Winning In Today's Workplace And Job Market

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Winning In Today's Workplace And Job Market

Name: Winning In Today's Workplace And Job Market
Author: Tom Downham
ISBN: 978-0692283318

BE A WINNER, JOIN TEAM 1 AMERICA

by Tom Downham ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 4, 2015

A general but useful guide to creating the best possible corporate working environment.

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Downham offers a personal foray into the complexities of the modern job market from both managerial and lower-tier perspectives.

This debut nonfiction work compares and contrasts the realities of the American 20th century corporate workplace with those of today. Specifically, the author contrasts the benefits of teamwork with those of individual thinking, and looks at how years of relative prosperity resulted in a system that crashed spectacularly when global competition became a daily reality. As someone who’s worked as a manager in multiple companies, Downham also examines how the 20th century notion of working your way up from the mail room has become essentially outdated. Now, he says, a college-educated management class often doesn’t comprehend the realities of a working-class environment. As he discusses this widening gap between executives and workers, he encourages managers to take the realities of day-to-day employment into account—and also not to think poorly of their own contributions. The author populates the work with anecdotes from his own experience, comparing managers with “bullying” personalities to those who actively engage in teamwork. However, his preferred term for a successful management and working style, “Team 1 America,” is hardly subtle. As with any management manual, his guidelines are broad. In a general sense, though, the book is an excellent, concise treatise on general changes in the average American working experience over the last half a century. However, the author’s verbiage is oriented toward a corporate model, and not toward creative-class businesses, which have become a large part of the current economy. That said, this book will impart some useful knowledge to managers who are struggling to foster better working relationships with their employees.

A general but useful guide to creating the best possible corporate working environment.

Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2015

ISBN: 978-0692283318

Page Count: 140

Publisher: CreateSpace

Review Posted Online: April 28, 2015

Review Program: Kirkus Indie

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

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NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

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This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)

Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996

ISBN: 0-15-100227-4

Page Count: 136

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

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An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.