|
Books > History > History of specific subjects > History of specific institutions
The CEO of Disney, one of Time’s most influential people of 2019, shares the ideas and values he embraced to reinvent one of the most beloved companies in the world and inspire the people who bring the magic to life.
Robert Iger became CEO of The Walt Disney Company in 2005, during a difficult time. Morale had deteriorated, competition was intense, and technology was changing faster than at any time in the company’s history. His vision came down to three clear ideas: Recommit to the concept that quality matters, embrace technology instead of fighting it, and think bigger—think global—and turn Disney into a stronger brand in international markets.
Fourteen years later, Disney is the largest, most respected media company in the world, counting Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm and 21st Century Fox among its properties. Its value is nearly five times what it was when Iger took over, and he is recognized as one of the most innovative and successful CEOs of our era.
In The Ride Of A Lifetime, Robert Iger shares the lessons he’s learned while running Disney and leading its 200,000 employees, and he explores the principles that are necessary for true leadership, including:
- Optimism. Even in the face of difficulty, an optimistic leader will find the path toward the best possible outcome and focus on that, rather than give in to pessimism and blaming.
- Courage. Leaders have to be willing to take risks and place big bets. Fear of failure destroys creativity.
- Decisiveness. All decisions, no matter how difficult, can be made on a timely basis. Indecisiveness is both wasteful and destructive to morale.
- Fairness. Treat people decently, with empathy, and be accessible to them.
This book is about the relentless curiosity that has driven Iger for forty-five years, since the day he started as the lowliest studio grunt at ABC. It’s also about thoughtfulness and respect, and a decency-over-dollars approach that has become the bedrock of every project and partnership Iger pursues, from a deep friendship with Steve Jobs in his final years to an abiding love of the Star Wars mythology.
In a world that is changing, everybody in business wants to know
how to achieve and maintain success. This is the case whether your
business is local, national, or global, and no matter the products
or services you provide. This book sets out the impressive rise of
Tiens Group, which started locally, expanded nationally, and now
operates globally from its headquarters in China. The book provides
not only an analysis of the factors that have contributed to the
success, but also sets out examples of how these factors can be
adapted to other business enterprises. In this book, you will
discover deep insight into how notions such as swap and
transcendence assist in business development, a sense of how
Chinese businesses have developed across the world, and an
understanding of how both clear focus and an ability to adapt are
critical to business success.
This business book-cum-political and cultural memoir, which gives a
behind-the-scenes look at the revolution of one of the great retail
dynasties of the world, will resonate with readers questioning our
current malaise. As a fourth generation Sainsbury, Tim was the
director responsible for the company's development programme from
1962 to 1974, a key period during which the radical change from
counter service to self-service supermarkets took place. His retail
insight and reflections, including on competition, management and
remuneration, and the role of Government, will be especially
relevant as we witness a new retail revolution and crisis on our
high streets. Sainsbury's second calling was as a politician. This
book has a foreword by Michael Heseltine, in which he writes that:
'Of particular interest to the political student will be Tim's
reflections on the changes he lived through in Parliament itself.
The working conditions there are unacceptable, there are too many
MPs, and the increasing social pressures particularly from the
internet are making it increasingly difficult to attract men and
women of the calibre ministerial responsibility demands.' In Among
the Supporting Cast, Sainsbury tells this story with warmth, wisdom
and a self-deprecating sense of humour.
Tim Waterstone is one of Britain's most successful businessmen,
having built the Waterstone's empire that started with one small
bookshop in 1982. In this charming and evocative memoir, he recalls
the childhood experiences that led him to become an entrepreneur
and outlines the business philosophy that allowed Waterstone's to
dominate the bookselling business throughout the country. Tim
explores his formative years in a small town in rural England at
the end of the Second World War, and the troubled relationship he
had with his father, before moving on to the epiphany he had while
studying at Cambridge, which set him on the road to Waterstone's
and gave birth to the creative strategy that made him a high street
name. Candid and moving, The Face Pressed Against a Window charts
the life of one of our most celebrated business leaders.
Marvel Studios has provided some of the biggest worldwide cinematic
hits of the last eight years, from Iron Man (2008) to the
record-breaking The Avengers (2012), and beyond. Having announced
plans to extend its production of connected texts in cinema,
network and online television until at least 2028, the new
aesthetic patterns brought about by Marvel's 'shared' media
universe demand analysis and understanding. The Marvel Studios
Phenomenon evaluates the studio's identity, as well as its status
within the structures of parent Disney. In a new set of readings of
key texts such as Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Guardians of
the Galaxy and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., the thematics of superhero
fiction and the role of fandom are considered. The authors identify
milestones from Marvel's complex and controversial business
history, allowing us to appraise its industrial status: from a
comic publisher keen to exploit its intellectual property, to an
independent producer, to successful subsidiary of a vast
entertainment empire.
 |
One
(Paperback)
Serge Patrice Thibodeau; Translated by Jo-Anne Elder
|
R408
R367
Discovery Miles 3 670
Save R41 (10%)
|
Ships in 12 - 19 working days
|
|
Winner, Governor General's Award for PoetryShortlisted, Governor
General's Award for TranslationAn elegant testimony to the
beautiful and the good, Serge Patrice Thibodeau's One pays homage
to the vibrancy and vigor of life, backdropped against the
precarious immediacy of the everyday. From the tiny trunk of
opening lines taken from Paul Valery, Thibodeau unpacks a vision of
human consciousness that exists in a state of singular wonder,
creating a universe that is at once faithful and ever-changing like
the tidal bore -- the landscape of mascaret. Thibodeau boldly
blends anecdotes, pop-ups, leitmotifs, ecological awareness, and
the inner world in variations on the theme of wholeness.
Superannuation was once a privilege granted only to company head
office staff and career public servants. Now in Australia nearly
all workers have access to employer-contributed superannuation, and
it is a fundamental pillar of Australia's retirement income
system.Workers' Capital tells the story of the Australian
superannuation revolution led by trade unions in the 1980s. After a
series of hard-fought industrial campaigns, an enormous financial
industry was created, involving hundreds of thousands of employers
and covering millions of fund members. From having one of the worst
retirement savings systems in the developed world, in three decades
Australia had one of the best. Now the funds held in Australian
superannuation accounts exceed the entire market capitalisation of
all the companies on the Australian Stock Exchange.Drawing on
interviews with the key players and extensive archival research,
Workers' Capital is the first systematic history of the unique
Australian system of industry superannuation.'Startling and
informative-I thought I knew a lot about the industry
superannuation phenomenon, but this one took me by surprise. For a
topic so important, a real page-turner.' Gerard Noonan, Chair of
Media Super, former editor of Australian Financial Review
From its earliest flights in 1926, carrying mail and occasionally a
solo passenger to Chicago, to its acquisition by Delta in 2010,
Northwest Airlines soared to the heights of technological
achievement and business innovation--and sunk to the depths of
employee discord, passenger dissatisfaction, and financial
bankruptcy. Its story, rich in singular successes and failures,
also has the sweep of the history of American business in the
twentieth century. "Non-Stop: A Turbulent History of Northwest
Airlines" captures both the broad context and the intriguing
details as it weaves together the accounts of individuals who gave
the airline its unique character: from founder Lewis Brittin and
pioneering female executive "Rosie" Stein to the CEOs who saw the
company through its glory days and its final tumultuous
decade.
What was it like to pilot a crippled airliner, to be in the
vanguard of the new profession of stewardess, to ride in the cabin
of a luxurious Stratocruiser for the first time? These are the
experiences that come alive as Jack El-Hai follows Northwest from
its humble beginnings to its triumph as the envy of the airline
industry and then ultimately to its decline into what aggrieved
passengers and employees called "Northworst."
"Non-Stop" hits the airline's high points (such as its
contributions during World War II and the Korean War) and the
low--D. B. Cooper's parachute getaway from a Northwest airliner in
1971 and a terrorist's disruption of the airline's last year.
Touching on everything from airline food and advertising to smoking
regulations and labor relations, the story of Northwest Airlines
encapsulates the profound changes to business, travel, and culture
that marked the twentieth century.
|
|