The Ultimate Business Library: 50 Books That Shaped Management Thinking (Ultimate Business Series) [Hardcover]

Stuart Crainer (Author)

Book Description

Series: Ultimate Business Series | Publication Date: August 29, 1997

This work is designed for those who are short of time but need to keep abreast of important management thinking. It provides summaries of fifty influential titles, including "The Art of War" and "The Fifth Discipline", clarifying the concepts of the original works. A commentary is given on each title featured, and biographies are included of the authors, including Dale Carnegie, Peter Drucker, W. Edwards Deming, Tom Peters, Philip Kotler, Charles Handy and Rosabeth Moss Kanter.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Business writer Stuart Crainer's The Ultimate Business Library: 50 Books That Shaped Management Thinking offers an excellent overview of some of the most significant books ever written on the art of management. The selections--alphabetically from Igor Ansoff to Max Weber, and chronologically from 500 B.C. to 1994--are books Crainer feels have the greatest impact on management thought and practice. His insightful summaries of each work, which include Robert Townsend's Up the Organization, Henry Ford's My Life and Work, and Peter Senge's The Fifth Discipline, are preceded by a bio of the author and a commentary by London Business School professor Gary Hamel.

About the Author

STUART CRAINER (Oxford, England) is a business and management writer whose work appears frequently in The Financial Times and Management Today. GARY HAMEL (Menlo Park, CA) is chairman of Strategos, a worldwide consulting company, and a visiting professor at the London Business School. He is the co-author of the bestselling Competing for the Future.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: AMACOM (August 29, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0814403956
• ISBN-13: 978-0814403952
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,388,096 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Many of these books are must reading for MBA students, December 28, 1999

By 

"jim1274" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Ultimate Business Library: 50 Books That Shaped Management Thinking (Ultimate Business Series) (Hardcover)

This is a very useful book for anyone interested in the study of management. While the books listed are personal selections of the author, I think he did a respectable job given the enormity of the task. I applaud the author for including popular and academic works both new and old. One could challenge some of the entries, but again, they are personal selections. Some titles are out of the mainstream literature and new finds to me--I'm sure anyone will find some useful books they were previously unaware of. One notable omission, in my opinion, is lack of any works on EVA. This is an important topic for any manager and should have at least made the "2nd 50" listed in the appendix. Overall, a very useful book for anyone wishing to pursue the literature on management.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Introductions into 50 great management and business classics, August 4, 2001

By 

Gerard Kroese (The Netherlands) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Ultimate Business Library: 50 Books That Shaped Management Thinking (Ultimate Business Series) (Hardcover)

Stuart Crainer is business and management writer, who quite often appears in The Financial Times. Gary Hamel is a top business writer/management guru, fellow at Harvard Business School, visiting professor at the London Business School, and chairman of California-based consulting firm Strategos. Both have written several business-related books.

The book starts with an introduction by Gary Hamel, who lists the books featured per issues - management, leadership, complexity, people, customerd, global, the future, renewal, competition, efficiency, strategy, and fun. Then, Stuart Crainer describes 50 management and business classics in alphabetical order of the authors. The classics featured range from Sun Tzu's Art of War (500 BC) and Machiavelli's The Prince (1513) through to modern works from Gary Hamel, Michael Porter, Peter Senge and Tom Peters. I do not think that anybody will argue the author's selection, since all books are truly greats. Since the complete book consists about 300 pages, each classic receives about 4-6 pages (introduction by Gary Hamel, biography of author(s), and a description of the main ideas and issues). This is enough for a quick insight and description, but do not expect to become a specialist in any of the issues.

The breakdown into issues makes it easy for readers to choose a subject/books. You can then have a quick flick through the particular summary/summaries. If you like the summary/summaries, you will still require to purchase or borrow the book(s) since the summaries are not that detailed. I used this book during my MBA-course (in particular during the earlier part), where I used it as a type of tool since it pointed me to the best book(s) for a particular subject. (I must admit that I also bought Stuart Crainer's 110 Ultimate Book of Business Gurus, but I do much more prefer/use this one.) The book is simple to use and is written in simple US-English.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not enough meat, July 8, 2001

By 

Richard L Stein (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Ultimate Business Library: 50 Books That Shaped Management Thinking (Ultimate Business Series) (Hardcover)

I like the concept of this book and I have no problem with its selections. However, I find that there isn't very much said about each of these business books. While historical context is provided for each, there is little that gives me a new perpective on things or provides me with something that I can apply. It is like viewing historical documents in a museum without there being a description of why they're relevant or how they impact the present day. I prefer the more vibrant discussion found in "The Guru Guide."