Your summer 2015 reading list
The College’s faculty has compiled a list of must-read books for this summer. Here’s the list with some insights on each selection.
“The book focuses on selling – how to present a good idea to an unreceptive audience. It is a bit over the top – you will likely never need to use such extreme tactics to win your audience. But the tools and techniques will prove useful, even if to just understand your audience.”
– Dr. John C. Banko, Lecturer, Department of Finance, Insurance & Real Estate.
“He provides an effective template for creating new products that address customers’ greatest frustrations.”
– Dr. Mark A. Jamison, Director, Public Utility Research Center.
“A grand challenge in the information age is how to balance privacy and innovation. Pasquale provides detailed cases on how companies and their secret algorithms evaluate individuals’ search behavior and make decisions based on the inferences made from big data. The inferences have implications for an individual’s reputation and eligibility, such as credit profiles used in judging loan applications. Pasquale demands that ‘Silicon Valley and Wall Street need to accept as much accountability as they impose on others’.”
– Dr. Gwendolyn K. Lee, Chester C. Holloway Professor, Department of Management.
“Keen insights into the realities of building a sustainable enterprise, including the importance of being value-driven and focusing on the small stuff, laid out in a highly readable fashion.”
– Dr. Michael H. Morris, George and Lisa Etheridge Professor of Entrepreneurship, Program Director, Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation.
“It is a delightful and sometimes humorous exploration of five key concepts in econometrics. It is written in a clear style that makes it surprisingly accessible, though even PhDs with years’ of experience in using statistics in research will find it useful.”
– Dr. Brian Gendreau, Hough Professor of Finance, Department of Finance, Insurance and Real Estate.
“It uses a story-telling approach to illustrate important leadership lessons, drawn from Roger’s extensive experience as a conductor, and from his unique insights as founder of The Music Paradigm.”
– Dr. Steven P. Kirn, Executive Director, David F. Miller Center for Retailing Education and Research.
“A really excellent book on thinking and decision-making, with broad applications to business, marketing, retailing and other fields. It’s a little off the beaten path of “business” books, but is a fascinating read, and our academic types will immediately see the connections to Marketing and other areas here at Warrington.”
– Dr. Steven P. Kirn, Executive Director, David F. Miller Center for Retailing Education and Research.
“An informative, entertaining, and funny personal account of the history and growth of behavioral economics.”
– Dr. Lyle Brenner, Jack Faricy Professor, Department of Marketing.
“Youtility, by Jay Baer is a fresh take on how to market your company (or yourself, I suppose) in an age where we are simply drowning in messages encouraging us to use/buy products and service. Baer outlines a pretty practical approach for framing and sharing your message, beginning with the concept of “helpfulness”. There are brief video clips and excerpts on the book’s website — youtilitybook.com — for anyone who might want a sample. It’s not rocket science, but I think it provides some useful insights.”
– Dr. Steven P. Kirn, Executive Director, David F. Miller Center for Retailing Education and Research.
