This year, publishers promise to let us in on the dirty little secret of conspicuous consumption; the triumph of comfort over cool; conflict management at the United Nations; and a fertile but underserved market in their own backyards. The Elephant in the Room Silence and Denial in Everyday Life Eviatar Zerubavel (Oxford University Press, March) How do “open secrets,” as the author calls them, survive in organizations and the world at large? Drawing from sources as diverse as children’s stories and historical events, sociologist Zerubavel finds that the same power differentials sustain hierarchies and conspiracies of silence. Working with You Is Killing Me Freeing Yourself from Emotional Traps at Work Katherine Crowley and Kathi Elster (Warner Business Books, March) Workplace conflicts are bad; the unhealthy emotional cycles they trigger are worse. A consultant and a psychotherapist help employees control their responses before a brief, hot battle can become an enduring cold war. Family Capitalism Wendels, Haniels, Falcks, and the Continental European Model Harold James (Harvard University Press, March) Conventional wisdom holds that family businesses perform poorly once they grow beyond a certain size. This generation-spanning chronicle of European steel and engineering dynasties suggests otherwise. Silos, Politics, and Turf Wars A Leadership Fable Patrick Lencioni (Jossey-Bass, March) Consultant Lencioni applies his practiced fictional technique to the long-standing problem of functional silos, digging into the conflicts that erect these efficiency-impeding structures. The New Argonauts Regional Advantage in a Global Economy AnnaLee Saxenian (Harvard University Press, April) Silicon Valley teems with immigrant engineers and entrepreneurs, but that doesn’t mean it’s draining other countries’ brains. Instead, resources, energy, and ideas move back and forth between high-tech talents and their home nations in what economist Saxenian calls “brain circulation.” Questions of Character Illuminating the Heart of Leadership Through Literature Joseph L. Badaracco, Jr. (Harvard Business School Press, April) Management writers have been mining fiction since someone figured out that King Lear is really a story about family business. Now professor Badaracco uses characters from Death of a Salesman, The Last Tycoon, and other works to examine such leadership challenges as forging a sound vision and managing success. Guanxi (The Art of Relationships) Microsoft, China, and Bill Gates’s Plan to Win the Road Ahead Robert Buderi and Gregory T. Huang (Simon & Schuster, May) Personal relationships are critical to business relationships in places as networked as China—a lesson Microsoft learned while managing a large laboratory in Beijing. Technology writers Buderi and Huang show what happens when companies pursue their most sophisticated activities in developing nations. Leading Through Conflict How Successful Leaders Transform Differences into Opportunities Mark Gerzon (Harvard Business School Press, May) Does your organization sometimes feel like the United Nations, in turmoil from conflicting agendas and discordant views? Gerzon, a mediator who has run training programs at the UN, offers management tools adapted from cross-border conflicts. The Managerial Moment of Truth The Essential Step in Helping People Improve Performance Bruce Bodaken and Robert Fritz (Free Press, May) One reason supervisors struggle to deliver critical feedback is that they put off the unpleasant task until problems become serious. Consultant Fritz worked with Bodaken, the CEO of Blue Shield of California, to help his managers intervene when problems were still small. Treasure Hunt Michael J. Silverstein with John Butman (Portfolio, May) In an earlier book, Silverstein explored middle-class consumption of luxury items. Now the consultant explains how average Joes can afford to splurge: They pinch pennies on basic goods. For companies like Sears, that’s bad news. Appreciative Intelligence Seeing the Mighty Oak in the Acorn Tojo Thatchenkery and Carol Metzker (Berrett-Koehler, May) You know an idea has gained traction when someone creates a category of “intelligence” for it. A professor and a consultant explain how to accentuate the positive when dealing with employees. The G-Quotient How Gay Men Are Changing the Face of Leadership Kirk Snyder (Jossey-Bass, June) Snyder has advised gay executives on ascending the corporate ladder. Now that many more have achieved executive positions, the consultant turns his attention to their effect on perceptions of leadership. Untapped Creating Value in Underserved Markets John Weiser et al. (Berrett-Koehler, June) The “fortune at the bottom of the pyramid” refers to profit opportunities in developing countries. But plenty of low-income communities in North America could do with some of that attention, points out a group of thinkers from the nonprofit world. Shopportunity! A Manifesto for Retail Revolution Kate Newlin (Collins Business, August) Has discounting gone too far? Consultant Newlin says the “tyranny of the cheap” has undermined the fun of shopping—not to mention the power of brands. She urges companies to research retail presentation as intensively as they study product development and advertising. CEO Pay and What to Do About It Restoring Integrity to Both Executive Compensation and Capital Market Relations Michael C. Jensen and Kevin J. Murphy (Harvard Business School Press, August) Professor Jensen helped develop the theory that executive compensation should be linked to stock options, arguing along the way that talented CEOs were underpaid. Now he holds that option plans are too generous and should be tied more closely to long-term value. Applebee’s America What Political, Business, and Religious Leaders Can Learn from Each Other Ron Fournier, Douglas B. Sosnik, and Matthew Dowd (Simon & Schuster, September) Forget fast, mobile, ironic, and all those other qualities that define hotness. Companies like Applebee’s are thriving with a strategy of “reassurance,” characterized by communal values, family life, and faith in established brands, say the authors, a writer for the Associated Press and two political strategists. The J Curve The Shape of the World Ian Bremmer (Simon & Schuster, September) Companies that invest in emerging markets must understand the process by which nations become more or less stable. Consultant Bremmer focuses on the stage in a country’s development in which injecting openness and flexibility—necessary for long-term resilience—causes short-term chaos. The High-Purpose Company Why It Wins, How It Grows, and What Sets It Apart from the Fakes Christine Arena (Collins Business, September) It looks good to do good, and many companies have spun marketing gold out of social responsibility. But some firms are more virtuous than others. Arena, a researcher in the field, explains how to spot the phonies and why genuine responsibility pays off.
