Archive for January, 2010

ProQuest Databases Off-line For Maintenance

Friday, January 29th, 2010

ProQuest logo

All ProQuest databases (including ABI-INFORM Complete) will be temporarily unavailable this weekend while the vendor performs necessary system maintenance.

This maintenance outage will take place from Saturday, January 30, 2010, at 10:00PM EST to Sunday, January 31, 2010 at 2:00AM EST.

Fuqua & Duke users may select alternative databases for article searches during the maintenance window by visiting our Databases By Subject page.

Thanks for your patience during this essential maintenance.

Update Google Chrome for Library Access

Thursday, January 28th, 2010

image courtesy Google.com

If you use the Google Chrome™ browser, and have tried to access web pages for reserve readings, or other resources in the Library’s secure folder (library.fuqua.duke.edu/internal/), you may have received an UNAUTHORIZED error.

Earlier versions of Google Chrome were not compatible with the authentication method we use; but the latest release of Chrome is compatible. Here’s how to get it.

  1. Find out if you have the latest version installed (v. 4.0.302.3 as of 1/26/10) by clicking the “wrench” icon in the Chrome toolbar, and select “About Google Chrome”. If you have this version, you don’t need to read any further.
  2. If your version of Google Chrome is earlier than 4.0.302.3, un-install Chrome completely using the Add-Remove Programs option in your Windows Control Panel.
  3. Browse to http://www.google.com/chrome and download and install the latest beta of Google Chrome. Chrome can also be downloaded from the Filehippo.com file archive where version numbers are clearly visible.
  4. With Google Chrome 4.0.302.3 or higher installed, you should now be able authenticate to, and access pages in the Library’s secure folder.

If you are running Google Chrome v. 4.0.302.3, and still cannot access pages in the Library’s secure folder, please email us.

Book Review: Supercorp

Wednesday, January 27th, 2010

image courtesy amazon.com

Kanter, Rosabeth Moss. Supercorp : how vanguard companies create innovation, profits, growth, and social good. Crown Business, 2009.

Harvard Business School professor Rosabeth Moss Kanter has a response to the greed-is-good argument. Her new book Supercorp shows that in agile and innovative companies, business performance and social good are intimately connected. In vanguard companies, the corporate culture is both high-performing and humanistic, and provides the foundation for sustainable growth, profit and innovation over the long term.

Vanguard companies are successful and prosperous in their own right and use their core business strengths to address significant societal needs. There are numerous examples of this, including IBM’s response to the tsunami in Asia. Social initiatives are usually selected without profit motive but they provide returns by enhancing the innovation process, by providing positive meaning to employees and by building goodwill in the community.

Rosabeth Moss Kanter is the author of several ground-breaking and best-selling books, including Men and Women of the Corporation, The Change Masters, and When Giants Learn to Dance.

© Reviewer: Meg Trauner & Ford Library – Fuqua School of Business.
All rights reserved.

New Movies for January

Tuesday, January 26th, 2010

Our latest titles:

9
Brothers Bloom
Carriers
Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs
District 9
Extract
Glengarry Glen Ross
Hangover
How About You
Inglourious Basterds

It Might Get Loud
Moon
Nothing But the Truth
Paper Heart
Paranormal Activity
Perfect Getaway
Straight Story
Hurt Locker
Ramen Girl
Glee
, season 1

Dean Blair Sheppard on DukeReads.com

Monday, January 25th, 2010

book cover image courtesy amazon.com

On Tuesday, January 26, 2010, at 7pm EST, Blair Sheppard, Dean of the Fuqua School of Business, and Frank Stasio, NPR Host, will discuss A Brief History of the Human Race by Michael Cook as part of the DukeReads series of webcasts.

We encourage you to watch this webcast live on the Duke Ustream channel, or on the Duke Live Ustream Facebook page.

Book Review: In Fed We Trust

Thursday, January 21st, 2010

image courtesy amazon.com

Wessel, David. In Fed we trust : Ben Bernanke’s war on the great panic. Crown Business, 2009.

A veteran editor of the Wall Street Journal tells a vivid tale of the people and events surrounding the Great Panic of 2008.

The book opens in September 2008 with the question of what to do about Lehmann Brothers. Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke, a scholar of the Great Depression, is convinced that the economic catastrophe from the 1930’s was the fault of the Federal Reserve. Yet Lehmann is allowed to fail, becoming the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history, and setting off a worldwide financial collapse. According to Wessel, from that moment Bernanke vowed to do whatever it takes to avoid Depression 2.0.

Under Bernanke’s leadership, the Fed spearheads the largest government intervention in 50 years and is directly accountable to no one. This book is a behind-the-scenes look at the recent financial crisis and the Feds unprecedented response, as policymakers play by ear to keep liquidity flowing. This gripping story shows how decisions were made in this key moment in financial history.

© Reviewer: Meg Trauner & Ford Library – Fuqua School of Business.
All rights reserved.

The Director’s Picks – January 2010

Tuesday, January 19th, 2010

stack of books

Fuqua School Dean Blair Sheppard asked Ford Library Director, Meg Trauner to select five recent business books that should “be on his nightstand”.

Click the titles below for information on location and availability.

© Meg Trauner & Ford Library – Fuqua School of Business.
All rights reserved.

Martin Luther King Day Hours

Friday, January 15th, 2010

dr. martin luther king

The Ford Library will be open for use on the Martin Luther King holiday, Monday, January 18th; but reference and research assistance services will not be available until Tuesday, January 19.

Our hours on Monday, January 18th will be 8am – 8pm.

Note that the Fuqua School buildings will be locked on Monday, January 18th for the Martin Luther King Holiday.

Library users will need your DukeCard to gain access into the buildings.

Thanks for your understanding.

Book Review: How The Mighty Fall

Thursday, January 14th, 2010

image courtesy amazon.com

Collins, James C. How the mighty fall : and why some companies never give in. Collins Business, 2009.

The author of longtime bestseller Good to Great and co-author of Built to Last, Jim Collins discusses why once-strong companies begin to decline and then die. Using research data from 60 corporations, Collins describes five stages of corporate decline and shows that even the most successful companies are not immune. Interestingly, decline begins long before it become obvious to anyone, even company insiders.

The 5 Stages of Corporate Decline

  • Hubris Born of Success. The first stage of decline begins when company leaders lose sight of the underlying factors that created success in the first place. Instead of creatively renewing the core business, they are distracted by other threats and opportunities.
  • Undisciplined Pursuit of More. In the second stage of decline, management loses discipline and makes leaps into other areas that undermine long-term value. The company grows at a rapid rate. Finding talent for key seats in the organization becomes difficult. The company chokes in pursuit of growth and expansion.
  • Denial of Risk and Peril. Internal warning signs begin to mount but management blames the difficulty on external factors or puts a positive spin on the data.
  • Grasping for Salvation. Decline becomes visible to all. Leadership responds by grasping for a visionary leader or a radical transformation.
  • Capitulation to Irrelevance or Death. In the last stage, management abandons hope of building a great future.

The good news is that companies can recover. Collins’ research indicates that organizational decline is largely self-inflicted and recovery is possible by returning to solid management disciplines.

Eleven companies are profiled, including Circuit City, Hewlett-Packard (HP), Merck, Motorola, Rubbermaid and Zenith, in this interesting and very readable book.

© Reviewer: Meg Trauner & Ford Library – Fuqua School of Business.
All rights reserved.

Frost and Sullivan Web Site Maintenance Alert

Friday, January 8th, 2010

image coutesy frost and sullivan

Please note that the frost.com web site will be undergoing essential maintenance and upgrade work this weekend, January 9 – 10.

The Frost.com web site will be intermittently unavailable from 1AM EST Saturday, Jan. 9, until  between approximately 6PM & 9PM EST Sunday evening, Jan. 10.

Frost & Sullivan wishes to apologize for any inconvenience this may cause their users.