1 comments about Japanese Army Air Force Aces 1937-1945 (Osprey Aircraft of the Aces No 13).

1. Many historians still operate under the assumption that there was a single Japanese Air Force instead of two separate services, each with its own planes, mission, and tactics. Sakaida is an American of Japanese heritage who learned the language in order to research and write about WWII air battles, using material from both sides. Here he applies his language and research skills to tell the story of the Japanese Army Air Force that fought in China and Southeast Asia, and that for much of the war had the prime responsibility for home defense. An excellent book in the tradition of the Osprey Aircraft of the Aces series.

5 comments about Get Hired Fast! Tap the Hidden Job Market in 15 Days.

1. This book very effectively walks through the process of researching companies, making contacts at those companies, preparing for interviews, and securing a position.
   
   It advocates an aggressive process of identifying companies in the fields you want to work in, whether they have open positions or not. You then research these companies, looking for viable contacts. You call these contacts, looking for open positions that may or may not be advertised. The rationale is that "90%" of the filled positions aren't advertised and this gives you an advantage in finding a new job.
   
   At the same time, it says that while you should pursue the traditional job search methods (job boards, networking, etc), you shouldn't count on them. Graham likens these methods to "winning the lottery".
   
   Here is where the book is excellent. It gives great tips for organizing the job search, researching companies and contacts, and getting prepared for every stage in the interview process (phone interview, in-person interview, negotiation, and acceptance). It provides helpful forms for keeping track of the information. It provides great techniques for how to present yourself.
   
   The only issue I have with the book is that it's very clear that you *must* follow the whole procedure, including dismissing your network of friends and collegues to call people who probably can't help you. (the book admits that it's a numbers game - 150 contacts called will lead to three interview that lead to a job offer)
   
   I don't fully agree with this approach. If you are well-qualified and/or have a strong network that you've maintained during your career, I don't think you'd need to call people that don't know who you are and have provided no reason to believe they have an open position. In my own job search, I had a strong network of collegues with a lot of contacts. My focus was on working that network, and it paid off.
   
   On the other hand, if you're struggling to find a new position, you should consider the approach that Graham describes. It's not that I don't believe it would work - I think it's a bit of an overkill in many situations.
   
   Even if you're only planning to use a more traditional approach, this book will still help you for all of the reasons described above - thus the five-star rating. In the end, you'll know how to get the attention of the hiring managers at any stage of the process. This has certainly helped me.



2. I really liked this book.
   
   I'm embarking on my own job search and the advice on what needs to be done before calling out to prospective hiring managers was great. It spells out exactly what information you really should have before picking up the phone or sending out a resume, shows you how to keep yourself motivated and how to document your progress and research thoroughly.
   
   This is the 2nd book I've read to help make my job search more effective, and I'd say it's a perfect complement to Nick Corcodilos' Ask the Headhunter : Reinventing the Interview to Win the Job. The one place that this book falls down is the actual interview advice. While Get Hired Fast!'s interview advice is great to keep in mind, I think that Ask the Headhunter's "New Interview" is a much more effective way of taking control of an interview and demonstrating that you can do the job, leaving fewer questions in the interviewer's mind.



3. Brian Graham hit a home run with this one. Well crafted, it provides great advice and accurate insight on how to find the job you really want.
   Graham takes us behind the scenes and has us look at the job market from the other side of the desk. When Graham takes us there and we understand the process and the steps, it becomes increasingly clear why only signing up on the job boards and using them as your only search method is like buying a lottery ticket. You might win, but chances are, you won't. The job boards like Monster are designed to sell advertising, not help you find a job. Submit all the resumes you want, just remember, chances are, no one is reading your resume when it comes in that way. I like the fact that Graham's advice comes from the trenches. He wasn't in the Ivory Tower writing this book. Graham earned his stripes as a recruiter and a job seeker in a very tough market, so he comes with a lot of street cred. While this is a great book filled with no nonsense advice, it is when you put his ideas into action that you really see the value. If you are thinking about changing jobs, or are already looking, read this book. It will save you tons of time, and hours of heartache. More importantly, you'll get a job much faster and you won't have to click through 2,000,000 pop up ads on Monster.



4. I bought this book during by career switch. Even in a bad market at the time, his ideas were dead on accurate. The greatest benefit was that he gives you suggestions on what to say (Actual scripts to use) and after you get going, you develop your own, but it was a great help getting started! A fair warning, although his techniques work (I received 3 offers is less time than 15 days) it requires a GREAT DEAL OF EFFORT. It can take you way outside your comfort zone but they do work and it's no gimick. What seperates this book from others, is that this book gives examples of what to say, what to do and how to do it. Once you follow the "script" a few times, it gets much easier and you develop your own routine.



5. Get hired fast is a relatively thin book at 180 pages. Like the best steaks it is meat with little fat and easy to digest. You can easily read this book in a few hours.
   
   In the world of work, especially during challenging economic times you need to give yourself an edge by differentiating your job search.
   
   Graham gives you the tools and methods to do this bu advocating a direct selling/marketing approach to your search.
   
   You will learn:
   
   * Why the old rules of job searching don't work. Page 15
   * The best tactics to turn a phone call into an interview. Page 95
   * How to maximize your time to land a job interview in 15 days! Page 67
   
   Read this book not just once, but over and over again until this new paradigm and mindset sinks in.
   
   Knowing how to tap the hidden job market is a valuable skill that you will use many times in the years ahead.
   
   Cheers!

3 comments about The Harvest Gypsies: On the Road to the Grapes of Wrath.

1. Three of Steinbeck's social novels--In Dubious Battle, The Grapes of Wrath, and Of Mice and Men--are enhanced after reading this work. This work is the prelude to three of Steinbeck's most socially poweful novels. To fully understand what Steinbeck is striving to accomplish with Battle and Wrath, and to fully round out your history/literature lesson, it is essential to understand something about the socialist movement--birth of communisim--and the general exploitation of the fruit-pickers of California. The big businesses of that day, not much different from various big businesses of today, treated employees like machines--replacing them as needed--after being hurt on unsafe equipment, etc.--without regarding their well-being, or considering the hungry mouths of their families. The Harvest Gypsies is a crutial text in the study of California before uniouns began revolting against the machine.



2. Were the "Grapes of Wrath" published today, it may like other recent books, have been classified as historical fiction as opposed to a novel. I am thinking specifically of "Artemisia" that was published as both in different countries. How the work is classified is not critical, as either way it is one of the finest pieces of literature that has been written, and for many people, Steinbeck's finest work.

   "The Harvest Gypsies" is a collection of 7 articles that Mr. Steinbeck wrote as a journalist. All were concerned with the issues he dealt with in the resulting book. This small volume is greatly enhanced by the photographs of Dorothea Lange, and the introduction of Charles Wollenberg.

   One of the people the book was dedicated to was "Tom", actually Tom Collins, who was a manager of a federal migrant labor camp in California. The lines of fact and fiction are eventually blurred with him, as Tom Collins was the model for the character of "Jim Rawley" manager of "The Wheatpatch Camp" in "The Grapes Of Wrath". Ms. Lange's photographs could have been illustrations for Mr. Steinbeck's book, for when viewing them you can pick out the faces that could have accounted for the members of Steinbeck's epic.

   This is a very brief book, but it portrays the migratory farm workers lives, as being even worse, if that can be imagined. A novel always offers the ultimate refuge of being fiction; these 7 articles and their photographs take away that solace. The brutality, random murder, and disease that was rampant, and the State of California that allowed the behaviors, are atrocious. In the context of one of the writings, one of the large growers who sanctioned the killing and starvation that was part of the agriculture industry stated that, "without a peon population the economy of California could not function". Steinbeck takes this statement of arrogance and ignorance, that is routinely spoken by any exploiter, and logically demonstrates that were this indeed the case, the state could no longer exist. For were it to continue to exist with its fascist policies, the most basic of Democratic rights would have to be absented.

   Milk, that played so prominent a role in the book is spoken of extensively in the articles. Many of the most painful parts of the book were so common in reality, that the book may seem mild at times.

   No matter how many times you have read the book, once this collection of articles are read, the experience of the book will not only change, I believe it will be enhanced.




3. Readers seeking a full experience of John Steinbeck's literary style won't want to miss Harvest Gypsies, a selection of seven articles that Steinbeck wrote in 1936 about the plight of migrant farmworkers during the Dust Bowl migration. Black and white photos accompany his report on conditions and experiences, weaving a masterful selection of insights which go beyond history into personal observation.

5 comments about The Great American Jobs Scam: Corporate Tax Dodging and the Myth of Job Creation.

1. I find this fascinating book, an expose on communities providing incentives to attract business, absolutely 100% correct, and also absolutely 100% immaterial.
   
   Mr. LeRoy writes with a great deal of rage about communities giving tax breaks to businesses. Yup! Suppose I want to build a factory to supply something to Los Angeles and San Francisco. I could locate the factory in either of these cities, or I could put it in some smaller town inbetween, or perhaps even in Nevada or Arizona and balance the shipping costs vs. manufacturing cost (which includes the cost of the factory, the land it is on, the prevailing wage rates, the local tax structure, and everything else). If the factory is going to cost me $100 million and Nevada lets say will give me $300 million to move there, do I really have a choice? Should I not ask what incentives they will give me?
   
   He seems angry at companies for playing off businesses. Businesses owe their stockholders to cut the best deal they can. During the presidential debates, the candidates all talked about bringing jobs back to the mid-west, especially Ohio. They never mentioned the cost. I guess it was supposed to happen like magic.
   
   He's also right about the sports stadium. The Dallas Cowboys wanted a bigger, better stadium. Irving (where the stadium is located now) and Dallas, said no. Arlington said yes. There were protests. A bond issue was passed by the voters. My brother who lives in Irving is very happy, the game day traffic which totally plugged up the freeways will be moving to Arlington. The people in Arlington don't need to go anywhere on game days anyway.
   
   Yes, Mr. LeRoy, this is the way it is. Thanks for letting us know. Don't let the rage get to you so badly that you have a heart attack. It works the same the world over, China will incent you to build a factory, so will England, Russia, or Arlington, Texas.



2. At one time or another, we have all been enticed by the prospect of a major retailer, manufacturer or financial services company building a new facility or relocating to our community. As the story goes lots of new jobs will be created and the tax base will be greatly expanded. But rarely are we given all of the facts. As concerned citizens and taxpayers we are at a huge disadvantage. What we are up against in a complex network of corporations, regulators, public officials and consultants. These people know precisely how the game is played and have perfected the routine over the past 50 or more years. The end game is to extract as many concessions from a community as possible. These folks know how to pit one community against another and how to carefully cover their tracks. They are extremely adept at keeping the general public in the dark about what is really happening. It is the ultimate shell game. But author Greg Leroy in on to them. He is been monitoring these issues for more than two decades now. He knows who the players are and where the bodies are buried.
   "The Great American Jobs Scam" shines the light on just what has been going on and explains why huge taxpayer subsidies in the name of "job creation" rarely make sense. Essentially, our public officials have given away the store and the rest of us have precious little to show for it. Greg LeRoy cites example after example of these programs and giveaways. He explains what terms like SSF and TIF mean. He illustrates why subsidizing so called "big box" retailers like Wal-Mart, Target and Home Depot is very poor public policy. He explains how these and other major corporations are successfully evading taxes. And he points out that poor and middle class taxpayers are forced to make up the difference. This is an increasingly intolerable situation that needs to be addressed immediately.
   "The Great American Jobs Scam" is an extremely thoughtful and well-documented book. We can simply no longer afford to pursue such innane and unsound policies. I will be donating my copy to the local public library in the hopes that many more will read it and begin to spread the word. Highly recommended!



3. LeRoy reports that job scams cost governments about $50 billion per year in lost revenues. The most common scams include:
   
   1)Create a bogus competitor (another town or state) vs. wherever the company wanted to locate in the first place.
   
   The intent is to create a "bidding war" over the freebies offered.
   
   2)Job "blackmail" in which a company threatens to move (or locate elsewhere) unless it gets the subsidies/tax relief it wants.
   
   Easily enhanced by overestimating the job increase - LeRoy cited examples from Connecticut in which only 9% of forecasted jobs materialized, leading to a cost of $367,910 per new job. Exaggerations are typically followed up by failure to track or publish actual results.
   
   3)Entice a firm that pays "poverty" wages, and stick the taxpayers with hidden costs (eg. employee and family healthcare).
   
   Wal-Mart is the most notable example.
   
   4)Exaggerate "ripple effect" benefits - eg. the number of supplier jobs, and those created by employee spending.
   
   (LeRoy cited an example where one city used a low multiplier to downplay jobs lost when a company left, and a high multiplier to play up the potential gain from another moving in.)
   
   5)"Bust the union" in which the company uses Federal funding (eg.
   
   CDBG grants from HUD) to move, and thereby break an existing union.
   
   Obviously any and all these machinations can be combined.
   
   Mayor Giuliani was cited as a prolific scam-"victim" - giving up $350 million in tax revenues between '94 - '01.
   
   Small wonder N.Y. also ended up with a large deficit.
   
   LeRoy points out that "nobody wants to be the mayor/governor who lost ______," and that fear impels leaders and legislatures to succomb.
   
   In reality, however, taxes make up only 4-5% of location costs according to a consultant cited, and only 1.2% of total costs according to the IRS.
   
   Similarly, convention centers are oversold (overall convention business is DECLINING - thus, new centers being built are extremely unlikely to be financially successful), and sports stadiums.
   
   Meanwhile, LeRoy points out that a recent survey of civil engineers found that America's infrastructure needs greater funding. (My life as a truck-driver provides daily evidence of the substantial repairs and enhancements needed for our Interstates.)
   
   The "bad news" with this book, like many others, is that to justify book printing, it ended up considerably longer than necessary - at least 2X, and probably 3X.



4. Starting in the 1980's with the election of Ronald Reagan, the balance between government and big business has slowly shifted back into the hands of the latter. This book examines two manifestation of this shift in power. First is the manipulation of tax codes at the behest of corporations in order to maximize corporate revenue, but which has the unintended affect of reducing taxpayer revenue. Second is the use of government subsidies to corporations. All of this is done under the guise of job creation, but it often ends up being a shuffling of jobs from one locale to another. The author of this book is a career grassroots leader who travels around educating labor groups, governments and NGO's on how to watch out for corporate lies and half-truths.
   
   The book does a great job of examining the legal framework through which these schemes are done; things like free trade zones, tax rebates, tax credits, single-sales factor taxes, and a host of acronymns that only a lawyer could love. The book also cites numerous case studies from multiple states that show how giveaways to corporations often do not lead to job creation, or if they do, they create jobs at the lower end of the wage range. Guilty companies include Walmart, Costco and other big-box retailers; Home Depot, Sears and other specialty stores; Boeing, Motorola and other manufacturers. The author also cites numerous studies to prove his point, including many other books.
   
   I think this is a great book, and should be read by all legislators and voters in America.



5. "The Great American Jobs Scam" is an aptly titled book. Greg LeRoy explains in detail how corporations get tax breaks and related fiscal incentives to relocate or build in predominantly suburban or rural areas. One major ill-effect of that process is lower funding for infrastructure and schools.
   Sprawl is another adverse side effect.
   
   Mr. LeRoy descibes the competition between states and cities for businesses.
   
   He detailed how Sykes scammed states and cities to get subsidies for call centers that they would close after short periods of time while outsourcing call center work overseas. They took the money and ran.
   
   The author also offers insight on:
   + A critical, but helpful analysis of Single Sales Factor(SSF). How it works and what the major flaws are with it.
   
   + One of the lures of exporting jobs and income to foreign nations- businesses pay little or no income tax to state or federal governments. Corporations also hide income made in specific states through loopholes.
   
   + Explains the concepts of "Nowhere Income" and the "Delaware Holding Company Loophole".
   
   + The "demalling" of America as big box retailers reap the rewards of large incentives. The author poses this question on that issue. "Why are we paying to kill downtowns and shutter malls and susidize companies through the back door for their poverty wages?"
   "When we say no to WalMart Supercenters, we protect our Main Street merchants and the community life they foster. We also protect the jobs, wages, and health care of grocery store workers."
   
   In addition to detailing many of the scams that corporations use Mr. LeRoy describes how the tax burden falls on the middle class and poor, while schools in poor areas also suffer as a consequence of the giveaways.
   
   The author suggests some sensible reforms, some of which are already in use and proven. One being public disclosure of the details of incentives.
   
   To read in-depth about an angle of corporate greed and how governmental officials fall prey to it this is the book to read! Documented and written very well.

5 comments about Mediation Career Guide: A Strategic Approach to Building a Successful Practice.

1. Dear fellow mediators or anyone looking into the mediation profession:

   Mosten's book, Mediation Career Guide, is just the book I was looking for to strategically guide me through deciding whether to go into mediation as a profession. The book is well organized and can be read cover to cover or as a reference guide. Some of the key parts of the book are 1) Deciding if Mediation is Right for You and 2) Building Your Career as a Mediator.

   The chapter on deciding whether to get your law degree or not for mediation was an especially important chapter for me. I completed one year of law school and then decided to re-evaluate my J.D. path. I enrolled in SMU's Dispute Resolution program to help with my decision. Mosten's book is the only mediation book that directly dealt with the J.D. dilemma. The chapter did not tell me what to do or what Mosten thinks is best. Instead, the chapter asked certain questions about my background to see whether a J.D. is a good choice or not.

   Mosten's book is a MUST HAVE if you are deciding whether the mediation profession is right for you and how to build a mediation practice.

   Thank you Forrest (Woody) Mosten for this book and all of your contributions to the peace-making profession!

   Roseanne Pierre




2. Forrest Mosten has written what must be the definitive book for those who are considering or might consider a career in mediation.

   I have known the author since 1970, when he was a law student working part time for me in the foreign student office at UCLA. Even then he was thinking about how he might incorporate his strong social conscience into the practice of law. Ten years later he found his answer when he committed himself to becoming a professional mediator. For Mosten, mediation is more than an efficient means of resolving disputes, it is a way to work as a peacemaker at the person-to-person level. It provides its practitioners who are attorneys with an alternative to the adversarial nature of the legal system, which weighs heavily on many lawyers. Of course it provides the same benefit for clients. He makes his point about mediation as a peace effort dramatically in chapter one, where he states "...don't jump into a growing but still uncertain field like mediation unless you eat, breath and dream about creating peace and resolving conflict and are willing to risk everything to make it happen".

   In addition to maintaining a highly successful mediation practice in Los Angeles, Mosten trains future mediators and he has established a nation-wide network of mediation centers. He also is the author of three previous books on mediation.

   The author's purpose in writing the book is stated in the first paragraph of the preface, where he says "It was an uphill climb to build my mediation practice. This book is my effort to help you avoid many of the costly mistakes I made along the way".

   The book is organized into three parts, each with several chapters, followed by nine appendices. In the first part, "Is Mediation right for You?", he covers the question of what it takes to be a mediator, such as being a good listener, patient, tolerant and neutral, flexible, and empathic, among other traits. In the chapter on "Education and Training", he discusses the question of non-lawyers as mediators. Mosten admits that lawyers have certain advantages, but he lists other fields which often provide a good background, such as therapists, business persons, teachers and clergy. Whether they come from the law or other fields, he states, extensive training in mediation will be required. Here Mosten goes into some depth on this subject which is dear to his heart because he wants "...mediation to be the first stop on the conflict resolution highway", which means having "...enough trained and experienced mediators available to meet this need".

   Part Two, "Building Your Career as a Mediator" deals with the creation of a mediation signature, which includes advice on writing vision and mission statements to distinguish your particular practice. He also advocates having a board of directors to help with these tasks and to provide a sounding board along the way which he had earlier described as an informal group of persons whose judgment you trust. (He might more accurately have called them a "board of advisors). Another chapter, "Creating a Mediation-Friendly Environment", gets down to reading materials and arrangement of the reception room. Most important, he introduces the idea of the client library, described as a consumer-friendly collection of books, video tapes and other resources which will help clients learn what they need to help solve their own problems. This concept is related to Mosten's preference for informed client consent, and he reports that his library is well used by his clients.

   Part Three is "The Nuts and Bolts of Private Practice", which covers topics such as finding a place to practice, naming your practice, forming strategic partnerships and networks. With respect to networks, he uses his own Mosten Mediation Centers as an illustrative model, in which he has established local mediators around the country as subcontractors. In the chapter entitled "Strategic Planning and Investing in Yourself", he gets very specific about the time and money required to establish a mediation practice, including a breakdown of out -of-pocket costs which add up to $57,000 over a five-year period.

   Even though he has stated his desire to see a great increase in the number of practicing mediators, Mosten in no way sugarcoats the obstacles and challenges facing anyone who plans to enter the field. His candor, at times, would almost seem to discourage, but at least anyone who has read the book would enter the field fully warned. More important they will have read a well integrated combination of philosophy and nuts and bolts, each supporting the other.

   This is a critical book for those contemplating a career in mediation, it is a useful book for anyone contemplating using the services of a mediator, and it is an interesting book for those who are attracted by the concept of mediation as a force for more peaceful interpersonal relations.




3. This book is one of the most helpful and insightful books that I have read. If you are thinking of, or already are, a mediator, this book is full of great information, ideas, and helpful hints.
   This book is an easy read, you could read it in one evening and then be on your way to implement the things that you have learned.



4. I am just beginning my mediation practice. This book stays with me all day. It gives practical advice, plus deals with the emotional issues attached with such a leap of faith that is required for entering this field. I highy recommend this to everyone!



5. It is one thing to learn how to mediate, it is another to learn how to start your business as a mediator. This book focuses on the second task. I found that this book contains good, practical advice for analyzing your own abilities as a mediator and setting up your practice. It even talks about how to establish the physical environment of your office. Combine this with Allan H. Goodman's new, second edition of Basic Skills for the New Mediator, and you should be ready to hang out your shingle.

1 comments about American Workers, American Unions: The Twentieth Century (The American Moment).

1. This is by far my favorite single-volume book of labor history. It's a well-researched, balanced survey of the 20th century, scholarly yet highly readable. I have assigned it as initial reading in graduate-level labor relations courses to lay a historical foundation, and students have given postive feedback on the book (mirroring my comments above).

5 comments about The Chinese Century: The Rising Chinese Economy and Its Impact on the Global Economy, the Balance of Power, and Your Job (Wharton School Publishing Paperbacks).

1. Author Oded Shenkar provides up-to-date information, specific
   details, and perspectives about the current and future ascension of
   China. It is and will affect us locally and globally. This book
   focuses on generalities and will be helpful to those who plan on
   doing business in China or want to learn more about the "macro"
   affects of the PRC's growing influence. Perhaps too obvious to state
   (again) is China's coming economic, political, and military role in
   our world. By now, this concept is cliche. Yet the question is
   relevant, and now, moreso than ever before. The "Chinese Century"
   largely focuses on the next 100 years. Surpassing the U.S.
   economically, is predicted to happen within the next twenty years.
   
   Many American companies have been complacent and industry leaders
   were caught of guard by China's massive growth. Lackadaisical?
   fixed, mind-sets? Competitors in neighboring countries (e.g. Korea)
   started losing out to China in the 1990s.
   
   Some of the common questions and discussions that Shenkar addresses
   are: "How will China's economic ascension will affect its region and
   the entire world?" "How will it impact and transform the U.S.
   economy?" "How will it change you?" The author notes the transition
   of the American economy to a service-sector economy.
   
   Domestically, the more challenging aspects for the CPC and Chinese
   society are how to lessen and/or resolve the Income Gap between
   Eastern cities and rural areas (and within these cities themselves).
   Those in the eastern China are living in a radically different world
   than those inland. Both of these groups are aware of the differences
   between them as status symbols, faster-paced life, and incessant
   conspicuous consumption propel attitudes, the economy, and egos.
   There is quantifiable alienation between the "have-nots," who
   outnumber the "haves" by hundreds of millions. Confrontations over
   water and land-use, and eminent domain, are frequently reported.
   
   Stealing Intellectual Property:
   The Chinese can produce - but they cannot create. "Creativity" and
   "ingenuity" are the new buzzwords of the government. Creativity may
   or may not happen. If it is ever achieved to some degree, it will
   take time (generations) and will require changes to the cultural
   mindset and education system.
   
   Implementing Foreign Policy Interests:
   The U.S. acts upon its own self-centered interests like many dominant
   nation-states. America's economic might promotes its diplomatic and
   trade interests in the international world. Often these strengths
   reinforce and complement one another when pressuring countries to "go
   along" with the current administration in Washington, regardless of
   who is in power.
   
   The Chinese may do this too, if they choose to "go international."
   I believe Chinese foreign policy will become more direct and
   unilateral.
   
   Economic might brings diplomatic, political, and potential military
   might (if China continues its high military spending). Westerners
   should realize that there's no motivation nor reason for the Chinese
   people to want the values and beliefs of liberal democracies of the
   West. To think they would, is culturally-centric arrogance.
   
   Corruption:
   Corruption exists in many countries of the world. In China it's an
   epidemic from the bottom ranks to the highest levels of society. It
   has to be dealt with. Even reducing it may take more than one or two
   generations. Morality is also an issue. Hu Jintao recently outlined
   the "8 honors and 8 shames" in 2004. Meant for the Chinese people,
   but specifically geared towards party members. It's a general and
   idealistic message. Will it be followed? This reinforces the fact
   that rampant corruption, greed, and selfishness is a primary obstacle
   to economic and political stability. Throughout East Asia
   competition outweighs cooperation in business and social
   interactions.
   
   What will China be like when it has the economic power to promote its
   interests?
   
   The Chinese understand and realize they are "producers." They are
   not "creators." They're not "individuals." However - if - they ever
   become creative, adaptable, and individualistic, beware.
   
   Incidentally, anyone who thinks that a market-based economy promotes
   or is conducive to forms of "democratic representation" is completely
   misinformed. The pairing of these two is the exception, not the
   rule.
   
   The U.S. derides Cuba for it authoritarianism and refuses to do
   business with Cuba, while at the same time it's in bed with China,
   which is far more brutal, oppressive, and venal.
   
   A good book. Recommended.



2. It is obvious that China is rising and is impacting the rest of the world in an increasingly big way.
   
   The value of The Chinese Century by Professor Oded Shenkar lies in its concise and vivid summary of China's rise and impact. As such, the author has achieved one of his goals he set out to achieve by writing this book.
   
   However, the author clearly has not delivered what he promises to deliver in the Synopsis: "Above all, Shenkar shows what you must do to survive and prosper in "the Chinese Century"."
   
   Indeed, as a business person, you might get even more dazzled after reading this book simply because this book gives you an academic snapshot of the China business scene (although with some vivid examples) rather than insights into and wisdom about what to do in order to succeed.
   
   To know the latter, you have to read Dr Wei Wang's The China Executive: Marrying Western and Chinese Strengths to Generate Profitability from Your Investment in China.
   
   Highly practical, The China Executive brings to light the highest essence of any business in the age of globalisation. It is also characterised by integration: integration of theory and practice, integration of analysis and intuition - integration, in other words, of all major concepts and ideas related to business. These include history, soceity, politics, economics and culture; management and leadership; operation, personnel, finance and marketing; organisation, market, industry and strategy; and human being, philosophy and humour.
   
   In short, if you, as a business person, want to know what to do (as well as how to think) in "the Chinese Century", buy and read The China Executive.



3. "The Chinese Century" reminds us that our trade deficit with China is rapidly growing (up 20%/year from '01-'03), and also tells us that its composition is changing - the four highest categories in '03 were all technologically related (misc. manufactured articles, office machines and ADP equipment, telecommunications and sound-recording equipment, and electrical machinery). (Apparel/clothing and footwear were in 5th and 6th place, down from 2nd and 3rd in '99.)
   
   Shenkar also imforms us that the Chinese are working to continue "moving up the food chain" via increasing the rate that overseas Chinese students return to China, increasing R&D spending within its organizations, and forcing overseas partners to provide valuable trade secrets. The percentage of American white-collar associated jobs lost in manufacturing has gone from 30% ('79-'89) to 35% ('90-'99), and is likely to increase further, shaking belief in the theorized overall benefit of job migration to more complex work, and the belief that education is good insurance against unemployment. (The unemployment rate for electrical engineers now is greater than the unemployment rate in general.)
   
   China is often pilloried for violating intellectual property rights; Americans, however, should remember that the U.S. was also a major violator in the 19th century, and remained so until it emerged as a major producer of copyrighted/patented knowledge. Presumably China will follow a similar path. China is also attacked for not adjusting its exchange rate vs. the dollar - however, since its productivity-adjusted costs are about 12% that in the U.S., currency adjustment would not begin to solve the U.S.-China trade deficit. In addition, Americans need to remember that China needs to create 15 million new jobs/year to handle population growth, plus additional jobs to cover those lost due to closing ineffective government enterprises and rural residents wanting to move to its cities.
   
   The book's avowed purpose is not on how to stop the tide of Chinese imports, but how to remain competitive. Unfortunately, its recommendations (more education) fall far short of what would be required, and are contradicted by its own material.



4. It is rarely that I have written less than a glowing review of any book dealing with the topics of globalization, outsourcing and the ilk. As someone who is intrigued by these issues, I have found all of my reads thus far to be riveting and educative. I wish I could I say the same about Oded Shenkar's book "The Chinese Century." I am afraid that was not the case.
   
   The book suffers from some clear flaws. First and foremost is the fact that it focuses solely on one facet of the Chinese growth story, viz. exports and imports, and that too from a largely US-centric world view. For someone who is interested in understanding the different facets of the Chinese story and its geopolitical ramifications (as can be seen today in China's relations with Sudan, Iran, and Venezuela among others), this book clearly falls short.
   
   Second, the tone adopted by the author is one of unbridled optimism regarding China's growth prospects. I, for one, do not necessarily share the same world view. No nation has been able to eat its cake and have it too. If you want to be a modern nation enjoying all the economic benefits that come out of a free market system, you also need to be a democracy that is built on the separation of powers between the executive and the judiciary, a free media and a vibrant middle class that is not afraid to speak up its mind. I am not sure China will be able to escape that painful transition at some point of time. The question is not "If", it is a question of "When". I would have therefore liked to see the author explain how China can make the transition from a communist nation ruled by a narrow clique to a modern nation without a democratic change thrown somewhere in between. I am afraid that he did not.
   
   Finally to round off, I would also like to point out that the book suffers from typographical errors that are clearly unacceptable in a book published from Wharton School Publishing. Two examples, both from the same page (pg. 85 of the paper back edition) for the skeptics who need proof. "Finally, there is the potential liability and litigation cost when a safety-related product such as a break pad fails, and the legitimate manufacturer is implicated." Or, "The direct losses of U.S. IPR owners in copyrighted industries (such as movies) alone in China have been estimated at more than $1.8 annually." The proof reader probably needs to be told that it is not "break pads" but "brake pads" and that the losses to IPR owners are closer to $1.8 billion than $1.8!
   
   Overall I am happy that the book finished at 187 pages. It's a disappointment though that not much of substance was said in those 187 pages.



5. In late 2007 the World Bank issued a revised statistical analysis of all the countries in its data base.The World Bank corrected its previous erroneous statistics, which had been adjusting the prices of Chinese goods and services too far upward based on purchasing power parity comparisons.These lowered prices dramatically reduce China'a figures.The corrected figures show that China does not have a gross domestic product in the $10-$11 trillion range,as compared to the USA's gross domestic product of around $13 trillion, but a gross domestic product of no more than $6 trillion.
   
   The same report demonstates that the Chinese middle class is substantially smaller than previously estimated and may be no more than 100 million out of a population estimated to be at 1.4 billion.
   
   
   Finally,the exaggerated yearly growth rates reported by China are also erroneous.The real growth rate is about one-half of previously accepted figures.This means that China is NOT on track to over take the USA as the world's largest economy.The exact same revisions also apply to India.India is NOT growing anywhere near to the gross domestic product figures that have been reported.
   
   The author of this book needs to completely revise it .Erroneous data and information ,followed by erroneous analysis based on the erroneous data,can only result in misleading readers.

5 comments about The Disposable American: Layoffs and Their Consequences.

1. I have just finished re-reading David Halberstam's The Fifties as part of an attempt to better understand that period as the foundation of many social, political and economic and cultural post-war trends that continue, or have been expanded on, today. The book under review, to its credit, puts forth an analysis that undermines one critical part of the `myth' of the Fifties. That is the proposition that `a rising tide lifts all ships'. Given the tremendous advantage the American capitalist economy had after its World War II victory combined with certain ameliorative changes in corporate and labor culture there was a seeming feeling that things would keep getting better and better. That based, of course, on an assumption that one did not challenge the capitalist basis on which this system was built. Today, after the victory of that unchallenged assumption, the chickens have come home to roost. The classic case for what amounted to class collaboration was the `partnership' between the Walter Reuther-led United Auto Workers and Detroit's Big Three automakers in the immediate post-World War II period. The result was the closest that this country has ever come to a Europeon social-democratic arrangement between business and labor. The recent purchase of one of the Big Three, Chrysler, by a private equity company that will inevitably entail another massive round of layoffs in the already devastated American auto industry was greeted without a peep by the Auto Workers Union. Times have changed, and not for the better.
   
   Thus, clearly those days of so-called `social contract' derived capitalism, whether illusionary at the time or not, are over and have been for a while. The most compelling data centers on the seemingly never-ending fact that while those who manage the capitalist empire has vastly increased their wealth and position the mass of Americans has either been spinning their wheels or going under. This book is an `up close and personal' look at those who did not make it for one reason or another but mainly because they were caught up in the vise of a dramatic changeover in corporate culture which can be paraphrased bluntly as the `survival of the fittest'. One thing that is clear from all the interviews, unfortunately, is that few working people, and this book is really about working people, have a political clue about what has happened to them and why. Or, moreover, what to do about it. The amount of self-doubt, personal guilt and bafflement expressed in the book shows more clearly than any current theoretical Marxist treatise that I have read why this runaway capitalist system is still in place. Still, if these interviews emphasize that the task to change things may be daunting it nevertheless needs to be done. While the author offers no particular remedy for this growing economic inequality he does perform a service by laying out the problem. It is our task to break the logjam. And given the dominant corporate culture and its ruthless workings the fight will not be pretty.
   



2. "The Disposable American" appropriately touches on many areas outside of, but directly related to lay-offs: sociology, culture, media, politics, public policy, and the psychological condition of those involved.
   
   Lay-offs are an important topic but the way it's presented seems too subtly poignant and explicitly tragic. Within the first couple pages of "The Disposable American" author Uchitelle sets the tone with a term for these millions of layed-off American workers: "victim." The word "victim" is used all-over the spectrum in modern-day America and frankly, it gets tiring. So, layed-off workers are victims? Quite a strong term. I wouldn't refer to them as this. (But I do believe working and middle-class blue and white-collar employees are no longer winners in today's society.) And conditions won't be changing for the better in the short and long-term future. Employees need to adapt and psychologically view themselves as contractors. Contractors, is what we were today. And it's not entirely negative. It can be positive. "You....are not your job." Your self-worth should not be associated with your job title nor tenure in today's work-world.
   
   Economic reality + social engineering. This is they way things are because it's expedient for investors and it's *planned* to be that way. 37 states have At-Will employment laws. U.S. labor laws are the worst in the industrialized world.
   
   One of the many examples in "The Disposable American" is IBM. IBM publicly stated in 1994 that workers who are efficient, loyal, and productive cannot be guaranteed job security at IBM. When thousands were layed-off from IBM they were rehired to work for....IBM....as contractors. The company concluded that workers who fear lay-offs can provide more "adequate" results (page 145). Employees that were retained (not let go) were "shell-shocked" and still afraid of losing their jobs afterward. Even though a Harvard Business School Study specifically concluded the wrong workers were layed-off and the ones retained often weren't (and still aren't today) trained to deal with the new responsibilities and additional workload (page 194).
   
   Increasing immigration is also welcomed. Immigrants are less likely statistically to complain about conditions or labor codes, and provide employers with a large pool or workers at the low end of the pay scale.
   
   Uchitelle's personal sob stories of working stiffs having to leave one mundane dead-end job for another is really nothing new. Staying in the same industry is Old School. Dinosaurs. Do Defined Benefit Pension Programs enslave employees and tie them to a company and industry? Are these workers too lazy or stupid to invest on their own for their future? 401Ks for most are a scam: limited investment choices that especially hurt older contributors and hidden fees that significantly eat into returns the longer a worker stays at the same company, and doesn't roll it over into their own IRA that often have lower expense ratios of their choosing. People don't stay in the same industry and/or with the same company for a long time, and those that do risk having to transition into new gigs unexpectedly in their twenties, 30s, 50s, and beyond.
   
   In this book there are many individual and family stories of personal circumstances. Many personal stories using a person's first name, hometown, and former "career" are elucidated. Then descriptions of the financial and emotional difficulties faced by those who get layed-off/down-sized/riffed are noted. The politically correct corporate euphemism is "Involuntarily separated." <---I like this one.
   
   The Lay-Off Routine Is Well Refined:
   
   Airplane mechanics are important. Their work assures planes fly safely. But their jobs can be contracted (outsourced) inside the U.S. When these mechanics were layed-off en masse they were invited to a hotel and given a seminar to be "counseled out." The speaker told them that credit card and mortgage companies gave "special consideration" to layed-off workers. The counselor held up a sample form letter to creditors, for all to see. The layed-off worker can request a reduction in monthly payments for these debts temporarily. They were instructed to ask for the reduction before they get "60 days behind on a debt." And they were also given the book "Who Moved My Cheese."
   
   Lay-Off expansion and political opportunism of the 1990s:
   
   In the mid-1990s lay-offs transcended from not only the blue collar industries but to the white collar and professional industries. At this time, more media attention was given not only to the lay-offs themselves but *how* people were being let go. CEOs were going public giving news conferences to publicize lay-offs in the hope that their company stock would go up. Political Translation: too many voters were losing their jobs and the Presidential, Congressional, and State elections were only months away in 1996. Pat Buchanan was very successful in tapping into voter anxiety and angst by his protectionist "save-the-jobs" policies.
   
   Factual truths from this book:
   
   1. Lay-offs and lack of job security will continue for several decades or longer.
   
   2. If a layed-off worker gets more training and education they will maintain or increase their current market value. This is statistically false.
   
   3. The savings of laying-off workers will help companies and in the long-run workers will be better off.
   
   The solutions give the layed-off the right to sue, and Uchitelle even advocates taxing people with higher incomes. Like this money will be redirected to the layed-off or pay for retraining, and such? It won't be re-directed, and it should not be. Furthermore, it won't happen and it's not fair.
   
   The index is large, and there are many book titles author Louis
   Uchitelle cited and noted throughout the book. This book is about us. And it's also about you, even if you think you are safe.



3. While the book is well written and contains a number of stories that are worth reading, the only slightly hidden socialist leanings of the author ruin it for me. The key failure that Uchitelle makes is to assume that constancy is a plausible choice.
   
   This is important - Just because it would be NICE for things to always stay the same as they were a decade ago, that doesn't make it feasible. And no amount of assumptions or nostalgia will make it come true. The world is going to change, competitors are going to make doing things the same way for a decade unfeasible, and using expensive labor to compete with cheap labor is going to get very hard to pull off.
   
   Uchitelle bemoans CEOs who use downsizing, restructuring, outsourcing, and layoffs to "Pad the bottom line" when really they're keeping their companies afloat. At the end of the first chapter, he includes a very Scrooge-like framing of the CEO of Stanley works - who brought the firm from floundering against cheaper Asian imports back to profitability - because he talks about the results he achieved in improving net income and earnings for the company (which is, by the way, his job). Uchitelle would like the reader to view this rapacious capitalist as some evil tyrant who lined his own pockets at the expense of those he fired. However, he neglects to consider the alternative scenario.
   
   Would Stanley works REALLY have kept all those fired workers employed into 2006? NO! Stanley would be bankrupt, and EVERYONE would be out of a job. The CEO Uchitelle decries has saved the jobs he could, saved millions in investor capital (Some of which came from the very workers Uchitelle claims to defend through things like 401k), brought jobs and opportunities to developing countries, rescued a brand, and in general saved a company.
   
   It's very easy to demonize corporate leaders by simply assuming they have the option to do nothing, and we'll all live happily ever after. Unfortunately, change happens, capitalism requires a helmet, and we don't live in the magical world of puppy dogs and lollipops where everyone can work the same job forever without facing outside competition. Out here in the real world, the options are (A) - Fire a few people and keep the company profitable, or (B) Fire everyone and close up shop. Do I think that these are the only two choices available every time? No. I also think layoffs are often done poorly, but this book takes a very naive world view to draw child-like conclusions that reak of "layoffs are bad because they make daddy unhappy".



4. I have not received this book. I have notified the book seller. I have not been provided with a UPS tracking number



5. Useful if grim and inconslusive look at another truly American phenomenon: layoffs.
   
   The earlier parts of the book give a background and case study in how layoffs were once more or less an unthinkable last resort to how they're just business as usual these days. Back when businessmen could attempt to care about more than just shareholder value, layoffs were seen as a disgrace. Today, they're the right thing to do, and even the laid off worker can agree with that given the very rational logic that precludes the action in today's theology known as businesss and greed.
   
   Uchitelle uses the example of the Stanley tool company from New Britain, Connecticut. Once a proud local company that hand-made trusty tape measures and tools, it's now the classic corporation of today: global, fiercely competitive, and run by bloodless MBAs who don't understand why anyone would really be surprised by layoffs. If anything, Uchitelle himself, in the tone, is surprised by the surprise.
   
   So why the book? Because, he suggests, layoffs have an impact on people that cannot be measured in Excel. An impact on the individual and collective psyche that probably can't be quantified in any meaningful way, because you can't truly measure hopelessness, despair, and the destruction of people or little parts of them in dollars and cents. All of the economic statistics in the world cannot reveal the true picture of a people and the underlying rage or pacifism that are produced by layoffs.
   
   It used to be different, Uchitelle reminds us. A CEO might walk the floor of the plant and know people. Today, they move the office far away and don't know you, and they don't care.
   
   And nobody cares.

No comments about The fighting machinists: A century of struggle.

5 comments about Headhunters: Matchmaking in the Labor Market.

1. Not a bad academic study of the contingency recruiter world. It lays out the basic recruiting process for the low to mid level staffing world.



2. I found the book to be full of useful material. Although sometimes one has climb around the author's ego, this will be one of the books that I re-read every few months.



3. Being an independent recruiter for the last 10 years, I have to say that these guys really portray the day to day challenges that we face. Most of the research was done in the 90s - some things have changed but the basics have remained the same.
   
   If you are considering becoming a headhunter, this book tells it all - good and bad. This industry is easy to enter but hard to survive in.



4. It is amazing book. what is there writen it sounds like bible for recruiters!!!)))
   
   All info will be given into the heads to all my consultants asap))
   
   Lubos



5. We all know that there is pressure on academics to publish books--almost any books--to achieve tenure and credentials, and the reviews by academic publications on this one indicate that they all, understanding this, compliment each other's book. I guess they are running low on topics. Sociologist Prof Finlay's only previous book was on "waterfront workers on the west coast" (no joke!).
   
   One wonders for whom this dry dissertation is intended.
   
   If for recruiters themselves (or those considering getting into the field),the best most comprehensive book on the subject is "Search and Placement!" by Larry Nobles. Experienced recruiters will find leading trainer Steven Finkel's wonderfully-written and genuinely knowledgable book "Breakthrough!" (2008 edition)to be full of sophisticated effective material they DON"T know, rather than mundane material filtered through a sociologist.
   
   Job hunters will probably find a good jobhunting book to be more worthwhile. And personnnel/HR people should work with those who can find the candidates.
   
   This is a dry book in search of a market. But it was never written to sell, anyway.