Reading for profit

Press, 21 November 1987, Page 25

Reading for profit

How to Manage People. By Ron Johnson. Hutchinson, 1987. 228 pp. Index. $2299. How to Win Profitable Business. By Tom Cannon. Hutchinson, 1987. 238 pp. Index. $2299. How to Buy and Sell Overseas. By Tom Cannon and Mike Willis. Hutchinson, 1987. 237 pp. Index. $2299 (paperbacks). (Reviewed by Glyn Strange)

“Frankly, reading a book will not help a great deal,” writes Ron Johnson at the beginning of his book on how to be a better manager. Tom Cannon and Mike Willis might say the same. Business people may read book after book, but if ideas are not translated into action, the reading may be profitless. The Hutchinson "Better Business Guides,” of which these are three of the most recent, aim to bridge the gap between theory and practice. How this is done is revealed by their format At the start of each chapter, key points are highlighted in bold print

and introduced, by black dots. Further summaries are encapsulated in boxes, and there are numerous headings, diagrams and typographical variations throughout, to enliven the text At the end of each chapter there are “Action Guidelines," which are practical exercises in which the reader is invited to participate. In other words, these volumes supply their own notes (thus saving valuable executive time), keep the reader (perhaps flagging after a long day’s work) awake, and urge him or her to do something. Don’t just read these books, but work your way through them, is the message. Aimed at small to medium-sized businesses, rather than corporations and multi-nationals, these guide-books are sensible, well-organised, wellinformed and good at motivating people — exhibiting just the qualities that they suggest a business leader should possess. As such they are likely to be valuable but inexpensive assets in any business that is seeking to expand or to upgrade its performance.