Business - The Ultimate Resource

Edited by Daniel Goleman et al
Bloomsbury £40.00
ISBN: 0747559783

This is almost an encyclopaedia of business management topics and it is full of helpful advice and information. Though much of what is here would be available from other sources, this gives a 'one stop shop' approach and it also gives the chance to browse. The list of names and topics is impressive - and so is the organisation.

There are seven sections covering the basics :

• "Best Practice" offers 160 of the most influential business essays, interjected with specialist viewpoints (Charles Handy, Warren Bennis, etc) to link articles together.
• "Management Checklists and Actionlists" is full of do's and don'ts and FAQs.
• "Management Library" offers summaries of key business books that retain long-term relevance.
• "Business Thinkers and Management Giants" gives a brief view on those individuals who have either provided ground breaking business ideas (Machiavelli to Covey) or delivered in the field. (Ford to Gates).
• The "A-Z Dictionary" helps you through the jargon.
• "The World Business Almanac" captures economic data for each and every world country.
• Finally, the "Business Information Resources" section offers further advice and reading on many of the topics covered.

Your purchase price also gives you password access to a website providing updates, upgrades, latest information and special contributions from management thinkers.

This book is good value. It is not perfect - some of the data (such as that in the Almanac) is better gleaned from the web where it will be more up-to-date. However, it seems churlish to complain when you look at the price. £40 buys you an awful lot of information and some seminal thinking.