Promotions - Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles 2021 -

In the era of alternative facts and fake news, Kozodoy is known as an entrepreneur, TEDx speaker, and business coach. Employing an engaging journalistic style, he has written a timely three-part book presenting a long-term perspective on organizational honesty and influential leaders. Part 1 ("Why Honesty? Why Now?") overviews our current state of affairs and provides the hourglass of honesty model, which includes community (becoming situationally aware of the world), others (colleagues and friends), and self (lifelong pursuit of self-exploration). Part 2 ("What It Means to Be an Honest Organization") examines the interrelationship between honesty and the functional/organizational areas of sales, marketing, finance, management, communication, innovation, and leadership. Part 3 ("How to Use Brutal Honesty to Achieve Massive Success") addresses the notion of honesty itself in relation to others, especially managers and frontline employees. Each chapter includes practical "Actions to Consider," i.e., things the reader can do, as well as "Questions for Honest Reflection." The book ends by posing three challenges for the reader. An appendix includes 500 core values to consider. Many of the extensive notes include URLs for related websites, including the free supporting team workbook (https://peterkozodoy.com/honesty). This book could serve as an excellent primary text for a college business, human resources, organizational behavior, management, or leadership course.Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-division undergraduates. Students enrolled in two-year technical programs. General readers.

Parkin (Western Sydney Univ.) provides in-depth discussion of blockchain technologies, applications, and political/social issues. True, blockchain is a relatively new technology that transforms existing technologies supporting our current economic and political models. It is hard to think of any technology more impactful than distributed ledgers, protected by complex mathematics. Parkin does a fabulous job presenting the multipart aspect of the technology, including its components interacting with aspects of economic structures. Some elements of blockchain are not straightforward, and are still evolving by design. This is a central theme in many chapters of the book. Unsurprisingly, cryptocurrencies--which may be the most crucial products supported by blockchain--receive much attention. The reader will also find a significant historical, legal, and social context around the dynamics of blockchain's distributed protocols. The impact of blockchain on business, finance, or politics cannot be overestimated. One of the most critical aspects of this book, not discussed in many other resources, is its discussion of the actual software that constitutes a blockchain's backbone. Parkin shows how the code is maintained and updated for an online repository. Generally, among the many books on bitcoin, this is one of the most valuable, in that it reveals the opportunities and dangers of a technology that is indeed here to stay.Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readers.

Friedman (Tel Aviv Univ.) offers an extremely timely and worthwhile read. Probability theory, economic theory, and social responsibility theory support an intriguing discourse to satisfy the academic appetite. Friedman's examination of history and social accountability come together to create a model of how probability theory allows social insurance to function as a flexible risk distribution system and important political tool. The first two chapters examine the history of insurance, including the emergence of "friendly" (mutual aid) societies and their reform. Chapter 3 discusses the mathematical aspects of probability as it pertains to moral expectation and the social duty to insure. Chapter 4 examines philosophical origins of social insurance, and chapter 5 acknowledges the ambiguities of insurance. In the notes section Friedman provides rich context to allow for further research and exploration. The index is well put together and even includes coverage of the notes so as not to diminish their contribution to the overall narrative. While the text facilitates readers' discovery of the interconnections between probability and social insurance, both academic and lay readers may be left wondering how, if we actually worked together, we could ever get it wrong?Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower- and upper-division undergraduates. Graduate students, faculty, and professionals. General readers.

This collection of studies edited by Bedecarrats (Nantes Metropole) and Guerin and Roubaud (both, French Institute of Research for Sustainable Development) offers both a challenge to and a detailed examination of the experimental method known as randomized controlled trials (RCTs). The contributions by 26 experts are bookended by an introduction and epilogue that together frame the debate. The general premise is that while randomized control trials are useful (even a gold standard in some fields), they also have limitations and associated concerns that are often overlooked. Accordingly, RCTs should at certain times be either improved or discarded in favor of other approaches. Many chapters examine real-world examples to expose known ethical, political, and practical concerns. Extensively researched and densely written, this is a rich and detailed tome that includes copious references. Both the table of contents and index assist with navigation. This work will be exceptionally thought-provoking for anyone interested in determining the effectiveness of interventions aimed at improving a population's living standard and quality of life. Reflecting the backgrounds of the contributors, the disciplines covered include anthropology, economics, mathematics, philosophy, policy, political science, statistics, and health and medicine. The book will be an essential academic reference for upper-division undergraduates through faculty.Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates. Graduate students, faculty, and professionals.

Urban planner and policy expert Phillips (Univ. of California, Los Angeles and Univ. of Southern California) attempts to strike a happy medium in this text between appealing to readers who are pro-tenant and those who are pro-development. He contends that the two camps, often at war with each other, offer feasible policy recommendations for achieving sustainable, affordable housing in cities. He begins the book by describing such policy principles and recommendations in user-friendly terms (part 1, chapters 1-14). Then Phillips discusses particular policies by type in greater analytic detail (part 2: "Supply," chapters 15-27; "Stability," chapters 28-44; and "Subsidy," chapters 45-55). In part 3 ("Bringing It All Together") Phillips goes one step further and provides the implementation blueprints for each of the recommendations described. The appendix provides readers with a primer on real estate and development economics. The book was written with the intent of making housing policy accessible to anyone who picks it up, and this well-written, highly readable gem does just that.Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readers.