Commercial Management: Theory and Practice by David Lowe - Book review

Commercial Management: Theory and Practice

By: David Lowe

Published: August 5, 2013
Format: Paperback, 522 pages
ISBN-10: 1405124687
ISBN-13: 978-1405124683
Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell












"Commercial exists as a distinct management role in many organizations, particularly those originating from the UK, although it is becoming more accepted globally as a valuable business activity", writes Senior Lecturer in Commercial Management, Manchester Business School, The University of Manchester, UK, David Lowe in his comprehensive and very well structured book Commercial Management: Theory and Practice. The author and the globally recognized contributors describe the important role of commercial management within organizations with a project orientation, including a theoretical framework for the latest theories, ideas, and best practices.

David Lowe recognizes the importance of establishing a complete framework as fundamental to a full understanding of the principles and practices of commercial management. The author and contributors utilize the framework as a foundation from with to build and add the various concepts of the subject matter. Through this methodical building process, the student is able to learn the theoretical concepts and practical methodology in a logical and well structured format.

David Lowe offers a complete examination of the commercial management practice providing perspective from both the supply side and the demand side; along with the other pertinent topics that fall under the grouping of commercial management.

David Lowe (photo left) provides a structural approach to the theories and practices that offers a logical route to learning the principles of commercial management. The author and the contributors guide students through an overall introduction to the framework and premises of commercial management. With the roles of the manager, in various positions within the framework, the author continues through the common areas of practice in project based organizations.

The book is divided into four overarching sections that present a complete foundational approach to commercial management in a project oriented environment. The four parts of the book are as follows:

* Introduction: Commercial management in project environments
* Elements of commercial theory and practice
* Approaches to commercial practice
* Case studies: Two extended case studies

For me, the power of the book is how David Lowe, and his contributing experts, combine the frameworks of the various factors within commercial management, with the strategies, tactics, and best practices for their successful implementation. The author and contributors provide in depth examination of the relevant topics, using a logical building block type format to add new concepts to those learned previously. The book is crammed with charts, graphs, highlighted principles, and handy shout outs that guide the student farther along the journey toward fully understanding the role of the commercial manager within a project oriented enterprise.

The author enhances the understanding of the concepts and the framework through two extensice and intensive case studies. These real world examinations of the principles in action in actul project environments illustrate the concepts for additional comprehension. Each chapter has the additional bonus feature of PowerPoint slides, sample exam questions for student practice, ando links to online resources and journals.

I highly recommend the excellent and all inclusive idea filled book Commercial Management: Theory and Practice by David Lewis, to any students at the graduate or undergraduate levels in management, commercial management, project management, educators in academia, professional commercial and project managers, business leaders, pub;ic policy analysts and anyone else interested in the theory and practice of commercial management. This book covers all of the relevant areas completely and authoritatively.

Michael Houlihan & Bonnie Harvey: The Barefoot Spirit - Blog Business Success Radio

Listen to Wayne Hurlbert on Blog Talk Radio

Entrepreneurs, Barefoot Wine co-founders, and co-authors of the inspirational and engaging book The Barefoot Spirit: How Hardship, Hustle, and Heart Built America's #1 Wine Brand, Michael Houlihan and Bonnie Harvey describe how they built their highly successful company and brand through a shared vision of living and acting on their personal values. Michael Houlihan and Bonnie Harvey share their challenges and triumphs as they overcame obstacles through creative thinking and applying their values as a touchstone for every decision. They present their important Worthy Cause Marketing initiative as a way to build brand awareness without advertising, while also giving back to hundreds of non-profit organizations. The authors provide insights into the key principles that built their company, their visionary company culture, and their wildly successful brands. The authors offer their experience and wisdom to other entrepreneurs as part of fulfilling another of their visions, of that of the mentor to other entrepreneurs.

Michael Houlihan and Bonnie Harvey are my internet radio show guests on Blog Business Success; hosted live on BlogTalkRadio.

The show airs live on Tuesday, August 20, at 8:00 pm Eastern Time; 5:00 pm Pacific Time.

Entrepreneurs, Barefoot Wine co-founders, and co-authors of the inspirational and engaging book The Barefoot Spirit: How Hardship, Hustle, and Heart Built America's #1 Wine Brand, Michael Houlihan and Bonnie Harvey describe how they built their highly successful company and brand through a shared vision of living and acting on their personal values. You will learn:

* How the founders started and built their winery and brands

* How vision and living your values, and acting on them creates good decisions

* How the Worthy Cause Marketing concept achieved greater results than advertising

* How challenges and obstacles develop creative thinking and innovative solutions.

Michael Houlihan (photo left) s a serial entrepreneur, industry reformer, and brand builder. His consulting company, Great Thinks helps small and medium size businesses build their brands and achieve profitability.

As a keynote speaker, author and consultant, Michael focuses on the proven Business and Marketing principles he learned growing the Barefoot Wine Brand. Using out-of-the-box thinking, pay-for-performance, positive culture, channel distribution management, and "Worthy Cause Marketing" he took an obscure brand to a National and International Best Selling American wine icon. He shares his winning business philosophies in his new book, "The Barefoot Spirit."

Michael is a partner with Martin Jones in a consulting firm assisting small and medium size wine country businesses to develop their brands, become more efficient, and achieve profitability.

Founder, President and CEO of Barefoot Wines, June 1985 - January 2005
With no money and no knowledge of the industry, Michael started and built the famous Barefoot Wine brand. Michael earned the industry's top sales awards, including "Trend Setter, "Fast Track Growth Brand" and "Hot Brand" for sales and growth in 2003 and 2004 - all without advertising. In 2005, he successfully sold the brand to E&J Gallo. During the next year, he worked with them as a business consultant to maintain Barefoot's entrepreneurial character and Worthy Cause Marketing program.

Bonnie Harvey (photo left) is Co-Founder of Barefoot Wines and was Vice President for 19 years. During that time, she was an active proponent of Worthy-Cause Marketing over commercial advertising. This resulted in strong company culture and a loyal customer base. She was responsible for the design of the now iconic Barefoot label. The famous bare footprint is Bonnie's footprint.

She used her personal interest in clean water, land preservation, and civil rights to guide Barefoot's support for hundreds of local non-profits. By participating in their fundraising efforts, donating products, and helping them get the word out about their goals, she gave their membership a social reason to buy Barefoot Wine.

Bonnie has a background in entrepreneurialism and financial oversight as well as cash flow management. As Vice President, she was responsible for the company's goal setting and business strategy. She was the final editor for all written materials.

My book review of The Barefoot Spirit: How Hardship, Hustle, and Heart Built America's #1 Wine Brand by Michael Houlihan and Bonnie Harvey.

Listen live on Tuesday at 8:00 pm Eastern, 5:00 pm Pacific time.



If you miss this very informative show, it will be available for free download as a podcast for iPod, iTunes, and MP3 players; or play it right on your computer. To download this, or any other of my guest interviews, go to the Blog Business Success host page and click on Archived Segments. Once there, click on the podcast icon at the end of the episode description, to download the show free of charge for your listening enjoyment. You can also subscribe to the show feed.



To call in questions for my guest, the number is: (347) 996-5832

Let's talk with entrepreneurs, Barefoot Wine co-founders, and co-authors of the inspirational and engaging book The Barefoot Spirit: How Hardship, Hustle, and Heart Built America's #1 Wine Brand, Michael Houlihan and Bonnie Harvey, as they describe how they built their highly successful company and brand through a shared vision of living and acting on their personal values. Michael Houlihan and Bonnie Harvey share their challenges and triumphs as they overcame obstacles through creative thinking and applying their values as a touchstone for every decision. They present their important Worthy Cause Marketing initiative as a way to build brand awareness without advertising, while also giving back to hundreds of non-profit organizations. The authors provide insights into the key principles that built their company, their visionary company culture, and their wildly successful brands. The authors offer their experience and wisdom to other entrepreneurs as part of fulfilling another of their visions, of that of the mentor to other entrepreneurs on Blog Business Success Radio.

Inside The Box by Drew Boyd & Jacob Goldenberg - Book review

Inside the Box

A Proven System of Creativity for Breakthrough Results

By: Drew Boyd, Jacob Goldenberg


Published: June 11, 2013
Format: Hardcover, 272 pages
ISBN-10: 1451659253
ISBN-13: 978-1451659252
Publisher: Simon & Schuster











"We'll show you that more innovation - and better and quicker innovation - happens when you work inside your familiar world (yes, inside the box) using what we call templates", write assistant professor of marketing and innovation at the University of Cincinnati, Lindner College of Business, Drew Boyd; and Professor of Marketing at the School of Business Administration at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jacob Goldenberg, in their fascinating and thought provoking book Inside the Box: A Proven System of Creativity for Breakthrough Results. The authors describe and alternative methodology for creative thinking and finding breakthrough discoveries that challenges the concept that creativity is an ad hoc and unstructured process.

Drew Boyd (photo left) and Jacob Goldenberg recognize that the standard mode of creative thinking involves what the innovators perceive as "thinking outside the box" and "brainstorming" and "going wild with ideas". The authors provide evidence that the creative process is not haphazard, but is actually following a process that they term working "inside the box". The authors even share the templates for speeding up and establishing a more effective and faster innovation events.

The authors make the case that templates enhance creativity, rather than stifle the creative process. The authors also point out that innovators throughout history have utilized templates, even if they were not aware they were doing so. The standard brainstorming methods of creative idea generation, when they produce innovative results, are also following a template, even if it's not recognized as such.

Jacob Goldenberg (photo left) and Drew Boyd understand the importance of finding and utilizing effective innovation developing templates. The templates, according to the authors, regulate people's thinking and focus the creative systems into a more productive format. The authors point out that these templates are so powerful and enduring that they are encoded right in the products and services with which everyone is familiar.

The authors present their five basic innovation templates under the umbrella of their innovation system they call Systematic Innovative Thinking (SIT). The authors point out that the process is accessible by anyone and for any creative purpose. Instead of having to rely on intuitive creativity, the template establishes a universal method for innovation. The Systematic Innovative Thinking (SIT) is composed of five fundamental templates. The five basic templates are as follows:

* Subtraction: Something removed
* Division: A component separated out of the larger whole
* Multiplication: A copied component added but altered in some way
* Task unification: Bringing multiple tasks together in one unit
* Attribute dependency: Two correlated attributes combined and dependent on each other

For me, the power of the book is how Drew Boyd and Jacob Goldenberg combine a comprehensive framework for creativity, with the practical hands on techniques needed to utilize them effectively. The major breakthrough idea of the book is that the very process of creativity is not a random event, but can be codified into a series of five readily applicable templates. The authors demonstrate how the five techniques of Systematic Innovative Thinking (SIT) have worked to provide some of the leading innovations of the past half century. These revolutionary breakthrough discoveries were achieved by ordinary people who simply used the process techniques as templates.

The authors offer in depth guidance on using the techniques correctly. The templates can be misused or applied in the wrong manner, resulting in no real progress toward a solution. The authors make clear that using the templates as inside the box thinking is more effective and realistic than the more ad hoc outside the box premise. Indeed, they point out that many ideas that are widely viewed as resulting from outside the box thinking were really addressed from within the box.

I highly recommend the very hands on and innovative idea generating book Inside the Box: A Proven System of Creativity for Breakthrough Results by Drew Boyd and Jacob Goldenberg, to any business leaders, executives, managers, designers, artists, creative thinkers, and anyone seeking a reliable and proven system for creating new and expressive solutions to any problems. Instead of waiting for that elusive flash of genius, that might never come, this book establishes and puts into action an effective process that transforms anyone into that creative genius.

Extended Unemployment: Initial, Continued and Extended Unemployment Claims August 08 2013

Today’s jobless claims report showed increases to both initial and continued unemployment claims as initial claims trended well below the closely watched 400K level.

Seasonally adjusted “initial” unemployment claims rose by 5,000 to 333,000 claims from 328,000 claims for the prior week while seasonally adjusted “continued” claims rose by 67,000 claims to 3.018 million resulting in an “insured” unemployment rate of 2.3%.

Since the middle of 2008 though, two federal government sponsored “extended” unemployment benefit programs (the “extended benefits” and “EUC 2008” from recent legislation) have been picking up claimants that have fallen off of the traditional unemployment benefits rolls.

Currently there are some 1.51 million people receiving federal “extended” unemployment benefits.

Taken together with the latest 2.92 million people that are currently counted as receiving traditional continued unemployment benefits, there are 4.44 million people on state and federal unemployment rolls.

Reading Rates: MBA Application Survey – August 07 2013

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) publishes the results of a weekly applications survey that covers roughly 50 percent of all residential mortgage originations and tracks the average interest rate for 30 year and 15 year fixed rate mortgages as well as the volume of both purchase and refinance applications.

The purchase application index has been highlighted as a particularly important data series as it very broadly captures the demand side of residential real estate for both new and existing home purchases.

The latest data is showing that the average rate for a 30 year fixed rate mortgage (from FHA and conforming GSE data) increased 3 basis point to 4.47% since last week while the purchase application volume increased 1% and the refinance application volume went flat over the same period.

Rates now appear to be settling a bit after weeks of explosive increases that saw a rise of over 100 basis points seemingly directly correlated with the Feds recent suggestion that they may start to wind down GSE purchases later this year.

It appears now though that Chairman Bernanke's latest comments might have worked to provide a bit more clarity surrounding the Feds plans for QE thereby working to halt the recent run-up in rates.

The following chart shows the average interest rate for 30 year and 15 year fixed rate mortgages since 2006 as well as the purchase, refinance and composite loan volumes (click for larger dynamic full-screen version).

Envisioning Employment: Employment Situation July 2013

Today’s Employment Situation Report indicated that in July, net non-farm payrolls increased by 162,000 jobs overall with the private non-farm payrolls sub-component adding 161,000 jobs while the civilian unemployment rate declined to 7.4% over the same period.

Net private sector jobs increased 0.14% since last month climbing 2.07% above the level seen a year ago but remained 1.28% below the peak level of employment seen in December 2007.

Recovery-less Recovery: Unemployment Duration July 2013

Today's employment situation report showed that conditions for the long term unemployed improved in July while still remaining distressed by historic standards.

Workers unemployed 27 weeks or more declined to 4.246 million or 37.0% of all unemployed workers while the median term of unemployment declined to 15.7 weeks and the average stay on unemployment increased to 36.6 weeks.

Looking at the charts below (click for super interactive versions) you can see that today’s sorry situation far exceeds even the conditions seen during the double-dip recessionary period of the early 1980s, long considered by economists to be the worst period of unemployment since the Great Depression.