Wedgwood: The First Tycoon

Book Description

With its familiar white classical figures against a pale-blue background, Wedgwood has been one of the most recognizable brand names in the world for more than two hundred years—the epitome of quality and luxury—and the Enlightenment's most remarkable success story.

Born into a family of struggling potters, Josiah Wedgwood amassed a fortune that, at his death in 1795, was valued at the equivalent of $3.4 billion in today's dollars and helmed an empire that stretched from England to Russia to the United States. As a member of the famous Lunar Society, whose members included James Watt, Joseph Priestley, and Erasmus Darwin, he combined rationality with bold experimentation, revolutionizing the business model of his time with a series of innovations that have continued to this day:
• Organizing skilled labor in one of the world's earliest factories
• Encouraging employee loyalty by offering long-term contracts that included health insurance and pension plans
• Changing the very notion of shopping by utilizing showrooms and traveling salesmen

The story of how phenomenal wealth affected the lives of a family and of the turbulent political climate that threatened their very livelihood, this vivid and compelling portrait of a pioneer of commercial culture is sure to be a hit with loyal collectors and the business market alike.

Customer Reviews:

An Innovative Commercial Master.......2004-12-14

There was a time when consumers had no brand names to go by, and now we have plenty of them. What was the first one? A good case could be made for the name Wedgwood, the fine pottery that has come for over two hundred years from the factory founded by Josiah Wedgwood in the pottery towns of Staffordshire, England. Not only has the name continued, but it has been from the beginning synonymous with fine taste. Its finest wares were bought for their elegance by aristocrats, and then there were other pottery creations that lesser mortals could buy as their betters set the trends for taste. Josiah Wedgwood knew all about the importance of a name, and about the need to catch the public taste and predict the next fashion. In _Wedgwood: The First Tycoon_ (Viking), Brian Dolan has given us a compelling account of a commercial success story that has many resonances with modern business practices on the cutting edge of technology, while taking into account a wider view of the social aspects of commerce in the eighteenth century.

It is in many ways a rags to riches tale. Wedgwood's family had been Staffordshire potters for generations, but the potting works had been allowed to languish by Wedgwood's grandfather and father, who had no idea what innovation was. He was determined to do things differently, and he had absorbed the idea that progress and profits could be made scientifically. He was a Dissenter, a non-Anglican who favored rational inquiry rather than biblical interpretation as be the best manner of understanding the way the world works. He loved experimenting all his life. "Labor I will not call it," he said of his time-consuming and exacting experiments. He instead called it "entertainment," and he entertained himself into some of the most technically advanced potting techniques of the time. His innovations allowed calculated business gambles, which generally paid off. He was astute in predicting or making tastes; when Pompeian styles became vogue, Wedgwood was at the fore with the invention of "colored jasper", his medium for reproducing ancient pots.

Wedgwood was dedicated to self improvement and to improvement of his society, and knew that business was a means to accomplish both. In pursuit of better business, he caused better roads and then a canal to be built as part of his social schemes. He provided training, housing, education, health care, and even retirement plans for those who worked for him. He was a tough boss, fuming against "dilatory, drunken, Idle, worthless workmen." When he strolled through the workshop, he might spy an offending vessel that failed to meet with his standards. He would smash it with his stick, exclaiming, "This will not do for Josiah Wedgwood." He was troubled by others stealing his ideas; there are tales here of commercial chicanery and theft that are the same as newspapers might report today. He valued fair competition; of another manufacturer, Matthew Boulton, he wrote, "He will not be a mere sniveling Copyist like the antagonists I have hitherto had," but rather a spur to better wares. Wedgwood had enormous confidence; having become Potter to Her Majesty, he wrote that he wanted to become "Vase maker General to the Universe." He largely succeeded, harnessing the technological, social, and commercial forces of his time. Dolan's admiring but full portrait shows that many of Wedgwood's values of style, research, innovation, and marketing were new with him but have continued to our own age.

A Different Potter.......2004-10-19

My mother and some of my siblings worked in a pottery factory, and in my youth I went there many times and caught some glimpses of how things were done. This factory employed hundreds of workers. doing some awful, monotonous, carpal tunnel-generating routines. They made only the most basic stuff, quickly and cheaply. Nothing produced was of much beauty, but it was the town's most important employer, and many workers gave their lives over to it.

Wedgewood pottery has always intrigued me--how the devil do they produce such incredibly beautiful stuff, so different from what I saw there? How are the finer pieces made with such reproducibility and perfection? There is a fine story here and Dolan has told it well.

When Josiah Wedgewood was born in 1730, the youngest of twelve children, into the home of a potter in the Britain's Midlands. His humble beginnings, rising through the ranks, finally, at the age of 29, led him to establish his own small pottery business. Wedgewood was determined to achieve greater success and made a key decision--that he would continuously improve the processes used and invent new and wonderful things. He established a routine of constant experimentation and recorded all of his results meticulously into a laboratory notebook. He was constantly looking for new combinations of materials and firing methods to get new glazes and improved results. He looked for reliable, reproducible processes that could be introduced into his small factory. And he inspired his men to improve right along with the processes by paying careful attention to their working conditions, their safety, and their security. His men loved him, and he succeeded to become the foremost manufacturer of his day.

Wedgewood's paid very careful attention to the fashions of the day, and strived to keep abreast. This required an approach that was constantly changing--resting on one's laurels and yesterday's success would only lead to failure. He produced much that was top of the line, and learned to market to the trend setters and royalty, then moving the product into the growing middle class.

The setting in which he struggled was the early industrial revolution, where change was accelerating in Britain through a confluence of forces that are only poorly understood even today. Giants seemed to stalk the earth, and Wedgewood came to know many of them. He knew James Watt, and his metal-working partner Mathew Boulton, who at one point even tried to compete with him. This was the era of canal-building, and Wedgewood played a big role in this too.

Much of this story is contained, though in much less detail, in _The Lunar Men_ by Jenny Uglow, which I would also recommend. Curiously, though, Wedgewood is counted as one of the five central members of the Lunar Society (encompassing a whole column in the index), this is mentioned only once by Dolan.

The author has done an outstanding job in this book and it is well written. The sixteen pages of glossy photos contribute a lot to the book too. The story told here is an inspiring one, and will certainly encourage the reader to learn more about this astounding era.

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Wedgwood The First Tycoon
Dolan Brian
Manufacturer: Viking Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000UF766Q

Book Description

In July of 1998 Peter and Susan Wagner sailed a 41-foot ketch named La Boatique away from their dock in Port Clinton, Ohio. In 2002 they ended their journey in Opua, New Zealand. They discovered the excitement of ocean cruising, the thrill of landing huge fish, and the spectacle of exotic tropical islands. They overcame storms at sea, equipment malfunctions, and threatening illnesses. In the book, The Sailing Adventures of La Boatique, Susan recounts their cruising experiences during their four-year voyage. Susan and Peter demonstrate how they live a low budget yet comfortable lifestyle aboard La Boatique. Find out why after sailing halfway around the world they discover that there is no place like their home waters of Lake Erie.

The Sailing Adventures of La Boatique: From Lake Erie to New Zealand is 288 pages of action and adventure. It includes 32 pages of color photographs. The book is for those who dream of sailing in the tropics.

Customer Reviews:

The Sailing Adventures of La Boatique.......2005-07-12

La Boatique is a wonderful intimate view of the dream of many weekend sailors -- to make an ocean voyage, visiting all the islands of the Pacific. She tells which anchorages are best, how they fished for dinner during a 23 day passage between islands in the Pacific. They have medical emergencies, boat problems, etc., but as part of the sailing community, they are in touch with other "yachties" making similar passages, and they all help each other. Great story!

A great vacation from home........2002-10-30

As a mother of two with a fixer-upper house, my husband and I stay on dry land and do not take risky vacations. Ms. Wagner's book is great in that she shares the stage for being on an exotic get-a-way far from the comforts of home. Sometimes while doing dishes I look out the window and see the ocean - but fortunately for me - I have yet to get sea sick!

High adventure from the Great Lakes to the High Seas.......2002-10-27

I enjoyed reading about the adventures at the exotic tropical islands far off the beaten path.

Book Description

The 1990s saw the emergence of a new kind of American cinema, which this book calls the “new-brutality film.” Violence and race have been at the heart of Hollywood cinema since its birth, but the new-brutality film was the first kind of popular American cinema to begin making this relationship explicit. The rise of this cinema coincided with the rebirth of a long-neglected strand of film theory, which seeks to unravel the complex relations of affect between the screen and the viewer.

This book analyses and connects both of these developments, arguing that films like Falling Down, Reservoir Dogs, Se7en, and Strange Days sought to reanimate the affective impact of white Hollywood cinema by miming the power of African-American and particularly hip-hop culture. The book uses several films as case-studies to chart these developments:

• Falling Down both appropriates of the political black rage of the ‘hood film and is a transition point between the white postmodern blockbuster and the new-brutality film.
• Gangsta films like Boyz N the Hood and Menace II Society provided the inspiration for much of the new-brutality film’s mimesis of African-American culture
• The films of Quentin Tarantino (including Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction) are new-brutality films that attempt to reanimate the affective power of Hollywood cinema.
• Se7en, Strange Days, Fight Club,and The Matrix trilogy signify both the development and the demise of the new-brutality film.

This book charts and analyses an important period of Hollywood cinema as well as engaging with key contemporary thinkers (Deleuze, Jameson, Zizek and Benjamin) in a strikingly innovative fashion. The work will appeal to dedicated film scholars, critical theorists and readers with a general interest in film.

New Hollywood Violence (Inside Popular Film)

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New Hollywood Violence (Inside Popular Film)

Manufacturer: Manchester University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Movies | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

History & Criticism | Movies | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

General | Performing Arts | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0719067235
Release Date: 2004-11-04

Book Description

New Hollywood Violence is a groundbreaking collection of essays devoted to an interrogation of various aspects, dimensions, and depictions of violence in New Hollywood filmmaking. "New Hollywood" refers to the return to genre filmmaking following America's flirtation with European art cinema in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and is characterized by vast production budgets and special effects. Focusing on the motivations, the formal and stylistic qualities and the cultural politics of violence as well as the effects on viewers, the collection is divided into four sections: "Surveys and schemas"; "Spectacle and style"; "Race and gender" and "Politics to ideology". An Afterword by Stephen Prince reflects on the various essays and points the way towards areas of future exploration.

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Great Book!!

A cool book to cool off over the summer!!!

Warriors of Legend: Reflections of Japan in Sailor Moon

A must own for any Sailor Moon fan

Japanese Culture and Sailor Moon

Warriors of Legend: Reflections of Japan in Sailor Moon
Jay Navok & Sushil K. Rudranath
Manufacturer: BookSurge Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Popular Culture | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
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Sailor Moon #11

Sailor Moon - Season Two - Uncut (Japanese Language Edition)

Sailor Moon - Season One - Complete and Uncut (Japanese Language Edition)

Sailor Moon S - The Complete Uncut TV Set

Sailor Moon, Vol. 1

ASIN: 1419608142
Release Date: 2005-07-13

Book Description

The book Warriors of Legend is one of the first of its kind, using a specific Japanese anime/manga series- the megahit Sailor Moon- to teach about Japan. Neophytes to Japan studies will find Warriors of Legend an accessible way to learn about this fascinating country. Those who know quite a lot about Japan already will find their understanding enhanced by the way the book analyzes the nuances of Tokyo's history and Japanese society. The book also argues that Sailor Moon is a unique series in that it was both internationally popular and strongly structured by the culture of the city of Tokyo and post-Economic Bubble Japan.

Customer Reviews:

Great Book!!.......2007-09-29

This book has a lot of background info on the Sailor Moon universe. It helped to better understand the society in which the Sailor Scouts lived. I also loved all the myths, legends and facts that went into creating Sailor Moon. Awesome read!!

A cool book to cool off over the summer!!!.......2007-07-12

This book is an interesting read... it show the emotion and pain into working on sailor moon. If Sailor Moon is your favorite anime like me and if you enjoy to learn about more, new, and crazy stuff about sailor moon then here you go a perfect example of pure sailor moon. THIS IS A MUST HAVE FOR ALL SAILOR MOON FANS, ITS KINDA LIKE A BIBLE FOR SAILOR MOON FANS EVEN THOUGH THERE IS NO BIBLE FOR SAILOR MOON FANS. So ya this is a very good book it goes through the places and themes of sailor moon and like I said before THIS IS A MUST HAVE FOR ALL SAILOR MOON FANS!!!!!

Thank You.

Warriors of Legend: Reflections of Japan in Sailor Moon.......2007-05-07

Extremely pleased with the book and it arrived earlier than expected

A must own for any Sailor Moon fan .......2007-03-30

I just received my copy of WoL and am pleased to say that I am very happy with its content. In fact, my only real complaint is I thought they could've spent a little more time covering topics regarding all of the senshi and not just specifically on Ami, Minako, and Usagi, who received most of the attention (not to discredit that though because all the information was excellent!). Makoto, Haruka, and Rei each recieved a small (but decent) amount of coverage but I felt like Michiru, Setsuna, and Hotaru were a little left out. However, I read somewhere that the authors are working on a second WoL book so we have a chance to look forward to more info into the world of Japan through SM in the future.

The book is very approachable not only to fans of Sailor Moon but to people interested in Japanese culture. I consider myself to be a very large and informed SM fan but I found myself discovering things I never had a clue about! Who knew that in ancient mythology Venus (in the form of Ishtar) and the Moon were so closely connected? Or how about how each of the senshi embody a different way of life in Japan.

WoL really opened my eyes to the extreme amount of detail Naoko Takeuchi and the animators of Sailor Moon put into the manga and anime and eventually into the Live Action series. People don't realize how much Japanese culture is embedded into the series- it's literally mind blowing!

So with all that being said, I would definitely recommend purchasing this book if you would like further insight into the world of Sailor Moon.

Japanese Culture and Sailor Moon.......2007-02-12

I am a big fan of Sailor Moon and of the Japanese culture. It is really neat how the Japanse culture is put into Sailor Moon and explained because obviously we wouldn't understand most of it seeing we are not Japanese. I thought it was very interesting and fun to read.

Book Description

BradyGames' Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict Official Strategy Guide includes the following:

Comprehensive Arena Analysis: We provide a complete breakdown for all 46 arenasâbe the first to find bases, ammo, goals, pick-ups, and prime sniper locations!
Detailed Character Coverage: Learn all the Races, Character Archetypes, Combatant Personalities, and Abilitiesâexploit your character’s attributes while turning your opponents’ against them!
Complete Story Mode Walkthrough: We lead you up the Ascension Rites, Tournament, and Challenge Ladders to ultimate victory!
That’s Not All: Unlock Characters, Tournaments, Bots, Challenge Matches, Mutators, and Raiden! Complete Weapon and Power-Up Rosters, Adrenaline Abilities, Expert Battle Techniques, and More!

Platform: Xbox
Genre: Fighting

This product is available for sale worldwide.

Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict (Prima Official Game Guide)

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Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict (Prima Official Game Guide)
Prima Games
Manufacturer: Prima Games
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Video Games | Games & Strategy Guides | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0761546812

ATARI'S "UNREAL CHAMPIONSHIP" BLASTS ONTO XBOX.: An article from: Multimedia Publisher

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ATARI'S "UNREAL CHAMPIONSHIP" BLASTS ONTO XBOX.: An article from: Multimedia Publisher

Manufacturer: Worldwide Videotex
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Multimedia Publisher, published by Worldwide Videotex on January 1, 2003. The length of the article is 978 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: ATARI'S "UNREAL CHAMPIONSHIP" BLASTS ONTO XBOX.
Publication: Multimedia Publisher (Newsletter)
Date: January 1, 2003
Publisher: Worldwide Videotex
Volume: 14 Issue: 1 Page: NA

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Unreal Championship (Prima's Official Strategy Guide)

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Unreal Championship (Prima's Official Strategy Guide)
Dan Egger
Manufacturer: Prima Games
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Video Games | Games & Strategy Guides | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

General | Puzzles & Games | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

Video & Electronic Games | Puzzles & Games | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0761539697

Book Description

Predator or prey—which one will you be?
·Detailed maps cover all levels
·Tested strategies for Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Capture the Flag, Bombing Run, and Double Domination
·Strategies to build the ultimate Championship team
·Full weapons and items descriptions chock with tips and tricks for each
·Breakdowns and bios for every character
·Secrets and cheats inside—get the drop on your opponents

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Moving Forward

Totally engrossing and not just for business-types

A Must-Read for every MBA program and anyone interested in succeeding in business with integrity!

Blueprint for REAL Success

Best business book I've ever read

The Company We Keep: Reinventing Small Business for People, Community, And Place
John Abrams
Manufacturer: Chelsea Green
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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What Matters Most: How A Small Group of Pioneers Is Teaching Social Responsibility To Big Business, and Why Big Business Is Listening

The Small-Mart Revolution: How Local Businesses Are Beating the Global Competition (BK Currents)

A Stake in the Outcome: Building a Culture of Ownership for the Long-Term Success of Your Business

How to Change the World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas

The Ecology of Commerce

ASIN: 1933392193

Book Description

Socially responsible investments have grown exceptionally in the same year that "moral values" determined a presidential election. So why has business been so slow to catch on? In a new book, The Company We Keep, small business owner and entrepreneur John Abrams makes a case for a return to workplace values, and shows how we can ultimately profit by them.
The Company we Keep is more than the success story of a revolutionary company. It sets down a framework for a model of employee ownership and community involvement that has piqued the interest of entrepreneurs around the country. In the words of Abrams, "This is a book about a different way of doing business in today's world-a way based on workplace democracy, shared ownership, staying small, building community, commitment to a place, and long term thinking."
John Abrams founded the South Mountain Company, a design and building firm, on Martha's Vineyard more than thirty years ago. Through a commitment to place and community entrepreneurship, he has seen the company grow and prosper, while at the same time experimenting with a revolutionary employee ownership model that has challenged the traditional business rhetoric of unchecked growth.
There is a revolution going on in corporate America, and social entrepreneurship is leading the way. Rejecting the myth that short-term profits are the only indicator of business health and wealth, John Abrams shows how building a company to serve the needs of people (employees and owners), community, and the environment can be a successful business plan as well. Part entrepreneurial business plan, part guide to democratizing the workplace, and part prescription for strong local economies, The Company We Keep marks the debut of an important new voice in the literature of American business.

Customer Reviews:

Moving Forward.......2007-01-20

A document of great vision and execution in a positive direction. A fine example of collaborative and cooperative thinking thich enhances the resulting effort. Everyone wants to work in a nurturing environment.

Totally engrossing and not just for business-types.......2006-08-24

In an era in which corporations are measured on quarterly, single bottom-line returns, John Abrams presents a compelling case that a multiple bottom-line, values oriented, long term focus can be a successful business strategy in The Company We Keep.

In this well-written and compelling book, Abrams artfully examines the long-accepted American business concept of growth;and determines that growth for growth's sake is a short-term strategy leading to failure. He weaves over twenty years of experience in construction, design and sustainable building practices into a philosophical look at the meaning of work and success; the result provides the reader with fabric from which to examine his/her own company, work life, natural environment and style of doing business. Perhaps most importantly, the book is written in a warm, reflective style which makes it hard to put down and leaves the reader yearning for more insights and information from this writer, who provides substantial research and details to support his work and ideas. Just as a good movie creates long-lasting recollections of scenes, The Company We Keep brings daily reminders of wonderful stories and the confidence that strong personal and company values can indeed be the means to a successful and growing business.

A Must-Read for every MBA program and anyone interested in succeeding in business with integrity!.......2006-07-20

Can a company built and grown on Abrams's hippie values of kindness, love, respect, honesty, and freedom of the individual actually be successful in this era rife with competition?

A friend recommended this book, as am a business owner, MBA, Gen X/ Y, who embraces these values to the extent that I'll never compromise, and have built a small, successful business with similar emphasis on treating people involved extraordinarily well. Profit, like in Abrams's story, was simply a bi-product. And the joy of knowing I'm doing good for so many interested parties is priceless.

So many lessons to be learned in this wonderful book! I couldn't put it down once I started reading. Abrams's completely open, honest approach is heart-warming and inspiring.

One can hold true to one's values, and still build a fabulously successful company, one in which the coworkers are also owners with a vested interest. And customers, too, are treated like partners. Emphasis on quality of work, versus growth simply for the sake of growth, is often illustrated.

This is one of those rare books one remembers long after reading. Each day since reading the book, I hear ordinary words like 'cooperation', which bring me back to the wonderful stories in this book and to the many studies well-noted in the book suggesting further evidence of people's natural urge to cooperate (and success in doing so).

A beautiful story and a must-read for anyone in business who wants to keep his/ her soul! Thank you for sharing your heartfelt, model example of developing a very successful business with values, Mr. Abrams!! The book is a classic. Will revisit it often, and already sent several copies to friends.

Blueprint for REAL Success.......2006-04-19

This is an excellent business book!

I recommend it to any CEO wondering how to maintain a profitable and healthy organization beyond next quarter's bonus.

John Abrams shows us how real business success can be achieved for the corporation and the community in this documentary of South Mountain Company. It is well written and packed with the tested principals and concepts that have built this successful, community centered business on Martha's Vineyard.

Imagine that true workplace democracy combined with commitments to ethical business dealings and social responsibility can lead to a high quality, sustainable, and profitable business! Corporate America should sit up and take notice!

I vote that we make this book required reading as part of the rehabilitation process of all incarcerated former corporate executives.

Best business book I've ever read.......2006-04-17

In an age of every type of self-help tale imaginable, this is the best business book I have read period; it makes perfect sense. The Openness the author is willing to share and the research behind it is tremendously thought provoking. I have purchased numerous copies to share with my friends.

Like any avid reader I picked this book in the summer and put it in the pile of about 200 "to read immediately." To be candid, I very likely would not have picked it up as soon as I did, but with my business in transition I felt I would give it a try.

The substantive issues summarized on p. 238 really cause the book to stand out; the author takes the building of South Mountain and allow its principles to transcend the story itself. At my bedside I keep a copy of Anne Morrow Lindbergh's "The Gift from the Sea" and often read passages. In it she writes: "Island living has been a lens through which to examine my own life in the North. I must keep my lens when I go back. Little by little one's holiday vision tends to fade. I must remember to see with island eyes. The shells will remind me; they must be my island eyes."

Later she queries, "Can one solve world problems when one is unable to solve one's own? Where have we arrived in this process? Have we been successful, working at the periphery of the circle and not at the center?" Her question is similar to a familiar passage of Tolstoy's a deceased client of mine, a hero himself, often quoted: "Everybody wants to change the world, but they don't want to change themselves."

The leap of faith John Abrams took in changing the culture of South Mountain is a great example of starting from the center. He has worked hard and with creative aforethought in solving one's own corporate problems with a view to the outside world. This is not an idyllic story of a community business developed on the the Island of Martha's Vineyard. It is a practical guide, but how fortunate the author has been that view is with "island eyes."

Back to p. 238, you wonder: "I don't know yet, nor do I know whether I will ever know, to what degree we can build on the foundations we have created and to what degree we can improve our skills. Neither do I know to what extent our experience can help others go down the path toward economic democracy and community entrepreneurship. I don't know whether, in time, many more people will share ownership and control of the companies they work in."

I think John Abrams has the model right here to make great changes in our corporate world. One can only imagine if many small and large businesses utilized this modus operandi. One only needs to pick up the business page of any major newspaper to think the world(`s problems) would be better off.

I have been a part of the company for 21 years and took sole ownership a little over 4 years ago. Similarly to South Mountain, we are an established enterprise which, for a variety of reasons, are at crossroads in our growth and development. I would like to consider tailoring the South Mountain model to my company and go down the same path. Nonetheless, this read is for any business manager/owner with a company big or small as its applications ring true.

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