When it comes to summer reading material, Ivey faculty are far from traditional.
In addition to strictly pleasure reading material, they’re building their knowledge of new business strategies, the impact of technology, how to find your purpose, and the power of storytelling to define yourself as a leader. Here is a look at their top business book recommendations for the summer:
Bold: How to Go Big, Create Wealth and Impact the World
by Peter H. Diamandis and Steven Kotler
What’s enabling entrepreneurs to launch billion-dollar companies faster than ever before? It’s the ability to think big and bold and to leverage technologies.
Ann Peng, Assistant Professor of Organizational Behaviour, recommends this follow-up to the New York Times bestseller, Abundance. In it, the authors provide insight on the power of 3D printing, artificial intelligence, robotics, networks and sensors, and synthetic biology.
“The book is primarily about how the emergence of new technologies creates exponential opportunities for new business (in the meantime disrupting the existing traditional businesses). It’s an easy-to-read piece with a lot of interesting examples,” she said. “It encourages entrepreneurs to think big and bold in order to achieve exponential growth.”
Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life without Losing Its Soul
by Howard Schultz and Joanne Gordon
Associate Professor Glenn Rowe has also been reading about business strategy, but more in terms of making a comeback when a company has lost its way. He’s captivated by the story of Howard Schultz, the president and chairman of Starbucks, who made an unprecedented decision to return to the company as CEO, eight years after stepping down, in order to help the company return to its core values.
“The book gives great insight into how one CEO led a very well-known company through the process of recreating itself after going in a direction under two successive CEOs,” he said. “Schultz returned because he considered that Starbucks had ‘lost its soul.’ Under Schultz, Starbucks returned to its business of selling coffee, and more coffee, and in doing so ‘regained its soul.’”
See a related recommendation in the list below provided by the C.B. (Bud) Johnston Library at the Ivey Business School.
Social Media Intelligence
by Wendy W. Moe and David A. Schweidel
Conversations are increasingly moving from the physical world to online and these online discussions are a goldmine for informing strategies. Xin (Shane) Wang, Assistant Professor of Marketing and Statistics, said Social Media Intelligence is a must-read for anyone looking to gauge brand sentiment from social media conversations.
“The increasing popularity of social media has resulted in astounding growth in the amount of digital data available so marketers can keep up to date on emerging digital information relevant to business,” he said. “This book can help anyone facing the challenge of making sense of social media data to move beyond the current practice of social media monitoring to the more comprehensive use of social media intelligence.”
The Purpose Effect: Building Meaning in Yourself, Your Role and Your Organization
by Dan Pontefract
Cara Maurer, Assistant Professor of Strategic Management, said making money may be powerful, but making money while fulfilling a purpose is even more powerful. That’s why she enjoyed Dan Pontefract’s emphasis on the importance of three crucial areas of purpose: individual, workplace role, and organizational.
“When our work has purpose we are engaged and passionate about bringing our full selves (which matters not only to millennials),” she said. “The ‘purpose effect’ motivates us to find and experience purpose as an individual and to connect it with organizational and societal purpose. Mark Twain knew the importance of purpose when he wrote, ‘The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.’”
TED Talks Storytelling: 23 Storytelling Techniques from the Best TED Talks
by Akash Karia
If there’s one thing TED talks often have in common, it’s the stories they use to engage the audience. And it’s a strategy that leaders should consider adopting, said David Loree, Assistant Professor of Organizational Behaviour.
“This book is a relatively quick read on the underlying principles of telling a great story – an increasingly important characteristic, and differentiating factor, in effective leaders,” he said. “The framework discussed is to-the-point, and can be applied to situations where a speaker has a relatively short time to grab an audience’s attention and convey a powerful, memorable message.”
Tony Frost, Associate Professor, Business, Economics and Public Policy & General Management, has four unconventional recommendations:
Empire of Cotton: A Global History
by Sven Beckert
This book covers 900 years of globalization through the lens of one industry/commodity.
Other People’s Money: The Real Business of Finance
by John Kay
What is the finance sector’s purpose anyway? How can we prevent it from causing economic collapses like the 2008/9 debacle? This book is for finance industry participants, as well as everyone else.
Economics Rules: The Rights and Wrongs of the Dismal Science
by Dani Rodrik
This one tackles the value of economics and economic thinking from one of the most real-world grounded, nuanced thinkers in the profession.
The Road to Character
by David Brooks
This book reveals why the Facebook generation would be happier to embrace thoughtfulness over narcissism. Frost said it will probably be read by everybody except those from the Facebook generation.
Looking for more?
Elizabeth Marshall, Director at the C.B. (Bud) Johnston Library at the Ivey Business School, has also provided a list of some of the more popular business books from its collection. We’ve also included the call numbers just in case you drop by!
Elon Musk: Tesla, Spacex, and The Quest For A Fantastic Future
by Ashlee Vance
Business Stack HC102.5.M88V36 2015
Steve Jobs
by Walter Isaacson
Business Stack QA76.2.J63I722 2011
The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons In Personal Change
by Stephen R. Covey
Business Stack BF637.S8C675 2013
#Girlboss
by Sophia Amoruso
Business Stack HD6053.A56 2014
Monkey Business: Swinging Through The Wall Street Jungle
by John Rolfe and Peter Troob
Business Stack HG4928.5.R655 2009
No Space, No Choice, No Jobs, No Logo: Taking Aim At The Brand Bullies by Naomi Klein
Business Stack HD69.B7K58 2000
Coca-Cola: An Illustrated History
by Pat Watters
Business Stack HD9349.C62U58
Pour Your Heart Into It : How Starbucks Built A Company One Cup At A Time
by Howard Schultz and Dori Jones Yang
Business Stack HD9199.U54S773 1997
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