Suggested Reading – Business Teachers

Business teachers transfer the skills and knowledge students need to become qualified business professionals. These educators train their students to solve business problems, plan for future growth, and strategize how to run a business efficiently and effectively. They may teach business-related courses such as accounting, human resources, labor relations, finance, marketing, advertising, and management. 

21 Ideas for Managers

Practical Wisdom for Managing Your Company and Yourself by Charles Handy

Celebrated the world over for his gentle wit and keen insight into human behavior, Charles Handy is widely regarded as one of today’s best social and business philosophers. This latest collection of Handy’s work groups twenty-one of the revered BBC commentator’s best essays on why organizations and the people in them behave the way they do. Beginning with “A World of Differences,” which voices Handy’s fresh take on diversity in the workplace, each essay is a bite-sized bit of humor and wisdom that sheds new light on what motivates people on the job. As useful as they are incisive, these twenty-one ideas should be heard by anyone seeking fresh perspectives on how better to manage themselves and others.

The New Alchemists

How Visionary People Make Something Out of Nothing by Charles Handy

The world needs new ideas, new products, new kinds of associations and institutions, new initiatives, art and designs. But these new things seldom come from established organizations. They come from individuals — Charles Handy calls them the New Alchemists, and he has talked to a range of extraordinary people — from Trevor Baylis and Richard Branson to Jane Tewson and Terence Conran — to hear from them the secret to turning basic ideas into creative gold. Elizabeth Handy has used her new style of composite portraits to highlight aspects of all the different alchemists in their particular environments.

The Elephant and the Flea

Reflections of a Reluctant Capitalist by Charles Handy

The Elephant and the Flea is both a poignant personal memoir and a deep reflection on the past and future of world capitalism, with all its possibilities and pitfalls. In a tone that is at once learned, genial, witty, and wise, Handy takes us on his life’s journey, looking back to his childhood and education and how they prepared (or, rather, did not prepare) him for a career in business, the changing nature of organizational life within the context of the old economy and the new, the great variety of capitalism around the world, and through it all, his struggle to find meaning and fulfillment in work. Handy uses the quirky, powerful metaphor of the elephant and the flea to describe vividly and critique the great shift from the prevalence of behemoth, slow-moving, bureaucratic organizations that provided a lifetime of security and not much freedom or room for creativity, to a world in which we are much more independent and flea-like, flitting from job to job, latching onto elephants when we need to, but mostly flying solo and without a net.

Built to Last

Successful Habits of Visionary Companies by Jim Collins and Jerry I. Porras

Drawing upon a six-year research project at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business, James C. Collins and Jerry I. Porras took eighteen truly exceptional and long-lasting companies and studied each in direct comparison to one of its top competitors. They examined the companies from their very beginnings to the present day – as start-ups, as midsize companies, and as large corporations. Throughout, the authors asked: “What makes the truly exceptional companies different from the comparison companies and what were the common practices these enduringly great companies followed throughout their history?” Filled with hundreds of specific examples and organized into a coherent framework of practical concepts that can be applied by managers and entrepreneurs at all levels, “Built to Last” provides a master blueprint for building organizations that will prosper long into the 21st century and beyond.

Good to Great

Why Some Companies Make the Leap… and Others Don’t by Jim Collins

In his new book, Collins has chosen to research an entirely new line of inquiry. Is transformation really possible? Are there mediocre companies that have turned themselves around and achieved sustained excellence after a decade of more of ordinary performance? And what is it about these companies that can explain their success? For nearly five years, Collins and his research team undertook a massive study of every company that has made the Fortune 500 since the advent of that listing in 1965—over 1400 companies in all. The result of that research was astounding—only 11 companies had successfully turned a mediocre enterprise into a true long term champion. The surprising secrets of how they did it—and how any company can—are brilliantly unlocked in this visionary new work.

How The Mighty Fall

And Why Some Companies Never Give In by Jim Collins

Every institution, no matter how great, is vulnerable to decline. There is no law of nature that the most powerful will inevitably remain at the top. Anyone can fall and most eventually do. But, as Collins’ research emphasizes, some companies do indeed recover – in some cases, coming back even stronger – “even after having crashed into the depths of Stage 4.” Decline, it turns out, is largely self-inflicted, and the path to recovery lies largely within our own hands. We are not imprisoned by our circumstances, our history, or even our staggering defeats along the way. As long as we never get entirely knocked out of the game, hope always remains. The mighty can fall, but they can often rise again.

Managing for the Future

The 1990s and Beyond by Peter F. Drucker

Drucker brings clear-sighted analysis and practical inspiration to an interesting array of subjects: the end of the era of the blue-collar worker; the ultimate bankruptcy of economic pump priming by the federal government; the myths about the Japanese economic juggernaut; the lessons that nonprofit enterprises can teach big business; the changing attitudes of middle managers as the doctrine of company loyalty gives way to the demand for rewarding achievement; and many more.

The Effective Executive

The Definitive Guide to Getting the Right Things Done by Peter F. Drucker

The measure of the executive, Peter F. Drucker reminds us, is the ability to “get the right things done.” This usually involves doing what other people have overlooked as well as avoiding what is unproductive. Intelligence, imagination, and knowledge may all be wasted in an executive job without the acquired habits of mind that mold them into results. Drucker identifies five practices essential to business effectiveness that can, and must, be learned: Managing time; Choosing what to contribute to the organization; Knowing where and how to mobilize strength for best effect; Setting the right priorities; Knitting all of them together with effective decision-making. Ranging widely through the annals of business and government, Peter F. Drucker demonstrates the distinctive skill of the executive and offers fresh insights into old and seemingly obvious business situations.

Managing for Results

Economic Tasks and Risk-Taking Decisions by Peter F. Drucker

The effective business, Peter Drucker observes, focuses on opportunities rather than problems. How this focus is achieved in order to make the organization prosper and grow is the subject of this companion to his classic work, “The Practice of Management.” “Managing for Results” shows what the executive decision maker must do to move his enterprise forward. Drucker again employs his particular genius for breaking through conventional outlooks and opening up new perspectives for profits and growth.

Managing in a Time of Great Change

by Peter F. Drucker

’It is not so very difficult to predict the future. It is only pointless…what is always far more important are fundamental changes that happened though no one predicted them or could possible have predicted them.’ (quote taken from this book) It is these unpredictable and irreversible changes from the past, and their effect on the role of the executive which Peter Drucker examines in his latest book. The management of change is a subject which has been, undoubtedly, the principal preoccupation of management thinkers in the 1990s. Peter Drucker, the guru’s guru, brings together a group of his own original essays and interviews on this vitally important topic. As ever, he provides invaluable food for thought for all executives and students of business and management.

The Art of War

by Sun Tzu

The ancient Chinese general Sun Tzu is universally recognized as the greatest military strategist in history, a master of warfare interpretation. This condensed version of his influential classic imparts the knowledge and skills to overcome every adversary in war, at the office, or in everyday life.

The Future of Leadership

Today’s Top Leadership Thinkers Speak to Tomorrow’s Leaders by Warren G. Bennis / Gretchen M. Spreitzer / Thomas G. Cummings

A stellar cast of the world’s foremost leadership gurus comes together in one place to offer their thoughts on leadership in the new economy. Edited by renowned leadership expert Warren Bennis, the book addresses issues that Bennis identifies as the ones that “keep CEOs up at night”, including why we tolerate bad leaders, why leadership is everyone’s business, and how ethics will play into new leadership. With contributions from Charles Handy, Tom Peters, Barry Posner, Jim Kouzes, and Warren Bennis-as well as from such young entrepreneurs as Michael Klein and Tara Church-no other book includes the caliber of authors and the range of thinking found in The Future of Leadership.

On Becoming a Leader

by Warren G. Be

Deemed “the dean of leadership gurus” by “Forbes” magazine, Warren Bennis has for years persuasively argued that leaders are not born – they are made. Delving into the qualities that define leadership, the people who exemplify it, and the strategies that anyone can apply to achieve it, his classic work “On Becoming a Leader” has served as a source of essential insight for countless readers. In a world increasingly defined by turbulence and uncertainty, the call to leadership is more urgent than ever.

Technological Forecasting for Industry and Government; Methods and Applications

by James R. Bright)

Money Mischief

Episodes in Monetary History by Milton Friedman

Friedman makes clear once and for all that no one is immune from monetary economics—that is, from the effects of its theory and its practices. He demonstrates through historical events the mischief that can result from misunderstanding the monetary system.

Measuring Corporate Performance

by Harvard Business Review

Eight essays by experts in the field explore the measurement of intangible assets and the effect of those assets’ performance upon a corporation’s strategic planning process

Hiring & Firing

Straight Talk from the World’s Top Business Leaders by the Harvard Business School Press

Deciding who to hire is a perennial challenge for every executive. Will the person be a good fit? Will they perform up to expectations? How can you predict just who will succeed? And, if they do not, when do you decide it’s time for them to move on? This collection of fourteen first-hand accounts gives you insight into how some of the world’s top-business leaders tackled both the uncertainty of hiring and the difficult task of letting someone go.

Masters of Scale

Surprising Truths from the World’s Most Successful Entrepreneurs by Reid Hoffman

Why have people from different cultures and eras formulated myths and stories with similar structures? What does this similarity tell us about the mind, morality, and structure of the world itself? From the author of 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos comes a provocative hypothesis that explores the connection between what modern neuropsychology tells us about the brain and what rituals, myths, and religious stories have long narrated. A cutting-edge work that brings together neuropsychology, cognitive science, and Freudian and Jungian approaches to mythology and narrative, Maps of Meaning presents a rich theory that makes the wisdom and meaning of myth accessible to the critical modern mind.

Maps of Meaning

The Architecture of Belief by Jordan Peterson

Why have people from different cultures and eras formulated myths and stories with similar structures? What does this similarity tell us about the mind, morality, and structure of the world itself? From the author of 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos comes a provocative hypothesis that explores the connection between what modern neuropsychology tells us about the brain and what rituals, myths, and religious stories have long narrated. A cutting-edge work that brings together neuropsychology, cognitive science, and Freudian and Jungian approaches to mythology and narrative, Maps of Meaning presents a rich theory that makes the wisdom and meaning of myth accessible to the critical modern mind.

12 Rules for Life

The Antidote to Chaos by Jordan Peterson

What does everyone in the modern world need to know? Renowned psychologist Jordan B. Peterson’s answer to this most difficult of questions uniquely combines the hard-won truths of ancient tradition with the stunning revelations of cutting-edge scientific research.

Humorous, surprising, and informative, Dr. Peterson tells us why skateboarding boys and girls must be left alone, what terrible fate awaits those who criticize too easily, and why you should always pet a cat when you meet one on the street.

What does the nervous system of the lowly lobster have to tell us about standing up straight (with our shoulders back) and about success in life? Why did ancient Egyptians worship the capacity to pay careful attention as the highest of gods? What dreadful paths do people tread when they become resentful, arrogant, and vengeful? Dr. Peterson journeys broadly, discussing discipline, freedom, adventure, and responsibility, distilling the world’s wisdom into 12 practical and profound rules for life. 12 Rules for Life shatters the modern commonplaces of science, faith, and human nature while transforming and ennobling the mind and spirit of its listeners.

Beyond Order

12 More Rules for Life by Jordan Peterson

In 12 Rules for Life, clinical psychologist and celebrated professor at Harvard and the University of Toronto Dr. Jordan B. Peterson helped millions impose order on the chaos of their lives. Now, in this bold sequel, Peterson delivers 12 more lifesaving principles for resisting the exhausting toll that our desire to order the world inevitably takes.

In a time when the human will increasingly imposes itself over every sphere of life – from our social structures to our emotional states – Peterson warns that too much security is dangerous. What’s more, he offers strategies for overcoming the cultural, scientific, and psychological forces causing us to tend toward tyranny, and teaches us how to rely instead on our instinct to find meaning and purpose, even – and especially – when we find ourselves powerless.

While chaos, in excess, threatens us with instability and anxiety, unchecked order can petrify us into submission. Beyond Order provides a call to balance these two fundamental principles of reality itself and guides us along the straight and narrow path that divides them.

The Innovative University

Changing the DNA of Higher Education from the Inside Out by Clayton M Christensen

The Innovative University illustrates how higher education can respond to the forces of disruptive innovation , and offers a nuanced and hopeful analysis of where the traditional university and its traditions have come from and how it needs to change for the future. Through an examination of Harvard and BYU-Idaho as well as other stories of innovation in higher education, Clayton Christensen and Henry Eyring decipher how universities can find innovative, less costly ways of performing their uniquely valuable functions.

The Meditation Transformation

How to Relax and Revitalize Your Body, Your Work, and Your Perspective Today by Jennifer Brooks

Meditation is one of the most misunderstood, yet incredibly beneficial practices out there, and chances are that you have a lot of questions. Whether you’re just curious, newly beginning your meditative journey, or already an advanced practitioner, The Meditation Transformation: How to Relax and Revitalize Your Body, Your Work, and Your Perspective Today is an informative and interesting guide to the basics of meditation from A to Z.

Revolution in Higher Education

How a Small Band of Innovators Will Make College Accessible and Affordable by Richard DeMilo

Colleges and universities have become increasingly costly and – except for a handful of highly selective, elite institutions – unresponsive to 21st century needs. But for the past few years, technology-fueled innovation has begun to transform higher education, introducing new ways to disseminate knowledge and better ways to learn – all at lower cost. In this impassioned account, Richard DeMillo tells the behind-the-scenes story of these pioneering efforts and offers a road map for transforming higher education.

Building on his earlier book, Abelard to Apple, DeMillo argues that the current system of higher education is clearly unsustainable. Colleges and universities are in financial crises. Tuition continues to rise inexorably. Graduates of reputable schools often fail to learn basic skills, and many cannot find suitable jobs. Meanwhile, student loan default rates have soared, while the elite Ivy and near-Ivy schools seem remote and irrelevant.

Where are the revolutionaries who can save higher education? DeMillo’s heroes are a small band of innovators who are bringing the revolution in technology to colleges and universities. DeMillo chronicles, among other things, the invention of MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) by professors at Stanford and MIT; Salman Khan’s Khan Academy; the use of technology by struggling historically black colleges and universities to make learning more accessible; and the latest research on learning and the brain. He describes the revolution’s goals and the entrenched hierarchical system it aims to overthrow, and he reframes the nature of the contract between society and its universities.