Book Review

Re-imagine!, Tom Peters, Dorling Kindersley, 2003
Throughout this book, Peters rants about the organizational barriers and the egos of the “petty tyrants” who thwart the good intentions of enterprising people in many different ways. Then he proceeds to tell his readers about how they can take on the responsibility of driving change and innovation. Re-imagine! Two common themes emerge in the book: the author maintains that small professional companies are the wave of the future. He also says that successful companies sell dreams rather than products. The author emphasizes that branding and design are two areas where business must focus to achieve meaningful and positive change.

Franchising: The Route Map to Rapid Business Excellence, Pramod Khera, Tata McGraw-Hill, 2003
Some crucial topics this book covers are the feasibility of a product/service to be franchisable, the advantages and advantages of franchising for the franchisor and the franchisee, the franchising system and the franchising framework and how to build upon a franchising network. The author, an ex-CEO of Aptech, gives us a clear picture about franchising with examples, and would be a good read for entrepreneurs who would want to go the franchising way. McDonald’s revolutionized franchising all across the globe and has proved that there are options of excelling in business through methods which are different and which require lower capital exposure on the part of the organization to grow one’s business by expanding it vertically as well as horizontally. Yet, for growing companies, or even would-be franchisees, it is an easy decision to make. In conclusion, the author insists that the decisions on franchising should be based on an accurate evaluation of the business situation.

Balance Sheet Recession, Richard C. Koo, John Wiley & Sons, 2004
Balance sheet recession, as explained in this book, is a quasi-economic and financial term, which is said to be behind the moribund and stagnant Japanese economy. The author in this book makes a forceful argument that the present stagnant Japanese economy. The book traces the history of the Japanese economy from the 1990s and deals with the symptoms, the disease, and the medicine for the stagnating economy. A not-to-be-missed book for Japan-watchers, economists and students of macro economics, this book presents a daringly different view-point on the Japanese economy and surely makes a very interesting lead.

To read further SUBSCRIBE to General Management Review