The Path to Inclusion
By Holly Dolezalek
from Training May2008, Vol. 45 Iss. 4 May 2008, pp. 52-54
"The article discusses the need to connect diversity strategy to organizational strategy. Part of the problem with diversity training has always been its limitations, the article notes. Diversity leadership means leading others to a more inclusive mind-set so that everyone is contributing up to their full potential. Juan Johnson, a senior fellow at the Richard W. Riley Institute, adds that real diversity leadership is about having decision-making skills that help one make decisions that align with the mission, values, or strategy of the company."

How the Best of the Best Get Better and Better
By Graham Jones
from Harvard Business Review Vol. 86 Iss. 6 Jun 2008 , pp. 123-127
"What is the real key to elite performance? According to sports psychologist turned executive coach Graham Jones, star athletes and businesspeople share one defining trait: mental toughness. People who become champions aren't necessarily more gifted than others; they're just masters at managing pressure, meticulously tackling goals, and driving themselves to stay ahead of the competition. Jones, who has advised Olympic medalists and Fortune 500 executives, sees many parallels between the arenas of business and sports, especially in the behavior of people who rise to the very top. These stars have learned to love pressure because it spurs them to achieve. Inner-focused and self-directed, they concentrate on their own excellence and forget the rest. They don't get distracted by others' victories or failures -- or even by a personal tragedy off the field of competition. Like Darren Clarke, the golfer who inspired his team to a Ryder Cup victory shortly after the death of his beloved wife, elite performers are masters of compartmentalization. Superstars rebound from defeats more easily, Jones observes, because they don't engage in self-flagellation. One of the keys to their success is a relentless focus on the long term and the careful planning of short-term goals that will help them attain major milestones. Competition doesn't daunt elite performers; they just use it to challenge themselves -- and they never stop striving. Even after becoming benchmarks in their fields, stars keep their edge by reinventing themselves. Star businesspeople and athletes also recognize the importance of celebrating their wins. It's not just the emotional reward that's important, however: The very best performers also analyze the factors underpinning their success. That helps them build their expertise and their confidence."

The Secrets to Successful STRATEGY EXECUTION
By Gary L Neilson, Karla L Martin and Elizabeth Powers
from Harvard Business Review Vol. 86 Iss. 6 Jun 2008, pp. 60-70
"When a company finds itself unable to execute strategy, all too often the first reaction is to redraw the organization chart or tinker with incentives. Far more effective would be to clarify decision rights and improve the flow of information both up the line of command and across the organization. Then, the right structures and motivators tend to fall into place. That conclusion is borne out by the authors' decades of experience as Booz & Company consultants and by the survey data that they have been collecting for almost five years from more than 125,000 employees of some 1,000 organizations in more than 50 countries. From this data they have distilled--and ranked in order of importance--the top 17 traits exhibited by the organizations that are most effective at executing strategy. The single most common attribute of such companies is that their employees are clear about which decisions and actions they are responsible for. As a result, decisions are rarely second-guessed, and accurate competitive information quickly finds its way up the hierarchy and across organizational boundaries. Managers communicate the key drivers of success, so frontline employees have the information they need to understand the impact of their day-to-day actions. Motivators--like performance appraisals that distinguish high, adequate, and low performers and rewards for fulfilling particular commitments--are also important but are most effective when applied after decision rights and information flows have been addressed. That holds true for structural moves as well. Surprisingly, the most effective structural moves turn out to be promoting people laterally--and more slowly. How can you make the most educated and cost-efficient decisions about which change initiatives to implement? The authors have developed a powerful online diagnostic and simulation tool that can help you test the effectiveness of various approaches virtually, without risking significant amounts of time and money."

Why Are We Losing All Our Good People?
By Edward Lawler III et al
from Harvard Business Review Vol. 86 Iss 6 Jun 2008, pp. 41-51
"Is it a sign or just a coincidence that several talented employees have recently left Sambian Partners? The architecture and engineering firm's latest defector refuses to tell the head of human resources, Mary Donillo, why he was unhappy. And the self-administered employee surveys don't reveal much. When CEO Helen Gasbarian gets word of the next possible flight risk, she promotes the employee on the spot. How can Sambian stop the talent drain? Four experts comment on this fictional case study. Anna Pringle, the head of international people and organization capability for Microsoft, thinks that Helen should take a hard look at Mary, who is not safeguarding the firm's talent. Helen must also become an attentive listener. F. Leigh Branham, the CEO of human resources consultancy Keeping the People, thinks that Sambian's employees need a forum in which they can speak openly about their discontent. The candid discussions can expose the "triggering events" that impel people to leave, such as a disconnect between the firm's longstanding focus on innovative design and a more recent concern with profitability. Jim Cornelius, the chairman and CEO of Bristol-Myers Squibb, once faced a potential employee exodus as interim CEO of the pharmaceutical company. He advises Helen to meet face-to-face with her most talented employees and assure them that she understands their concerns and desires. Jean Martin, the executive director of the Corporate Executive Board's leadership council, urges Helen to support a mission and culture to which employees will feel connected. She explains that although people join companies for rational motives, they stay for emotional ones. By the time unhappy workers tell their managers what's going on, it's often too late. "

Eco Investor [e-journal]

"Focuses on environmental investment - in businesses undertaking or commercializing environmentally positive activities including renewable energy, recycling and waste management, technology breakthroughs and enhancements, eco-design, eco-tourism, and other eco-positive products and services." - website.

Click here to access.

World Development Indicators [reference book]
Author: World Bank

"Annual compilation of data about development ... Includes more than 800 indicators in over 80 tables organized in 6 sections: World View, People, Environment, Economy, States and Markets, and Global Links."

Now available in Library & Research Services' Reference Collection.

The Pirate’s dilemma : how hackers, punk capitalists, graffiti millionaires and other youth movements are remixing our culture and changing our world [book]

Author: Mat Mason

"Argues from that youth culture, out on the edges of the mainstream, come the ideas that ultimately change the mainstream itself ... [and] unravels some of our most basic assumptions about business and society and pinpoints trends to look out for in our future." - cover.

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Common wealth : economics for a crowded planet [book]

Author: Jeffrey Sachs

"Shows that there are different ways of managing the world’s technologies, resources and politics from those currently being followed, and that it should be possible to adopt policies which reflect long-term and co-operative thinking instead of, as currently, disregard for others and ever-increasing barriers to solving problems which we collectively face." - cover.

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Best practices in lean six sigma process improvement : a deeper look [book]

Author: Richard Schonberger

Reveals the keys to real process improvement: focus on the customer, and continously improving response time, quality, flexibililty and value.

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Peak Performance
By Darren Baguley
from Management Today Issue 43 Apr 2008, pp. 20 - 23
"Business's top performers are turning to productivity coaches in order to stay at the top of their game, and they're finding out that healthy minds and healthy bodies can mean peak performance."

Mentoring, supervisor support, and perceived organizational support: what matters most?
By David D. Dawley, Martha C. Andrews and Neil S. Bucklew
from Leadership & Organization Development Journal Vol 29 Iss 3 2008, pp. 235 - 247
"The purpose of this paper is to provide an examination of the relative impact of
mentoring, supervisor support, and perceived organizational support on organizational commitment and job search behavior."

Deal or No Deal Business
By Clarissa Keil
from Policy Vol 24 No 1 Autumn 2008, pp. 38-43
"The article looks into the trade policies of Australia. It states that Trade Minister Warren Truss and Shadow Trade Minister Simon Crean agree on a multilateral trade policy but have different views regarding the value of bilateral agreements. Australia has free trade agreements (FTAs) with other countries, including New Zealand, the U.S. and Asian countries. According to the author, Australia needs to pursue unilateral liberalization and multilateral negotiations and not just FTAs."

Strategic market management [book]

Author: David A. Aaker

"Developing successful, ongoing strategies in dynamic markets involves five types of competencies that are detailed in the book - strategic analysis, stimulating and managing innovation, managing multiple businesses, creating advantage, and developing growth strategies." - page v.

Click here to borrow book.

Local development benefits from staging major events [e-book]

Author: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
"Identifies how staging international events works as a trigger for local development, and what hosting cities and nations can do to ensure that a positive local legacy and wider benefits are realised." - executive summary.
Click here to access.

Refereed proceedings of the 31st annual conference of the Australian and New Zealand Regional Science Association International [CD ROM]

Edited by: Paul Dalziel

Papers include: "Effects of drought on small business in regional Queensland", "Measuring Queensland wellbeing: a Central Queensland case study", and "What drives regional export performance?"

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Creative economy report 2008 : the challenge of assessing the creative economy : towards informed policy making

Author: United Nations. Conference on Trade and Development

"Addresses the challenge of assessing the creative economy with a view to informed policy-making by outlining the conceptual, institutional and policy framework in which this economy is flourishing." - page iv.

Click here to access.

Marketing research [book]

Author: David Aaker, and others

A comprehensive text on marketing intelligence, with a particular focus the use of online market research.

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Fiscal policy in India : past reforms and future challenges [e-book]

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)

"Describes reforms over the past decades which, as part of the overall economic reform agenda, helped lifting the Indian economy to a higher growth path. It also discusses where further reforms are desirable to further reduce economic distortions and improve the provision of public services." - abstract.

Click here to access.

Mass career customization : aligning the workplace with today’s nontraditional workforce [book]

Authors: Cathleen Benko & Anne Weisberg

"Provides a refreshing approach to attracting talent and strengthening leadership pipelines while providing varied and well-balanced career journeys." - cover.

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An Introduction to workforce planning : are you ready for crunch time? [book]
Author: Julie Sloan

A practical and concise guide which describes a 13 step methodology for workforce planning.
Click here to borrow book.