Here are 100 books that Corporate Lifecycles fans have personally recommended if you like Corporate Lifecycles. Book DNA is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of Pour Your Heart Into It: How Starbucks Built a Company One Cup at a Time

Eric G. Flamholtz Author Of Growing Pains: Building Sustainably Successful Organizations

From my list on the stages and challenges of organizational growth.

Why am I passionate about this?

I'm Professor Emeritus at UCLA and have also been on the faculty of Columbia University and The University of Michigan, where I received my PhD degree. I founded Management Systems Consulting, which works with entrepreneurial firms in the US and globally to scale up, in 1978. I've served on the board of a firm (99 Cents Only Stores) that scaled up and was a NYSE listed firm. I've advised CEOs who have created global champion firms and been recognized as leaders in their space. I've authored or co-authored several books including Creating Family Business Champions; Corporate Culture: The Ultimate Strategic Advantage; Changing the Game; and Leading Strategic Change.

Eric's book list on the stages and challenges of organizational growth

Eric G. Flamholtz Why Eric loves this book

This book is by the founder of a company that has successfully navigated the stages of growth from a start-up to a sustainably successful organization and become a global champion or recognized leader in its space. Accordingly, the book is from the “horse’s mouth.” Schultz and his coauthor take the reader on the journey of the development of one of the classic entrepreneurial successes of our time. He details the challenges, his thinking, and the responses that were made to create the Starbucks of today. The book provided s the reader with a rare opportunity to participate in the Starbucks journey from a vision to the reality of building a great company. 

By Howard Schultz ,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Pour Your Heart Into It as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In Pour Your Heart Into It, former CEO and now chairman emeritus Howard Schultz illustrates the principles that have shaped the Starbucks phenomenon, sharing the wisdom he has gained from his quest to make great coffee part of the American experience.

The success of Starbucks Coffee Company is one of the most amazing business stories in decades. What started as a single store on Seattle's waterfront has grown into the largest coffee chain on the planet. Just as remarkable as this incredible growth is the fact that Starbucks has managed to maintain its renowned commitment to product excellence and employee…


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Book cover of Aggressor

Aggressor by FX Holden,

It is April 1st, 2038. Day 60 of China's blockade of the rebel island of Taiwan.

The US government has agreed to provide Taiwan with a weapons system so advanced that it can disrupt the balance of power in the region. But what pilot would be crazy enough to run…

Book cover of Good to Great

John Mullins Author Of Break the Rules!: The Six Counter-Conventional Mindsets of Entrepreneurs That Can Help Anyone Change the World

From my list on enhanced success of your entrepreneurial journey.

Why am I passionate about this?

The world of entrepreneurship has been my driving passion for decades. Why? It is entrepreneurs, despite their many quirks, who make the world a better place. It’s entrepreneurs who create jobs in a world where jobs in many places are in short supply. It’s entrepreneurs who wake up every day with a passion to forge their own path with the freedom to do so. And it’s why I embarked at mid-life on a second career as a business-school professor. It’s why I teach and why I write. The books I suggest here will give you a fighting chance to deal effectively with the challenges you’ll surely find along your entrepreneurial journey.

John's book list on enhanced success of your entrepreneurial journey

John Mullins Why John loves this book

Jim Collins’ best book is the most pragmatic and most useful business book I’ve ever read. Period. From “getting the right people on the bus” to “the hedgehog concept” and more, the fundamentals entailed in creating a truly great business are all here. What more need I say? 

By Jim Collins ,

Why should I read it?

17 authors picked Good to Great as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

________________________________
Can a good company become a great one? If so, how?

After a five-year research project, Jim Collins concludes that good to great can and does happen. In this book, he uncovers the underlying variables that enable any type of organisation to make the leap from good to great while other organisations remain only good. Rigorously supported by evidence, his findings are surprising - at times even shocking - to the modern mind.

Good to Great achieves a rare distinction: a management book full of vital ideas that reads as well as a fast-paced novel. It is widely regarded…


Book cover of My Years with General Motors

Eric G. Flamholtz Author Of Growing Pains: Building Sustainably Successful Organizations

From my list on the stages and challenges of organizational growth.

Why am I passionate about this?

I'm Professor Emeritus at UCLA and have also been on the faculty of Columbia University and The University of Michigan, where I received my PhD degree. I founded Management Systems Consulting, which works with entrepreneurial firms in the US and globally to scale up, in 1978. I've served on the board of a firm (99 Cents Only Stores) that scaled up and was a NYSE listed firm. I've advised CEOs who have created global champion firms and been recognized as leaders in their space. I've authored or co-authored several books including Creating Family Business Champions; Corporate Culture: The Ultimate Strategic Advantage; Changing the Game; and Leading Strategic Change.

Eric's book list on the stages and challenges of organizational growth

Eric G. Flamholtz Why Eric loves this book

This book presents the historical story of another great company that rose to dominate its industry from the perspective of the man who led the company and was the architect of the strategic battle to create it. Alfred P. Sloan was an MIT-trained engineer when he was selected to lead General Motors, which was at the time “an also ran” to the once mighty Ford Motor Company led by the legendary visionary of the industry, Henry Ford. Yet Sloan, who even today is less well known than Henry Ford, crafted a strategy and organization that ultimately surpassed Ford not only in market share, but also in all aspects of operations so that General Motors and not Ford became the dominant colossus of the Automotive industry for more than a half-century. 

The book gives readers an opportunity to see the nature and evolution of Sloan’s plans and actions that slowly and…

By Alfred P Sloan Jr. ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked My Years with General Motors as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This edition has no photos nor charts. A free GM_Charts_Supplement.pdf can be download from enetpress.com

“Deliberately to stop growing is to suffocate. . . . I put no ceiling on progress.”
~Alfred P Sloan, Jr.

Alfred P Sloan, Jr. began his career with General Motors little realizing that the automobile presented one of the greatest industrial opportunities of modern times. It was because of his genius and leadership that General Motors Corporation grew to be one of the largest corporations on Earth. My Years with General Motors tells Alfred P. Sloan, Jr.’s remarkable story.

When Alfred P. Sloan, Jr. joined…


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Book cover of The Year Mrs. Cooper Got Out More: A Great Wharf Novel

The Year Mrs. Cooper Got Out More by Meredith Marple,

The coastal tourist town of Great Wharf, Maine, boasts a crime rate so low you might suspect someone’s lying.

Nevertheless, jobless empty nester Mallory Cooper has become increasingly reclusive and fearful. Careful to keep the red wine handy and loath to leave the house, Mallory misses her happier self—and so…

Book cover of Men and Women of the Corporation

Monika Kostera Author Of The Three Faces of Leadership

From my list on management leadership as a complex quest.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have always had so-called “authority problems.” It wasn’t the people; it was the rigidity that got to me. But just as much or more, I have always loved things complex, unequivocal, strange, soulful, and poetic. I have loved stories. They helped me to eventually understand the leaders and either make friends with them or avoid them. They helped me to make peace with the rebellious streak in myself. I read about leaders, mangers, and employees, I research them, I write about them and for them. Stories enable me to express all these insights in a form that is, at the same time, truthful and resonant (I hope). 

Monika's book list on management leadership as a complex quest

Monika Kostera Why Monika loves this book

In the corporate world out there, the managers are actual people: men and women enter the stage under quite unequal conditions. I loved how this book throws light on a game that is far from fair from the outset and the odds are stacked against the women who enter it.

This is a classic that ages well–time changes, waves of equal opportunity policies are introduced, but still, I felt the basic mechanism this book reveals stays very much the same. I was fascinated by this book’s striking depiction of how men and women are dealt dissimilar cards but expected to perform just as well–and to act as if their conditions were fair and only merit mattered.

“The best and brightest” is a myth and not an inspiring one. 

By Rosabeth Moss Kanter ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Men and Women of the Corporation as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In this landmark work on corporate power, especially as it relates to women, Rosabeth Moss Kanter, the distinguished Harvard management thinker and consultant, shows how the careers and self-images of the managers, professionals, and executives, and also those of the secretaries, wives of managers, and women looking for a way up, are determined by the distribution of power and powerlessness within the corporation. This new edition of her award-winning book has a major new afterward in which the author reviews and analyzes how attitudes and practices within the corporate power structure have changed in the 1990s.


Book cover of The AI Factor: How to Apply Artificial Intelligence and Use Big Data to Grow Your Business Exponentially

Tim Vandehey Author Of Swipe: The Science Behind Why We Don't Finish What We Start

From my list on how technology is changing how we live.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m a journalist and a tinkerer. I’m fascinated not only by how things work but by how small levers can move mountains. Growing up in the workshop of my grandfather, an old Boston boatwright, I was mesmerized by the idea that a small rudder could maneuver a huge vessel. In college, I fell in love with how a small idea or expression could redirect a course of research or a country. As a self-taught maker of things, I appreciate how technologies empower us. I’ve chosen these books because they’re examples of how small ideas become things, lines of research, or patterns of thinking that shift human progress in unknowable ways.

Tim's book list on how technology is changing how we live

Tim Vandehey Why Tim loves this book

I love gutsy books by outsiders, and Ms. Saxena, as a woman of color working in the Ivy League and the worlds of artificial intelligence and Big Data, is very much an outsider.

That makes her deep knowledge and insights into how AI and Big Data are changing business even that much more interesting. Plus, this is one of the only books I’ve read that explains how artificial intelligence works in a clear, direct way that doesn’t assume the reader already knows about things like machine learning and neural nets. 

By Asha Saxena ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The AI Factor as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Have you heard about artificial intelligence (AI) and big data but felt they are technologies too big or too complicated for you or your business? Do you imagine AI as a Hollywood science fiction stereotype or something in the far and distant future?

Take heart. AI is none of those things. It's part of our everyday lives, and it has the power to transform your business.

This book will put AI, big data, the cloud, robotics, and smart devices in context. It will reveal how these technologies can dramatically multiply any businesses-including yours-by strategically using your data's latent, transformative potential.…


Book cover of Necessary Endings

William Piercy Author Of Life's Too Short for a Bad Business Partner

From my list on managing business relationships.

Why am I passionate about this?

After more than two decades of practice in the “corporate divorce” arena, I understand the challenges that arise from internal dissension within the management, operations, and ownership of a closely held business. Business is about relationships; relationships with customers, vendors, lenders, landlords, and often, relationships with business partners. Sometimes, business relationships stop being productive and start to impede business growth and success. That’s where I come in. I work with business owners to bring a successful resolution to disputes concerning the management and control of the business.

William's book list on managing business relationships

William Piercy Why William loves this book

What I most enjoyed about this book is the core message that business relationships, even successful and productive ones, are not meant to last forever. There is a season for everything. Far too often, partners enter into business relationships in the same way they enter a marriage, thinking that it will or should last forever. But there is a reason that the ceremony and the vows associated with the consummation of a marriage are missing from the formation of a business relationship.

This book advocates for beginning with the end in mind. It also helps readers understand that sometimes, ripping the band-aid off and ensuring the short-term pain is the only way to heal and prosper.

By Henry Cloud ,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Necessary Endings as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

"If you're hesitant to pull the trigger when things obviously aren't working out, Henry Cloud's Necessary Endings may be the most important book you read all year." -Dave Ramsey, New York Times bestselling author of The Total Money Makeover "Cloud is a wise, experienced, and compassionate guide through [life's] turbulent passages." -Bob Buford, bestelling author of Halftime and Finishing Well; founder of the Leadership Network Henry Cloud, the bestselling author of Integrity and The One-Life Solution, offers this mindset-altering method for proactively correcting the bad and the broken in our businesses and our lives. Cloud challenges readers to achieve the…


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Book cover of That First Heady Burn

That First Heady Burn by George Bixley,

Don’t mess with the hothead—or he might just mess with you. Slater Ibáñez is only interested in two kinds of guys: the ones he wants to punch, and the ones he sleeps with. Things get interesting when they start to overlap. A freelance investigator, Slater trolls the dark side of…

Book cover of Valuation: Measuring and Managing the Value of Companies

Michael Samonas Author Of Financial Forecasting, Analysis and Modelling: A Framework for Long-Term Forecasting

From my list on financial modelling and valuation.

Why am I passionate about this?

I come from an engineering background and early in my career I discover financial modelling as I had to assess the viability of business plans. I deal with financial models the last 20 years of my professional carrier as a Group Financial Officer of SIDMA STEEL SA. Moreover, I am teaching financial modelling in the American College of Greece, Deree, at University of Nicosia in collaboration with Globaltraing and many other places abroad. I am a numbers person, and I am fascinated by financial modelling as it provides you a tool to support effective decision-making. 

Michael's book list on financial modelling and valuation

Michael Samonas Why Michael loves this book

It is the best reference guide on Valuations.

Includes a chapter on forecasting performance which is closely related to my book. It’s mainly focused on Discounted Cash Flow valuation adapted for many including banks, high-growth, cyclical companies, Emerging Markets, etc).

There exists also a version that gives access to the Excel spreadsheet that one can use to model future financial performance of companies and value them.

By McKinsey & Company Inc. , Tim Koller , Marc Goedhart , David Wessels

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Valuation as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

McKinsey & Company's #1 best-selling guide to corporate valuation-the fully updated seventh edition

Valuation has been the foremost resource for measuring company value for nearly three decades. Now in its seventh edition, this acclaimed volume continues to help financial professionals around the world gain a deep understanding of valuation and help their companies create, manage, and maximize economic value for their shareholders.

This latest edition has been carefully revised and updated throughout, and includes new insights on topics such as digital, ESG (environmental, social and governance), and long-term investing, as well as fresh case studies.

Clear, accessible chapters cover the…


Book cover of Firm Commitment

Neil Gaught Author Of CORE

From my list on purpose and the future of business.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve read countless books and articles on business, leadership, and sustainability—but the ones I return to are those that grapple with purpose. I’m drawn to anything that challenges the "business as usual" status quo and shows how business can be a force for good. Having worked across sectors and shaped my own thinking around the challenges facing business and society, I know how powerful purpose can be when done right. But more than that, I feel it—these books fuel my belief that meaningful change is possible. If you care about business’s potential to positively shape society and the planet, give them a go.

Neil's book list on purpose and the future of business

Neil Gaught Why Neil loves this book

Reading this book had a profound impact on me–as did the author himself. I had the privilege of meeting Colin Mayer in his wood-paneled office and interviewing him for my own book—an experience that deepened my respect for his thinking. I found myself nodding in agreement as he laid out how far corporations have drifted from their true purpose.

I was struck by his call to move from ownership to stewardship and how closely it aligned with my own belief that purpose must sit at the heart of business. His critique helped sharpen my understanding of corporate governance and reaffirmed my beliefs in the need for a better way forward for business and its relationship with society.

By Colin Mayer ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Firm Commitment as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The corporation is one of the most important and remarkable institutions in the world. It affects all our lives continuously. It feeds, entertains, houses and, employs us. It generates vast amounts of revenue for those who own it and it invests a substantial proportion of the wealth that we possess. But the corporation is also the cause of immense problems and suffering, a source of poverty and pollution, and its failures are increasing. How is the corporation failing us? Why is it happening? What should we do to restore trust in it? While governments are subject to repeated questioning and…


Book cover of The Game-Changer: How You Can Drive Revenue and Profit Growth with Innovation

Kate Vitasek Author Of Vested: How P&G, McDonald's, and Microsoft are Redefining Winning in Business Relationships

From my list on creating successful business deals.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am an international authority for my award-winning research on the Vested® business model for highly collaborative relationships. I began my research in 2003 researching what makes a difference in successful strategic business deals. My day job is being the lead faculty and researcher for the University of Tennessee’s Certified Deal Architect program; my passion is helping organizations and individuals learn the art, science, and practice of crafting highly collaborative win-win strategic business relationships. My work has led to seven books and three Harvard Business Review articles. I’ve also shared my advice on CNN International, Bloomberg, NPR, and on Fox Business News.

Kate's book list on creating successful business deals

Kate Vitasek Why Kate loves this book

When AG Lafley became the CEO of P&G he had an idea that the best way to drive innovation was through collaboration. His book goes behind the scenes on how he encouraged P&Gers to look to suppliers and even competitors' help P&G take innovation to a new level. In fact—Lafley set the lofty goal that 50% of all innovations would not come from P&G—but through P&G by working with strategic partnerships. The book has several examples of how the CPG giant is using collaboration to drive innovation.

By A.G. Lafley , Ram Charan ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Game-Changer as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

It is by making innovation an intimate, intentional part of the business that A. G. Lafley - the Jack Welch of the 21st century - has recently transformed Procter & Gamble from a $39 into a $76 billion dollar company that touches more than 3 billion people around the world. On the brink of collapse when he joined in 2000, it became a model for growth and innovation. In this inspiring and practical book Lafley explains how making innovation more than just a stand-alone activity enabled him to turn around growth, productivity and the bottom line.

As this book shows,…


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Book cover of My Book Boyfriend

My Book Boyfriend by Kathy Strobos,

Lily loves her community garden. Rupert wants to bulldoze it. When feelings grow, will they blossom or turn to rubble?

"It literally had everything! - Bookworm Characters - Humor - Banter - Swoon-worthy lines."  - Book Reviewer.

Book cover of Building a World-Class Compliance Program: Best Practices and Strategies for Success

Mónica Ramírez Chimal Author Of Don't Let Them Wash, Nor Dry!: A Simple and Easy Guide to Protect Your Company from the Risk of Money Laundering

From my list on tackling money laundering risk.

Why am I passionate about this?

The prevention of money laundering caught my attention, and at that time, with so little information on the market, I decided to write my first book so that more people can protect themselves from this crime. I have a gift: explain complicated topics in an easy way. This has helped me to write several articles on different topics in international magazines. I’m a passionate-effective trainer who believes that helping people to grow helps to make this world better. It’s my legacy! I like to do the right thing; take this as a reliable fact: I consult my own book and articles written. I hope to help you grow too!

Mónica's book list on tackling money laundering risk

Mónica Ramírez Chimal Why Mónica loves this book

One of the risks that the Compliance Officers oversee is the risk of money laundering; depending on how it is managed, it is possible to minimize reputational risk. This book helped me pinpoint precisely the necessary elements that must be included in a compliance plan to achieve strong corporate responsibility and compliance culture. By having those controls in place, money laundering and even any other white-crime risk are minimized and, incidentally, reputational risk. If you apply this, the company you work for it's going to be protected, and your boss is going to be happy, a win-win for everyone!

By Martin T. Biegelman ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Building a World-Class Compliance Program as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Written by a long-standing practitioner in the field, this timely and critical work is your best source for understanding all the complex issues and requirements associated with corporate compliance. It provides clear guidance for those charged with protecting their companies from financial and reputational risk, litigation, and government intervention, who want a robust guide to establish an effective compliance program.


Book cover of Pour Your Heart Into It: How Starbucks Built a Company One Cup at a Time
Book cover of Good to Great
Book cover of My Years with General Motors

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