1 1421025824

XENOPHON the Athenian was born 431 B.C. He was a pupil of Socrates. He marched with the Spartans, and was exiled from Athens. Sparta gave him land and property in Scillus, where he lived for many years before having to move once more, to settle in Corinth. He died in 354 B.C. THE ECONOMIST records Socrates and Critobulus in a talk about profitable estate management, and a lengthy recollection by Socrates of Ischomachus' discussion of the same topic.

Peter F. Drucker argues that what underlies the current malaise of so many large and successful organizations worldwide is that their theory of the business no longer works. The story is a familiar one: a company that was a superstar only yesterday finds itself stagnating and frustrated, in trouble and, often, in a seemingly unmanageable crisis. The root cause of nearly every one of these crises is not that things are being done poorly. It is not even that the wrong things are being done. Indeed, in most cases, the right things are being done―but fruitlessly. What accounts for this apparent paradox? The assumptions on which the organization has been built and is being run no longer fit reality. These are the assumptions that shape any organization's behavior, dictate its decisions about what to do and what not to do, and define what an organization considers meaningful results. These assumptions are what Drucker calls a company's theory of the business. The Harvard Business Review Classics series offers

Grade 5–8—What if just outside of Earth's known atmosphere there sat another layer that was actually a different dimension? Such is the premise for this novel. For as long as she can remember, orphan Hayley has lived sequestered away with her strict grandmother and mysteriously busy grandfather. A chance meeting on an outing lands her in big trouble and she finds herself shipped off to stay with relatives in the country. Here Hayley meets dozens of cousins who invite her to play a strange game. Its object is to go to different places in the mythosphere and retrieve various items while dodging mythological creatures. The plot thickens when she meets her father and learns that he and her mother are both trapped in the mythosphere as punishment for their illicit marriage. Hayley frees them and discovers that she, like all of the other characters in the story, is really a mythological figure who can live in either realm. Meanwhile, the frightening family patriarch, Uncle Jolyon, finds out about the game and c

Nick Friedman and Omar Soliman started themultimillion-dollar franchise College Hunks Hauling Junk when theywere just twenty two, and they’ve been having the time of theirlives ever since. What’s their secret? That's just it--there isn't one. There's no fancy software orcomplicated business schemes. No outside investors or quirky marketniche. They just followed 10 common-sense commandments to buildinga straightforward, fun, and successful business that does a simplejob well. Anyone can understand it, and anyone can doit.

In all his years in the Chicago Fire Department, LieutenantReed Solliday has never experienced anything like this recentoutbreak of house fires--devastating, vicious, and,in one case,homicidal. He has another problem--his new partner, Detective MiaMitchell. She's brash, bossy, and taking the case in a direction henever imagined. Mia's instincts tell her the arsonist is making this personal.And as the infernos become more deadly, one look at the victims'tortured faces convinces her and Reed that they must work closer tocatch the killer. With each new blaze, the villain ups the ante,setting firetraps for the people Reed and Mia love. The truth isalmost too hot to handle: This monster's desire for death anddestruction is unquenchable...and for Mia he's started thecountdown to an early grave.

At age seven, Cameron Johnson sold tomatoes door-to-door fromhis family’s farm. Pete Amico quit his job on his first day becausehe didn’t feel like taking orders from his boss.Greg Herro built asuccessful business selling diamonds made from the carbon extractedfrom ashes. If any of these people remind you of yourself, you justmight have the kind of personality to take the small business worldby storm. In 8 Patterns of Highly Effective Entrepreneurs, BrentBowers reveals the eight patterns that highly successfulentrepreneurs share—and what we can learn from them. In coveringsmall business for decades at the Wall Street Journal and the NewYork Times, Bowers has chronicled the rise and fall of hundreds ofstart-ups. In this book, he draws on extensive interviews andresearch, as well as on the experiences and expertise of businessconsultants, venture capitalists, academia, and the entrepreneursthemselves, to describe the key characteristics shared by dozens ofsuccessful small-business owners and their

Wouldn’t it be great if you could be audaciously ambitious andhappy at the same time? You can, and you will. We women aren’t advancing in our careers the way we should. We’renot making the money we deserve or getting the fulfillment wedesire. And this time it’s not men who are holding us back. Thistime we’re doing it to ourselves, because ambition—for us—is stilla dirty word. Debra Condren has coached thousands of women at every level—fromthose just starting out to the most powerful female executives inthe United States—and each one possesses the same fear: if she goesafter her dream, she’ll be seen as selfish, bitchy, a bad wife, orbad mother. But it’s exactly this fear of ambition that has forcedwomen to leave the best part of themselves—their dreams, theirgreat talents—by the roadside, rendering them less able to be thewhole people they should be in every area of their lives. Condren has a new message and mission: to remind women

Lord Robert Dudley, Queen Elizabeth I's lover, and Sir William Cecil, her chief political adviser, were the most powerful men in the country. As their rivalry intensified, they competed by creating ever more fabulous gardens for their queen. Dudley's aim was to woo her; Cecil's, to stop Dudley in his tracks. Dudley set out an intoxicatingly romantic garden, and threw spectacular outdoor parties for his queen; Cecil countered by building a sumptuous palace with amazing gardens overseen by the most famous gardener in the country, John Gerard. This is the beguiling story of a lifelong duel. For Elizabeth, these gardens were places for love and intrigue, power play and spectacular design.

This volume is monograph. It covers various aspects of convergence theory about feasible direction methods innonlinear programming. Many basic results included here have not been contained by other books. It provides a useful state-of-art review of activity in these field.

A good Martini when I'm planning a scene helps the mind fi)cus and the body Max, and then the scene just hangs into place .. ; Elia Kazan Some might argue the art o~ mixing cocktailsrequires as much skill as a fine performance. Eachrequires tile perf~-ct basic ingredients, fine tunedto perfection at exactly thc right tcmpcraturc. This is a brand new collection of- the best classiccocktail recipes, with a twist. Drawing on wit andinspiration lqToln Hollywood classics, it bringstogethcr some of the greats of the silver screenwith those olc the silver shaker. Perfect ~t anevening, cocktail hour, part}; breakfhst or brunch,the recipes are stylish yet simple to make. Takingits cue fi+om some of+ the starriest sippers in moviehistor}; from Bette Davis, Laurcn Bacall andMarilyn Monroe to Clark Gable, Alec Guinncssand Richard Burton, from champagne cocktailsm Casal, lanca to vodka martinis in My Man Godfirv,the recipes contained here arc stars in themselves.

In this stunning new book, Malcolm Gladwell takes us on an intellectual journey through the world of ''outliers'' the best and the brightest, the most famous and the most successful. He asks the question: what makes high-achievers different? His answer is that we pay too much attention to what successful people are like, and too little attention to where they are from: that is, their culture, their family, their generation, and the idiosyncratic experiences of their upbringing. De*ion in Spanish: Que diferencia a quienes hacen algo especial en la vida de quienes no lo hacen? Fueras de serie explora las curiosas historias de los grandes jugadores de futbol; bucea en la peculiar infancia de Bill Gates; busca que convirtio a los Beatles en el mejor grupo de rock; y se pregunta que distingue a los pilotos que estrellan aviones de los que no. A traves de su viaje por el mundo de los ''fueras de serie'', los mejores, los mas brillantes y famosos, nos convence de que nuestro modo de pensar en el exito es erroneo. Pr

The Business is a nearly omnipotent and infinitely discreet transglobal organization whose origins predate the Christian Church, if not the Roman Empire (which the Business actually owned for sixty-six days). Financially transparent, internally democratic, and morally dispassionate, the actual business of the Business seems-even to Kate Telman, a senior executive-to be vague to the point of invisibility. Counted among its vast riches are a book of Leonardo cartoons, dozens of Michelangelo's pornographic paintings, and several sets of Crown Jewels. All it lacks is a certain clout in politics, an arena that the Business has avoided for centuries but that has suddenly become of vital importance. No longer satisfied with its permanent base in Antarctica and its fortified Swiss headquarters, the Business is angling to buy its own nation in order to take a seat at the United Nations. Kate is the perfect candidate to help the Business realize its most ambitious goal: She was plucked at age eight from a bleak urban s

Your Map for a Brave New Real-Estate World The days of real-estate mania—when you really couldn’t go wrongwith buying a home, then selling it in a few years for a lot morethan you paid for it—are over. Inflated prices and the “subprime”mortgage crisis have finally burst the bubble. Now, more than ever,it’s important for current and prospective home buyers tounderstand just what they’re getting into when they take thatplunge—and to think smarter when it comes to making the most oftheir biggest asset. The Wall Street Journal. Complete Home Owner’s Guidebook showsreaders how to become savvy home buyers—and eventually owners—notonly in this new, uncertain era but in any market: ? Understand the benefits and pitfalls of owning versusrenting ? Make sense of the housing market—ask the important questions,factor in the unforeseen costs, and explode the big myths of homeownership ? Take advantage of current opportunities if you’re a first-timehome buyer

The authoritative guide to making your money work for you from one ofJthe most respected names in the investment community. Whether you want to provide for your golden years or are interested in the shorter term; whether you invest through a broker, a mutual fund, a 401 (k) plan, or on-line; whether you are interested in stocks, bonds, high-risk financial instruments, rock-solid bank certificates of deposit, real estate, or insurance-this book has the information and advice you need to put your money in the fight place to reach your goals. Some of the vital questions it answers are:

Michael Corbett appears regularly on national TV and printmedia and travels the country lecturing to crowds of 25,000 sharinghis expertise, having made millions buying and selling housesduring his twenty-plus years in the business. With personal tips,cost-effective techniques, and real estate insider secrets, Ready,Set, Sold! will teach readers how to: ? Add $10,000 to the value of their home in a singleweekend ? Avoid the twelve costliest and most common mistakes ? Dress and stage their home to make buyers swoon and bid overthe asking price ? Pay no taxes on the sale—without breaking the law ? Complete no-cost makeovers that supercharge their sellingprice ? Take advantage of the home-selling secrets that only realestate agents know ? Save thousands in commissions and closing costs With before and after photos, checklists, charts, and worksheets,Ready, Set, Sold! is the book that every home seller MUST readbefore putting their house up for sale!

Is your in-box always full? Are you constantly workingovertime on tasks that "only you" can do? If so, you could benefitfrom delegating some of your workload. This volume shows you howto: · Identify which tasks to delegate · Decide whether to delegate based on employee, task, project, orfunction · Identify the skills required for each delegatedassignment · Make an assignment and monitor the work · Address problems with delegated assignments