by Paul Hsu ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 8, 2014
A convincing treatise on the value of immigration, though not necessarily on the virtuousness of the American dream.
An impassioned defense of immigration and the strength of the American dream.
As he describes in this highly personal account of immigration to America, Hsu arrived in America from Taiwan with $500 in his pocket. He’s now the very successful founder of an environmental engineering and renewable energy company. The story sounds a bit simplistic at first, and indeed in this debut work, Hsu doesn’t shy away from his beliefs that the American dream is alive and well and that he is proof of this theory. He opens the book bemoaning the fact that Americans feel so negative and cynical about their country, though he spends little time actually trying to understand why that might be. Instead, his mission is a more positive one—and not wholly ineffective. According to Hsu, one in 30 people around the globe wants to permanently leave his or her country and move to the United States. Rather than focusing on the pessimism he cites early on, he reminds readers that, for nonnatives, the country often holds nothing but promise. “In spite of all the controversy surrounding immigration policies,” he writes, “America remains the most welcoming place for immigrants.” Further, Hsu is also quite convincing when talking about the positive effects of immigration on the American economy, as when he reminds readers that immigrants are 30 percent more likely to start a business in the United States than nonimmigrants. Hsu effectively relates his own story and those of other successful immigrants, but on the downside, his argument would be stronger if he made more effort to understand why certain populations, native and nonnative, might not feel that “making it” in America is merely a matter of perseverance and hard work. Some of the statements—“Here, it’s not about who your parents are or where your family is from. It’s about your ability to dream big and the determination to get there”—may seem shortsighted and narrow-minded, particularly to someone who grew up impoverished and with few educational opportunities. The book would have been strengthened by an acknowledgment of such and by including a broader discussion of how to open opportunities for everyone.
A convincing treatise on the value of immigration, though not necessarily on the virtuousness of the American dream.Pub Date: April 8, 2014
ISBN: 978-0986073502
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Maxwell Publishing LLC
Review Posted Online: June 19, 2014
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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by Daniel Kahneman ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 1, 2011
Striking research showing the immense complexity of ordinary thought and revealing the identities of the gatekeepers in our...
A psychologist and Nobel Prize winner summarizes and synthesizes the recent decades of research on intuition and systematic thinking.
The author of several scholarly texts, Kahneman (Emeritus Psychology and Public Affairs/Princeton Univ.) now offers general readers not just the findings of psychological research but also a better understanding of how research questions arise and how scholars systematically frame and answer them. He begins with the distinction between System 1 and System 2 mental operations, the former referring to quick, automatic thought, the latter to more effortful, overt thinking. We rely heavily, writes, on System 1, resorting to the higher-energy System 2 only when we need or want to. Kahneman continually refers to System 2 as “lazy”: We don’t want to think rigorously about something. The author then explores the nuances of our two-system minds, showing how they perform in various situations. Psychological experiments have repeatedly revealed that our intuitions are generally wrong, that our assessments are based on biases and that our System 1 hates doubt and despises ambiguity. Kahneman largely avoids jargon; when he does use some (“heuristics,” for example), he argues that such terms really ought to join our everyday vocabulary. He reviews many fundamental concepts in psychology and statistics (regression to the mean, the narrative fallacy, the optimistic bias), showing how they relate to his overall concerns about how we think and why we make the decisions that we do. Some of the later chapters (dealing with risk-taking and statistics and probabilities) are denser than others (some readers may resent such demands on System 2!), but the passages that deal with the economic and political implications of the research are gripping.
Striking research showing the immense complexity of ordinary thought and revealing the identities of the gatekeepers in our minds.Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-374-27563-1
Page Count: 512
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Sept. 3, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2011
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BOOK REVIEW
by Erin Meyer ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 27, 2014
These are not hard and fast rules, but Meyer delivers important reading for those engaged in international business.
A helpful guide to working effectively with people from other cultures.
“The sad truth is that the vast majority of managers who conduct business internationally have little understanding about how culture is impacting their work,” writes Meyer, a professor at INSEAD, an international business school. Yet they face a wider array of work styles than ever before in dealing with clients, suppliers and colleagues from around the world. When is it best to speak or stay quiet? What is the role of the leader in the room? When working with foreign business people, failing to take cultural differences into account can lead to frustration, misunderstanding or worse. Based on research and her experiences teaching cross-cultural behaviors to executive students, the author examines a handful of key areas. Among others, they include communicating (Anglo-Saxons are explicit; Asians communicate implicitly, requiring listeners to read between the lines), developing a sense of trust (Brazilians do it over long lunches), and decision-making (Germans rely on consensus, Americans on one decider). In each area, the author provides a “culture map scale” that positions behaviors in more than 20 countries along a continuum, allowing readers to anticipate the preferences of individuals from a particular country: Do they like direct or indirect negative feedback? Are they rigid or flexible regarding deadlines? Do they favor verbal or written commitments? And so on. Meyer discusses managers who have faced perplexing situations, such as knowledgeable team members who fail to speak up in meetings or Indians who offer a puzzling half-shake, half-nod of the head. Cultural differences—not personality quirks—are the motivating factors behind many behavioral styles. Depending on our cultures, we understand the world in a particular way, find certain arguments persuasive or lacking merit, and consider some ways of making decisions or measuring time natural and others quite strange.
These are not hard and fast rules, but Meyer delivers important reading for those engaged in international business.Pub Date: May 27, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-61039-250-1
Page Count: 288
Publisher: PublicAffairs
Review Posted Online: April 15, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2014
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