.S. authorities on energy, it is a major work in the field, replete with enough insight to satisfy the scholar and sufficient concern with the drama and colorful personalities in the history of oil to capture the interest of the general public. Though lengthy, the book never drags in developing its themes: the relationship of oil to the rise of modern capitalism; the intertwining relations between oil, politics, and international power; and the relationship between oil and society in what Yergin calls today's age of ``Hydrocarbon Man.'' Parts of the story have been told as authoritatively before, e.g., in Irvine Anderson's Aramco: The United States and Saudi Arabia ( LJ 7/81), but never in as comprehensive a fashion as here.-- Joseph R. Rudolph Jr., Towson State Univ., Md.

See also: The Secret of Scent or Magic Cancer Bullet

The Ultimate Question: Driving Good Profits and True Growth

Author: Fred Reichheld

One Question Can Determine Your Business's Future. Do You Know the Answer?

CEOs regularly announce ambitious growth targets, then fail to achieve them. The reason? Their growing addiction to bad profits. These corporate steroids boost short-term earnings but alienate customers. They undermine growth by creating legions of detractors—customers who complain loudly about the company and switch to competitors at the earliest opportunity.

Now loyalty expert Fred Reichheld shows how to reverse the equation, turning customers into promoters who generate good profits and true, sustainable growth. The key: one simple question—Would you recommend us to a friend?—that allows companies to track promoters and detractors and produces a clear measure of an organization's performance through its customers' eyes. In industry after industry, this "Net Promoter Score" is the single most reliable indicator of a company's ability to grow.

Based on extensive research, The Ultimate Question shows how companies can rigorously measure Net Promoter statistics, help managers improve them, and create communities of passionate advocates that stimulate innovation. Vivid stories from leading-edge organizations illustrate the ideas in practice.

Practical and compelling, this is the one book—and the one tool—no growth-minded leader can afford to miss.

The Washington Post

Among management books, this one's a keeper.

Publishers Weekly

Almost everyone appreciates the importance of customer satisfaction in business, but this book takes that idea to two extremes. First, it claims that customer satisfaction is more important than any business criterion except profits. Second, it argues that customer satisfaction is best measured by one simple question, "Would you recommend this business to a friend?" Pressure for financial performance tempts executives to seek "bad profits," that is, profits obtained at the expense of frustrating or disappointing customers. Such profits inflate short-term financial results, Reichheld writes, but kill longer-term growth. Only relentless focus on customer satisfaction can generate "good profits." One unambiguous question, with answers delivered promptly, can force organizational change, he claims. Reichheld makes a strong rhetorical case for his ideas, but is weaker on supporting evidence. The negative examples he gives are either well-known failures or generic entities like "monopolies," "cell phone service providers" and "cable companies." When presenting statistics on poor performers, the names are omitted "for obvious reasons." On the other hand, the positive examples are named, but described in unrealistically perfect terms. Believable comparisons of companies with both virtues and flaws would have been more instructive. (Mar.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Table of Contents:

1	Bad profits, good profits, and the ultimate question	3
2	The measure of success	23
3	How the net promoter score (NPS) can drive growth	39
4	The enterprise story - measuring what matters	59
5	Why satisfaction surveys fail	77
6	The rules of measurement	95
7	Design winning customer strategies	117
8	Deliver - building an organization that creates promoters	137
9	Develop a community of promoters - by listening	155
10	One goal, one number	175
App. A	The linkage between NPS and growth	191
App. B	Winners and sinners for selected U.S. and U.K. industries	195

Will Work from Home or Yes

Will Work from Home: Earn the Cash - Without the Commute

Author: Tory Johnson

Escape the cube. Ditch the commute. It's not just a dream anymore.

Many people already spend 12 hours a day getting to work, working, getting home from work. Here's some good news: thanks to advances in technology, acceptance of outsourcing, the trend towards corporate flextime, and other factors, working from home is easier than ever.

Good Morning America's Workplace Contributor Tory Johnson and consumer advocate Robyn Freedman Spizman tell readers exactly how to turn today's cultural change to their advantage without giving up an income. Specific business plans will teach them how to:
• Take their current position home
• Find a new company whose policies will allow them to work from home
• Reseach a product they believe in, and sell it from home
• Start their own business, doing something they love, for a minimal initial investment

With real-life stories, a step-by-step plan, resource guides, and lists of scams to avoid, this is the book that will help readers finally make the leap--and show them that they don't have to give up their family, creativity, or peace of mind to earn a decent salary.

Go to: Foundation Flex for Developers or Mastering Dojo

Yes!: 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive

Author: Noah J Goldstein

Small changes can make a big difference in your powers of persuasion

What one word can you start using today to increase your persuasiveness by more than fifty percent?

Which item of stationery can dramatically increase people's responses to your requests?

How can you win over your rivals by inconveniencing them?

Why does knowing that so many dentists are named Dennis improve your persuasive prowess?

Every day we face the challenge of persuading others to do what we want. But what makes people say yes to our requests? Persuasion is not only an art, it is also a science, and researchers who study it have uncovered a series of hidden rules for moving people in your direction. Based on more than sixty years of research into the psychology of persuasion, Yes! reveals fifty simple but remarkably effective strategies that will make you much more persuasive at work and in your personal life, too.

Cowritten by the world's most quoted expert on influence, Professor Robert Cialdini, Yes! presents dozens of surprising discoveries from the science of persuasion in short, enjoyable, and insightful chapters that you can apply immediately to become a more effective persuader. Why did a sign pointing out the problem of vandalism in the Petrified Forest National Park actually increase the theft of pieces of petrified wood? Why did sales of jam multiply tenfold when consumers were offered many fewer flavors? Why did people prefer a Mercedes immediately after giving reasons why they prefer a BMW? What simple message on cards left in hotel rooms greatly increased the number of people who behaved in environmentally friendly ways?

Often counterintuitive,the findings presented in Yes! will steer you away from common pitfalls while empowering you with little known but proven wisdom.

Whether you are in advertising, marketing, management, on sales, or just curious about how to be more influential in everyday life, Yes! shows how making small, scientifically proven changes to your approach can have a dramatic effect on your persuasive powers.

Publishers Weekly

Goldstein, Martin and Cialdini meld social psychology, pop culture and field research to demonstrate how the subtle addition, subtraction or substitution of a word, phrase, symbol or gesture can significantly influence consumer behavior. Interspersing references to Britney Spears, the Smurfs and Sex and the City with more academic concepts such as "loss aversion" and the "scarcity principle," the authors illustrate the simple and surprising approaches that can hone a company's marketing strategies. Witty chapters detail the allure of the yellow Post-it, the tip-garnering capabilities of an after-dinner mint, how highlighting a product's weaknesses can increase its appeal, the powerful role of third-party testimonials, how doctors can convince patients to adopt healthier choices by prominently displaying academic credentials in their offices, and how mirroring another person's gestures can elicit a more generous response by strengthening a perceived bond. While written primarily for a marketing audience, this amusing book has equal value and appeal for executives, salespeople-even parents trying to persuade their kids to do homework. (June)

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