https://www.strategy-business.com/business-books Reviews of Best Business Books And Authors Discussing Business Strategy, Innovation, Manufacturing, Operations, Management, Leadership, Marketing, Technology, And Finance. Mon, 23 Jan 2006 00:00:00 -0600 Wed, 22 Apr 2026 15:00:58 -0500 melanie.rodier.milazzo@pwc.com (Melanie Milazzo) strategy-business@ravencreative.com (strategy+business webmaster) https://www.strategy-business.com/media/image/sb-rss_feed_logo-sb.gif https://www.strategy-business.com/business-books 134 50 https://www.strategy-business.com/article/Jargon-monoxide-friction-fixers-and-the-meeting-that-could-have-been-an-email?rssid=business-book&gko=4f7f7 Best-selling author and organizational psychologist Robert Sutton shares insights from his latest book, The Friction Project, which looks at how companies manage obstacles and turn them into benefits. Mon, 08 Apr 2024 00:00:00 -0500 https://www.strategy-business.com/article/Jargon-monoxide-friction-fixers-and-the-meeting-that-could-have-been-an-email?rssid=business-book&gko=4f7f7 https://www.strategy-business.com/article/Lean-for-the-modern-company?rssid=business-book&gko=4e922 Tom Ehrenfeld reviews What a Unicorn Knows: How Leading Entrepreneurs Use Lean Principles to Drive Sustainable Growth, by Matthew May and Pablo Dominguez. by Tom Ehrenfeld Fri, 01 Sep 2023 00:00:00 -0500 https://www.strategy-business.com/article/Lean-for-the-modern-company?rssid=business-book&gko=4e922 https://www.strategy-business.com/article/A-tale-of-two-ways-to-think-about-climate-change?rssid=business-book&gko=fd045 Mike Jakeman reviews Scarcity: A History from the Origins of Capitalism to the Climate Crisis, by Fredrik Albritton Jonsson and Carl Wennerlind. The sweeping philosophical history argues that the world can be divided neatly into two camps: on one hand, there are "cornucopians," who are convinced of the powers of human ingenuity to extend nature's bounty to satisfy all of our desires; on the other are the "finitarians," who see the planet's resources and humankind's power over them as limited, which means we must learn to compromise in order to thrive. by Mike Jakeman Mon, 28 Aug 2023 00:00:00 -0500 https://www.strategy-business.com/article/A-tale-of-two-ways-to-think-about-climate-change?rssid=business-book&gko=fd045 https://www.strategy-business.com/article/Leap-to-leader-Make-yourself-heard?rssid=business-book&gko=cb222 In his new book, Adam Bryant shares tactics that up-and-coming leaders can use to prove they are ready for the next challenge. by Adam Bryant Tue, 11 Jul 2023 00:00:00 -0500 https://www.strategy-business.com/article/Leap-to-leader-Make-yourself-heard?rssid=business-book&gko=cb222 https://www.strategy-business.com/article/Why-do-large-projects-go-over-budget?rssid=business-book&gko=b6c96 Daniel Akst reviews How Big Things Get Done, by Bent Flyvbjerg, a University of Oxford expert on the mega-troubles of megaprojects, and Dan Gardner, a journalist who helped Flyvbjerg convey in crisp English prose what's he's learned about the subject from years of study and consulting. by Daniel Akst Mon, 19 Jun 2023 00:00:00 -0500 https://www.strategy-business.com/article/Why-do-large-projects-go-over-budget?rssid=business-book&gko=b6c96 https://www.strategy-business.com/blog/An-enduring-portrait-of-courage-in-the-C-suite?rssid=business-book&gko=5c5e2 Drawing business lessons from literature, Daniel Akst shines a light on the essential qualities of leadership, as espoused in a 1960 novel by the former executive Cameron Hawley. by Daniel Akst Tue, 23 May 2023 00:00:00 -0500 https://www.strategy-business.com/blog/An-enduring-portrait-of-courage-in-the-C-suite?rssid=business-book&gko=5c5e2 https://www.strategy-business.com/article/Clocking-out-Millennials-and-the-workforce?rssid=business-book&gko=2c5ee Mike Jakeman reviews Saving Time: Discovering a Life Beyond the Clock, by Jenny Odell, the latest in a corpus of books that questions old paradigms about the meaning of time and work. by Mike Jakeman Wed, 26 Apr 2023 00:00:00 -0500 https://www.strategy-business.com/article/Clocking-out-Millennials-and-the-workforce?rssid=business-book&gko=2c5ee https://www.strategy-business.com/article/The-mechanics-of-entrepreneurship?rssid=business-book&gko=833fe Tom Ehrenfeld reviews The Entrepreneurs: The Relentless Quest for Value, by Derek Lidow, which analyzes the factors that give rise to entrepreneurs--and, in turn, the important social changes brought about by their innovations. by Tom Ehrenfeld Mon, 10 Apr 2023 00:00:00 -0500 https://www.strategy-business.com/article/The-mechanics-of-entrepreneurship?rssid=business-book&gko=833fe https://www.strategy-business.com/blog/Cinema-and-the-C-suite-Leadership-lessons-from-Other-Peoples-Money?rssid=business-book&gko=3d3a1 Daniel Akst looks for leadership lessons in the 1991 film Other People's Money, set in the heyday of corporate raiders. by Daniel Akst Tue, 28 Mar 2023 00:00:00 -0500 https://www.strategy-business.com/blog/Cinema-and-the-C-suite-Leadership-lessons-from-Other-Peoples-Money?rssid=business-book&gko=3d3a1 https://www.strategy-business.com/article/A-closer-look-at-insurance-markets?rssid=business-book&gko=63c2a Mike Jakeman reviews Risky Business: Why Insurance Markets Fail and What to Do About It, a book that explores the intricacies of the age-old insurance industry. by Mike Jakeman Thu, 16 Mar 2023 00:00:00 -0500 https://www.strategy-business.com/article/A-closer-look-at-insurance-markets?rssid=business-book&gko=63c2a https://www.strategy-business.com/article/Profiles-in-burnout?rssid=business-book&gko=7fd4a In The Burnout Challenge, pioneering researchers Christina Maslach and Michael Leiter argue that companies aren't treating employee burnout properly when they focus solely on the individuals suffering from it. Instead, they reframe burnout as a chronic syndrome arising from mismatches in the relationship of employees with their jobs, identify six areas in which these mismatches occur--workload, control, reward, community, fairness, and values--and explain how to resolve them. by Theodore Kinni Tue, 14 Mar 2023 00:00:00 -0500 https://www.strategy-business.com/article/Profiles-in-burnout?rssid=business-book&gko=7fd4a https://www.strategy-business.com/article/Workplace-inclusion-Easier-said-than-done?rssid=business-book&gko=bbb83 In her new book, Sally Helgesen looks at the triggers that leave us divided and defeated, and the practices that can help colleagues, teams, and organizations rise together. by Sally Helgesen Wed, 08 Mar 2023 00:00:00 -0600 https://www.strategy-business.com/article/Workplace-inclusion-Easier-said-than-done?rssid=business-book&gko=bbb83 https://www.strategy-business.com/article/The-four-qualities-of-resilient-teams?rssid=business-book&gko=e0e3b In Unbreakable: Building and Leading Resilient Teams, business professors Bradley Kirkman and Adam Stoverink tackle the problem of how to gird your team against the setbacks that disrupt operations--or worse. by Daniel Akst Tue, 07 Mar 2023 00:00:00 -0600 https://www.strategy-business.com/article/The-four-qualities-of-resilient-teams?rssid=business-book&gko=e0e3b https://www.strategy-business.com/article/Quantitative-easing-made-easy?rssid=business-book&gko=e101d Mike Jakeman reviews The Rise of Central Banks: State Power in Financial Capitalism, by Leon Wansleben, which argues that central bankers were not merely lulled into a false sense of security by years of benign conditions. Instead, over the past half century, they sought more power and influence from their governments, pursued deregulation in order to attain it, and then showed a lack of interest in monitoring the complex financial markets that they had helped to grow. by Mike Jakeman Tue, 24 Jan 2023 00:00:00 -0600 https://www.strategy-business.com/article/Quantitative-easing-made-easy?rssid=business-book&gko=e101d https://www.strategy-business.com/blog/Like-mountain-air-in-the-veins?rssid=business-book&gko=95512 Daniel Akst finds lessons for business leaders in H.G. Wells's Tono-Bungay. Published in 1908, it is an eerily prescient novel that's both a mordant critique of business and one of the best books ever written about an entrepreneur. by Daniel Akst Mon, 23 Jan 2023 00:00:00 -0600 https://www.strategy-business.com/blog/Like-mountain-air-in-the-veins?rssid=business-book&gko=95512 https://www.strategy-business.com/article/Can-bossless-management-work?rssid=business-book&gko=34c3d The new book Why Managers Matter, by B-school professors Nicolai Foss and Peter Klein, examines the bossless company narrative promoted by management thinkers such as Gary Hamel and Frederic Laloux, and approaches such as holocracy and agile, and finds it untenable. They make the case for a well-functioning hierarchy. by Theodore Kinni Tue, 10 Jan 2023 00:00:00 -0600 https://www.strategy-business.com/article/Can-bossless-management-work?rssid=business-book&gko=34c3d https://www.strategy-business.com/article/The-limitations-of-mathematical-modeling?rssid=business-book&gko=f5296 Mike Jakeman reviews Escape from Model Land, by Erica Thompson, which contends that overreliance on mathematical models is harmful for decision-making in the real world. by Mike Jakeman Tue, 03 Jan 2023 00:00:00 -0600 https://www.strategy-business.com/article/The-limitations-of-mathematical-modeling?rssid=business-book&gko=f5296 https://www.strategy-business.com/article/Employee-resource-groups-are-more-than-food-fun-and-flags?rssid=business-book&gko=9b9f6 In The Power of Employee Resource Groups, the diversity, equity, and inclusion consultant Farzana Nayani provides a practical handbook for ensuring that ERGs, a ubiquitous feature in large enterprises, deliver benefits well beyond "food, fun, and flags." by Theodore Kinni Tue, 13 Dec 2022 00:00:00 -0600 https://www.strategy-business.com/article/Employee-resource-groups-are-more-than-food-fun-and-flags?rssid=business-book&gko=9b9f6 https://www.strategy-business.com/article/Could-it-be-quitting-time?rssid=business-book&gko=aa21d Tom Ehrenfeld reviews Annie Duke's Quit, a book that explores why we stay in jobs and relationships when they no longer serve us--and how to know when it's the right time to quit. by Tom Ehrenfeld Tue, 29 Nov 2022 00:00:00 -0600 https://www.strategy-business.com/article/Could-it-be-quitting-time?rssid=business-book&gko=aa21d https://www.strategy-business.com/article/In-a-data-led-world-intuition-still-matters?rssid=business-book&gko=380dc Daniel Akst reviews Decisions Over Decimals: Striking the Balance between Intuition and Information, by Christopher Frank, Paul Magnone, and Oded Netzer, which explores how managers can use the torrent of data available to them to make the best decisions. by Daniel Akst Thu, 17 Nov 2022 00:00:00 -0600 https://www.strategy-business.com/article/In-a-data-led-world-intuition-still-matters?rssid=business-book&gko=380dc https://www.strategy-business.com/article/A-new-look-at-the-microchips-midlife-crisis?rssid=business-book&gko=9ee6b Mike Jakeman reviews Chris Miller's Chip War: The Fight for the World's Most Critical Technology, a book that skillfully weaves together the scientific, economic, and political history of computer chips, and how those histories relate to anxieties about the technology's future. by Mike Jakeman Tue, 11 Oct 2022 00:00:00 -0500 https://www.strategy-business.com/article/A-new-look-at-the-microchips-midlife-crisis?rssid=business-book&gko=9ee6b https://www.strategy-business.com/blog/The-other-Machiavelli?rssid=business-book&gko=ba64d Daniel Akst revisits Machiavelli's Discourses on Livy, a lesser-known work by the Florentine political philosopher that nevertheless has a great deal to teach us about leadership. by Daniel Akst Tue, 13 Sep 2022 00:00:00 -0500 https://www.strategy-business.com/blog/The-other-Machiavelli?rssid=business-book&gko=ba64d https://www.strategy-business.com/article/Spinning-uncertainty-into-success?rssid=business-book&gko=99e8d Tom Ehrenfeld reviews Nathan Furr and Susannah Harmon Furr's The Upside of Uncertainty: A Guide to Finding Possibility in the Unknown, a clever self-help resource that offers a guiding hand through uncertain times. by Tom Ehrenfeld Tue, 06 Sep 2022 00:00:00 -0500 https://www.strategy-business.com/article/Spinning-uncertainty-into-success?rssid=business-book&gko=99e8d https://www.strategy-business.com/article/Healthier-wealthier-and-wiser?rssid=business-book&gko=15010 Mike Jakeman reviews Slouching Towards Utopia: An Economic History of the Twentieth Century, by UC Berkeley economics professor J. Bradford DeLong, who seeks to understand why the supercharged growth of the 20th century failed to deliver us to a state of comfort and satisfaction. by Mike Jakeman Wed, 24 Aug 2022 00:00:00 -0500 https://www.strategy-business.com/article/Healthier-wealthier-and-wiser?rssid=business-book&gko=15010 https://www.strategy-business.com/blog/The-letter-of-the-law?rssid=business-book&gko=fa353 Daniel Akst reads The Comfort Letter, by Arthur R.G. Solmssen, a 1975 novel about a lawyer, an empire builder, and a debt offering that sheds light on the complex obligations of professionals to clients, one another, and the rest of us. by Daniel Akst Tue, 16 Aug 2022 00:00:00 -0500 https://www.strategy-business.com/blog/The-letter-of-the-law?rssid=business-book&gko=fa353 https://www.strategy-business.com/article/Sports-by-the-numbers?rssid=business-book&gko=19fde Mike Jakeman reviews Stanford Business School professor Paul Oyer's An Economist Goes to the Game, which explores the quirks of sports through the lens of economic theory. by Mike Jakeman Thu, 28 Jul 2022 00:00:00 -0500 https://www.strategy-business.com/article/Sports-by-the-numbers?rssid=business-book&gko=19fde https://www.strategy-business.com/blog/Lessons-in-mismanagement?rssid=business-book&gko=62c31 Daniel Akst identifies lessons for managers in Glengarry Glen Ross, the transfixing film made from David Mamet's Pulitzer Prize-winning play of the same title. by Daniel Akst Mon, 18 Jul 2022 00:00:00 -0500 https://www.strategy-business.com/blog/Lessons-in-mismanagement?rssid=business-book&gko=62c31 https://www.strategy-business.com/article/The-hidden-costs-of-the-middleman-economy?rssid=business-book&gko=76232 Tom Ehrenfeld reviews Direct: The Rise of the Middleman Economy and the Power of Going to the Source, by Kathryn Judge, and discusses the nascent threat that, she argues, middlemen play in today's economy. by Tom Ehrenfeld Mon, 27 Jun 2022 00:00:00 -0500 https://www.strategy-business.com/article/The-hidden-costs-of-the-middleman-economy?rssid=business-book&gko=76232 https://www.strategy-business.com/article/To-improve-management-build-a-decision-factory?rssid=business-book&gko=c859e In their new book, Decision Leadership, professors Don A. Moore and Max H. Bazerman peg leadership success to the ability to make better decisions throughout the organization. To help companies develop this capability, they weave together the various threads of behavioral economics and translate them into practical advice for leaders who want to improve the quality of their own decisions as well as the decision-making intelligence of their companies. by Theodore Kinni Tue, 21 Jun 2022 00:00:00 -0500 https://www.strategy-business.com/article/To-improve-management-build-a-decision-factory?rssid=business-book&gko=c859e https://www.strategy-business.com/article/Why-economies-crash?rssid=business-book&gko=80ced Mike Jakeman reviews The Illusion of Control: Why Financial Crises Happen, and What We Can (and Can't) Do About It, by Jon Danielsson, who argues that systemic financial crises are difficult to predict and equally hard to prevent. by Mike Jakeman Mon, 13 Jun 2022 00:00:00 -0500 https://www.strategy-business.com/article/Why-economies-crash?rssid=business-book&gko=80ced