Book Description
A piercing and vital look at how capitalism is consuming U.S. society.
An apt sequel to Benjamin R. Barber's best-selling Jihad vs. McWorld, Consumed offers a wrenching portrait of how adult consumers are infantilized in a global economy that overproduces goods and targets children as consumers in a market where there are never enough shoppers. Driven by a frantic imperative to sell, consumer capitalism specializes today in the manufacture not of goods but of needs.
This provocative culmination of Barber's lifelong study of democracy and capitalism shows how the infantilist ethos deprives society of responsible citizens and displaces public goods with private commodities. Traditional liberal democratic society is colonized by an all-pervasive market imperative. Public space is privatized. Identity is branded. Our world, homogenized. With brilliance and depth, Barber confronts the likely consequences for our children, our liberty, and our citizenship, and shows finally how citizens can resist and transcend the civic schizophrenia with which consumerism has infected them.
Customer Reviews:
Hard read but.......2007-09-24
Benjamin R. Barber's "Consumed" is a hard book to read but a necessary one. Barber tells us how capitalism once met the "needs" of people and that it now just meets what he calls "faux" demand. It's the rise of the protestant ethics and ethos that has made capitalism thrive until today. The rise of infantilization and the dumbing of consumers has given corporations the power to control our so called "wants." Barber doesn't give us a solid solution to this (even he admits it will take a big effort) growing problem but it is a start.
How a book infantilizes adults and swallows citizens whole.......2007-09-03
It seems like there is an endless market for "Marx-lite" books by people who hate America and the West. Here is another example without a new idea in sight. Famous authors, such as Marx, Sombart, and Gaibraith, have previously rebottled this old wine. Like them, Barber hates our movies, our culture, our food, our sports, our consumer products, our free markets, and, of course, the likes of Wall Street, Silicon Valley, Gates, Gilder, Wal-Mart, GM, Google, and on and on. It is depressing just going through all the parts of America he feels are misdirected and even immoral. Is this really a person who loves America?
Where are the positive examples and why this perspective? Because, as the Nobel Prize winning economist Hayek has pointed out, for socialists, "Every activity must derive its justification from conscious social purpose." Thus Barber must tear down all those activities that he feels have either no purpose or the wrong social purpose. This quote by Hayek is a succinct summary of the motivation behind the book. Toward this end, Barber quotes many attention-grabbing sources. For example, on page 51 he asks us to consider, "Karl Marx who presciently explained how `the expansion of production and of needs becomes an ingenious and always calculating subservience to inhuman, depraved, unnatural, and imaginary appetites.'" A question: Does that really describe you or your friends?
Like most socialists, he has no respect for the individual: We are all at the mercy of those terrible companies who want to sucker us into buying things we don't want or need. Hey, but Barber will be happy to decide what we need. He knows the truth -- ask him. But why is he or some other group better qualified to decide what we need?
Barber has no understanding of free markets, the emerging global economy, or even the mom and pop shop on the corner. Like many academics, who have never produced anything but papers and books, he writes with absolute confidence and with noteworthy ignorance, not because he is unintelligent but rather because his starting perspective is wrong.
This is a long tedious book: Barber seems to crank this stuff out by the ton. As he would say, this book is an immoral waste of resources that we as consumers should reject because it has no larger social value. The only thing it has going for it is a mighty ad campaign aimed at corrupting children, infantilizing adults, and swallowing citizens whole. But, then again, each of us will have to decide that.
Right on the mark..........2007-08-16
I see a number of other reviewers belittling the book because of some trivial factual error regarding sports figures or celebrities, but in my eyes those points merely underscores the point that Barber is trying to make. In the end the constant media focus on these types of people is in my eyes a mass distraction. Does it change my life one iota when a drunken celebrity does something stupid? Not at all, but the media covers it for hour on end, and people lap it up.
People defend popular culture such as Harry Potter or Shrek, but these are all pure escapism and have very little relevance to our daily lives. Reviewers of those films make tortured comparisons to try and prove relevance to daily life, but the sad fact is that many people have become conditioned to not expect more, and perhaps not even have the patience to view a more substantive work.
Other reviewers insist that they aren't manipulated and that they have free choice. To an extent that is true, but one can easily argue that many people are making poor choices because they have been so deeply conditioned by advertisers. How can you justify spending 50K$ on a car, and replacing it when it is 3 years old when an inexpensive well-made car will fulfill the basic needs of transportation and may last 5-8 years instead? How can you justify spending money on bottled water when tap water in most areas is just fine? And how can you justify accumulating tens of thousands in consumer debt just to acquire all of this stuff? There are countless such examples all over the place.
And finally, there is the paradigm that runs deeply through our society that having more money and having more material goods will somehow make you happier. The problem is that these desires can never be satisfied - there is always something more, and there is always someone else who has more. In the end all of this materialism leaves people feeling empty, and the only tonic that they know to try and fill the void is to go out and shop some more.
On the other hand, if you can reach a point where you are content with what you have, you may find that many of the things that you do have are completely superfluous and can be donated to Goodwill or sold. Get rid of enough stuff, and that McMansion will seem empty, and a more modest and affordable house may meet your needs quite nicely.
Best Book I've Read in 5 Years.......2007-07-11
This is the best book I've read in 5 years. And I usually read 30 or so a year. It is the most challenging thing I've ever read. Throughout almost every sitting with the book, I would have to walk away and just sit to let it soak in. It was extremely cutting and exposing to me. And I dare say convicting. It's helped me to realize what a hyper-consumer I am and how childish I am in my tastes and entertainment. Even how childish I am in my spending. I never thought there would be a day when I felt like I needed to grow up and be a man, but this book helped me to entertain the possibility. The basic idea of the book focuses on the infantilization (dumbing down) of our society via the means of marketing and advertising. And the hyper-consumerism capitalism that we live with today. I couldn't recommend this book more highly. But I will give one disclaimer. It's 300+ pages of really small type. What makes it worse is that the author writes it like an academic paper. For example the first chapter which is only 35 pages long has 98 footnotes. It's just a really difficult read where reading 20 pages takes you an hour. So you'll either love the book or hate it. If you're a nerd, you might dig it. If you're not a nerd, you won't.
Try something else........2007-06-19
I confess, I didn't read the whole book. A friend gave it to me, and I parked it on the shelf after reading half and skimming the rest. Jeez-Louise! I'd hate to spend a week on an expedition cruise with this guy! He'd be the first one trying to feed the animals and then monopolizing the talk at dinner till everyone wanted to jump overboard. I didn't realize corporate America had captured everyone's free-will. The evil Bill Gates and Steve Jobs must be supressed along with Rupert Murdoch and the Walton family! I suggest reading Alexis-Charles-Henri Clérel de Tocqueville. He still rings true today. You'll sleep better at night. You want an entertaining picture of rampant consumption in America today, seen through the lens of 1840's when the all-corrupting market swallowed the entire continent of North America...and yes, is still swallowing it...There's a lot to eat out there, bunky! Read Heyday by Kurt Andersen. We may not be perfect but there must be some attraction if 12 million people will risk life and limb to get here one way or another. Mr. Barber and his book would probably be better fare in Venezuala or Cuba.
Amazon.com
Dr. Michael Roizen hopes to discover a cure for the common birthday. The author of the bestselling book RealAge and Oprah guru, Roizen translates groundbreaking medical research into a series of calculations and choices that promise to reduce age-linked symptoms and diseases. The RealAge Makeover begins with a self-test of 132 health factor questions that compare your calendar age with your "real age"--based on healthy habits plus heredity, he rounds up the usual suspects (sun exposure, sleep patterns, good fats) as well as the unusual (the kind of chocolate you eat, the number of nagging unfinished tasks, your catsup consumption). Although Roizen flags heredity, he focuses on the three key factors of aging: arteries (heart attack, stroke, memory loss), immune systems (prostate and breast cancer), and environmental stresses (lung cancer, STDs). He offers a sliding scale of difficulty in his "younger every day suggestions." Whether talking about stress, diet, or disease, Roizen offers case examples and subtle and engaging strategies such as describing the role of living beyond your means in aging or the difference between "four-legged" and "no-leg fats." Readers looking for a quick fix will benefit less than those who follow the recommendations that require focus and commitment. As Baby Boomers age and books about turning back time increase, Roizen's will remain a standout. --Barbara Mackoff
Book Description
The bestselling author of RealAge has more ways to turn back the clock and get a new lease on life.
Thousands of Americans are younger today than they were five years ago. How? By following the specific recommendations that reverse aging in the bestselling book RealAge: Are You as Young as You Can Be? People who were previously much 'older' than their chronological age have taken 10, 15, up to 24 years off of their biological age. It's been called The RealAge Makeover.
Almost daily, there are news items about ageing or age–related disease. One food is found to increase the risk of heart disease, while another has been found to decrease it. In The RealAge Makeover, Dr Roizen makes sense of recent critical medical findings. Plus he offers steps that will reduce or even prevent 80% of the diseases that make you feel or be older. Roizen believes that if you are well informed, you can control your genes to a very large degree. For example, just eating the right chocolate or drinking a little coffee can help you reduce inflammation dramatically and preserve your arteries, joints, and memory. But the wrong choice can lead to needless aging and loss of energy. The RealAge Makeover tells you how much (in years) each such choice is worth. Why not live at 60 feeling like you did at 35?
For that extra inspiration, readers' personal success stories are interwoven throughout the book. They followed the RealAge program and became younger biologically and are now living happier, healthier lives.
o Aimed at those getting older and those who want to preserve their youth.
o The RealAge Makeover unifies all aspects of ageing, explaining the relative impact of the behaviours that age us and providing a numerical guide for age reduction. The basis of the RealAge program is that certain foods and behaviours can make you older or younger, and it offers a range of age–busting strategies for a healthier, younger body.
Customer Reviews:
An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure.......2007-08-28
And "prevention" (of aging and disease) is the underlying message of this makeover program.
The Dr. Roizen (who partnered with Dr. Oz for the successful "You" series of books) provides easy to follow guidelines for doing the things you know you need to do for better health.
This isn't necessarily a book you'll sit down and read cover to cover. It may work better for you if you turn to the chapter that addresses your most pressing concern (weight, smoking, etc.), and start there.
Because the other underlying message is that you have to start SOMEWHERE to get your health under control.
With this book, the plan is laid out for you in easy to understand language. The implementing may not be quite as easy. That part takes determination.
So if you're determined to do something about your health, you'll find what you need here.
(So why 4 stars, not 5? Because, unlike the "You" books, this one has no "cute" illustrations, and it is dense with text. Something that may be off-putting for readers who like their medicine to go down smoothly, and with a touch of humor.)
The more you know...........2007-07-19
Roizen tells you easy ways to improve your health and well being.
His methods are straight forward and completely obtainable.
The hard part, incorporating these practical and easy steps into the formation of your new habits.
Before you buy this, you probably already know that you need to change your lifestyle and habits. If you have the will power to change, you will love this book. If you don't have the will power, you will need a very wobbly table to level before this book will be useful to you.
RealAge.......2007-05-12
It is OK. Uses the hype: Your younger than you think are, as long as you take care of yourself. Daaaa
More of the same..........2007-05-07
You can find this info on line so I wouldn't spend the money unless you're a real health nut and need to read everything and anything written on aging etc. It's OK but the internet would be faster and just as informative.
The RealAge Makeover.......2007-04-13
Great information. Now, I just need to actually apply this new found knowledge to my life.
Book Description
It's undeniable. The earth is warming. For the first time since the dawn of civilization, the earth's temperature is rising. Scientists and governments around the world, including the United States, not only agree that global warming is happening, they assert that we must do something about it fast. Yet while Gallup polls indicate that 70 percent of Americans are concerned about global warming, most people are unaware of what they can do to help fix the problem.51 Easy Ways You Can Prevent Global Warming (and Save Money!) converts this public concern into positive action, providing simple, everyday things you can do to minimize global warming-and save yourself money at the same time! Global warming may seem like an overwhelming and insurmountable problem. But there are easy things you can do around your home, in your backyard, and with your automobile that will help the planet and your pocketbook. While the book contains 51 topics, there are actually hundreds of tips and suggestions within the book that will help you address this global problem.Whether you are one of the nearly three-quarters of Americans who consider themselves environmentalists, or you're interested in practical ways you can save money each year, the straightforward tips packed within 51 Easy Ways You Can Prevent Global Warming (and Save Money!) will make this one of the most important and useful books on your bookshelf.
Customer Reviews:
Great book for saving money and helping environment.......2006-01-29
This is a great book for anyone that has an interest in the environment. The practical tips also help individuals save money while making a positive impact.
Save Money, Make an Impact, Share it With Others.......2006-01-20
This is an amazing book. I didn't think I had a lot to learn about saving energy. The Authors do a great job describing just about all one needs to know in order to save money...and the planet and its resources while preventing climate change.
It was a very well-researched book. On some of the calculations, they state assumptions. Some are left on faith. This is OK. There were a few subtle details that may have been a bit overstated, however their estimates on how much can be saved are not exaggerations. If anything, they are conservative, especially given the cost of gas, heating and electricity...If only water were more expensive...alas!
This book inspired a Weatherstripping party at my apartment complex and has helped me have even more footholds into discussions about conservation and how much difference it can make.
Thanks to the Authors. Wonderful!!!
Exceptionally practical and a very interesting read.......2004-11-19
First, this book is very easy to read. Each tip is only a few pages long, so it is easy to read in small pieces or out-of-order. The information it presents is very practical, listing a wide array of energy-saving tips ranging from the more obvious (changing light bulbs and using programmable thermostats) to a good selection of not-so-obvious (getting off of junk mail lists, making green investments, identifying appliances which burn a lot of electricity even when they are turned off, cleaning your refrigerator coils, using carbon offsets, and many more). Overall, I was very impressed with the breadth of ideas represented here, which encompassed much more than I expected or could have ever thought of on my own.
Each tip provides interesting background as well as hard numbers so you can gauge the impact and determine if the tip makes sense for you.
Having read this book and implemented a number of the key tips, I have learned a lot and also cut my monthly electric bill roughly in half. I would strongly recommend this for anybody who is interested in saving money or sustainable living. And for around $10, given all the money you'll save, you can afford to give copies to your family and friends.
Where has this book BEEN all my life?.......2004-10-18
This is a MUST READ for anyone wanting to understand their personal contribution to Global Warming and what they can do about it!
This book tackles a daunting, huge problem in a VERY encouraging way. It provides tools anyone can use to reduce their personal contribution to this problem and that of their community and their nation. Let's hope many schools add this book to their curriculum!
Simple ways to save money.......2004-03-05
51 Easy Ways You Can Prevent Global Warming converts this public concern into positive action, providing simple, everyday things you can do to minimize global warming-and save yourself money at the same time! Global warming may seem like an overwhelming and insurmountable problem but there are easy things you can do around your home, in your backyard, and with your automobile that will help the planet and your pocketbook. While the book contains 51 topics, there are actually hundreds of tips and suggestions within the book that will help you address this global problem.
Whether you are one of the nearly three-quarters of people who consider themselves environmentalists, or you're interested in practical ways you can save money each year, the straightforward tips packed within 51 Easy Ways You Can Prevent Global Warming (and Save Money!) will make this one of the most important and useful books on your bookshelf.
Average customer rating:
- How to empower health care consumers
- Huge but a litle simplistic
- Thoughtful Contribution
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Consumer-Driven Health Care: Implications for Providers, Payers, and Policy-Makers
Regina E. Herzlinger
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Similar Items:
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Redefining Health Care: Creating Value-Based Competition on Results
-
Market-Driven Healthcare: Who Wins, Who Loses in the Transformation of America's Largest Service Industry
-
The Health Care Value Chain: Producers, Purchasers, and Providers
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Who Killed HealthCare?: America's $2 Trillion Medical Problem - and the Consumer-Driven Cure
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The Business of Healthcare Innovation
ASIN: 0787952583 |
Book Description
Professor Herzlinger documents how the consumer-driven health care movement is being implemented and its impact on insurers, providers, new intermediaries, and governments. With additional contributions by health care’s leading strategists, innovators, regulators and scholars, Consumer-Driven Health Care presents a compelling vision of a health care system built to satisfy the people it serves.
This comprehensive resource includes the most important thinking on the topic and compelling case studies of consumer-driven health care (CDHC) in action, here and abroad, including new consumer-driven intermediaries for information and support; types of insurance plans; focused factories for delivering health care; personalized drugs and devices; and government roles.
Download Description
Professor Herzlinger documents how the consumer-driven health care movement is being implemented and its impact on insurers, providers, new intermediaries, and governments. With additional contributions by health care’s leading strategists, innovators, regulators and scholars, Consumer-Driven Health Care presents a compelling vision of a health care system built to satisfy the people it serves.
This comprehensive resource includes the most important thinking on the topic and compelling case studies of consumer-driven health care (CDHC) in action, here and abroad, including new consumer-driven intermediaries for information and support; types of insurance plans; focused factories for delivering health care; personalized drugs and devices; and government roles.
Customer Reviews:
How to empower health care consumers.......2006-06-06
Although this book was written a few years ago, the issues addressed in it by Regina Herzlinger and other contributors seem even more relevant - indeed, more urgent - now than they were in 2004. How does Herzlinger characterize consumer-driven health care? It is "fundamentally about empowering health care consumers - all of us - with control, choice, and information." Such control will "reward innovative insurers and providers for creating the higher-quality, lower-cost services we want and deserve." What would be the role of government? She asserts that "government will protect us with financial assistance and oversight, not micromanagement."
The material in this substantial volume is organized within five Parts. Herzlkinger wrote the first, "Why We Need Consumer-Driven Health Care," then edited the contributions by others which comprise Parts Two-Five. She also wrote Chapter 78, "A Health Care SEC: The Truth, the Whole Truth, and Nothing But the Truth." For most of us who are not health care professionals, this volume provides about as much information as we could possibly need, much less process. I especially appreciate the fact that Herzlinger and her associate contributors make a conscious effort to avoid jargon, vague theories, oblique hypotheses, etc. They obviously believe that major health care issues are too important to be packaged as flimflam, swamp gas, and flapdoodle. Hence their rigorous focus on explaining (from a variety of perspectives) why consumer-driven health care is needed, and, how to establish and then sustain it.
Of special interest to me were these chapters whose titles correctly indicated what their respective authors discuss:
Chapter 5, "Health Care Productivity," Herzlinger
Chapter 20, "An Insurance CEO's Perspective on Consumer-Driven Health Care," Leonard D. Schaeffer (Chairman and CEO, WellPoint Health Networks)
Chapter 25, "Challenges of Consumer-Driven Health Care," Eugene D. Hill III
Chapter 34, "The Role of Information: J.D. Power's Paradigm Lessons from the Automotive Industry," J.D. Power III
Chapter 52, "Consumer-Driven Health Care: Management Matters," Richard M.J. Bohmer, Amy C. Edmondson, and Gary P. Pisano
Given the fact that this volume offers a total of 81 chapters, my guess is that each reader will find at least 10-15 of special interest to her or him. I presume to suggest, also, that many of those subjects which may seem to be of least interest and value will, in fact, generously reward a careful reading. It remains for each reader to review the Contents and then decide what to read and in which sequence.
Those who share my high regard for this volume are urged to check out Michael Porter and Elizabeth Olmsted Teisberg's Redefining Health Care: Creating Value-Based Competition, and two books by Lawton Robert Burns and his Wharton associates: The Health Care Value Chain: Producers, Purchasers, and Providers, and, The Business of Healthcare Innovation.
Huge but a litle simplistic.......2005-01-18
Sub-Title: Implications for Providers, Players, and Policy-Makers --,Citizen participation, Consumer satisfaction, Evaluation, Health & Fitness, Health Care Administration, Health Care Delivery, Health Care Issues, Health Policy, Health planning, Health/Fitness, Medical / Nursing, Patient Compliance, Patient satisfaction, Health systems & services, Medical / Administration, Personal & public health, Medical ==If your interests or profession lies in any area of health care this is a book that you almost have to have. In its almost 1,000 pages nearly every aspect of health care coverage is discussed. The format of the book includes some 200 pages written by Professor Herslinger followed by some 72 articles written by some 93 participants in a conference she held. As you would expect, the quality of the papers vary greatly. ==There are also a few reasons to disagree with some of Professor Herslingers basic thesis. She seems to believe that health insurers would compete in a fair market place to provide care to anyone. This is simply not true. If an insurance company can pre-select to eliminate giving any coverage at all to the sicker or more risky patients, it is to their benefit. An AIDS patient, with a requirement for expensive drugs can be folded into the coverage written for a large group, but an individual policy would have to be very expensive, or simply not written at all. The coverage of such patients is covered with what I think are unrealistic assumptions. ==The book presents a series of views that are just a bit simplistic, but which are forming a part of the national debate on health care. The information is needed if only to be aware of the discussion.
Thoughtful Contribution.......2004-07-26
In Consumer-Driven Health Care, Regina E. Herzlinger, a leading health care thought leader and a professor at the Harvard Business School, provides a thought-provoking look inside a new, powerful force slowly transforming America's dysfunctional health care industry. Consumer-Driven Health Care builds on her popular 1997 book Market-Driven Health Care: Who Wins, Who Loses in the Transformation of America's Largest Service Industry.
In the first part of her new 900-page book, Dr. Herzlinger makes a convincing case about how and why health care is broken and why market-based solutions - which empower consumers - are best. She restates the case she made in Market-Driven Health Care for putting consumers directly in charge of their own decisions (picking insurance plans, making medical decisions).
Through transparency of information, a realignment of incentives, and new tools to support decision-making by patients, the consumer-driven model gives individuals a clear stake in their own health care. While not unique to other parts of the US economy, the approach is a radical departure for the $1.7 trillion health care market. As Dr. Herzlinger makes clear in her energetic analysis, the absence of these proven market-based tools goes a long to explain why health care became our most inefficient, outdated, and error-prone industry.
The second part - about 80 percent of the book - is a collection of 73 think pieces written by 92 other experts. With short introductions by Dr. Herzlinger, these articles serve as a useful initial knowledge base for a growing field with an uncertain future.
The book has its limitations. For example, Dr. Herzlinger's case for the consumer-driven model fails to address the Medicare and Medicaid systems. It also leaves a variety of practical transition and execution issues unaddressed, although these are beyond the purpose of this volume. Because articles were written several years ago as part of a conference and most of the writers lack purchaser-side experience, the book also does not deal with the growing list of market-based reforms underway by large employers and innovative health plans.
In addition, since the field is still in its infancy, Dr. Herzlinger is a business researcher, and the contributors are largely wide-eyed entrepreneurs, the book will likely frustrate health policy wonks and others stuck in the technical minutia and ideological fights that characterize most health care discussions. But then, that's just as well. Too often analysts forget that health care is a business and operates as a market, albeit a flawed one insulated from tools proven to drive quality and efficiency. And we need all the wide-eyed, out-of-the-box thinking we can get.
Dr. Herzlinger also has her detractors. It reminds me of the old joke that there are two kinds of people in the world: people who like Wayne Newton and people who don't. Well, it seems that health care wonkdom is divided by those who like Reggie Herzlinger's ideas and those who don't. However, given the massive problems in American health care, her plain-spoken, business-savvy contributions remain as useful as they are provocative.
For a good primer on consumer-driven health care, I recommend you start with Let's Put Consumers in Charge of Health Care, a concise article by Dr. Herzlinger in Harvard Business Review (July 2002 issue). Available here on Amazon ($7, PDF).
Book Description
Internationally Acclaimed Branding Guru Challenges Corporations: "It's Time to Act as Good Citizens"
What have today's brands in common with politicians? - They need to take an active, positive role in people's lives in order to be elected —locally and globally, says Marc Gobé, the founder of the widely successful Emotional Branding concept. Today's all-powerful, post-hedonistic consumers expect a deepening level of emotional commitment and social responsibility from the brands that they choose. In CITIZEN BRAND, an evolvement of his revolutionary EMOTIONAL BRANDING concept, the internationally acclaimed branding guru tells corporations how to become the socially relevant, caring community members that are elected in today's consumer democracy.
Three quarters of consumers would vote for corporate community involvement and ethical business practices, say recent polls. Yet while "cause marketing" programs abound, few corporations truly understand the emotional power of the "Citizen Brand" approach, argues Marc Gobé. Using brands like Starbucks and The Bodyshop and Home Depot as examples, CITIZEN BRAND reveals how companies can create strong and deep partnerships with people in America and across the globe by enriching their lives in creative and truly relevant ways.
The bursting dot.com bubble, anti-globalization protests in Seattle and Genoa, an economic slowdown, and the September 11 tragedy. . .the events of the past three years have changed dramatically what consumers expect from today's brands: they seek emotional support and orientation an increasingly complex, strenuous reality. Getting this right requires an intimate understanding of one's customers and their deepest values, says Marc Gobé. CITIZEN BRAND reveals how smart companies have responded to this reality check by treating their customers--and employees—with a new humanistic, emotional sensitivity. Nucor has made it a point to not lay off any of its people in the face of recession; other companies have followed the example of The Bodyshop by establishing community programs for customers and employees; Coca-Cola is using its trucks in Africa to bring medication and education to local customers.
As Gobé underlines, CITIZEN BRAND is not a comprehensive form of philantrophy or a new business strategy, but an inevitable consequence of global change: ". . .in a global world influenced more and more by local politics, religious upheaval, and social awareness, the role of businesses will change in a dramatic way. The need to reassess one's corporate responsibility is critical in a changed world."
Customer Reviews:
"Interesting" but not "good"........2004-05-20
I found this book less brilliant than his previous title ¡§Emotional branding¡¨. Gobe is simply repeating himself in a loosely knit 10-chapters format. There are many interesting case studies, but the author does not focus them tight enough to make those examples relevant to the chapter title. For instance in chapter 2 he talks about trust and cause marketing, but he cannot solidly tie the two together; as trust does not always equal well-carried cause marketing campaigns, what IS trust in terms of branding? What are the mechanisms of ¡§trust¡¨? I think he should give us a global definition before diving into the subject.
There are numerous examples of such poorly related text in the book, I would advise you to read his first book ¡§Emotional branding¡¨ and skip this one.
Shifting into the future, the right way!.......2003-05-04
A book, a philosophy, a plan for the future - and one after my own heart...
In an age where many business fear for the future, claiming that customers are jaded, and even anti-business, Gobé presents the situation in more than a constructive manner, he gives a hopeful one.
Rather than throwing his hands up to the sky, pointing to groups that plan 'Don't Buy Anything' days as the end of it all, he shows us that commerce is not over, it is evolving.
More than heart-warming, I think he is right. (He sure has described me as a consumer!) And I know I want to run my business by these ethics, goals & philosophies.
However, his message is more than an uplifting moment, or one of personal identification for me - he gives concrete examples of how businesses can connect with today's customers.
If you can invest in only one branding book this year, this is the one to get.
A definite winner!.......2002-11-05
A fantastic and very useful book--a must read for any marketing professional today. This book is about far more than how to build effective "cause marketing" campaigns. It is nothing short of a revolutionary/revelatory new approach to business in our difficult era!
Gobe is a branding visionary with a very insightful and inspiring approach to building strong brands. While I enjoyed and appreciated his last book, Emotional Branding, I am even more impressed with this one. He proposes here a whole new shift in thinking that is of course-- in a post-Enron, et al.. world-- very a propos today.
He argues that a holistic, consumer-centric and ethics grounded approach to both business and marketing strategies is not only "good" but also good business--it's the new expectation (and biggest opportunity as many will fail to recognize the changed landscape...). This is something I have believed strongly and observed in action for many years as a marketing executive for a global corporation with major consumer brands and it's rewarding to see these ideas put forth in such a fresh and engaging manner.
But besides giving us a provocative new way of looking at marketing strategies from a big picture perspective, the book also has a lot of value from a very practical, hands on point of view. It is full of useful information, such as highly original insight into the latest consumer trends and demographics research, lots of well thought out and unsually interesting case studes and examples of what the most innovative branding professionals are doing. Most of all, the book gives marketers a practical detailed process for how a brand can become a "Citizen Brand" for consumers today and continues the theme of his last book giving insight on how marketers can touch consumers on an emotional level that will inspire that rarity of all rarities--brand loyalty!
Book Description
This invaluable guide explains how to lead a more organic lifestyle by making just a few simple changes to a daily routine.
Customer Reviews:
Good start !!!.......2005-09-13
I found this book to be filled with great ideas for greener living. Alot are just little things most Americans look over. The book tell you how to make cleaners for your home without using store bought chemicals (Saves tons of money). If you are just starting to live a green life than this is the foundation.
very basic stuff.......2004-08-18
If one has never been exposed to green living then this may be the book for you. I found information in this book to be quite basic, quite elementary, in fact, alot of it was plain common sense. The book was hard for me to read through (not a good writing style match for me), but I attempted to because I wanted to find some information I could use. Would not recommend this book for anyone who have had any exposure to green living.
This book is great!.......2002-12-27
It features the most current innovations in ecologically sustainable living. This book assumes you want to live the ideal eco-responsible lifestyle and the direct tone is unforgiving. But it's good to have an ideal to strive for so that anything you do is an improvement. Each chapter is easy to read and filled with consciousness-raising facts about waste and pollution with lots of tips and suggestions. There is even a chapter on seasonal eating complete with recipes. As the title suggests, Green Living is, above all, a practical how-to guide that tells you what, why, how, and where. When is left up to you.
Book Description
Thanks to the rise of mutual funds and retirement plans, the actual owners of the world’s corporate giants are no longer a few wealthy families. Rather, they’re the huge majority of working people who have their pensions and life savings invested in shares of today’s largest companies. These grassroots owners have ideas about value that differ from those of tycoons or Wall Street traders. And corporate directors and executives are coming under increasing pressure to respond. The New Capitalists provides examples—from GE to Disney to British Petroleum—of enterprises whose shareholders have recently wielded their control in ways unimaginable just several years ago.
Authors Stephen Davis, Jon Lukomnik and David Pitt-Watson describe how civil ownership will profoundly alter our world—including forcing the rise of a new species of corporation. It has already begun demolishing old rules and habits, laying the groundwork for a new “constitution of commerce.” The authors spell out conventional thinking destined for extinction—and fresh strategies companies must implement to survive in the emerging “civil economy.” They also outline how investors, advisors, activists, and policy makers can make their voices heard.
Customer Reviews:
Civil Economy Offers Hope.......2007-05-22
The book titled `The New Capitalists: How Citizen Investors are Reshaping the Corporate Agenda' by Stephen Davis, Jon Lukomnik and David Pitt-Watson is progressive read in terms of explaining the rise of a new civil economy. It explains the Circle of Accountability to the new capitalists drawing parallels to a civil society. One thing is clear, that this book is published, that there are instances that have triggered this thinking, that there are rules, regulations, standards that are being rewritten, are all signs of progress.
That capital fuels reform is undeniable. Only now, the capital belongs to the working class as opposed to the individually rich. That corporate governance has a direct correlation to higher valuations of the company, other related benefits namely creation of more jobs is undeniable but what I found most interesting was that "momentum" of corporate governance reform at a company is a key influence on equity price performance.
I think the new civil economy affords new ways for investors to be engaged with a company but in the end it could come down to a matter of how many people can you actually have in the driver's seat as opposed to it being a matter of fair and complete disclosure and even then it might be open to interpretation.
Since the society and shareholder are one and the same, it follows that companies should act in the interests of society at large. These universal owners expect companies to perform a certain way, which is no different from what we know as common sense. For example, creation of value is not a new principle. It still is the appropriate way to behave. That there are myriad of standards to follow is itself a huge deterrent for a company. A possible solution might be the Global Compact, which is but slowly emerging as a standard.
In essence, the individuals who own stock in the biggest corporations of the world have a majority over the individual rich. However, to simplify the concept, I am gong to use an example. An individual A owns 2% GE vs. individuals B through Z who combined own more than 30% of GE. For the B-Z group to make a difference they have to work together and the way they do that is through institutional investors, web collaborative tools such as, Wikis, rating services, investor advocacy tools, independent auditors, audit certifying agencies and the like. These collectively are the new 'information moguls'.
The book nicely ends with a memo to the various players in the new economic ecosystem. Whether it is sustained, is to be seen in the future. For now, this book offers a lot of hope to someone who believes business does a lot of good for economies and societies.
A powerful coupling of philosophy, ideal and business savvy........2007-02-09
The New Capitalists: How Citizen Investors Are Reshaping the Corporate Agenda tells of how smaller, grassroots business owners are blending the concept of value into their business, differing markedly from traditional Wall Street approaches and influencing the course of business ideas of achievement as a whole. Civil Ownership is powering a new idea of corporate structure and responsibility, and THE NEW CAPITALISTS documents this evolving change, making it an important acquisition for college-level business holdings seeking more than idealistic vision. Practical business applications that work well with value-added ideas make for a powerful coupling of philosophy, ideal and business savvy.
Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch
Clarifying the role of the true company shareowners..........2006-11-12
I will admit to thinking that pension funds like CalPERS were a bunch of meddlesome activists who were throwing their weight around. But after reading The New Capitalists: How Citizen Investors Are Reshaping The Corporate Agenda by Stephen Davis, Jon Lukomnik, and David Pitt-Watson, my views have been significantly altered. The true owners of corporations are now stepping up and demanding accountability.
Contents:
Part 1 - The New Capitalists: The Civil Economy - The Democratization of Ownership; Business Past - The Uncivil Economy
Part 2 - The New Capitalist Circle of Accountability: The Future Corporation - A Capitalist Manifesto; Institutional Investors - Mobilizing Ownership; Boards of Directors - A New Accountability
Part 3 - The New Capitalist Ecosystem: Monitoring the Market - The Information Moguls; Accounting Standards - Escaping Brother Luca's Boxes; NGOs and Capital - Civil Society Meets the Civil Economy
Part 4 - The New Capitalist Agenda: Action Memos - The New Capitalist Agenda; Epilogue
Notes; Selected Bibliography; Index; About the Authors
The authors start out by making the point that corporations are no longer held solely by rich individuals and families. The largest investors in many cases are mutual and pension funds that represent millions of individuals. The capital they provide are the savings and retirement dollars of the man on the street, therefore making people like you and I the real owners in corporate America. And rather than just being share"holders" looking for a quick trade, these large funds are becoming share"owners". They are demanding accountability from company management and the board of directors, and they will bring about change if it doesn't happen. The recognition of this ownership role (as well as the use of it) is leading to partnerships between groups that were formerly antagonistic towards each other. The new Capitalist Agenda that the authors advance is the roadmap for how both of these groups can work with each other and mutually benefit from the partnership.
I used to think that corporations should be relatively free to do what they thought was necessary to conduct business. But the abuses of Enron, WorldCom, and many others cured me of that misconceptions. Instead of viewing these funds as drains on corporate America, I now see them as a vital balance of power. The New Capitalists helped me to solidify those thoughts and clarify my viewpoints. An interesting read...
Book Description
In his newest book, award-winning environmental journalist David Steinman makes sense out of the tangle of issues surrounding climate change. He provides clear, simple steps we can all take to make more responsible environmental choices in our everyday lives, from the food we put on our tables, to the products we use in our homes, and the cars we buy. He shows, for example, how changing even a simple habit of driving to the grocery store to ordering food online can save almost 900 miles a year, reducing both traffic congestion and petroleum emissions.
Steinman traveled the country from his home base in California through the United States to talk with farmers, businessmen, professors, housewives, counter-terrorism experts and many others to find the link between environmentalism, conservatism, patriotism and national security. He reveals how our reliance on petroleum-based products and chemical pesticides negatively impacts our health, our national security and our planet. He presents a number of fascinating anecdotes and case studies about people and companies working to live “green” — using ecological wisdom as the basis for their decision-making — in the process improving everything from their children’s IQs to their company’s bottom line.
Customer Reviews:
A Call for Green Patriotism.......2007-01-06
In Safe Trip to Eden, the author introduces an interesting concept called Green Patriotism, which is the call to Americans to protect our environment because it will ultimately strengthen our national security. He takes us on a trip across America and beyond (to the rainforest in Costa Rica, the San Juan Islands, the Adirondacks, etc.) and each place we learn something new about our current environmental state of affairs - the problems, what is being done by environmentalists to correct them, and how we can make choices in our own lives to support the solutions.
The author emphasizes our power as consumers in a capitalistic culture -that each of our purchase decisions is like casting a vote. He also makes the point that environmentalism is not a partisan issue. While it has been associated with liberals, he gives a history of Republicans and environmentalism in chapter 9.
The book is extremely comprehensive in that it discusses the presence of petrochemical toxins in food and home products, the evolving green car industry, a facinating Pentagon risk assessment report on global warming, natural medicine, the treatment of livestock, negative effects of underpricing in the marketplace, how to maintain a sustainable forest, and much more.
Overall, it's a facinating, empowing and very educating read. I highly recommend it!
Customer Reviews:
Big Help.......2007-05-12
This book is so helpful. I recommend this book to everybody. It's very informative when it comes to medication.
The Very Best.......2007-05-08
Totally unbiased -- it's a reference we can trust and recommend to our friends!
A Book for All Shelves.......2007-01-19
It's impossible to count the number of times I have consulted this fine reference for myself, family and friends.
Buy it - it has the potential to save you grief, hospital visits, or even your life. Doctors simply make too many prescription errors today, especially for people who take multiple drugs. The only downside is that some brand new medications on the market aren't included; but then, the book advises that you not use a drug until it's been out for 7 years as problems are usually apparent during that amount of time. By that time, there's probably a new edition of Worst Pills, Best Pills published or close to being released.
Alternate point of view.......2005-11-16
While this book come across as a bit alarmist, it is a welcome alternative to other books on drugs, which are compilations of information provided by drug companies. The most useful feature of this book is the alternative treatments for each drug. These alternative treatments are much lower risk than the drugs they potentially replace.
Worst Pills, Best Pills:A Consumer's Guide to Avoiding Drug-Induced Death or Illness.......2005-07-06
A very useful guide to avoiding adverse drug interaction, especially for one who is taking multiple medications. Even my doctor did not warn of the danger of taking Ultracet and Celebrex together.
Book Description
We've eaten Alar with our apples and PCBs with our fish, drunk arsenic with our water, breathed asbestos in our schools. Someone sounded the alarm, someone else said we were safe, and both had science on their side. Whom are we to trust? How are we to know? Amid this chaos of questions and conflicting information, Aaron Wildavsky arrives with just what the beleaguered citizen needs: a clear, fair, and factual look at how the rival claims of environmentalists and industrialists work, what they mean, and where to start sorting them out.
Working with his students at a risk analysis center, Wildavsky examined all the evidence behind the charges and countercharges in several controversial cases involving environmental health and public safety. Here he lays out these cases in terms an average citizen can understand, weighs the merits of the claims of various parties, and offers reasoned judgments on the government's response. From Love Canal to Times Beach, from DDT to Agent Orange, acid rain, and global warming, from saccharin to asbestos, nuclear waste, and radon, Wildavsky shows how we can achieve an informed understanding of the contentious environmental issues that confront us daily. The book supports the conclusion Wildavsky reached himself, both as a citizen committed to the welfare of the earth and its inhabitants, and as a social scientist concerned with how public policy is made: though it is bad to be harmed, it is worse to be harmed in the name of health.
Customer Reviews:
The sky is falling...or is it?.......2002-03-16
Aaron Wildavsky attemps (successfully in my opinion) to clarify a couple of things with this book.
#1 Scientific theory plus emotion does not equal scientific fact.
#2 Scientific theory plus consensus does not equal scientific fact.
The "Sky Is Falling" society will not like this book for obvious reasons (their own lack of objectivity being the biggest reason).
History has been riddled with so called "facts" that were accepted by the majority of scientists at the time, but consensus alone does not equate to proof.
Wildavsky's book is a good start - but the scientific community has a long road ahead when it comes to dealing with a general public that is largely ignorant of science. Environmentalists have a head start when it comes to winning the battle of public opinion - the scientific community must take books like Wildavsky's and "dumb it down" so that the average person with high school education or less can understand and make informed decisions.
A Reasoned Discussion of Environmental Issues.......2001-02-06
Wildavsky's book is a welcome addition to the discussion of environmental politics. He actually dares to challenge the received wisdom of environmental activists. I would have thought that a book that critically examines the claims of environmental dangers and uses scientific knowledge to do that would contribute to our understanding of threats to the environment. Clearly, there are extreme and varied claims for environmental dangers. "But Is It True" helps sort out the exaggerations from the real problems. It also does it in reasoned and unemotional language. I strongly reommend the book for anyone who is concerned about environmental issues rather than the rhetoric of activism.
A MUST Read!.......2000-06-14
This book is an essential tool for those who truly wish to understand more about environmental health and safety issues. Worried about global warming? Concerned about pesticide residues in food? Look no further than this reference. The author sets out to objectively evaluate environmental health issues. All sides of a particular issue are explored in depth. Those that do not stand up to scientific scrutiny are exposed. At the end of the book, an explanation of how environmental issues get reported is addressed.
One of the most important parts of this book is that the author challenges the reader to become a responsible citizen. His premise is that becoming educated on these issues takes some work but is absolutely necessary in order to have the background to make informed decisions about important environmental issues.
The book is extensively researched and referenced. It provides a greal deal of information on a variety of subjects from toxic scares to global warming. Although the information presented is technical, the authors do a comendable job of organizing the information into a readily understandable format.
Absolutely a must read for anyone concerned about the environment.
Don't be fooled by this book.......2000-01-29
This book is a travesty in many respects. While some of the conclusions were warranted, most (including the overall points) were based on faulty analyses by an academic who had no training in the area upon which he expounds. Indeed, much of the "research" was performed by similarly untrained students. Numerous factual errors were manifest in the book in scientific and regulatory areas. A very biased look at issues that need a more sober approach.
Books:
- Cultural Amnesia: Necessary Memories from History and the Arts
- Deadly Persuasion: Why Women And Girls Must Fight The Addictive Power Of Advertising
- Devil May Cry (A Dark-Hunter Novel, Book 11)
- Draw 50 Horses (Draw 50)
- Drow of the Underdark (Dungeons & Dragons d20 3.5 Fantasy Roleplaying)
- Dungeon Master's Guide: Core Rulebook II (Dungeons & Dragons d20 3.5 Fantasy Roleplaying)
- Dungeons & Dragons Core Rulebook Set (Dungeons & Dragons d20 3.5 Fantasy Roleplaying, Three Book Slipcased Set)
- Dungeons & Dragons Core Rulebook Set (Dungeons & Dragons d20 3.5 Fantasy Roleplaying, Three Book Slipcased Set)
- Fallen Angels and the Origins of Evil: Why Church Fathers Suppressed the Book of Enoch and Its Startling Revelations
- Fire Officer's Handbook Of Tactics (3rd Edition)
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind
- Hideaway
- A Song in the Dark: The Birth of the Musical Film
- Between Past and Future: New Photography and Video from China
- Classic Battletech: Total Warfare
- Facing Death in Cambodia
- Common trees of southern Africa
- Financial and Accounting Guide for Not-for-Profit Organizations, Seventh Edition
- Accounting for Treasury Products: A Practical Guide to Accounting and Taxation Aspects of Risk Contr
- Dermaphoria
Jihad vs. McWorld: How Globalism and Tribalism Are Reshaping the World
Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future
Nemesis: The Last Days of the American Republic (American Empire Project)
The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism
God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything
