Business operations.

The Six Common Small Business Failures …and how to avoid them . Frederick Jones. 2009. ISBN 9780578008592.  This is quite a hard hitting book.  his chapter on traits of an Unfit Leader should scare a lot of folks.  His six items is:

1. Poor planning
2. Misalignment
3. Lack of dedication
4. Laziness
5. Untruthfulness
6. Arrogance

The author has been there and done it. This is not an academic book. Check out www.donotfail.info

Business Security. How to protect your small business against fraud, debtors, theft, workplace violence and more! T.A. Brown. 2008. ISBN9780974343891. This is a collection of articles by experts in each of the fields.  I was taken aback by the thoroughness of the writers in such a small book. All meat and potatoes.

Without Warning. Breakthrough strategies for solving the silent problems taking aim at your organization. Rodney N. Johnson2009. ISBN 1592982743.  This book outlines a method to quickly help you get your company aligned, by eliminating the silent problems.  By a generous use of examples and stories the author helps you identify your own silent problems.  Very useful quick  book. Check out  www.withoutwarningcoach.com

The Adversity Paradox. An unconventional guide to achieving uncommon business success.  J. Barry Griswell & Bob Jennings. 2009. ISBN 9780312385552.  Writers like Harvey Mackay have firsthand knowledge of “the adversity paradox”. They have found that the knowledge they gained from overcoming adversity played a crucial role in their success trajectories, so they now consider adversity a friend. Griswell is no stranger to this.  With lots of real life examples – it is not a short cut book, but rather a lifetime of insights book.  If you are facing tough time, embrace the experience and it will make you stronger.

Building Business Value. How to command a premium price for your midsized company. Martin O”Neil. 2009. 9780982056905.  Martin O’Neill shows you how to focus a leadership team on the challenge of building value over the long haul, so when it comes time to exit, your company can ask for – and get – that superpremium price.  ROThumb? Never stop thinking about tomorrow.

OOPS! 13 Management Practices That Waste Time and Money. 2009. ISBN 9780937100172.  The author believes that these 13 are a waste of time (and she pulls no punches):

1. Employee of the month
2. Stretch goals
3. Performance appraisals
4. Ranking
5. Rewarding things a dead man can do
6. Salary and hourly pay
7. “You did a good job, but”
8. The sandwich
9. Overvaluing smart talented people
10. The budget process
11. Promoting people nobody likes
12. Downsizing

Mergers, acquisitions and other reorgs.

She also present what you can do instead.  I believe him . A good read.

Related articles

• Book Review: The Success Gurus: 17 Lessons in Greatness from the Best Minds in Business by Andrew Clancy (blogcritics.org)
• Six Steps to Creating a Profit. A guide for the small and mid-sized service-based businesses. Patricia Sigmon (regnordman.com)
• Building Business Value. How to command a premium price for your midsized company. Martin O”Neill. (regnordman.com)