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Bookshelf
Welcome to the latest section of Alma Matters “Bookshelf” - a platform where people can share their comments, feelings and thoughts about various books they read. From business and economics to SCI-FI, thriller and comedy…please feel free to contribute to this section by writing to us at alumni_relations@isb.edu
Recommended Readings by Vikas Gupta
Vikas Gupta is from the PGPMAX Founding Class and is the Managing Director of Wiley India, a wholly- owned subsidiary of John Wiley & Sons - an over two-hundred-year old $ 1.7 billion US company, and one of the leading publishers in the world. Vikas has been instrumental in giving Wiley’s India-operation the desired thrust in the last decade, recording consistent and impressive growth, and expanding its operation in high-growth areas. He is also a bestselling author and his books on IT subjects have sold over 2 million copies worldwide.
“The Leadership Challenge”, by James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner
About the Book : The leadership book that outshines them all, completely revised for today's business realities with more international examples and a laser focus on business issues. Grounded in extensive research, it captures the continuing interest in leadership as a critical aspect of human organizations. Kouzes and Posner, the premier leadership experts working today, demonstrate how visionary leaders accomplish extraordinary things, and they address current challenges such as the new cynicism, the electronic global village, and the shift to team-oriented work relationships. With engaging stories and keen insights, they delve into the fundamental aspects of leadership to help readers keep pace with our ever-changing world.
Recommendation: 25 years after the first edition was published, The Leadership Challenge by Kouzes and Barry is still my choice for the best research-based book ever written in the field of leadership. The Leadership Challenge is written for real leaders, who today face some of the toughest organizational challenges we've ever encountered. I always recommend people who gather real facts! In developing the Leadership Practices Inventory, which is possibly the world's most widely respected tool for 360° leadership feedback. They've then used this data to form sound conclusions about what works--and what doesn't work--in terms of leadership behavior. The Leadership Challenge is based upon learning’s from leaders at all levels--and shows how "regular people" can make a huge, positive difference in their organizations. To me, what they found is fascinating! Leaders with the highest levels of commitment are those who are clearest about their own personal values.
“Disrupt or be Disrupted: A Blueprint for Change in Management Education”, complied by the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC)
About the Book: Compiled by GMAC and with contributions by administrators and professors from the top global MBA programs, this book provides business school decision-makers with an evidence-based approach to improving the practice of graduate management education. The book is designed to help navigate the pressures and create revolutionary platforms that leverage a school's unique competitive advantage in a design distinctly tailored for today's business realities.
- Offers a unique handbook for improving graduate management education
- Contains contributions from an international group of deans and professors that lead MBA programs
- Sponsored by GMAC, owner of the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) exam used by over 5,000 programs worldwide
This important resource gives academics a proven approach for improving graduate-level management programs.
Recommendation: Disrupt or Be Disrupted outlines the formidable challenges that face the leaders of graduate management education—including financial pressures, shifts in student origin and age, and more—offering evidence-based solutions designed to help position graduate business schools for the future. The authors look, for instance, at specific examples of different business schools' financial models and discuss how a school might be able to change its financial model, and what the advantages might or might not be. And they attempt to answer such key questions as: Is the typical curriculum of today's MBA programs meeting the needs of organizations and society as we move further into the 21st century? How much and what kinds of engagement does a management school want to encourage? This book is a comprehensive and stimulating assessment of the world of management education. All stakeholders of business schools would profit from its insights and wisdom.
“The Five Temptations of a CEO: A Leadership Fable”, by Patrick M. Lencioni
About the Book: Absorbing, compelling, and utterly memorable, The Five Temptations of a CEO was like no other business book that came before. Highly sought-after management consultant Patrick Lencioni deftly told the tale of a young CEO who, facing his first annual board review, knows he is failing, but doesn't know why. Refreshingly original and compelling, this razor-sharp novelette plus self-assessment (written to be read in one sitting) serves as a timeless and potent reminder that success as a leader can come down to practicing a few simple behaviors--behaviors that are painfully difficult for each of us to master. Any executive can learn how to recognize the mistakes that leaders can make and how to avoid them.
The lessons of The Five Temptations are as relevant today as ever, and this special anniversary edition celebrates ten years of inspiration and enlightenment with a brand new introduction and testimonials from respected business leaders.
Recommendation: In this inspirational and motivating book, The Five Temptations of a CEO, high-tech management consultant Patrick Lencioni shares his insights about CEOs. This book is a quick read, and offers a wonderful opportunity for meaningful learning, discussion and action planning among leaders in foodservice and hospitality organizations. The Five Temptations of a CEO discusses the causes and symptoms of failure in leaders, and clearly separates the notion of "working hard" from "working smart." Performance today must produce results. CEOs who focus on results over status, accountability over popularity, clarity over certainty, productive conflict over harmony, and trust over invulnerability can still fail. At the end, Lencioni brings his readers back from the mysterious fable to the real world where he further elaborates on how to identify and guard against those traps in the real business world.