Book Description
HR’s leading thinkers provide a blueprint for the future. The international bestseller Human Resource Champions helped set the HR agenda for the 1990s and enabled HR professionals to become strategic partners in their organizations. But earning a seat at the executive table was only the beginning. Today’s HR leaders must also bring substantial value to that table. Drawing on their sixteen-year study of over 29,000 HR professionals and line managers, leading HR experts Dave Ulrich and Wayne Brockbank propose The HR Value Proposition. The authors argue that HR value creation requires a deep understanding of external business realities and how value is defined by key stakeholders both inside and outside the company. They provide practical tools and worksheets for leveraging this knowledge to create HR practices, build organizational capabilities, design HR strategy, and marshal resources that create value for customers, investors, executives, and employees. Written by the field’s premier trailblazers, this book charts the path HR professionals must take to help lead their organizations into the future.
Customer Reviews:
Wants HR to get an MBA, not necessarily practice HR.......2007-02-01
If you're an HR practitioner, skip this book. If you're an external HR consultant, read it and use the terms and ideas to sell your services.
The authors want HR to get out of the HR business and into being management consultants with an HR background who solve business problems. The book encourages HR practitioners to become adept at the business by knowing its financials, customers, products, etc, so that they can solve a myriad of business problems or give input to other departments. The value proposition is that "HR aligns with the requirements of internal and external stakeholders." The example that is intended to illustrate this HR value proposition tells of an oil company with a shrinking market share, where marketing didn't take the lead on a customer survey but HR did. By doing so, HR was able to show that service was a key differentiator, thus proving HR's value to the firm. However, this isn't really HR, and most of the examples are would fall into general management consulting.
VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED BY STERN'S MANAGEMENT REVIEW.!.......2006-04-15
After the transactional work of HR has been automated, centralized, eliminated, or outsourced, what is left, and of greatest value, forms the core of this book. In brief, the book is about creating a business-oriented HR function. The book's springboard is a range of future-focused questions such as:
- Why does HR matter so much today?
- How can HR get line managers to be concerned about HR issues?
- What can HR do to connect with the interests of all stakeholders?
- How to create a strong line-of-sight between business strategy and HR.
- How does HR contribute to intangible value creation?
- What are the evolving roles of HR? How can HR be organized to be strategically focused?
The authors confront these challenges with clarity and insightfulness. The central message is that HR must deliver value in the eyes of line management, investors, customers, and employees.
The book is organized around an "integrated HR blueprint" consisting of five elements:
- external realities;
- stakeholders,
- HR practices,
- HR resources, and
- HR professionals)
From these the authors have set forth 14 criteria that profile an effective HR function. To bring these criteria to life the authors present a four-phase process for transforming the HR function-this process integrates and applies the book's central themes. The book is broad-ranging and compelling. We very highly recommended this work. Every HR practitioner should consider this book must-reading.'
Buy this book.......2006-03-09
These guys are amazing. Puts HR in its proper perspective of adding company value. Wonderful.
The full text on bringing HR up to date.......2006-02-23
This book is ideal for the high-level HR executive who wants to redevelop or transform an HR department into a forward-thinking, strategic part of the parent company. While all HR professionals should read it for the knowledge it offers, creating a value proposition for HR is not simple, as authors Dave Ulrich and Wayne Brockbank would be the first to acknowledge. Even the most innovative, progressive HR professionals would find this extensive menu of changes hard to activate independently. Creating an HR value proposition is an intense, all encompassing reform that requires support and direction from the top down. While HR professionals at any level can see the relevance, wisdom and potential of this new blueprint, a CEO and an HR department head would have to march together to carry out the book's mission: implementing an HR transformation totally aligned with corporate strategy. We recommend this tremendous resource to any HR manager or adviser; the higher you are on the HR totem pole, the more you need to read it.
HR as Business Partner in the New Era.......2006-02-12
The authors' formulations in The HR Value Proposition draw on their 18-year study, which involved more than 29,000 HR professionals and line managers worldwide. On the basis of this study, they have come out with value-focused criteria for HR department, which suggests actions that HR must take to achieve them. The criteria range from monitoring external business realities to creating a clear connection between HR actions and stakeholders' value.
The book's prescriptions are meant for HR professionals as well as line managers, even as it highlights the path that HR must take to earn its position in the organization. It also seeks to provide a justification as to why a company should invest in HR--a question that CFOs (Chief Finance Officers) frequently ask about the HR function.
The book has argued that for creating value for the business, it has to know what value is." This in turn necessitates understanding the external business environment. The external context impacts business realities, including realities of technology, regulatory issues, and workforce demographics.
The book no doubt gives important insights into the changing roles of HR in the 21st century, and differentiates them from those performed by HR managers a decade ago. It has succeeded in building a useful framework for aligning human resource strategy with organizational strategy so that it enables the organization to efficaciously march towards its vision. It should be read not just by HR managers but by all line managers, who are key HR managers in today's context, so that they can help in organizational capacity-building and performance excellence. The book has outlined a strategic HR agenda in a comprehensive yet lucid way. The roadmap outlined is clear and helpful for different types of readers. It contains many intriguing ideas worth experimenting by practitioners of people management, and well succeeds in outlining the practices and competencies that make a difference in leveraging people potential for realizing organizational goals. The immense experience of the two eminent authors who have built tremendous credibility for themselves for academics as well as practitioners is amply reflected in the structuring of the book. So far as HR literature for managers in concerned, it is going to be a classic and will become a dominant HR book in the next five to ten years.
Debi S. Saini
Professor of Human Resource Management
Management Development Institute
Mehrauli Road, Sukhrali,
Gurgaon-1220 001, Haryana.
Book Description
First English translation of revolutionary paper (1931) that established that even in elementary parts of arithmetic, there are propositions which cannot be proved or disproved within the system. It is thus uncertain that the basic axioms of arithmetic will not give rise to contradictions. Introduction by R. B. Braithwaite.
Customer Reviews:
Mathematical Rationalism has limits.......2007-03-17
It is very hard to find faults in what may be the most famous proof of the 20th century.
For those not familiar with the Russell-Whitehead Principia Mathematica notation
this is a very hard book. I had the benefit of the Kac-Ulam explanation.
I did find what might be problems with this proof.
1) One is the reliance on number theory proofs about prime numbers that are assumed true
in the Gödelization of the primes coding of the mathematical axioms.
2) The second is the assumption that the axioms statements represent the minimal
representation of such a system of axioms.
Both are slim if none chances, but ones the Gödel doesn't consider.
Information theory was after this time where we discovered that a system of symbols can indeed at times be more efficiently coded.
The best example of this seems to be Gray code compared to ordinary binary number code ( a number theory code
like Gödel's prime code) where less turns out to be more in information terms.
The theory of primes suffers from the new doctrine of strings that says
that infinite scales don't exist in the "real" world: that a maximum and a minimum
of measure are fixed parts of our reality. This kind of assumption can't be "proved"
but is an axiom of a system of a mathematical sort and is counter to the Euclidean proof of an infinite number of primes.
Primes already discovered by use of computers are much bigger than the numbers of ordinary physics, but
we are already reaching the Turing "stopping" problem in finding new ones.
Some people equate in algorithmic information theory and number theory
the stopping problem with Infinity. That point of view of people like G. J. Chaitin
is itself an unproved assumption. So the metamathematics used in the proof itself may be unprovable propositions.
If so, then the proof based on such propositions can't itself be true.
This argument in no way takes away from the greatness of Gödel and his unique genius
as shown by this line of reasoning.
The following is a dissenting view.......2006-10-25
As indicated in two other reviews of mine here, my comprehension of Goedel's work is opposite to the general one. My marking three stars regardless for this book is motivated by his extensive influence, but also by his fair admission later in life that his thesis could amount to hocus-pocus.
Indeed, I see it as one of the prominent mistakes in logical history, and I shall endeavor to explain as best I can. It should suffice to consider his Section 1, an outline of his proposed proof.
Although that section is brief, it already foreshadows an oppressingly complex logical symbolism for statements that in my view can be made much clearer using ordinary language. The symbolism, to be sure, is intended to establish a formal language, whose meaning is to be decided separately. This will be seen one of the problems.
For now, let me give the principal statement Goedel contended to be true but undecidable (neither provable nor disprovable):
"This statement is unprovable."
He symbolized it (p.40) as: "~Bew[R(n);n]". Font limitations made me slightly change it; the tilde "~" means "not", "Bew" is a German abbreviation for "provable", and within brackets "R(n)" says "Statement n" and "n" stands for the full statement.
Goedel proceeds: "...supposing...~Bew[R(n);n] were provable, it would also be correct; but that means...that...~Bew[R(n);n] would hold good, in contradiction to our initial assumption. If, on the contrary, the negation of ~Bew[R(n);n] were provable, then [its provability] would hold good. ~Bew[R(n);n] would thus be provable [in contradiction to the unprovability it states], which again is impossible." (I corrected some errors within brackets.)
So since both ~Bew[R(n);n] and its negation are unprovable, it is undecidable, and Goedel continues (p.41): "...it follows at once that ~Bew[R(n);n] is correct, since...certainly unprovable (because undecidable). So the proposition which is undecidable in the system...turns out to be decided by metamathematical considerations."
"Metamathematical", in excusing the contradiction, designates the above formal system void of assigned meaning, whereas the statement discussed is to have meaning. Not quite a lucid argument. Overlooked, furthermore, is a contradiction using the same reasoning as in the preceding.
Coupled with the preceding finding that ~Bew[R(n);n] CANNOT be proved unprovable (for if so proved, it would be contradicted), can in contradiction be that it CAN be proved unprovable. For if it were instead provable, it would again be contradicted. The statement in question thus becomes a paradox, rather than true, similar to paradoxes like the "liar", mentioned by Goedel (p.40).
He strangely adds to it the footnote: "Every epistemological [paradox] can likewise be used for a similar undecidability proof." The "liar", however, is, like all paradoxes, not a true statement, as required, but one harboring a contradiction. (I deal in my book with, and offer solutions to, paradoxes more fully, including Goedel's resulting one, without naming him.)
There occurs, further, another huge blunder in the alleged proof. The undecidability is said to apply to some of mathematics; in the above formula, ~Bew[R(n);n], the "n" refers to a number, with this justification by Goedel (p.38): "For metamathematical purposes it is naturally immaterial what objects are taken as basic signs, and we propose to use natural numbers for them." Adding (p.39): "Metamathematical concepts and propositions thereby become concepts and propositions concerning natural numbers..."
How so? In one breath he proposes using natural numbers as immaterial signs, and in the next breath the material concerns natural numbers!
The fallaciousness can indeed be made clear by considering our statement, ~Bew[R(n);n], interpreted as "This statement is unprovable." As noted, in ~Bew[R(n);n] the "n", now a number, is to name the whole statement, inside which it is also used in "Statement n..." But whether or not the statement is named by a number, the point is that the name must refer to the intended content of the statement to correspondingly function, not to the usual number possibly represented. Therefore the statement, or anything else similarly used, has nothing to do with numbers, or mathematics generally.
Gödel's proof of the inadequacy of formalism.......2006-10-16
Gödel proves that a formal system containing arithmetic must be incomplete (i.e. incapable of proving all true statements). The proof consists in creating a statement that says "this statement cannot be proved", for then it follows that either this this statement can be proved and we have proved something false, or it cannot be proved but it is still true. In either case our formal system is flawed. This is in a way an instance of the liar paradox, which was of course well know long before, but no-one had expected it to materialise inside a seemingly sensible formal system. Gödel shows that it does by means of his arithmetisation trick that enables the system to speak about itself. All symbols in the system's alphabet is given a unique number. Then all formulas in the system is assigned the following number: the product of all the factors (n:th prime)^(n:th symbol in the formula). By unique prime factorisation one can recreate the formula from its number. Sequences of formulas---proofs in particular---can be coded by the same method. We can now express the relation "x is a proof of y" inside the formal system. This relation takes two arguments: x*, the Gödel number for the sequence of formulas x, and y*, the Gödel number for the formula y. Inside the formal system it is a perfectly well defined and finite problem to decide whether x is a proof of y, as is quite plausible, although Gödel has to work hard with his recursion theory to prove this strictly. Now that we can express "x is a proof of y" we can also express "x is a proof of y(z)", i.e. a relation that takes three arguments: x*, y*, z*, the Gödel numbers for a sequence x of formulas, a formula y with a free variable, and a formula z. Thus we can also express "there exists no x such that x is a proof of y(z)". In particular, we can send in y* for z, and the statement becomes: "there exists no x such that x is a proof of y(y*)". This expression has one free variable, y. Call it F(y). F(y) is a formula in our formal system, so it has a Gödel number, say F*. Now we can formulate the statement "this statement cannot be proved" inside our formal system as follows: "F(F*)"="there exists no x such that x is a proof of F(F*)"="F(F*) cannot be proved". So if our formal system is consistent (i.e. does not prove false things) then we must accept that it cannot prove F(F*), but then F(F*) is true, so our formal system is incomplete.
One of the Best Books You Should Never Read.......2005-07-24
Godel's incompleteness theorem's are without a doubt genious. However, this day in age, no logician actually reads Godel's original work unless they are only interested in the historical aspect of it. Godel himself is not a very good writer. If you want to study Godel's incompleteness theorems there are other books out there that prove his theorems in a much more refined, shorter, and easier fasion.
Unbelievable theorem.......2004-08-04
Reading through the reviews of self-proclaimed math geniuses (see some of the below unhelpful reviews for examples) is hardly edifying, so I feel compelled to lend a hand. Here are a few comments about this publication:
First, the introduction does a poor job in explicating the theory. I suppose it gives you the basic idea, but this is hardly the first account of the theory one should read. Brathwaite does not connect all of the dots, and it will take a long time to figure out how the proof works from his intro, if you can do it all. (And that's not a challenge or insult; it simply isn't that well written.)
Second, forget about wading through Godel's proof on your own. The reviewer who claimed to do so with two years of algebra and a really good dictionary is simply lying. You do not wade through difficult theorems in mathematical logic without the appropriate tools. And the appropriate tools include having done similar but simpler proofs on your own and having a solid background in mathematical logic. Without this background, it doesn't matter whether you have the ability to be a mathematics professor at Princeton or place top five in the Putnam - you simply will not understand the proof in a rigorous manner. By all means, take a look at it to get a general feel for what's going on, but if you want a semi-technical account read Smullyan's "Godel's Incompleteness Theorems."
Third, as one reviewer pointed out, there are multiple errors in this printing of the proof. This makes what was a tall task virtually impossible.
So what did Godel do that was so interesting?
He proved that there were certain arithmetical statements about whole numbers that were not provable but true. (This was important because it shattered the widely held belief that if you stated a problem in mathematics clearly enough you would be able to determine whether it was true or false. Godel showed this isn't always the case. As an aside, simpler mathematical systems have been shown complete; that is to say, they can answer any well formed question.)
So, how can something be true but unprovable?
The sentence Godel constructed said this, more or less: I am not provable. This statement, if true, is not provable. If it is provable it's false, and correct systems (systems that do not prove false statements) cannot prove false statements. Therefore, it must not be provable. But then it's saying something true, and thus it's true but unprovable. Now, I'm simplifying and being sloppy, and you need to know about the difference between mathematical statements and metamathematical statements, but in a nutshell that's the thrust of his first theorem.
The other interesting aspect of his proof is that he constructed a statement that referred to itself indirectly. Russell, in Principia Mathematica - the work that contains the arithmetical system that served as the model for the arithmetical system in Godel's proof - created a "Theory of Types" which did not allow statements to mention themselves. But the sentence "I am not provable" references itself so it would seem that I've erred. But in fact I haven't; I just didn't fully explain how that sentence worked. (I know you were worried, if for just an instant.) Where was I . . . Godel created a sentence which referred to itself indirectly. The sentenced said, "Sentences with such and such characteristics are unprovable." It so happened that a sentence with such characteristics was itself. Thus, it referred to itself, but only indirectly and not in violation of the "Theory of Types."
All of my blathering, I hope, has impressed on you . . .
1) That this proof is worth understanding.
2) That you shouldn't believe anyone who tells you they worked through and understood the proof without having a signficant background in mathematical logic and the history of the proof. If you don't understand certain basic features of Principia Mathematica you're not going to grasp fully his proof.
3) That you should get an introductory account. Nagle's "Godel's Proof" is excellent and easy to understand. Smullyan's "Godel's Incompleteness Theorems" is more difficult, but not impossible and amounts to what would serve as the textbook of a solid mathematical logic course or two at an elite university.
4) That you shouldn't buy this work if you're hoping to work through his proof, unless of course you have the requisite training. Brain power is not enough.
Book Description
In today's highly competitive market, many destinations - from individual resorts to countries - are adopting branding techniques similar to those used by 'Coca Cola', 'Nike' and 'Sony' in an effort to differentiate their identities and to emphasize the uniqueness of their product.
By focusing on a range of global case studies, Destination Branding demonstrates that the adoption of a highly targeted, consumer research-based, multi-agency 'mood branding' initiative leads to success every time.
* Includes five completely new chapters authored by brand consultants, destination marketers and academics, including Philip Kotler and Wally Olins.
* A more global coverage with new case studies and examples from the US, New Zealand, Australia and Asia.
* Considers the web as a channel of place branding/promotion and its effects on the industry
Book Description
Today’s Human Resources function is being transformed by the Web. Web-Based Human Resources shows HR professionals how to use online technologies to offer more services to more employees at a lower cost. It offers concrete tips on which approaches are most effective in small, medium, and large organizations; provides a framework for transforming HR from a support function to one centered on organization-wide productivity and learning; and explains all the key web technologies and trends that are changing the HR function—for the better!
Customer Reviews:
Good HRIS structure.......2003-01-30
This book comprehensive introduction and focuses largely on what web-based HR looks like in practice,and what this technology brings to HR's most critical functions.
Was this review helpful to you?
Highly Recommended!.......2001-08-07
Editor Alfred J. Walker briefly introduces the new Web-based technologies that are enabling human resource (HR) managers to operate more effectively. He then offers a series of 17 articles by different authors covering these new approaches. The topics covered include Web-based employee self-service, delivering employee benefits over the Web, creating an HR service center, outsourcing and using the Web for a variety of services, including recruiting, staffing, compensation planning, employee development and knowledge management. This specialized book will primarily interest HR professionals, top executives and information technology professionals involved in setting up HR information systems. Since HR professionals are attuned to human failings, we [...] trust they will forgive the book's occasional information overlaps - hard to avoid with a collection of articles by different authors - and frequently return to this solid and specifically useful book.
Book Description
T9583-0, 0-20529583-5, Rybacki, Karyn C. (Northern Michigan University), Rybacki, Donald J. (Northern Michigan University), ADVOCACY AND OPPOSITION: An Introduction to Argumentation, Fourth Edition, Previous Edition ISBN: 0-205-19379-X, 6 x 9, paperbound, 320 pp., $46.00 K, HA17 * / This book is a comprehensive and practical approach to argumentation and critical thinking for the beginner who needs to construct and present arguments on questions of fact, value, and policy both orally and in writing. This book offers a theoretical view of the nature of argument in our society, a discussion of principles of arguing as a form of communication, and a focus on how arguments are created using the Toulmin model of argument. Presents the concepts of stock issues in fact, value, and policy argument. Retains the Toulmin model of argument as the basis for explaining how chains and clusters of arguments are constructed favoring or opposing change. Showcases works of European and American argumentation scholars are showcased to explain how students use factual argumentation in everyday situations to develop and test their knowledge. Includes material on how new technology (CD-ROMs, Online Databases) can be used to streamline research. Incorporates real life examples drawn from public debates in which real people argue real issues. for anyone interested in Argumentation and Debate.
Customer Reviews:
Poor on evidence and reasoning.......2007-09-12
Not bad for an introductory text. However, short on the following: it does not present argumentation as a process. Or, at least it is not entirely clear on it. The process is lost in the details. Second, it has poor chapters on reasoning and evidence. It does not really explain what evidence is for. For example, the chapter on evidence (after a brief definition of evidence) begins with a statement that evidence can be found in the library etc. It completely misses the point of the importance of evidence. Later in the text it returns to some of the important points but treats them rather poorly.
The part on reasoning is very poor. Although a knowledgeable person could easily distinguish what is proper reasoning and what can serve as a rhetorical device, that may not be clear to a beginning college student.
A Quality Product.......2006-03-20
This is a great intro to argumentation, and is useful to people of all ages and degrees of experience.
Average customer rating:
- Speedy delivery
- At the top
- Provocative Survey
- a decent and wholly predictable show/book
- Probably never again...
|
Drawing Now: Eight Propositions
Kai Althoff ,
Laura Hoptman ,
Chris Ofili ,
Franz Ackerman ,
Russell Crotty ,
Toba Khedoori ,
Graham Little ,
Los Carpinteros ,
Jockum Nordstrum ,
Jennifer Pastor ,
David Thorpe ,
Richard Wright ,
John Currin ,
Mark Manders ,
Barry McGee ,
Julie Mehretu , and
Yoshitomo Nara
Manufacturer: The Museum of Modern Art, New York
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
United States | Regional | History & Criticism | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
General | Museums & Collections | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
General | Exhibition Catalogs | Museums | Museums & Collections | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
General | Instructional & How-To | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
Drawing | Instructional & How-To | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
General | Drawing | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
Wright, Richard | African American | United States | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
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Vitamin D: New Perspectives in Drawing (Themes)
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Vitamin P: New Perspectives in Painting
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Drawing from the Modern (3 Volumes)
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Experimental Drawing
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In The Making
ASIN: 0870703625
Release Date: 2002-10-02 |
Book Description
From John Currin's old-master-style Playboy bunnies to Elizabeth Peyton's fin-de-si cle portraits; from Julie Mehretu's dizzying, multilayered architectural landscapes to Shahzia Sikander's multipatterned miniature ones; from Yoshitomo Nara's angry and enigmatic little girls to Kara Walker's stereotypical negresses; and from Barry McGee's caricatures of urban graffiti to Matthew Ritchie's cosmological diagrams--drawing is back, if it ever went away. In contrast to the digitized, multimedia direction that much of contemporary art has taken in the past decade, drawing has become a major and arguably parallel mode of expression for many of today's most important young artists. Drawing Now, published to accompany the first major survey of contemporary drawings at The Museum of Modern Art, New York, in 15 years, contains more than 100 color reproductions of work by 26 international artists, both well-known and emerging, that demonstrate the fascinating variety of methods and approaches, mediums and scales, apparent in this old-again, new-again art. Accompanying essays by the exhibition's curator, Laura Hoptman, explore eight themes that she perceives in the field--Drafting & Architecture, Mental Maps & Metaphysics, Popular Culture & National Culture, Fashion, Likeness & Allegory, Envisioning a City, Science & Art, Comics & Other Subcultures, Ornament & Crime--and provide key impulses behind drawing's recent resurgence.
Customer Reviews:
Speedy delivery .......2007-03-27
The book I ordered was delivered in 2 days, I think, and the book was in great condition. No complaints.
At the top.......2007-02-07
Drawing Now does a good job of critically displaying the work of many contemporary artists. Unlike Vitamin D, this book does not take a shotgun approach to viewing contemporary art, and as a result is more satisfying to behold. Not all the artists represented have great work, but you get quality reproductions of it, and worthwhile commentary on each of the thematic "propositions" in the book. Worth buying if you have the money. Worth renewing your library's copy if you don't.
Provocative Survey.......2006-11-02
The catalogue that accompanies the Drawing Now exhibition held at the Museum of Modern Art is just as well thought and carefully crafted. The show is divided into eight themes that bring a solid foundation to a wide scope of works. Each section in the catalogue begins with an insightful essay further developing the rich ideas behind the show. The beautiful illustrations and large format of the book further compliment the important artworks included in the exhibition.
a decent and wholly predictable show/book.......2003-07-30
None of the decisions in this show were very difficult to make. All of the current stars in the drawing/painting world are present (John Currin, Kara Walker, Elizabeth Peyton, Kai Atoff, etc.) and the work they've offered is mediocre. That is not to say the work is bad by normal standards, they are the best of the contemporary scene for a reason: they're good. But, looking at each artist's best work, none of this is it. The essays are kind of hokey and embarrassing (in a bad way). The book is worth buying if you want to seem like you're "with it" when it comes to contemporary art, or if you are a student (such as myself, forever) and need it for research purposes to aid your own studio practice.
Probably never again..........2003-01-16
will we see a drawing show of this scope. MoMA Queens has done itself proud with this show, and my friends who are totally into drawing made a special effort to see it after I sent them this spectacular record of the show itself. (Too bad the museum is such a mess, at least for the time being!)
Book Description
In this era of globalization, outsourcing has emerged as a key strategy not only for achieving competitive advantage but also for survival. However, despite widespread adoption, there are few practical guidelines in the market regarding how to optimally manage outsourced projects. Global Outsourcing with Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Team System teaches managers, developers, and SQA professionals how to successfully execute outsourced projects. Providing best practices guidelines based upon empirical experience of leading practitioners in the outsourcing industry, the book shows how to construct result-oriented development processes for mitigating execution risk, improving quality, and increasing efficiency. Using Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Team System as the underlying infrastructure, the book teaches how to customize development methodologies, integrate with MS Project and MS Outlook, embed real-time communication capabilities, manage source code and build process, run unit tests, create custom reports, and leverage the project portal. Global Outsourcing with Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Team System is an essential IT reference for companies interested in effectively managing outsourced projects and reducing friction associated with globally distributed software development.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent guidance for outsourcing/distributed environment.......2007-06-05
Note: This review gives more importance to the processes than the other obvious benefits.
Who should read this book?
- On-site coordinators
- Off-shore managers
- Process managers/Product Managers
- Key people involved in distributed development/outsourcing.
Why this book is useful?
- This book can be used as a process guidance for outsourcing/distributed environment.
- This book clearly identifies the day to day issues of a distributed development environment and gives options on how to mitigate the risks.
- Explains all the possible options on how efficiently VSTS can be used.
- This is very useful not only for the teams using VSTS 2005, but also for any distributed development team as this clearly gives an idea of what processes should be in place. VSTS is an all-in-one tool which helps in making the life easier.
- For companies which do not prefer to use VSTS can also leverage from the processes clearly mentioned in the book and can achieve similar efficiency by using different free tools available in the market.
- The book has shown how to customize the VSTS to suit the specific need along with the code which is very handy and reduces a lot of effort in customizing.
- More importantly, this book is very handy and easily understood by techies and non-techies alike. Non-techies can understand the processes without getting into any technical details.
- Addresses the issues faced by bigger and smaller companies and bigger or smaller teams.
A fine technical overview programmers will relish........2006-11-05
Jamil Azher's GLOBAL OUTSOURCING WITH MICROSOFT VISUAL STUDIO 2005 TEAM SYSTEM tells how to manage outsourced projects using Visual Studio 2005, which engages developers, project managers and team leads alike. GLOBAL OUTSOURCING takes it examples from the real world also: it examines typical outsource management issues, applications, and problem-solving in a fine technical overview programmers will relish.
Excellent Book.......2006-08-30
Global Outsourcing with Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Team System is an excellent book and informational resource. The format is easy to follow, intuitive, and simplifies gaining an understanding of both the concept of global outsourcing as well as the software.
A Software Assist to Communications........2006-08-23
This book is indeed about global outsourcing, but it deals with the outsourcing of software not athletic shoes or kitchen ware. Specifically, as you might guess from the title, it concentrates on the use of Microsoft's Team System version of Visual Studio 2005. Other Microsoft products such as Project and Excel from the Office suite are also shown as a part of an integrated management system.
There is little question tht outsourcing is here to stay. The cost savings are simply to great to be ignored. A programmer with a few years of experience in the US is paid an average of $55K, in India $15K, and in China $9K.
There is also no question that outsourcing brings its own problems in terms of management, control and especially communications. Many of these problems are specifically discussed in the book, and it goes on to show that the Microsoft tools can assist in these areas. The tools will not, of course, guarantee success but they may help to make a project a success.
Book Description
Designed to make logic interesting and accessiblewithout sacrificing content or rigorthis classic introduction to contemporary propositional logic explains the symbolization of English sentences and develops formal-proof, truth-table, and truth-tree techniques for evaluating arguments. An accompanying computer tutorial program, PropLogic, is available on CD-ROM in two versions: one version can be installed and run off a hard drive; one (identical) portable version can be run off the CD-ROM itself (allowing students/instructors flexibility on when/where they use the program). An appendix in the text describes program details. Tutors readers on formula construction, symbolization, formal proofs, full and brief truth tables, and truth trees. Also provides additional practice exercises. Content organized around natural-deduction formal-proof procedures, truth tables, and truth trees. Gradual presentation of logical statement connectives. Shows students how to symbolize sentences containing the connective and how to use proof rules involving that connective before introducing additional connectives. Examples of actual arguments similar to those readers encounter, and to which they can readily relate. Draws examples and exercises from newspapers, magazines, television, books, textbooks, term papers, posters, comic strips, television programs, films, records, and conversations. Increases students' awareness of the arguments they read and hear every day. Extensive exercise sets throughout provide solutions to about one-quarter of the exercises (in an appendix). Provides ample opportunities for assignments and practice.
Customer Reviews:
The most user-friendly book for Propositional Logic.......2004-10-10
This is a easy to use text for learning the basics of Propositional Logic. The rule set is simple and symmetrical, easy to use. The CD gives important feedback to the student and contains the answers to almost every exercise in the book plus additional practice exercises. I would recommend this textbook to any professor wishing to teach Propositional Logic.
Book Description
An anthology of fundamental papers on undecidability and unsolvability, this classic reference opens with Gödel's landmark 1931 paper demonstrating that systems of logic cannot admit proofs of all true assertions of arithmetic. Subsequent papers by Gödel, Church, Turing, and Post single out the class of recursive functions as computable by finite algorithms. 1965 edition.
Customer Reviews:
Very useful reference.......2004-05-07
This is a great collection of seminal papers by Goedel, Church, Turing, Rosser, Kleene, and Post on the topic of undecidability. It is an extremely handy reference.
Just to note: this is certainly not a tutorial or guide to this topic for the beginner. Davis provides some prefatory comments, but these are concise and mostly set the context for the papers, rather than explaining the content of the papers. This book is more for someone interested in going back to first sources.
Book Description
The 1960 publication of We Hold These Truths marked a significant event in the history of modern American thought. Since that time, Sheed & Ward has kept the book in print and has published several studies of John Courtney Murray's life and work. We are proud to present a new edition of this classic text, which features a comprehensive introduction by Peter Lawler that places Murray in the context of Catholic and American history and thought while revealing his relevance today.
Customer Reviews:
New Intro, classic book.......2006-01-01
Peter Lawler's fascinating and comprehensive to Murray's thought in the context of the American Catholic natural law tradition makes this new edition of WHTT more than worth the money. Someone might quibble with the placement of Lawler's intro, and perhaps the publisher should restore the integrity of Murray's text in the next printing.
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