How Companies Lie

How Companies Lie PDF Author: Larry Elliott
Publisher: Crown Currency
ISBN: 140004703X
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 134

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Book Description
The questions investors need to ask . . . The answers corporate America must give about the true facts of corporate performance and value. During the 2001 baseball season, when games were played at Enron Field in Houston, a typical reaction was: “What the hell is Enron and what do they do?” Now we know more about the executives and inner workings of today’s best-known rogue company than we ever imagined. But it turns out that Enron is just the most egregious case of a disturbing trend and the seemingly unstoppable tendency of some capitalists to destroy capitalism. Something like 50 percent of American households directly support the markets by investing in stocks and mutual funds. But some of the people entrusted with the responsibility for maintaining and managing the corporation—senior executives, boards of directors, auditing firms—have become engaged in what can only be called economic terrorism. Enron, Sunbeam, Global Crossing, and Waste Management are but the tip of the iceberg. Luckily, there are ways for investors to spot corporate smoke and mirrors and challenge the players. Larry Elliott and Richard Schroth show investors the questions that need to be asked to get a handle on the performance reality of companies. The corporate world, in turn, needs a return to reality and authenticity in business operations, finance, accounting, and deal making. This need for performance reality is not an issue confined to a few companies who engage in unethical and illegal behavior. The technological pace of change, along with increasingly complicated business transactions, makes global markets more and more complex. The assumption, however, has always been that we have the management competence and rigor to ensure shareholder value. Enron is definitive proof that the way companies are run—the gap between what they say is reality and what is really the case—is frightening. And this gap has severe implications for millions of people who are employees of and investors in these companies. Using Enron as the touchstone, Larry Elliott and Richard Schroth show investors how to think about and measure the candor of corporations, the Wall Street players, and their supporters.

How Companies Lie

How Companies Lie PDF Author: Larry Elliott
Publisher: Crown Currency
ISBN: 140004703X
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 134

Get Book Here

Book Description
The questions investors need to ask . . . The answers corporate America must give about the true facts of corporate performance and value. During the 2001 baseball season, when games were played at Enron Field in Houston, a typical reaction was: “What the hell is Enron and what do they do?” Now we know more about the executives and inner workings of today’s best-known rogue company than we ever imagined. But it turns out that Enron is just the most egregious case of a disturbing trend and the seemingly unstoppable tendency of some capitalists to destroy capitalism. Something like 50 percent of American households directly support the markets by investing in stocks and mutual funds. But some of the people entrusted with the responsibility for maintaining and managing the corporation—senior executives, boards of directors, auditing firms—have become engaged in what can only be called economic terrorism. Enron, Sunbeam, Global Crossing, and Waste Management are but the tip of the iceberg. Luckily, there are ways for investors to spot corporate smoke and mirrors and challenge the players. Larry Elliott and Richard Schroth show investors the questions that need to be asked to get a handle on the performance reality of companies. The corporate world, in turn, needs a return to reality and authenticity in business operations, finance, accounting, and deal making. This need for performance reality is not an issue confined to a few companies who engage in unethical and illegal behavior. The technological pace of change, along with increasingly complicated business transactions, makes global markets more and more complex. The assumption, however, has always been that we have the management competence and rigor to ensure shareholder value. Enron is definitive proof that the way companies are run—the gap between what they say is reality and what is really the case—is frightening. And this gap has severe implications for millions of people who are employees of and investors in these companies. Using Enron as the touchstone, Larry Elliott and Richard Schroth show investors how to think about and measure the candor of corporations, the Wall Street players, and their supporters.

Nine Lies About Work

Nine Lies About Work PDF Author: Marcus Buckingham
Publisher: Harvard Business Press
ISBN: 1633696316
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 331

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Book Description
Forget what you know about the world of work You crave feedback. Your organization's culture is the key to its success. Strategic planning is essential. Your competencies should be measured and your weaknesses shored up. Leadership is a thing. These may sound like basic truths of our work lives today. But actually, they're lies. As strengths guru and bestselling author Marcus Buckingham and Cisco Leadership and Team Intelligence head Ashley Goodall show in this provocative, inspiring book, there are some big lies--distortions, faulty assumptions, wrong thinking--that we encounter every time we show up for work. Nine lies, to be exact. They cause dysfunction and frustration, ultimately resulting in workplaces that are a pale shadow of what they could be. But there are those who can get past the lies and discover what's real. These freethinking leaders recognize the power and beauty of our individual uniqueness. They know that emergent patterns are more valuable than received wisdom and that evidence is more powerful than dogma. With engaging stories and incisive analysis, the authors reveal the essential truths that such freethinking leaders will recognize immediately: that it is the strength and cohesiveness of your team, not your company's culture, that matter most; that we should focus less on top-down planning and more on giving our people reliable, real-time intelligence; that rather than trying to align people's goals we should strive to align people's sense of purpose and meaning; that people don't want constant feedback, they want helpful attention. This is the real world of work, as it is and as it should be. Nine Lies About Work reveals the few core truths that will help you show just how good you are to those who truly rely on you.

How to Lie with Statistics

How to Lie with Statistics PDF Author: Darrell Huff
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 0393070875
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 144

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Book Description
If you want to outsmart a crook, learn his tricks—Darrell Huff explains exactly how in the classic How to Lie with Statistics. From distorted graphs and biased samples to misleading averages, there are countless statistical dodges that lend cover to anyone with an ax to grind or a product to sell. With abundant examples and illustrations, Darrell Huff’s lively and engaging primer clarifies the basic principles of statistics and explains how they’re used to present information in honest and not-so-honest ways. Now even more indispensable in our data-driven world than it was when first published, How to Lie with Statistics is the book that generations of readers have relied on to keep from being fooled.

Worthless, Impossible and Stupid

Worthless, Impossible and Stupid PDF Author: Daniel
Publisher: Harvard Business Press
ISBN: 1422186997
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 301

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Book Description
Introducing the global mind-set changing the way we do business. In this fascinating book, global entrepreneurship expert Daniel Isenberg presents a completely novel way to approach business building—with the insights and lessons learned from a worldwide cast of entrepreneurial characters. Not bound by a western, Silicon Valley stereotype, this group of courageous and energetic doers has created a global and diverse mix of companies destined to become tomorrow’s leading organizations. Worthless, Impossible, and Stupid is about how enterprising individuals from around the world see hidden value in situations where others do not, use that perception to develop products and services that people initially don’t think they want, and ultimately go on to realize extraordinary value for themselves, their customers, and society as a whole. What these business builders have in common is a contrarian mind-set that allows them to create opportunities and succeed where others see nothing. Amazingly, this process repeats itself in one form or another countless times a day all over the world. From Albuquerque to Islamabad, you will travel with Isenberg to discover unusual yet practical insights that you can use in your own business. Meet the founders of Grameenphone in Bangladesh, PACIV in Puerto Rico, Sea to Table in New York, Actavis in Iceland, Studio Moderna in Slovenia, Hartwell Metals in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia, Given Imaging in Israel, WildChina in China, and many others. You’ll be moved by the stories of these plucky start-ups—many of them fueled by adversity and, more often than not, by necessity. Great stories, stunning successes, crushing failures—they’re all here. What can we, in the East and West, learn from them? What can you learn—and what will these entrepreneurial stories, so compellingly told, inspire you to do? Let this book open doors for you where you once saw only walls. If you’ve ever felt the urge to turn a glimmer of an idea into something extraordinary, these stories are for you.

Liespotting

Liespotting PDF Author: Pamela Meyer
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
ISBN: 1429988533
Category : Self-Help
Languages : en
Pages : 255

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Book Description
Liespotting shows how to use the latest techniques to spot deception in work and life situations. GET TO THE TRUTH People--friends, family members, work colleagues, salespeople--lie to us all the time. Daily, hourly, constantly. None of us is immune, and all of us are victims. According to studies by several different researchers, most of us encounter nearly 200 lies a day. Now there's something we can do about it. Pamela Meyer's Liespotting links three disciplines--facial recognition training, interrogation training, and a comprehensive survey of research in the field--into a specialized body of information developed specifically to help business leaders detect deception and get the information they need to successfully conduct their most important interactions and transactions. Some of the nation's leading business executives have learned to use these methods to root out lies in high stakes situations. Liespotting for the first time brings years of knowledge--previously found only in the intelligence community, police training academies, and universities--into the corporate boardroom, the manager's meeting, the job interview, the legal proceeding, and the deal negotiation. WHAT'S IN THE BOOK? Learn communication secrets previously known only to a handful of scientists, interrogators and intelligence specialists. Liespotting reveals what's hiding in plain sight in every business meeting, job interview and negotiation: - The single most dangerous facial expression to watch out for in business & personal relationships - 10 questions that get people to tell you anything - A simple 5-step method for spotting and stopping the lies told in nearly every high-stakes business negotiation and interview - Dozens of postures and facial expressions that should instantly put you on Red Alert for deception - The telltale phrases and verbal responses that separate truthful stories from deceitful ones - How to create a circle of advisers who will guarantee your success

Bad Blood

Bad Blood PDF Author: John Carreyrou
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 1524731668
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 354

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Book Description
NATIONAL BESTSELLER • The gripping story of Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos—one of the biggest corporate frauds in history—a tale of ambition and hubris set amid the bold promises of Silicon Valley, rigorously reported by the prize-winning journalist. With a new Afterword covering her trial and sentencing, bringing the story to a close. “Chilling ... Reads like a thriller ... Carreyrou tells [the Theranos story] virtually to perfection.” —The New York Times Book Review In 2014, Theranos founder and CEO Elizabeth Holmes was widely seen as the next Steve Jobs: a brilliant Stanford dropout whose startup “unicorn” promised to revolutionize the medical industry with its breakthrough device, which performed the whole range of laboratory tests from a single drop of blood. Backed by investors such as Larry Ellison and Tim Draper, Theranos sold shares in a fundraising round that valued the company at more than $9 billion, putting Holmes’s worth at an estimated $4.5 billion. There was just one problem: The technology didn’t work. Erroneous results put patients in danger, leading to misdiagnoses and unnecessary treatments. All the while, Holmes and her partner, Sunny Balwani, worked to silence anyone who voiced misgivings—from journalists to their own employees.

To Be Honest

To Be Honest PDF Author: Ron A. Carucci
Publisher: Kogan Page Publishers
ISBN: 1398600679
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 289

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Book Description
WINNER: NYC Big Book Award 2021 - Business General WINNER: Goody Business Book Awards - Business General FINALIST: Good Business Book Awards - Leadership: General and Think Differently Selected as one of Bloomberg's Best Books of 2021: Nominated by the founder and executive director of the Aspen Institute Business and Society Program DISTINGUISHED FAVORITE: Independent Press Award 2022 - Business General Under what conditions will people tell the truth, behave fairly and act with purpose at work? And when will they lie, cheat and be selfish? Based on 15 years of research, To Be Honest explains how four factors (Clear Identity, Accountability, Governance and Cross-Functional Relationships) affect honesty, justice and purpose within a company. When these factors are absent or ineffective, the organizational conditions compel employees to choose dishonesty and self-interest. But when done well, the organization is 16 times more likely to have people tell the truth, behave fairly and serve a greater good. To Be Honest shares the stories of leaders who have acted with purpose, honesty and justice even when it was difficult to do so. In-depth interviews with CEOs and senior executives from exemplar companies such as Patagonia, Cabot Creamery, Microsoft and others reveal what it takes to build purpose-driven companies of honesty and justice. Interviews with thought leaders like Jonathan Haidt, Amy Edmondson, Dan Ariely and James Detert offer rich insights on how leaders can become more honest and purposeful. You'll learn how Hubert Joly took Best Buy from a company on the brink of bankruptcy to one that is profitable, thriving and purposeful. Filled with real-life examples, To Be Honest offers actionable steps, practical tools and approaches that any leader or manager can use to create a culture of purpose, honesty and justice.

Lying for Money

Lying for Money PDF Author: Dan Davies
Publisher: Scribner
ISBN: 1982114932
Category : True Crime
Languages : en
Pages : 304

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Book Description
An entertaining, deeply informative explanation of how high-level financial crimes work, written by an industry insider who’s an expert in the field. The way most white-collar crime works is by manipulating institutional psychology. That means creating something that looks as much as possible like a normal set of transactions. The drama comes later, when it all unwinds. Financial crime seems horribly complicated, but there are only so many ways you can con someone out of what’s theirs. In Lying for Money, veteran regulatory economist and market analyst Dan Davies tells the story of fraud through a genealogy of financial malfeasance, including: the Great Salad Oil swindle, the Pigeon King International fraud, the fictional British colony of Poyais in South America, the Boston Ladies’ Deposit Company, the Portuguese Banknote Affair, Theranos, and the Bre-X scam. Davies brings new insights into these schemes and shows how all frauds, current and historical, belong to one of four categories (“long firm,” counterfeiting, control fraud, and market crimes) and operate on the same basic principles. The only elements that change are the victims, the scammers, and the terminology. Davies has years of experience picking the bones out of some of the most famous frauds of the modern age. Now he reveals the big picture that emerges from their labyrinths of deceit and explains how fraud has shaped the entire development of the modern world economy.

Liars

Liars PDF Author: Cass R. Sunstein
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0197545130
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 193

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Book Description
A powerful analysis of why lies and falsehoods spread so rapidly now, and how we can reform our laws and policies regarding speech to alleviate the problem. Lying has been with us from time immemorial. Yet today is different-and in many respects worse. All over the world, people are circulating damaging lies, and these falsehoods are amplified as never before through powerful social media platforms that reach billions. Liars are saying that COVID-19 is a hoax. They are claiming that vaccines cause autism. They are lying about public officials and about people who aspire to high office. They are lying about their friends and neighbors. They are trying to sell products on the basis of untruths. Unfriendly governments, including Russia, are circulating lies in order to destabilize other nations, including the United Kingdom and the United States. In the face of those problems, the renowned legal scholar Cass Sunstein probes the fundamental question of how we can deter lies while also protecting freedom of speech. To be sure, we cannot eliminate lying, nor should we try to do so. Sunstein shows why free societies must generally allow falsehoods and lies, which cannot and should not be excised from democratic debate. A main reason is that we cannot trust governments to make unbiased judgments about what counts as "fake news." However, governments should have the power to regulate specific kinds of falsehoods: those that genuinely endanger health, safety, and the capacity of the public to govern itself. Sunstein also suggests that private institutions, such as Facebook and Twitter, have a great deal of room to stop the spread of falsehoods, and they should be exercising their authority far more than they are now doing. As Sunstein contends, we are allowing far too many lies, including those that both threaten public health and undermine the foundations of democracy itself.

Rising to Power

Rising to Power PDF Author: Ron A. Carucci
Publisher: Greenleaf Book Group
ISBN: 1626341095
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 374

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Book Description
Rising to Power is a time tested, wisdom-packed guide for executives desiring to be exceptional leaders as they navigate their ascent to the highest levels of their organization. Nearly two-thirds of all leaders entering executive roles lack sufficient understanding of what is required and are unprepared for what they will face, which explains why 50 percent of them fail within the first eighteen months. For decades we have known that failure rates among transitioning executives are too high, causing exorbitant costs, damaged organizations, and stalled careers. Still, little has changed in the way organizations prepare leaders to assume executive positions. Three-fourths of new executives say their organization did not adequately prepare them for the executive office. It doesn’t have to be this way. If you are an executive—or you’re aspiring to be one—and considering how you will navigate the ascent in your organization, Rising to Power will serve you like no other resource can. Odds are high you have watched a promising executive fail on their way up. Like many, you scratched your head, wondering, “Why didn’t they see that coming?” Now you’re hoping not to be the next one that falls. Rising to Power will guide you on a predictable journey of ascent, through the transitional moments and issues most common in executive failure. It will bolster your confidence, open your eyes, deepen your insight, and if you let it, reveal your own proclivities for failure that you may not even recognize. Based on a ten-year longitudinal study, Rising to Power offers a profoundly new way of looking at an executive’s rise in an organization, and offers an approach to significantly increase your odds of success.