Martin P Wilson

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Ideas, Innovation, Inspiration, Insight, IT

Facilitation and Mentoring for Success.

Microsoft Project 2010 Inside OutMicrosoft Project has become the de facto standard software for project management in all but the most specialised organisations. It is now a powerful tool yet many users barely touch its full capability.

With Microsoft Project 2010 Inside Out even the most experienced Project users will learn new ways to improve their use of Project. It provides a comprehensive guide to the software and the differences from the previous version. For those new to either project management or Project it will take them through the project management process in a structured way using Project 2010.

Indeed Microsoft Project 2010 Inside Out is more than a guide to Project, it is effectively a complete project management course. As a result it may feel slow, initially at least, to experienced Project users who are looking for an update on the new features of Project 2010. That said even experienced project managers will be surprised how much they will learn if they work through the detail. However any reader who perseveres will end up as a Project power user and a well-equipped project manager.

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One Page Talent ManagementIn many organisations performance and talent management systems are bureaucratic so they are not used effectively. One Page Talent Management is the answer.

At last a book on human resource management methods that seeks to eliminate the overly-complex bureaucratic processes used in so many organisations. Managers and staff alike hate them and pay lip service and as a result the performance management and staff development systems do not work as hoped; the response is often to add more complexity and controls to force their application.

In One Page Talent Management Marc Effron and Miriam Ort seek to deal with the challenge of making talent and human resource management usable so that managers and staff will use the leaner processes effectively. They aim to do so by Eliminating Complexity, Adding Value to performance and staff development management whilst still basing it on the same science as the ineffective bureaucratic systems.

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A Cultural Alternative to Management

The India WayIndian executives have an employee-centred approach to management with other differences that have worked successfully in managing double-digit growth.

As The India Way suggests, India's different business culture could revolutionise multinational management as India enterprises go global and escape their home markets. The four authors are all Professors at the Wharton School, the University of Pennsylvania’s renowned business school and are well placed to comment on what they call The India Way. During the research for the book they consulted with most of the top Indian leaders of the businesses that underpin India’s recent and continuing success.

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How to Start a New Life, Career Strategies for the Boomer Generation

Retire_Retirement_Tamara_EricksonNo need to worry about a Credit Crunch reduced pension as this book shows the alternatives to retirement as the workforce shrinks and expertise need to be retained.

Tamara Erickson has produced a book that challenges the accepted wisdom and society's expectation for those aged fifty something - Baby Boomers. It suggests alternatives to retirement for this generation (those born 1946 - 1964) as they approach the traditional end of their working lives. In Retire Retirement she suggests that with improved longevity and healthcare most will have another 20 or more years of active life.

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Subcategories

Quick Thoughts

Has Military Action Ever Dissuaded Tyrants?

Syria - flagIn his speech before the war in Iraq Tony Blair, the UK Prime Minister, argued that not intervening would send a message that tyrants would feel at liberty to act without consequence. By military action in Iraq, he argued, those who would perpetrate atrocities would think twice. There would not seem to be any evidence, before or since, that would back up that contention.

We now have David Cameron, the current Prime Minister, making essentially the same arguments – do politicians ever learn from history?

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Government Spending is not Driver of Growth

Parliament Square London IC02001If more public spending is the only way to create growth then surely governments have become too large a part of the economy? Government is about spending and has little to do with creating wealth.

The best government can do is move wealth from individuals and business to those who serve government.

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Capped Bonuses, There May be Trouble Ahead

Politicians do not seem to be good at imagining unintended consequences. The cap on bankers’ bonuses, however popular, may be counter-productive in reducing risk.

Dark Stormy Skys and Beauty Often CoexistIf a smaller proportion of a trader’s income is at risk if a trade goes wrong they may pursue high-risk opportunities to get that big win. If it works they guarantee the full bonus and could also use it to negotiate a higher salary (and bonus) for the following year. If it fails the downside is limited by the capped bonus to a smaller part of overall income. At the end of the day traders are competitive and gamblers at heart so will they be more likely to pursue the big win when their own risk is limited?

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