• good to great book, business and investing

The Challenge:
Built to Last, the defining management study of the nineties, showed how great companies triumph over time and how long-term sustained performance can be engineered into the DNA of an enterprise from the verybeginning.

But what about the company that is not born with great DNA? How can good companies, mediocre companies, even bad companies achieve enduring greatness?

The Study:
For years, this question preyed on the mind of Jim Collins. Are there companies that defy gravity and convert long-term mediocrity or worse into long-term superiority? And if so, what are the universal distinguishing characteristics that cause a company to go from good to great?

The Standards:
Using tough benchmarks, Collins and his research team identified a set of elite companies that made the leap to great results and sustained those results for at least fifteen years. How great? After the leap, the good-to-great companies generated cumulative stock returns that beat the general stock market by an average of seven times in fifteen years, better than twice the results delivered by a composite index of the world's greatest companies, including Coca-Cola, Intel, General Electric, and Merck.

The Comparisons:
The research team contrasted the good-to-great companies with a carefully selected set of comparison companies that failed to make the leap from good to great. What was different? Why did one set of companies become truly great performers while the other set remained only good?

Over five years, the team analyzed the histories of all twenty-eight companies in the study. After sifting through mountains of data and thousands of pages of interviews, Collins and his crew discovered the key determinants of greatness -- why some companies make the leap and others don't.

The Findings:
The findings of the Good to Great study will surprise many readers and shed light on virtually every area of management strategy and practice. The findings include:

• Level 5 Leaders: The research team was shocked to discover the type of leadership required to achieve greatness.
• The Hedgehog Concept: (Simplicity within the Three Circles): To go from good to great requires transcending the curse of competence.
• A Culture of Discipline: When you combine a culture of discipline with an ethic of entrepreneurship, you get the magical alchemy of great results. Technology Accelerators: Good-to-great companies think differently about the role of technology.
• The Flywheel and the Doom Loop: Those who launch radical change programs and wrenching restructurings will almost certainly fail to make the leap.

“Some of the key concepts discerned in the study,” comments Jim Collins, "fly in the face of our modern business culture and will, quite frankly, upset some people.”

Perhaps, but who can afford to ignore these findings?

Five years ago, Jim Collins asked the question, "Can a good company become a great company and if so, how?" In Good to Great Collins, the author of Built to Last, concludes that it is possible, but finds there are no silver bullets. Collins and his team of researchers began their quest by sorting through a list of 1,435 companies, looking for those that made substantial improvements in their performance over time. They finally settled on 11--including Fannie Mae, Gillette, Walgreens, and Wells Fargo--and discovered common traits that challenged many of the conventional notions of corporate success. Making the transition from good to great doesn't require a high-profile CEO, the latest technology, innovative change management, or even a fine-tuned business strategy. At the heart of those rare and truly great companies was a corporate culture that rigorously found and promoted disciplined people to think and act in a disciplined manner. Peppered with dozens of stories and examples from the great and not so great, the book offers a well-reasoned road map to excellence that any organization would do well to consider. Like Built to Last, Good to Great is one of those books that managers and CEOs will be reading and rereading for years to come. --Harry C. Edwards

A short story for anyone who's ever wondered whether they should take a leap of faith on love.

Emma thought she'd be the next of her friends to get engaged but when her boyfriend, Gray, says he needs some space, she has no idea where this leaves their relationship. As she struggles to deal with her emotions, in walks Sam, a man from her past who's ready to declare his love for her. Luckily, she has her best friend, Jessica, to help keep her head on straight and to remind her to keep her clothes on too! Should she wait for her boyfriend to come back to her or should she revisit love with an old flame? No matter which man she chooses, Emma knows one thing, love leaps.

Approx. 8,000 words, 40 pages – perfect for a quick read anywhere you have a free 30 minutes. Written as a first person narrative, set in Raleigh, NC.

Karen Jerabek writes Chick Lit short stories and novels and her writing style can be described as a mix of Bridget Jones meets Sex and the City, where the women have real jobs and shop at Target.

A short story for anyone who's ever wondered whether they should take a leap of faith on love.

Emma thought she'd be the next of her friends to get engaged but when her boyfriend, Gray, says he needs some space, she has no idea where this leaves their relationship. As she struggles to deal with her emotions, in walks Sam, a man from her past who's ready to declare his love for her. Luckily, she has her best friend, Jessica, to help keep her head on straight and to remind her to keep her clothes on too! Should she wait for her boyfriend to come back to her or should she revisit love with an old flame? No matter which man she chooses, Emma knows one thing, love leaps.

Approx. 8,000 words, 40 pages – perfect for a quick read anywhere you have a free 30 minutes. Written as a first person narrative, set in Raleigh, NC.

Karen Jerabek writes Chick Lit short stories and novels and her writing style can be described as a mix of Bridget Jones meets Sex and the City, where the women have real jobs and shop at Target.

Thanks to processed and fast foods, being overworked, and feeling stressed while eating on the fly, it is increasingly difficult for most of us to eat anywhere near a balanced diet. We may not be obviously sick, but may suffer from lack of focus, insomnia, sluggishness, or any host of symptoms caused by nutritional deficiency. Green Smoothie Revolution takes aim at this silent epidemic by restoring balance to our diets.
 
Combining nutrition and know-how with recipes that pack a powerhouse punch, Victoria Boutenko reintroduces long neglected fruits, vegetables, and greens in the most persuasive style for our busy lives: with fast prep and delicious results. Featuring 200 recipes, Green Smoothie Revolution offers both simplicity (4 ripe pears, 1 bunch parsley, 2 cups water; blend well) and enough variety to keep taste buds happy and nutrients coming from a wealth of options.

Leap of Reason is the product of decades of hard-won insights from philanthropist Mario Morino, McKinsey & Company, and top social-sector innovators. It is intended to spark the critically important conversations that every nonprofit board and leadership team should have in this new era of austerity. The authors make a convincing case that the nation's growing fiscal crisis will force all of us in the social sector to be clearer about our aspirations, more intentional in defining our approaches, more rigorous in gauging our progress, more willing to admit mistakes, more capable of quickly adapting and improving-all with an unrelenting focus on improving lives. "This monograph is a must-read for nonprofit leaders. It will help you stay singularly focused on your core mission and help you be effective at making a difference in people's lives." -Geoffrey Canada, Founder, Harlem Children's Zone

Interactive book & cartridge. Works on LeapPad, Quantum LeapPad, LeapPad Plus Writing & LeapPad plus Microphone. K-1st Grade.

6-36 Months; All contents work with the LittleTouch LeapPad learning system.

A business and motivational book which shows reader how to:
1.Choose an untapped approach to change results.
2.Develop a success mindset with immediate rewards.
3.Kill mediocrity and double customer retention.
4.Condense long workdays into shorter disciplined sessions.
5.Get employees fired-up about the company's mission.
6.Implement a humor program for creativity and profits.
7.Apply all thirteen principles and measure the results.

Readers have fallen in love with Eternity Springs, the magical town in Emily March’s beloved series where something wonderful happens to hearts in need of healing.
 
Twenty years ago the town bad boy, Cam Murphy, left Eternity Springs in handcuffs, riding in the back of a sheriff’s van . . . and breaking young Sarah Reese’s heart. The defiant teenager vowed never to return.

In Australia, Cam makes a new beginning. He builds a successful business and suffers few regrets until Sarah—and their daughter—walk into his life, and then immediately run away. Realizing it’s time to right yesterday’s wrongs, he follows Sarah home to Colorado—and turns her world upside down.

Cam wants to know his daughter. He needs to prove to Sarah, the town, and himself that he’s changed. Will the residents of Eternity Springs offer forgiveness—and will Sarah have the courage to trust this man who is asking for a second chance?

• ISBN13: 9781590308431
• Condition: New
• Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!

Best-seller Pema Chödrön draws on the Buddhist concept of shenpa to help us see how certain habits of mind tend to “hook” us and get us stuck in states of anger, blame, self-hatred, and addiction. The good news is that once we start to recognize these patterns, they instantly begin to lose their hold on us and we can begin to change our lives for the better.


“This path entails uncovering three basic human qualities,” explains Pema. “They are natural intelligence, natural warmth, and natural openness. Everyone, everywhere, all over the globe, has these qualities and can call on them to help themselves and others.”


This book gives us the insights and practices we can immediately put to use in our lives to awaken these essential qualities. In her friendly and encouraging style, Pema Chödrön helps us take a bold leap toward a new way of living—one that will bring about positive transformation for ourselves and for our troubled world.

This interactive book and cartridge teaches rhyming, short & long vowels, spelling, sentence types, and drawing conclusions (reasoning). This product works on LeapPad Plus Microphone, Quantum LeapPad, LeapPad, and LeapPad Plus Writing. "Step this way to find a silly phrase to say ... and join Fox and Knox on their hilarious tongue-twisting adventure! Based on the popular book by Dr. Seuss, this interactive version of Fox in Socks is packed with rhymes and games on every page, and will help your child develop essential language skills.