Books published by Harvard Business Review Press

China and India are home to one-third of the world's population. And they're undergoing social and economic revolutions that are capturing the best minds--and money--of Western business. In Billions of Entrepreneurs, Tarun Khanna examines the entrepreneurial forces driving China's and India's trajectories of development. He shows where these trajectories overlap and complement one another--and where they diverge and compete. He also reveals how Western companies can participate in this development.Through intriguing comparisons, the author probes important differences between China and India in areas such as information and transparency, the roles of capital markets and talent, public and private property rights, social constraints on market forces, attitudes toward expatriates abroad and foreigners at home, entrepreneurial and corporate opportunities, and the importance of urban and rural communities. He explains how these differences will influence China's and India's future development, what the two countries can learn from each other, and how they will ultimately reshape business, politics, and society in the world around them.Engaging and incisive, this book is a critical resource for anyone working in China or India or planning to do business in these two countries.

Whether you're new to running meetings or a seasoned executive with no time to waste, leading effective (and even pleasant!) meetings is a must. Running Meetings guides you through the basics of:Crafting a useful agendaInviting the right team membersMaking sure everyone's voice is heard while avoiding conflictCapturing decisions, ideas, and follow-up tasksDon't have much time? Get up to speed fast on the most essential business skills with HBR's 20-Minute Manager series. Whether you need a crash course or a brief refresher, each book in the series is a concise, practical primer that will help you brush up on a key management topic. Advice you can quickly read and apply, for ambitious professionals and aspiring executives--from the most trusted source in business. Also available as an ebook.

Succeed by mastering the art of the whoWhy surround yourself with the best? Because it mattersin all aspects of life.In fact, in professional environments, getting people rightwhat global leadership authority Claudio Fernndez-Aroz calls the art of great who decisionsmarks the difference between success and failure. To thrive, you need to identify those with the highest potential, get them in your corner and on your team, and help them grow. Yet surprisingly very few of us are able to meet that challenge.This series of short and engaging essays outlines the obstacles to great who decisions and offers solutions to address them in a systematic way. Drawing from several decades of experience in global executive search and talent development, as well as the latest management and psychology research, Fernndez-Aroz offers wisdom and practical advice to improve the choices we make about employees and mentors, business partners and friends, top corporate leaders and even elected officials.The personal stories and cutting-edge studies described in the book will help you understand both your own failings and the external forces commonly at play in staffing decisions. The author shares concrete recommendations on how to select the best people, bring out their strengths, foster collective greatness in the groups youve assembled, and create not only better organizations but also a better society.Starting with the cases of Amazon pioneer Jeff Bezos and Brazilian tycoon Roger Agnelli and continuing with individual and corporate examples from around the world, Fernndez-Aroz paints a vivid picture of what great who decisions look like and presents a fresh and commanding argument about why they matter more than ever today.

A New York Times BestsellerIntroducing the new, realistic loyalty pact between employer and employee.The employer-employee relationship is broken, and managers face a seemingly impossible dilemma: the old model of guaranteed long-term employment no longer works in a business environment defined by continuous change, but neither does a system in which every employee acts like a free agent. The solution? Stop thinking of employees as either family or as free agents. Think of them instead as allies. As a manager you want your employees to help transform the company for the future. And your employees want the company to help transform their careers for the long term. But this win-win scenario will happen only if both sides trust each other enough to commit to mutual investment and mutual benefit. Sadly, trust in the business world is hovering at an all-time low.We can rebuild that lost trust with straight talk that recognizes the realities of the modern economy. So, paradoxically, the alliance begins with managers acknowledging that great employees might leave the company, and with employees being honest about their own career aspirations. By putting this new alliance at the heart of your talent management strategy, youll not only bring back trust, youll be able to recruit and retain the entrepreneurial individuals you need to adapt to a fast-changing world. These individuals, flexible, creative, and with a bias toward action, thrive when theyre on a specific tour of dutywhen they have a mission thats mutually beneficial to employee and company that can be completed in a realistic period of time. Coauthored by the founder of LinkedIn, this bold but practical guide for managers and executives will give you the tools you need to recruit, manage, and retain the kind of employees who will make your company thrive in todays world of constant innovation and fast-paced change.

National BestsellerStudents talk about Stewart D. Friedman, a management professor at the Wharton School, with a mixture of earnest admiration, gratitude and rock star adoration. New York TimesIn this national bestseller, Stew Friedman gives you the tools you need to achieve four-way winsimproved performance in all domains of life: work, home, community, and self. Friedman, celebrated professor and founding director of the Wharton Schools Leadership Program and its Work/Life Integration Project, explains how three simple yet potent principlesbe real, be whole, and be innovativecan help you, no matter what your age or what you do for work, become a better leader and have a richer life.In this engaging adaptation of his hands-on Wharton course, he offers step-by-step instruction to help you create positive, sustainable change in your world. This proven, programmatic method teaches you how to produce stronger results at work, find clearer purpose, feel less stressed, strengthen connections with the people who matter most to you, contribute further to important causes, and gain greater support for your vision of your future. If youre ready to learn to lead in all parts of your lifethis is the book for you.For a full array of Total Leadership tips and tools, visit totalleadership.org. Also look for Stew Friedmans book, Leading the Life You Want, which builds on Total Leadership by profiling well-known leadersfrom Bruce Springsteen to Michelle Obamawho exemplify its principles and demonstrate how success in your work is accomplished not at the expense of the rest of your life, but as the result of meaningful attachments to all its parts.

Are you suffering from work-related stress?Feeling overwhelmed, exhausted, and short-tempered at work-and at home? Then you may have too much stress in your life. Stress is a serious problem that impacts not only your mental and physical health, but also your loved ones and your organization. So what can you do to address it?The HBR Guide to Managing Stress at Work will help you find a sustainable solution. It will help you reach the goal of getting on an even keel-and staying there. You'll learn how to:Harness stress so it spurs, not hinders, productivityCreate realistic and manageable routinesAim for progress, not perfectionMake the case for a flexible scheduleEase the physical tension of spending too much time at your computerRenew yourself physically, mentally, and emotionally

Is your firms board creating valueor destroying it?Change is coming. Leadership at the top is being redefined as boards take a more active role in decisions that once belonged solely to the CEO. But for all the advantages of increased board engagement, it can create debilitating questions of authority and dangerous meddling in day-to-day operations. Directors need a new road mapfor when to lead, when to partner, and when to stay out of the way.Boardroom veterans Ram Charan, Dennis Carey, and Michael Useem advocate this new governance modela sharp departure from what has been demanded by governance activists, raters, and regulatorsand reveal the emerging practices that are defining shared leadership of directors and executives. Based on personal interviews and the authors broad and deep experience working with executives and directors from dozens of the worlds largest firms, including Apple, Boeing, Ford, Infosys, and Lenovo, Boards That Lead tells the inside story behind the successes and pitfalls of this new leadership model and explains how to: Define the central idea of the company Ensure that the right CEO is in place and potential successors are identified Recruit directors who add value Root out board dysfunction Select a board leader who deftly bridges the divide between management and the board Set a high bar on ethics and riskWith a total of eighteen checklists that will transform board directors from monitors to leaders, Charan, Carey, and Useem provide a smart and practical guide for businesspeople everywherewhether they occupy the boardroom or the C-suite.

Feeling stressed about your upcoming presentation? Whether you're nervous about how you'll organize your thoughts or how you'll articulate them on the big day, Presentations provides the quick guidelines and expert tips you need to:Craft your messagePrepare and rehearse effectivelyEngage your audienceManage Q&A sessionsDon't have much time? Get up to speed fast on the most essential business skills with HBR's 20-Minute Manager series. Whether you need a crash course or a brief refresher, each book in the series is a concise, practical primer that will help you brush up on a key management topic. Advice you can quickly read and apply, for ambitious professionals and aspiring executives--from the most trusted source in business. Also available as an ebook.

Whos pulling for you? Whos got your back? Whos putting your hat in the ring? Odds are this person is not a mentor but a sponsor. Mentors can build your self-esteem and provide a sounding boardbut theyre not your ticket to the top.If youre interested in fast-tracking your career, what you need is a sponsora senior-level champion who believes in your potential and is willing to advocate for you as you pursue that next raise or promotion.In this powerful yet practical book, economist and thought leader Sylvia Ann Hewlettauthor of ten critically acclaimed books, including the groundbreaking Off-Ramps and On-Rampsshows why sponsors are your proven link to success. Mixing solid data with vivid real-life narratives, Hewlett reveals the two-way street that makes sponsorship such a strong and mutually beneficial alliance. The seven-step map at the heart of this book allows you to chart your course toward your greatest goals.Whether youre looking to lead a company or drive a community campaign, Forget a Mentor, Find a Sponsor will help you forge the relationships that truly have the power to deliver you to your destination.

A road map for redefining "success" and reaching your unique potential through a tough discipline of specific steps and exercises that will help you take control of your career, understand yourself far more deeply, and build your capabilities in a way that fits your passions and aspirations.

Are you at the top of your gameor still trying to get there? Take your cues from the short, powerful 9 Things Successful People Do Differently, where the strategies and goals of the worlds most successful people are on displaybacked by research that shows exactly what has the biggest impact on performance. Heres a hint: accomplished people reach their goals because of what they do, not just who they are. Readers have called this a gem of a book. Get ready to accomplish your goals at last.

DON'T LET YOUR FEAR OF FINANCE GET IN THE WAY OF YOUR SUCCESSCan you prepare a breakeven analysis? Do you know the difference between an income statement and a balance sheet? Or understand why a business that's profitable can still go belly-up? Has your grasp of your company's numbers helped-or hurt-your career?Whether you're new to finance or you just need a refresher, this go-to guide will give you the tools and confidence you need to master the fundamentals, as all good managers must.The HBR Guide to Finance Basics for Managers will help you:Learn the language of financeCompare your firm's financials with rivals'Shift your team's focus from revenues to profitsAssess your vulnerability to industry downturnsUse financial data to defend budget requestsInvest smartly through cost/benefit analysis

MEET YOUR GOALS-ON TIME AND ON BUDGET.How do you rein in the scope of your project when you've got a group of demanding stakeholders breathing down your neck? And map out a schedule everyone can stick to? And motivate team members who have competing demands on their time and attention?Whether you're managing your first project or just tired of improvising, this guide will give you the tools and confidence you need to define smart goals, meet them, and capture lessons learned so future projects go even more smoothly.The HBR Guide to Project Management will help you:Build a strong, focused teamBreak major objectives into manageable tasksCreate a schedule that keeps all the moving parts under controlMonitor progress toward your goalsManage stakeholders' expectationsWrap up your project and gauge its success

IS YOUR WORKLOAD SLOWING YOU-AND YOUR CAREER-DOWN?Your inbox is overflowing. You're paralyzed because you have too much to do but don't know where to start. Your to-do list never seems to get any shorter. You leave work exhausted but have little to show for it.It's time to learn how to get the right work done.In the HBR Guide to Getting the Right Work Done, you'll discover how to focus your time and energy where they will yield the greatest reward. Not only will you end each day knowing you made progress-your improved productivity will also set you apart from the pack.Whether you're a new professional or an experienced one, this guide will help you:Prioritize and stay focusedWork less but accomplish moreStop bad habits and develop good onesBreak overwhelming projects into manageable piecesConquer e-mail overloadWrite to-do lists that really work

Express your ideas clearly and with impact-no matter what the situation. These ten definitive Harvard Business Review articles on communication will help you connect with even the toughest crowds, gain influence and credibility, and neutralize stressful conversations.

Take your business into the future-the right way. In these ten definitive Harvard Business Review articles, the world's foremost authorities on innovation demonstrate how to place the right bets when picking ideas to pursue, tweak new ventures through experimentation, and tailor your efforts to meet customers' most pressing needs.

No matter your field, industry, or specialty, as a leader you make a series of crucial decisions every single day. And the harsh truth is that the majority of decisionsno matter how good the intentions behind themare mismanaged, resulting in a huge toll on organizations, the people they employ, and even the people they serve.So why is it so hard to make sound decisions? In Think Twice, now in paperback, Michael Mauboussin argues that we often fall victim to simplified mental routines that prevent us from coping with the complex realities inherent in important judgment calls. Yet these cognitive errors are preventable.In this engaging book, Mauboussin shows us how to recognize and avoid common mental missteps. These include misunderstanding cause-and-effect linkages, not considering enough alternative possibilities in making a decision, and relying too much on experts.Through vivid stories, the author presents memorable rules for avoiding each error and explains how to recognize when you should think twicequestioning your reasoning and adopting decision-making strategies that are far more effective, even if they seem counterintuitive. Armed with this awareness, you'll soon begin making sounder judgment calls that benefit (rather than hurt) your organization.

Moving beyond the process of changeWhy is change so hard? Because in order to make any transformation successful, you must change more than just the structure and operations of an organizationyou need to change peoples behavior. And that is never easy.The Heart of Change is your guide to helping people think and feel differently in order to meet your shared goals. According to bestselling author and renowned leadership expert John Kotter and coauthor Dan Cohen, this focus on connecting with peoples emotions is what will spark the behavior change and actions that lead to success. Now freshly designed, The Heart of Change is the engaging and essential complement to Kotters worldwide bestseller Leading Change.Building off of Kotters revolutionary eight-step process, this book vividly illustrates how large-scale change can work. With real-life stories of people in organizations, the authors show how teams and individuals get motivated and activated to overcome obstacles to changeand produce spectacular results. Kotter and Cohen argue that change initiatives often fail because leaders rely too exclusively on data and analysis to get buy-in from their teams instead of creatively showing or doing something that appeals to their emotions and inspires them to spring into action. They call this the see-feel-change dynamic, and it is crucial for the success of any true organizational transformation.Refreshingly clear and eminently practical, The Heart of Change is required reading for anyone facing the challenges inherent in leading change.

Why are group decisions so hard?Since the beginning of human history, people have made decisions in groups-first in families and villages, and now as part of companies, governments, school boards, religious organizations, or any one of countless other groups. And having more than one person to help decide is good because the group benefits from the collective knowledge of all of its members, and this results in better decisions. Right?Back to reality. We've all been involved in group decisions-and they're hard. And they often turn out badly. Why? Many blame bad decisions on "e;groupthink"e; without a clear idea of what that term really means.Now, Nudge coauthor Cass Sunstein and leading decision-making scholar Reid Hastie shed light on the specifics of why and how group decisions go wrong-and offer tactics and lessons to help leaders avoid the pitfalls and reach better outcomes. In the first part of the book, they explain in clear and fascinating detail the distinct problems groups run into:They often amplify, rather than correct, individual errors in judgmentThey fall victim to cascade effects, as members follow what others say or doThey become polarized, adopting more extreme positions than the ones they began withThey emphasize what everybody knows instead of focusing on critical information that only a few people knowIn the second part of the book, the authors turn to straightforward methods and advice for making groups smarter. These approaches include silencing the leader so that the views of other group members can surface, rethinking rewards and incentives to encourage people to reveal their own knowledge, thoughtfully assigning roles that are aligned with people's unique strengths, and more.With examples from a broad range of organizations-from Google to the CIA-and written in an engaging and witty style, Wiser will not only enlighten you; it will help your team and your organization make better decisions-decisions that lead to greater success.

Conversation-powered leadershipHow can leaders make their big or growing companies feel small again? How can they recapture the magicthe tight strategic alignment, the high level of employee engagementthat drove and animated their organization when it was a start-up? As more and more executives have discovered in recent years, the answer to this conundrum lies in the power of conversation.In Talk, Inc., Boris Groysberg and Michael Slind show how trusted and effective leaders are adapting the principles of face-to-face conversation in order to pursue a new form of organizational conversation. They explore the promise of conversation-powered leadershipfrom the time-tested practice of talking straight (and listening well) to the thoughtful adoption of social media technology. And they offer guidance on how to balance the benefits of open-ended talk with the realities of strategic execution.Drawing on the experience of leaders at diverse companies from around the world, Talk, Inc., offers provocative insights and user-friendly tips on how to make organizational culture more intimate, more interactive, more inclusive, and more intentionalin short, more conversational.