Book Worm » Business

The United States of Europe: The New Superpower and the End of American Supremacy

Robert Alonso — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 21:17:26 +0000

The United States of Europe: The New Superpower and the End of American Supremacy
T.R. Reid
$25.95 (USD)
Buy it for less at Amazon.com

This is an amazing book that dispels the notion that the United States is the only superpower left on the planet. It should be mandatory reading for the every elected official in Washington, D.C. Through scary and detailed examples, this book shows the influence of the new Europe on everything that we Americans buy and even do. Because it represents a larger market than even the United States, the new European Union is shaping policy globally. This policy is not limited to what will be sold in Europe, but what will be sold by multinational corporations globally. The impact of this new Europe has been felt on companies as large and powerful as General Electric and Microsoft. Microsoft, for example, has still not been able to stop the anti-trust actions in Europe.

Here is a list of some of the chapters:

The Almighty Undollar
Welch’s Waterloo
L’Europe Qui Gagne
The European Social Model
Showdown of Capability Gap
Generation E
Waking Up to the Revolution

The Almighty Undollar is about the Euro. It is now the standard currency for all countries in the European Union or joining it. It provides a mechanism for all European countries to trade without tariffs or currency conversions and provides the world an alternative to the U.S. Dollar as a reserve currency. A reserve currency is a currency that is accepted by sellers from buyers regardless of the location of the buyer and seller. This has given the United States a great amount of economic power in the world. Unfortunately, this power is quickly being eroded by the Euro.

Welch’s Waterloo is about General Electric’s Jack Welch losing in his bid to merge Honeywell when the European Union decided that it was anti-competitive.

Less I get in to too much detail and ruin this superbly written and researched book, I will just say that it is sobering to read about the changes that are taking place in Europe and the fact these changes are hurting the United States in the world stage.

I recommend this book wholeheartedly.

On The Edge: The Spectacular Rise and Fall of Commodore

Robert Alonso — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 21:17:10 +0000

On The Edge: The Spectacular Rise and Fall of Commodore
Brian Bagnall
$29.95 (USD) Buy it for less at Amazon.com

On The Edge is a well written and entertaining history of the early personal computer years as told by the engineers that created it. The book presents what is arguably an accurate view of the creation and marketing of the first home computers and the interrelationships between the early companies including Apple, Commodore, Atari, Radio Shack and Timex Sinclair. The book is Commodore-centric and the historical account is therefore presented from the point of view of the various engineers that worked on chip designs and system designs for the 6502 processor and for the various Commodore computers.

It is said that history is written by the victors. In the long term, IBM and Apple were the victors, but in the early computer years that was not the case. This book provides that refreshing perspective that is often lost in the hype surrounding Apple and the ubiquitous success of IBM PC type machines. Most people probably have no idea that the processor that was used in all early Apple computers was designed by MOS Technology a subsidiary of Commodore. Most also don’t know that the chip designers that worked on the sound and video for Commodore 64 went on to become multimillionaires founding their own company for IBM video cards and also providing advanced chips for the Apple IIGS.

Commodore became a billion dollar multinational and then vanished within three years of hitting that mark because of dysfunctional management and tunnel vision at the very top of the company. This is all described in vivid detail by the people who lived through the chaos. The book reads like a thriller because you almost feel like you are there as the events unfold.

This book should be read by anyone who was there for those early years and did some programming on a PET, VIC-20 or C64. It should also be read by all business majors and especially by entrepreneurs. It shows you how you can build a great enterprise and just as easily destroy it.

I recommend this book highly.

The Google Story

Robert Alonso — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 21:16:22 +0000

The Google Story
David A. Vise and Mark Malseed
$26 (USD) Buy it for less at Amazon.com

This book is an easy-to-read look at the search giant. It gives you a time line view beginning with the founding of the company through its phenomenal growth and current ubiquity. The book discusses the “Google economy” and how the company mints revenue and profits. Anyone interested in how a successful dot-com company operates may want to read this book.

The book can also give you insight on why your web page is ranked at the top of a Google search and conversely why it may not be.

There are also hints about where the search giant is heading. One example is working to makes genes search able and another is to make books search able on-line.

This is a must read for anyone interested in technology, search or what the future holds for us.

The Source of Success

Robert Alonso — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 21:15:40 +0000

The Source of Success
Peter Georgescu with David Dorsey $27.95
(USD) Buy it for less at Amazon.com

This is a superb and inspirational book on the qualities that are required in today’s business environment to succeed. Mr. Georgescu writes the book in sections that correspond to his ideas. The first of these is that the world has changed fundamentally and requires a fresh way of thinking about business and customers. He appropriately calls this chapter, “The End of the World as We Know It.”

The following five chapters are:

Creativity: Tomorrow’s Factory Today Enlightened
Leadership: No More Mr. Tough Guy
Competency: The Essential Tools
Alignment: The Magic Word
Values: Dare to Be Good

These are then followed by a postscript dedicated to A Better Chance and an acknowledgements section.

My favorite two chapters are the ones on alignment and values. He makes a very strong case for structuring your business so that everyone understands clearly what it stands for and how everyone should relate to vendors, customers and even towards peers. He also drives home the point with very interesting examples. To me, the values chapter is related to the alignment one. In it, Mr. Georgescu makes the case for having clear values and for always doing the right thing. He uses Johnson & Johnson for his example in this chapter and discusses how the company reacted to the Tylenol poisonings.

Overall, the book is a good value and provides first hand accounts of interactions between Mr. Georgescu and many of the other captains of industry. I recommend it because it made me examine some of the interactions between my firm and customers. I am sure that it will do the same for you and help your business and personal quest for success.