A.  RATINGS OF BOOKS REVIEWED:
        (from 1 to 5)                                                 

    * Creative ideas vs. traditional ones
    * Practicality in real world vs. just fantasy                            
    * Easy to read vs. technical jargons
    * Enough meat for money's worth
    * Interesting layout

"The 10-Day MBA" by Steven Silbiger
July Piatkus (Publishers) Limited
Paperback 357 pages, HK$208
Rating: **

Who is the author?

     He is someone who has gone through a MBA training himself.

What's so interesting about the book?

     It has presented a synopsis of all the formulae of the nine MBA disciplines:

                            - Marketing
                            - Ethics
                            - Accounting
                            - Organizational Behaviour
                            - Quantitative Analysis
                            - Finance
                            - Economics
                            - Strategy

What's so uninteresting about the book?

     It is meant to be a workbook for prospective MBA students or a reference for business executives, which might be too heavy for ordinary readers.

What's more needs to be done?

     Preferably with more case studies included as well.

"Maverick!" by Ricardo Semler
Arrow Books Limited
Paperback 321 pages, HK$91.40
Rating: ****

Who is the author?

     He is the boss of a Brazilian company called Semco, pioneering many radical management practices which are unheard of in this part of the world, yet they were so successful that Semler was elected Business Leader of the Year in 1990.

What's so interesting about the book?

                o Workers filled out questionnaires about their own bosses
               o Workers chose and evaluated their colleagues for promotion   
               o Workers set their own pay
               o Everyone has access to the company accounts
               o All internal walls were pulled down
               o A minimum of meetings, memos and approvals
               o No one is indispensable - no accumulating of vacation days
               o Suggestion box
               o Casual work clothes
               o (and many more, read the book yourself!)

What's so uninteresting about the book?

       Nil, because it is both funny and true.

What's more needs to be done?

       Nil, because it is a real life story.

"The Frontiers of Management" by Rosabeth M. Kanter
Harvard Business School Press
Hardcover 285 pages, HK$328
Rating: *****

Who is the author?

     She has been Professor of Business Administration since 1986 and serving as Editor of the Harvard Business Review from 1989 to 1992.

What's so interesting about the book?

      o Discerning result for each a