LITTLE BOOK OF BIG IDEAS: BUSINESS

by John Lipczynski

From pioneering merchants to the great industrialists, financial geniuses to the most persuasive entrepreneurs, this is a complete introduction to the women and men who have elevated the worlds of business and industry to the awesome levels at which they operate today. Outlining the lives and achievements of figures such as Henry Ford, Bill Gates, and John D. Rockefeller, this little book encompasses those who have captured the public’s imagination—as well as those who have just captured their money. The book includes pioneers of new technologies and business models, tenacious entrepreneurs and their expansive empires, and theorists who developed the discipline of strategic business thought.

128 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2008

Reviews

[C. Hollis Crossman]

In a series of two-page profiles of both business leaders (from Ray Kroc to Richard Branson) and essential business concepts (branding, incorporation, etc.), John Lipczynski manages simultaneously to make business history interesting, and to inspire readers to think creatively about the many aspects of business and management.

Each profile includes a brief bio of the person in question, and an exploration of the major ideas and innovations they contributed. Lypczynski is a master of brevity, relating only those aspects of the individual's life that are germane to their business ideas. The ideas themselves he presents lucidly and compactly, so that readers are able to get a clear picture of their impact without having to wade through pages of abstruse theory.

The value of this book is first in its ability to expose readers to a broad range of essential concepts within business, including production, management, and vertical integration. Second, it actually acts as a prompt for further thinking.

Lypczynski manages to present the content suggestively, not in the sense that he manufactures curiosity where it doesn't naturally exist, but in the sense that he shows how ideas and innovation are built on what has come before—by revealing the background of the most important ideas, he directs readers toward innovation and progress of their own. Good, quick, entertaining read.

[Jacques Siebrits]

A rather dull little book, the only highlight being quite a good description of the incorporated company on p. 42. But maybe the book is not bad, and it's just that I have seen so much of this before, in other books.