Curtis J. Crawford

Crawford's work here is a straightforward and readable look into corporate governance and the upper levels of corporate business. I requested the book through the member giveaway program here on LT as both the book's description and the dustjacket (once I received the book) noted that one of the book's ideal functions would be to give lay readers a view into the corporate world and public companies. I don't have much background in business, but I was interested in learning more. On some level, this book worked in that regard, but the main problem with the book in my sight is that it attempts to straddle two audiences, and as a result, I'm not sure it can fully satisfy either. To fully understand the points, I needed more concrete examples, perhaps a few in depth case studies as opposed to the quick two sentence examples that were so often given. On the other hand, my guess is that much of the information would come across as Too basic for the other audience, upper level business men and women. The information is here, but I think trying to make it accessable and worthwhile to multiple audiences may just have been too much to attempt in a single project. I did learn some, but I also expected quite a bit more--this wouldn't have gotten finished, truthfully, if I hadn't gotten it through the member review program.

In the end, I'd recommend it to folks who are interested in the subject but have some prior background in business or trading. I wouldn't pass it on to other laypeople, particularly in the current climate--I have to admit it was at times hard to take Crawford's clear optimism when I haven't been able to stop thinking about BP for the last few months: my faith in CEOs and businessmen is admittedly at an all time low, so this book probably couldn't have come at a worse time unfortunately.

Writing-wise, the book is readable, though the stacking of graphs and charts together was less effective than if the graphs and charts had been placed separately and discussed one by one instead of floating in a couple of large blocks. I also have to admit that the use of exclamation points was....well, rather annoying. I generally don't think they're needed in mature nonfiction writing, and there was some overkill here at times, to the extent that at times I felt like I was reading a self-help book instead of researched nonfiction.

Regardless, I'm glad I got through it; if nothing else, it gave me a new perspective and some insight into corporate business, and showed me some of what quite a few of my students are slowly moving toward.… (altro)