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Simmons College School of Management
Executive Education
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Executive Reading List

Once again we asked Simmons professors, librarians and the Executive Education team to share what they are reading. If you are looking for some new ideas, you may want to consider the following:

Outliers: The Story of Success
By Malcolm Gladwell

Malcolm Gladwell questions why some people succeed while so many more never reach their potential? Challenging the hypothesis of the "self-made man," he makes the assertion that superstars don't arise out of nowhere, propelled by genius and talent: "they are invariably the beneficiaries of hidden advantages and extraordinary opportunities and cultural legacies that allow them to learn and work hard and make sense of the world in ways others cannot."

Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution--and How It Can Renew America
By Thomas L. Friedman

In his extraordinary new book, Friedman takes a fresh look at two of the biggest challenges we face today: America’s surprising loss of focus and national purpose since 9/11; and the global environmental crisis, which is affecting everything from food to fuel to forests. In this groundbreaking account of where we stand now, he shows us how the solutions to these two big problems are linked--how we can restore the world and reinvigorate America at the same time.

Meatball Sundae: Is Your Marketing out of Sync?
By Seth Godin

In his usual conversational style, Mr. Godin explains how trying to apply New Marketing techniques to old business models is a risky proposition at best, and provides ideas on how to transform your business to take advantage of the opportunities provided by Web 2.0. Also we recommend that you peruse Seth Godin’s blog at http://sethgodin.typepad.com/

The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life
By Alice Schroeder

In this startlingly frank account of Buffett's life, Schroeder, a former managing director at Morgan Stanley—and hand selected by Buffett to be his biographer—strips away the mystery that has long cloaked the world's richest man to reveal a life and fortune erected around lucid and inspired business vision and unimaginable personal complexity.

The New Paradigm for Financial Markets: The Credit Crisis of 2008 and What It Means
By George Soros

Soros presents his views on how free markets behave, and the nature and extent of the financial crisis. He places the current crisis in the context of decades of study on how individuals and institutions handle the boom and bust cycles that now dominate global economic activity.