The BOOK that inspired me

Small is Beautiful is one book that has re-shaped the way I think. The author cleverly explains that to build a robust economy, it is important to focus on people. This book revolves around issues of business decentralisation and humanistic economics.

E F Schumacher explains how it is important to decentralise departments as the business grows.

The book stresses on the quality of the employee's life. This thought is relevant in today's scenario, where it is important to keep employees happy to improve productivity. For this, Schumacher recommends balancing technology and people.

Small is Beautiful further encourages the reader to work at the grassroots level to understand the basics and keep the grounding strong for any new project.

Having read it for the first time in the 1980s, I still return to this book as it continues to remain as relevant today as it was when first published.

Ravi Prasad, President and CEO, Himalaya Drugs

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SMALL IS BEAUTIFUL
Author: E F Schumacher
Publisher: Harper Perennial
ISBN: 0060916303

 

BOOKWORM
Beyond the usual bestsellers

If you've been following our list of business bestsellers over the past weeks, you'll know that very little seems to change. We can almost rattle off the titles in our sleep. Shuffle them around, but Freakonomics, Rich Dad Poor Dad,The World is Flat,The Google Story, The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid, Jack: Straight from the Gut, Winning: The Ultimate Business How-To Book, Blue Ocean Strategy, Execution and Good to Great usually form part of the top 10. This week, we asked the Oxford BookStore to give us their bestsellers' list from Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Kolkata. As usual, these 10 titles showed up in part in all the cities, but they didn't take over the entire list. Here, in no particular order, is a peek into what else readers across the country are picking up:

How Would You Move Mount Fiji?
Author: William Poundstone
Publisher: Little Brown and Company
Price: Rs 490
ISBN: 0316919160

On Becoming a Leader
Author: Warren Bennis
Publisher: Perseus Books Group
Price: Rs 975
ISBN: 0201409291

The Undercover Economist
Author: Tim Harford
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Price: Rs 545.09
ISBN: 0195189779

The End of Poverty: economic possibilities for our time
Author: Jeffrey Sachs
Publisher: Penguin Press
Price: Rs 409.50
ISBN: 1594200459

Who Says Elephants Can't Dance?
Author: Louis V Gerstner, Jr
Publisher: Collins
Price: Rs 847.50
ISBN: 0060523794

Barbarians at the Gate: the fall of rjr nabisco
Authors: Bryan Burrough and John Helyar
Publisher: Arrow Books
Price: Rs 500.50
ISBN: 0099469154

The Indian Economy: problems and prospects
Author: Bimal Jalan
Publisher: Penguin Books India
Price: Rs 350
ISBN: 0143032194

Rule # 1
Author: Phil Town
Publisher: Crown
Price: Rs 1,078
ISBN: 0307336131

Hot Commodities
Author: Jim Rogers
Publisher: Random House Inc
Price: Rs 1,016.75
ISBN: 140006337X

Built to Last
Authors: James C Collins and Jerry I Porras
Publisher: HarperCollins
Price: Rs 816
ISBN: 0887307396