University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business
8th Annual Top 10 Summer Reading List
for Business Leaders
The University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business is excited to
announce some favorite books in the "Eighth Annual Top 10 Summer Reading List
for Business Leaders" for 2011, as recommended by faculty members and staff.
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Billions
of Entrepreneurs: How China and India are Reshaping Their Futures and Yours
(2011)
By Tarun Khanna
“This book is a must read for anyone interested in how
the world of business is going to be transformed by India and China during
this century,” says G. “Anand” Anandalingam, Dean of the University of
Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business. “The book describes the
complementary strengths of India and China, and how ‘mutualism’ between both
nations can facilitate each other’s weaknesses. Khanna reinforces the notion
that the government is the entrepreneur in China. Conversely, Indian
entrepreneurs have little faith in the Indian government and try to avoid it
at all costs. In addition, ‘Billions of Entrepreneurs’ examines the
similarities in both Chinese and Indian history.”
Khanna spoke at the Smith School’s Emerging Markets Forum this spring

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Me
2.0: 4 Steps to Building Your Future (2010)
By Dan Schawbel
"To be competitive in today’s global marketplace,
students must seek out new ways to build their brand and gain access to
business opportunities," says Jeff Kudisch, managing director of the Office
of Career Services. "So what are you doing from a social media perspective
to differentiate yourself from other business school job seekers? More
broadly speaking, what strategies are you using to set yourself apart? The
job search process is dynamic and requires students to fully immerse
themselves in social media to enhance their personal brand. This book offers
a detailed and comprehensive guide for leveraging the big three social media
features – LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. In this very practical,
engaging, easy to read book, Schawbel offers a variety of branding
techniques and tools to maximize job search success. This is a must read for
those who want to create a powerful persona that truly separates themselves
from the competition amidst the war for talent."
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Decision
Points (2010)
By George W. Bush
In this candid account, President George W. Bush
describes the critical decisions that shaped his presidency and personal
life. “This book shows the inside perspective on the key decision points
during the Bush presidency,” says Asher Epstein, Managing Director of the
Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship. “It’s a real time and with big stakes
read on how key decisions were made in times of great significance. This is
a valuable read for strategic thinkers and leaders.”
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Empowered:
Unleash Your Employees, Energize Your Customers, and Transform Your Business
(2010)
By Josh Bernoff and Ted Schadler
“The authors explain how to use technology and your
employees to link to your customers and improve your brand” says Ken White,
Executive Director of the Office of Marketing Communications and Acting
Assistant Dean of the Office of Development and Alumni Relations . “The book
encourages companies to allow their employees to interact with customers via
social media. Some great examples are given regarding employees becoming
brand builders. Bernoff co-wrote ‘Groundswell,’ a terrific book about social
media.”
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Social
Innovation, Inc.: 5 Strategies for Driving Business Growth through Social
Change (2010)
By Jason Saul
“This book is an excellent primer to those thinking
about how their firm can create business value through social change,” says
Melissa Carrier, Executive Director of the Center for Social Value Creation.
“Saul describes five strategies to take organizations beyond the traditional
model of corporate social responsibility as an obligation for companies to
give back or minimize the negative effects of business. Indeed, the ‘aha!’
of this book is about discovering the hidden or unrealized business
potential of social change. There is a clear shift in thinking among private
sector leaders towards strategic integration of social, environmental, and
economic value creation. This book provides colorful examples of best
practices we see at the Center for Social Value Creation.”
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You
Can't Lead With Your Feet On the Desk: Building Relationships, Breaking Down
Barriers, and Delivering Profits (2011)
By Edwin Fuller
“This book is inspiring and very insightful. Written by
Edwin Fuller, president and managing director of international lodging at
Marriott International Inc, the book is easy to read and filled with great
examples all based on his extensive international experience,” says Mark
Wellman, Tyser Teaching Fellow of Management & Organization. “The book
explains how to connect, manage and do business with people in any culture.
Under his leadership at Marriott, Fuller has opened more than 500 hotels
outside the United States and visited over 125 countries on six continents.
Fuller outlines how he built Marriott's global arm into the world's largest
international hotel chain, with lessons for managers and students.”
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Citizens
of London: The Americans Who Stood with Britain in Its Darkest, Finest Hour
(2010)
By Lynne Olson
“As a youngster during WW II, I was very familiar with
the voices and movie news of Churchill, FDR, and Edward R. Morrow,” says
John A. Haslem, Professor Emeritus of Finance. “Believe me, much of what was
seen and heard was frightening, and early on, mostly discouraging—Germany
invades the West, Battle of Britain, Pearl Harbor, the North Atlantic
convoys, North African campaign and invasion of Italy, D-Day and Normandy
casualties, Iwo Jima, Okinawa, Stalingrad, and so much more. This most
informative book presents the inside story of those Americans diplomats and
newsmen who supported Churchill in his efforts to get the president to enter
the war—Averell Harriman, Edward R. Murrow, and Ambassador to England John
Winant were the major players in these efforts. These men played huge roles
in saving England from Hitler, and perhaps the U.S., as well. Winant is the
unsung hero of these efforts and deserved much more than he received in
recognition, and Roosevelt, less so, including his dealings with Stalin.”
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In
The Plex: How Google Thinks, Works, and Shapes Our Lives (2011)
By Steven Levy
“Few companies in business history have ever been as
successful and as Google,” says Mark Wellman, Tyser Teaching Fellow of
Management & Organization. “Google’s influence goes well beyond internet
search. How has been Google been so successful? Author Steven Levy takes
readers inside the Googleplex show how Google works. I've reviewed a number
of books about Google, and this is by far the best one I have come across
that shows how Google executive really manages the company.”
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The
Quants: How a New Breed of Math Whizzes Conquered Wall Street and Nearly
Destroyed It (2011)
By Scott Patterson
“This is a fascinating story of the math geniuses who
started hedge funds, creating great wealth for a few and great losses for
many more (sometimes themselves) in the collapse of the financial markets in
2008,” says Susan White, Distinguished Tyser Teaching Fellow of Finance.
“The quants used complicated mathematical models and supercomputers to
develop trading strategies. The book follows the financial moves of a
handful of traders at places including Morgan Stanley, AQR hedge fund, and
Deutsche Bank. The book is an entertaining story, but it oversimplifies the
causes of the financial crisis – blaming a few traders, when, in reality,
the crisis and its aftermath are far more complex.”
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Switch:
How to Change Things When Change Is Hard (2010)
By Chip Heath and Dan Heath
“This book addresses how everyday people are able to use
both their emotional and rational minds (which are often in conflict) to
achieve all types of personal and professional changes,” says Joyce E.A.
Russell, Distinguished Tyser Teaching Fellow of Management & Organization.
“Filled with great examples and backed up with lots of research. This book
should help anyone trying to make a change or trying to get others
(colleagues, friends, family, etc.) to change.”
Bonus Picks
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Onward:
How Starbucks Fought for Its Life without Losing Its Soul (2011)
By Howard Schultz
“This book will be required reading for any change
management class. Starbucks CEO, Howard Schultz has plenty of valuable
lessons regarding change management and leadership,” says Mark Wellman,
Tyser Teaching Fellow of Management & Organization. “Schultz outlines his
own efforts to help Starbucks reclaim its original customer-centric values
and mission while aggressively innovating and embracing change.”
- X-Treme Supply Chain Management: A Guide to
Mastering Business Volatility (2010)
By Sandor Boyson, Lisa Harrington and Thomas Corsi
The global financial crisis and resulting economic
downturn signaled a need for change in the way supply chains are managed,
shifting from models based on assumptions of relatively stability to a
realization that risk and volatility must be taken into account. The book
analyzes the rapid increase in business volatility and risk created by
global economic pressures. It provides best practices and managerial tool
sets with which to mitigate operational risks of all forms across physical,
cyber, financial and service supply chains. It also gives managers access to
a supply chain risk simulation game and predictive analytic software models.
Boyson and Corsi are research professors at the University of Maryland’s
Robert H. Smith School of Business and co-direct the school’s Supply Chain
Management Center, at which Harrington is a senior research fellow.
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Never
Eat Alone: And Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time (2005)
By Keith Ferrazzi and Tahl Raz
“This book is the ultimate guide to networking. Ferrazzi
details how to gracefully approach others in business and social settings;
how to follow up and how to build and grow lasting professional
relationships, which is what networking is truly about,” says Kasandra
Gunter Robinson, Expert Industry Advisor. “He believes that you should reach
out to others from the spirit of generosity - before you ask for something,
give something. This simple concept is a core theme throughout the book.
Although there are not many new concepts, the art of networking takes on a
new life in this book.”