Irving Janis, one of the world’s leading authorities on decision making, presents a comprehensive analysis that shows corporate executives, government and organizational policymakers, and general managers how to avoid making critical errors and ensure quality in making vital decisions. Using cogent evidence and illustrations from studies of top-level policymakers in government, business, and public welfare organizations, Janis shows how the likelihood of failure is substantially reduced if sound procedures of information search, appraisal, and planning are used. He alerts executives to the preconditions, precipitating events, and catalysts that create situations where the most dangerous error of decision making—relying on simplistic decision rules—often occurs. By following the four essential steps outlined by Janis, policymakers can adopt “vigilant problem solving,” the high-quality procedural strategy for arriving at policy decisions When policymakers utilize the vigilant problem solving approach, they are likely to take full account of the various constraints involved in a situation and may even seek out additional information about them. Consequently, the risk of failure, especially in critical situations, is substantially lowered. Janis’ highly acclaimed decision making strategies give a powerful advantage to managers in all kinds of organizations, from the smallest family business to the largest corporation and government agency.

First published in the US in 1932, The Sleepwalkers is about three protagonists "sleepwalking", that is, living between vanishing and emerging ethical systems just as the somnambulist exists in a state between sleeping and waking. Together they present a panorama of German society and its progressive deterioration of values that culminated in defeat and collapse at the end of World War I. The novel explores what Broch described as "the loneliness of the I" in its three parts. The protagonists of the first two parts of the book are represented as holding to certain sets of values. Broch describes the struggles they undergo as their codes for living, or values, prove inadequate to the realities of the social environment they find themselves in. Joachim von Pasenow in the first part is "the romantic". In the second part, August Esch tries to live according to the motto "business is business". Eventually, in the third part, the amoral Huguenau's only standard for behavior is his personal profit. He follows this maxim in all his actions, swindling and murdering without remorse. Ultimately, he reaches a point of zero values without remorse and his dealings bring him finally to the zero point of values. Although Broch doesn't hold Huguenau up as someone to admire, he does present him as the inevitable harbinger of fascism. As one reviewer noted, "His characters are sleepwalkers because their own lives are shaped by the forces of the nightmare reality in which they live."

After the tragic death of her young husband, Grace Cameron has developed a flourishing business and raised her daughter Kathy. But everything depends on her, so when Grace begins to feel unwell she ignores the signs. When she does reluctantly see a doctor, she hears the most shattering news -- she is very ill indeed. Though stunned and angry, Grace's overwhelming concern is for twelve-year-old Kathy; there is no logical next-of-kin to care for her. So together the Camerons set out to find a new family, ready for the time when Kathy may find herself alone.

In the 21st-century Kingdom of Versailles, the roads are terrible and Paris is a dirty little town. Serfdom and slavery are both common, and no one thinks that's wrong. Why should they? Most people spend their lives doing backbreaking farm work anyway. But teenaged Khadija, daughter of a prosperous family of Moorish business travellers, is unfazed. That's because Khadija is really Annette Klein from 21st-century California, and her whole family are secret agents of Crosstime Traffic, trading for commodities to send back to our own timeline. Now it's time for Annette and her family to go home for the start of another school year, so they join a pack train bound for their home base in Marseilles, where the crosstime portal is hidden. Then bandits attack while they're crossing the Pyrenees. Annette/Khadija is separated from her parents and knocked out, and wakes up to find herself a captive in a caravan of slaves being taken to the markets in the south. She's in a tight spot. Then the really scary thing happens: her purchasers take her, along with other newly purchased slaves, to an unofficial crosstime portal...leaving open the question of whether Crosstime Traffic will ever be able to recover her! Harry Turtledove's In High Places is the third book in this parallel adventure series.

Win Liberte has it all. He prides himself on never having worked a day in his life. He has everything he wants-fast cars, beautiful women, a racing yacht, a penthouse in Manhattan. Orphaned at eleven, Win inherited an international diamond business that is managed by his uncle. Then Win loses it all when his uncle commits suicide after investing all of Win's money in a scheme that fails. His single remaining asset is a bankrupt diamond mine in Angola, a steaming, war-ravaged country in equatorial Africa. In the blood and muck of central Africa, Win experiences the "Diamond Curse" first hand. Battles over Angola's vast wealth in gems occur daily, and fights for control of the diamond industry have wiped out generations. Thriving on the challenge, Win founds an international diamond business that challenges a powerful cartel's stranglehold on the market. Loved by two women-a movie goddess who sears men's souls and a dedicated UN worker who risks her life in Africa-Win doesn't find anything worth living for until he loses love. From the tunnels of the diamond mine to the stage at the Academy Awards, from the beds of beautiful women to a battle with warlords, Win has to fight to get back everything he ever wanted.

“Struggle” is a little-known work by World Chess Champion Emanuel Lasker. It is based on the theory that all life and indeed life itself is the result of struggle. Lasker's book delves deeply into all phases of life and struggles. He attempts to create a general theory of all competitive activities, including chess, business and war.

Traces the author's involvement with the Seagram Company, and his experiences and reflections as he learned the running of the business from the ground up.

A giant in the history of American entertainment, Eddie Cantor (1892-1964) won over the American public time and time again, first on stage, bowling audiences over in the Ziegfeld Follies, then in films, on the radio, and on television. His career ran from Vaudeville to video making all stops in between. A tireless person even when not on the stage, Cantor helped found the March of Dimes, and was the first national president of the Screen Actor's Guild (SAG), the American Federation of Radio Artists (later AFTRA), and the Jewish Theatrical Guild. Yet another medium in which Cantor succeeded was print. He authored and co-authored several books that upheld his standing as one of America's leading comedians. My Life Is In Your Hands & Take My Life combines for the first time in a single volume two memoirs written in 1928 and 1957, in which Eddie remembers his beginnings as an orphan on the Lower East Side and his hard-won climb from poverty to the bright lights of Broadway. The book also contains a lost chapter in which Eddie recalls his reactions to the stock market crash of 1929, along with a new complete index, discography, and filmography. In My Life Is In Your Hands & Take My Life, Cantor's humor is as sharp as ever and his sentiment is 100% genuine. While not at all modest about his decades of public adoration, Cantor shows a willingness to laugh at his blunders (such as his second film, "Special Delivery"), and to praise the many talented people with whom he collaborated. Along with telling the story of show business in the first half of the 20th century, Cantor also lets readers in on fond stories of his friends, from Jimmy Durante (who worked as a pianist in the Coney Island restaurant where Cantor was a singing waiter), to Ziegfeld alumni Will Rogers and W. C. Fields, to fellow entertainers Clara Bow and Fanny Brice.

Shipped from UK, please allow 10 to 21 business days for arrival. Good, A very good, clean, copy.

A personal narrative celebrating fifty years of David Yurman--as told by David and Sybil Yurman, the founders of America's leading luxury jewelry brand. From their early days in the Bronx, to their success as a leading luxury jewelry company today, Sybil and David have lived and personified the American dream. Their artisan perspective and years spent in the Beat generation, along with their background as key figures in the American Craft movement of the '70s, and fearless approach, propelled them to champion a new category of designer jewelry. Through their artisan's point of view and craftsmanship, they sparked a relaxed and uniquely American category of versatile luxury jewelry that transcends from day to night. In 1970, David sculpted a bronze necklace for his partner and fellow artist as a romantic gesture. They didn't yet know that this gift of wearable-art for Sybil would lead to a business and lifelong collaboration. The Yurmans share here the stories behind their namesake company, elaborating on the transition from craftsmen to entrepreneurs, the birth of their signature cable bracelet, and the expansion into fine jewelry. Through in-depth interviews with Pamela Golbin, Sybil and David trace the brand's evolution, share lessons learned, and highlight experiences spanning five decades. This book features a visual mosaic of striking imagery, showcasing iconic Yurman pieces, cutting-edge materials, and groundbreaking advertising campaigns that have influenced the world of fine jewelry. Jewelry, design, art, and fashion enthusiasts will appreciate this inspirational anniversary book.

A funny, daring, bawdy and incredibly honest memoir from the anti-ageist, anti-body shaming, pro-sex advocate and erotic provocateur. Over the course of his 35-year career in show business, David Pevsner has done it all. He’s acted on Broadway, off-Broadway, in independent films and on numerous TV network shows including Grey’s Anatomy , Modern Family and Criminal Minds . As he continues his career in entertainment, Pevsner has also dedicated himself to exploring his deepest sexual fantasies. In his late 30s he became a mature male escort and over the last several years has attracted a large international fan base through his blog of erotic photographs celebrating nudity and sexuality. Damn Shame is David Pevsner’s incredible story and is a passionate and poignant look at one man’s journey from a thin, shy boy ashamed of his body and sexuality to a defiant, fearless everyman exploring his erotic desires, everything from leather and S&M to nude/erotic/hardcore modelling. Along the way, he fights back against society’s demonization of gay sex, body shaming and ageism while pursuing his own very personal definition of success and seeking love, validation and self-esteem. Damn Shame gives a loud and powerful voice to a generation of mature men who have been conditioned to believe from society (and especially younger members of the gay community) that they are sexually irrelevant, old and undesirable. Pevsner’s life story goes in directions that many couldn’t imagine, but the lessons learned through his experiences will resonate with readers of every age.

There was a time not very long ago when "going out" was only for the rich and the reckless. At the turn of the century, "going out" became part of everyday life as vaudeville halls, photograph parlors, penny arcades, nickelodeons, nightclubs, dance halls, world's fair midways, amusement parks, ballparks, and movie palaces opened their doors to the people of the city. The new amusement centers welcomed women, men, and children, native-born and immigrant, rich, poor, and middling. Only African Americans were excluded or segregated in the audience, though they were overrepresented on stage. Going Out chronicles the twentieth-century entertainment revolution that changed forever the ways we live, work, and play. In a matter of decades, a new public world of amusements was created where ethnic, class, and neighborhood differences were subordinated to the common pursuit of a good time. Clerks and bankers, sales girls and society ladies "turkey trotted" to ragtime in nightclubs and dance halls; "shot the chute" and clutched one another in "barrels of love"; visited "Darkest Africa" on the world's fair midways; and sat together in the dark watching pictures move on a screen. In Going Out, we meet the colorful characters who invented show business: Thomas Alva Edison, who was astonished when his phonograph made money playing music (he had designed it to take business dictation); Benjamin Franklin Keith, the circus grifter who opened a dime museum in Boston in the 1880s and within a decade owned the world's largest vaudeville theater circuit; Adolph Zukor and Marcus Loew, the New York furriers who made millions in the early picture-show business; and the dozens of small-time show businessmen who rode the rails with their "shows" in their trunks. And we hear the stories of the early black performers and their struggles to maintain their dignity and livelihood while audiences demanded their public humiliation. Going Out is a history of twentieth-century show business and of the new American public that assembled in the city's wondrous pleasure palaces, parks, and theaters. The book concludes with an account of the fall or relocation of this entertainment world, as central city amusement parks, movie palaces, and ballparks were uprooted and transported to the suburbs in the decades following World War II.

Detective Frank Behr finds himself neck deep in white collar crime and facing off with cold-blooded killers more terrifying than anything he's faced before. Bernard "Bernie Cool" Kolodnik is a hard-driving business mogul in the process of making a move into big-time Indiana politics, and it's Frank Behr's job to protect him. When a gunman takes a shot at Kolodnik, Frank does what he does best: saves Kolodnik's life. So why then was he taken off the detail? And why are the usually adept Indianapolis cops making no headway? To discover the truth, Behr navigates a labyrinthine landscape of hardened former Feds, crooked real estate developers, casino magnates, and power seekers feeding on the edge of a dangerous and deadly political scheme.

When Layla Brennan married her high school sweetheart, Brett Foster, she finally got the big, loving family she’d always wanted: his. Now she’s closer to Brett’s parents than he is, partners with his sister in a successful pet-photography business, and confidant to his younger brother. She couldn’t be more of a Foster if she’d been born one. There’s just one problem: Brett wants a divorce. Stunned and heartbroken, Layla turns to the Fosters for comfort, only to realize that losing Brett means losing them as well. What else can she do but sue him for the most valuable thing he’s got–namely, his family. Breaking up may be hard to do, but for Layla and Brett it’s even harder to undo. Fresh, funny, poignant, and brimming with insight into what makes modern families tick–and what can blow them apart– Family Affair proves that in love and war, everything’s relative.

From the national bestselling author of Murder Plays House . For private-eye-cum-supermom Juliet Applebaum, business is booming. But there are pros and cons to every assignment. And the con in her latest job is her client, an inmate at Dartmore Prison. She's enlisted Juliet to locate the son she surrendered--as well as the foster parents who've disappeared with him. But this case takes a deadly detour when the desperate young mother is fatally stabbed--allegedly by another inmate. Prison officials dismiss the murder as just one more fatality in lockdown. But Juliet has her doubts. Now she's determined to make the woman's last wish come true, even if it means tracking little Noah--and the killer--through the dark maze of a widespread conspiracy. "A master of smart, snappy repartee." -- Kirkus Reviews "[A] unique, highly likable sleuth." --Judith Kelman "A brassy, funny, quick-witted protagonist."-- Houston Chronicle

A mother and daughter of Puerto Rican and Jewish ancestry, the Moraleses express their radical and feminist views in diary-like poetry and prose that echo the rhetoric of the '60s. Yet the mixed origins of this pair lend an international, even universal feeling to the sentiments. They seem to speak for many women of many places and times. Titles of their pieces include "Concepts of Pollution," "Distress Signals," "Getting Out Alive," "Class Poem" and "I Am the Reasonable One." Both authors are literary, serious, socially concerned and passionate, and their anger is about injustices that plague them and other people. There is much vivid imagery and heartfelt emotion, and the reader may well long for causes that stir them as these women are stirred. Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Calliope Reaper-Jones, a.k.a. Death's Daughter, must go up against the Devil himself when her older sister Thalia puts the Reaper family business in jeopardy. By the author of Cat's Claw.

"Roger Levy, the protagonist of Alan Furst's fast-moving and funny suspense novel, is an enterprising young man in business for himself. In fact, his is a kind of modern American success story, although it just happens that his business is dealing dope around the various colleges and universities in Pennsylvania. So when he is stopped, his van searched and his "merchandise" discovered by the Pennsylvania police, he has no choice but to appear to cooperate when offered his freedom in exchange for complicity in an apparent CIA murder scheme. Back home in New York the chase is on, and it is only with the help of his lawyer, his street sense and a lot of his own hard-earned cash that Levy is finally able to identify and evade the enemy, uncover the unlikely source of the plot and come away with enough capital to fulfill his own version of the American dream--to retire and live above his own Chinese restaurant, its kitchen available to him twenty-four hours a day. Set in the last days of the sixties, Your Day in the Barrel is at once a fond spoof of the suspense genre and a fiercely contemporary thriller told in the truly original voice of a young writer making his highly auspicious debut." -- Book jacket flap.

Collected essays about the news business and newspapers that appeared in the New Yorker magazine in the 1940s.