Schools have failed our individual needs, supporting false and misleading notions of 'progress' and development fostered by the belief that ever-increasing production, consumption and profit are proper yardsticks for measuring the quality of human life. Our universities have become recruiting centers for the personnel of the consumer society, certifying citizens for service, while at the same time disposing of those judged unfit for the competitive rat race. In this bold and provocative book,...

System dynamics is both a utilized approach to organizational problem solving at the professional level, and a field of study in business, engineering, and social and physical sciences. This book explains what system dynamics is, and how it can be successfully applied to solve business and organizational problems.

Akkadian, comprising the Babylonian, Assyrian and Old Akkadian dialects, is the earliest known Semitic language, attested from the middle of the 3rd millenium B.C. until the time of Christ. It was widely adopted in the ancient Near East as a written vehicle for scholarship, literature, legal and diplomatic affairs. It is the language of the Epic of Gilgamesh, the Code of Hammurapi, the inscriptions of the kings of Assyria and Babylonia and countless legal and administrative documents.

A Conci...

Jean Rhys's Good Morning Midnight is an unforgettable portrait of a woman bravely confronting loneliness and despair in her quest for self-determinationIn 1930s Paris, where one cheap hotel room is very like another, a young woman is teaching herself indifference. She has escaped personal tragedy and has come to France to find courage and seek independence. She tells herself to expect nothing, especially not kindness, least of all from men.

Tomorrow, she resolves, she will dye her hair blonde...

An "A" for "adultery" marks Hester Prynne as an outcast from the society of colonial Boston. Although forced by the puritanical town fathers to wear a bright red badge of shame, Hester steadfastly resists their efforts to discover the identity of her baby's father. The return of her long-absent spouse brings new pressure on the young mother, as the aggrieved husband undertakes a long-term plot to reveal Hester's partner in adultery and force him to share her disgrace.

Masterful in its symboli...

This volume brings together the best--known and most influential articles on sensemaking in organizations by one of its most distinguished exponents, Karl Weick. * Brings together the best most influential articles written by one of the gurus of sensemaking -- Karl Weick.

There are many stories we can tell about the past, and we are not, perhaps, as free as we might imagine in our choice of which stories to tell, or where those stories end. John Arnold's Very Short Introduction is a stimulating essay about how we study and understand history. The book begins by inviting us to think about various questions provoked by our investigation of history, and explores the ways these questions have been answered in the past.

Concepts such as causation, interpretation, a...

Defines the common thread linking the world's greatest economic thinkers and explores the philosophies that motivate them. This work enables us to see more deeply into our history, and provides the new theme that connects thinkers as different as Adam Smith and Karl Marx: the desire to understand how a capitalist society works.

What is a difficult conversation? Asking for a pay rise, saying 'no' to your boss or spouse, confronting a friend or neighbor, asking a difficult favor, apologizing. This book helps you to turn your difficult conversations into positive, problem-solving experiences.

For years now the Ramsays have spent every summer in their holiday home in Scotland, and they expect these summers will go on forever; but as the First World War looms, the integrity of family and society will be fatally challenged.