What Works: Success in Stressful Times

What Works: Success in Stressful Times

by HamishMcRae (Author)

Synopsis

Using examples ranging from Ikea to the slums of Mumbai, leading economic expert Hamish McRae studies which businesses, organisations and initiatives have what it takes to succeed, and what it is that distinguishes them in an increasingly competitive global marketplace.

Calling on years of experience as an award-winning financial journalist and international public speaker, the author brings a fresh perspective to the question of success, differentiating the few 'big ideas' that have transformed the marketplace from passing trends and over-hyped blind alleys.

Through an extraordinary range of case studies and an authoritative grasp of his material, the author demonstrates that although there is no surefire recipe for success, there are several key ingredients - such as sense of mission and market sensitivity - which ambitious readers can apply to their own business practices. This is a book of very real successes rather than overblown ideologies: each case study is based around an on-site visit by an author and interviews with the people in charge. Bearing in mind the role of fashion, scale and other less predictable factors, `What Works' ultimately offers the general reader the chance to learn from some of the grandest economic successes and unexpected failures in the world today, through a series of imaginative, unusual and insightful examples.

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More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 356
Publisher: HarperPress
Published: 04 Aug 2011

ISBN 10: 0007203780
ISBN 13: 9780007203789

Media Reviews

`Hamish McRae's study of winning organisations around the world is very much not in the dogmatic style of tomes by American management gurus...McRae's approach is altogether more whimsical - and this makes his little sermons on the nature of success much more of a pleasure to read....The BBC does not qualify for entrance into McRae's hall of fame, but I insist that our national broadcasting monolith immediately commission McRae to do a series based on this bracingly upbeat...book... We could all do with cheering up; and it would be nice, for a change, to have an economist on our screens with a smile on his face.' Dominic Lawson, Sunday Times

`Each case study is lean and precisely crafted...McRae deserves credit for writing a can-do anthology in defeatist times.' Observer

`[McRae] has picked a difficult subject...withholding deep analysis in return for making What Works broad, accessible and colourful...seeing the markers of success as far more than balance sheets and statistics. It's good to have a book that shows faith in people.' Independent on Sunday

`Optimistic yet realistic, humane yet incisive, Hamish McRae's inspiring and wide-ranging book is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand what works, what doesn't, and why.' Tim Harford, author of `The Undercover Economist'

Author Bio

Hamish McRae is a principle commentator for the Independent, the Independent on Sunday and associate editor of the Independent. He is author of `The World in 2020', which has been translated into more than a dozen languages. He also co-wrote `Capital City: London as a Financial Centre' with his wife, Frances Cairncrosse, and broadcasts regularly on the BBC.