Business in the Information Age: Heading for New Processes

Book Description

The industrial society is fast becoming an information society. As a result, many companies are experiencing serious difficulties in developing the new structures required. The increasing use of information technology has a profound effect on markets, products, and processes, as well as the management of and cooperation between companies. Business Engineering offers models and techniques for transforming company structures to help face the challenges of the information society. Viewing the business process as a new model to describe the organization forms the link between company strategy and information systems. Business Engineering thus acts as a lever of change. The book points out advantages accessible through IT, together with ways of integrating this knowledge in effective and efficient processes.

Book Description

A rich, colorful history of California centering on the untold story of America 's biggest farmer, J.G. Boswell, who controls more than $1 billion worth of water rights and real estate in the heart of the state.

J.G. Boswell is the biggest farmer in America. Over the past fifty years he has built a secret empire while thumbing his nose at nature, politicians, labor unions and every journalist who ever tried to lift the veil on the ultimate "factory in the fields." Now eighty years old, with an almost pathological bent toward privacy, Boswell has spent the past few years confiding one of the great stories of the American West to Mark Arax and Rick Wartzman. The King of California is the previously untold account of how a Georgia slave-owning family migrated to California in the early 1920s, drained one of America 's biggest lakes in an act of incredible hubris and carved out the richest cotton empire in the world. Indeed, the sophistication of Boswell 's agricultural operation--from lab to field to gin--is unrivaled anywhere.

Much more than a business story, this is a sweeping social history that details the saga of cotton growers who were chased from the South by the boll weevil and brought their black farmhands to California. It is a gripping read with cameos by a cast of famous characters, from Cecil B. DeMille to Cesar Chavez.

Customer Reviews:

The king of California.......2006-11-04

This book is way too long and somewhat redundant and boring. The basic story is good, but the author takes too much time and too many pages to tell it.

History, Biography and Expose?.......2006-06-23

I would recommend this book to anyone interested in politics, agriculture, or water rights. It is a well-written and very readable.

It follows four generations of the Boswell family to trace how they assembled the largest industrial farm in the world. Along the way, the authors explore the history of the San Joaquin valley and those who came there to farm it, those who left and those who got left behind. For every group that made a fortune, there were many others who were disappointed. There are plenty of interesting stories of Washington and Sacramento politics, and stories of common people following dreams.

The book examines the effect of large scale farming on farm owners, on those who work the farms now and those who worked them in the past. It provides some good background on the politics of water rights and government involvement in farming, and on the involvement of agriculture in local, state and federal politics.

If you are interested in the politics and history of water in the western states, Cadillac Desert by Marc Reisner is one of the best books I have read on any subject.

Overstuffed but Worth Reading.......2005-11-26

I grew up in Fresno, in the shadow of agribusiness. The story behind "King of California" is a fascinating and important one but I'm not sure this "biography" does it justice. I disliked the awkward mixture of history and journalism. Is this an expose, a biography or history? Its never really clear and the way the book is organized, around the four seasons, is particularly opaque. What does it mean to call a section, "winter?" when it is covering history spanning decades and contains interviews with living people? That said, the material is fascinating. From the role the Boswell's played in taming Tulare Lake, to the development of modern cotton farming, the politics of agriculture and the way big business in general got access and results in subsidies and favorable policy. Early on, Tulare Lake and by extension, the San Joaquin Valley in its pre-U.S. days is described with a vividness I've rarely read elsewhere. However, the description of the Boswell's roots in racism and its legacy in the Central Valley is definitely worth telling but I think it gets too little space here and competes with so many other subjects. Frankly, I'm surprised that this book has gotten the acclaim that it has. While its clearly well researched, the writing is spotty lucid in some places and sensationalized elsewhere. I think the book tries to cover far too many topics; Water politics, cotton farming, racism in California, family history, corporate intrigue, labor issues, flood control and company towns. Had it narrowed it focus to just water, cotton and corporate intrigue, I think it would have been a far more powerful book.

Surfaced and Harpooned.......2005-04-26

This far-reaching book is quite an accomplishment in biography and investigative journalism. Arax and Wartzman cover the history of the immense Boswell farming company of California, and the two guys named J.G. (the founding uncle and the current chairman, his nephew) who built the company into the largest cotton operation on Earth. Through cutthroat competitive instincts and political wheeling-and-dealing, the Boswells amassed tens of thousands of acres in California's Central Valley, and were instrumental in eliminating what was once the largest freshwater lake west of the Mississippi, as the former Tulare Lake was transformed into a festering network of levees, canals, and cesspools dedicated to the mass production of cotton. Thus, the Boswells built the area's environment, culture, and economics for their own profitability.

The book also serves as a great exploration of the business of factory farming, detailing the racism and poverty experienced by Black and Mexican workers, as well as the shifty agricultural and hydrological politics of Big Ag in California - as the Boswells and their competitors/allies buy politicians, stack laws and regulations in their favor, and claim flood control as a reason to alter the natural course of rivers and to completely drain the vast Tulare Lake. Best of all, we see how big business really works out West, with the hypocrisy of so-called rugged outdoorsmen (actually pampered CEO's) who incessantly rail against government interference while also taking in millions of dollars in taxpayer subsidies that are meant to help the little guy. This book is immensely informative but does often get tied up in unnecessary details, such as descriptions of petty political shenanigans in the construction of a nearby dam. But the motto of the Boswell clan has been that a whale can't be harpooned if it doesn't come to the surface (a legacy of silence and obfuscation), but Arax and Wartzman have deftly cracked into the wall of secrecy surrounding the Boswells and their often ill-gotten empire, [~doomsdayer520~]

Tremendous historical, political, and social epic.......2004-11-09

The book centers around three generations of Boswells as they migrated from Green County Georgia to Kings County California and became the largest producers of cotton in the world, without becoming a household name.

The book also tells of the natural, social, and political histories of the San Joaquin Valley from the days of indigenous peoples and the first Spanish invaders to the present day.

The epic is a fascinating study of twentieth century American history, society, economics, business, finance, management, politics, public policy, labor relations, mechanization, technology, modernization, and nature.

The more personal stories of family, romance, crime, and punishment read more like a good novel.

Some have found the authors liberally biased, but as a conservative, I found the authors well balanced in their presentations of all sides of the stories.

As others have said, the scope is huge and the research extensive. As someone who was born and raised in Kings County California, I found this heretofor unknown local history to be quite fascinating. Nevertheless, I believe this book will have broad appeal to many readers.

The King of California.(Book Review): An article from: OnEarth

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The King of California.(Book Review): An article from: OnEarth
Anthony Jaffe
Manufacturer: Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
ASIN: B0008GD4I6
Release Date: 2005-07-31

Book Description

This digital document is an article from OnEarth, published by Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. on January 1, 2004. The length of the article is 463 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: The King of California.(Book Review)
Author: Anthony Jaffe
Publication: OnEarth (Magazine/Journal)
Date: January 1, 2004
Publisher: Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc.
Volume: 25 Issue: 4 Page: 40(1)

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

The King of California J.G. Boswell and the Making of a Secret American Empire

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The King of California J.G. Boswell and the Making of a Secret American Empire
Rick Wartzman Arax Mark
Manufacturer: Public Affairs
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000UEFU1U

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The King of California: J. G. Boswell and the Making of a Secret American Empire
Mark and Rick Wartzman Arax
Manufacturer: Public Affairs
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000NQMAJ0

Book Description

Thermodynamics is an indispensable tool for developing a large and growing fraction of new polymers and polymer blends. These two volumes show the researcher how thermodynamics can be used to rank polymer pairs in order of immiscibility, including the search for suitable chemical structure of compatibilizers. Because of the great current commercial interest in this most dynamic sector of the polymer industry, there is high interest in studying their physical and mechanical properties, their structures, and the processes of their formation and manufacture. These Books are dedicated to Analysis of the Thermodynamics of Polymer Blends. Thermodynamic behavior of blends determines the compatibility of the components, their morphological features, rheological behavior, and microphase structures. As a result, the most important physical and mechanical characteristics of blends can be identified.

Book Description

The most comprehensive, single-volume guide to conducting experiments with mixtures

"If one is involved, or heavily interested, in experiments on mixtures of ingredients, one must obtain this book. It is, as was the first edition, the definitive work."
-Short Book Reviews (Publication of the International Statistical Institute)

"The text contains many examples with worked solutions and with its extensive coverage of the subject matter will prove invaluable to those in the industrial and educational sectors whose work involves the design and analysis of mixture experiments."
-Journal of the Royal Statistical Society

"The author has done a great job in presenting the vital information on experiments with mixtures in a lucid and readable style. . . . A very informative, interesting, and useful book on an important statistical topic."
-Zentralblatt fur Mathematik und Ihre Grenzgebiete

Experiments with Mixtures shows researchers and students how to design and set up mixture experiments, then analyze the data and draw inferences from the results. Virtually every technique that has appeared in the literature of mixtures can be found here, and computing formulas for each method are provided with completely worked examples. Almost all of the numerical examples are taken from real experiments. Coverage begins with Scheffe lattice designs, introducing the use of independent variables, and ends with the most current methods. New material includes:

Multiple response cases
Residuals and least-squares estimates
Categories of components: Mixtures of mixtures
Fixed as well as variable values for the major component proportions
Leverage and the Hat Matrix
Fitting a slack-variable model
Estimating components of variances in a mixed model using ANOVA table entries
Clarification of blocking mates and choice of mates
Optimizing several responses simultaneously
Biplots for multiple responses

Experiments With Mixtures: Designs, Models, And The Analysis Of Mixture Data

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Experiments With Mixtures: Designs, Models, And The Analysis Of Mixture Data

Manufacturer: John Wiley & Sons
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000GHH3Q6

Experiments with Mixtures: Designs, Models, and the Analysis of Mixture Data (Wiley Series in Probability And Statistics)

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Experiments with Mixtures: Designs, Models, and the Analysis of Mixture Data (Wiley Series in Probability And Statistics)
John a Cornell
Manufacturer: John Wiley & Sons
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000K5QJDW

Book Description

A classic, indispensable, and entertaining reference work covering every command-level combat general at the battle of Gettysburg.

Filled with insightful anecdotes and lively narrative, The Generals of Gettysburg presents detailed information on the character and personality of all 133 combat-command officers as well as an in-depth account of each man's actions on the field. This marriage of character --the features and attributes of a man--with each general's battlefield record, offers new insights into the battle and its outcome.

Customer Reviews:

Good reference work.......2005-05-11

This is a good concise guide to the line generals (and colonels) that served with the Army of Potomac and the Army of Northern Virginia. It gives background information on every commander of units down to brigade, how they got to command their unit, what they did in previous battles, what happened during the Gettysburg campaign and what happened to them afterwords. It is by no means a substitute for a good narrative to the battle or any part of it but it has a place in anyone's library on Gettysburg.

Same Old Crap About Longstreet, Despite the Evidence.......2005-05-07

This would be a great reference book if not for the same tiring rethoric about Gen. Longstreet. This book was published in 2003 and references the more recent works by historians that show Longstreet was not responsible for failure of the attacks on the second and third day. Makes you wonder if the author suffers from a acute case of Lost Cause tunnel vision.

Excellent resource on the Civil War's #1 battle.......2000-12-27

This book is a comprehensive listing of all officers (brigade-level or higher), both Union and Confederate, who fought at Gettysburg. It provides a brief synopsis of their careers prior to the battle, the role they played in the battle itself, and a concluding synopsis of their careers afterwards. Its scope is all-encompassing: no officer of any significance is omitted (to my knowledge). The book is most informative, and I found myslef reading it constantly for weeks after I purchased it (and since each entry is essentially self-contained, one can read brief snippets at a time and still glean valuable information). The author also provides short bibliographies for each figure as well. As the first reviewer has noted, its main shortcoming is organizational: it has a brief table of contents and no index (and given the nature of this book, I cannot understand why this was omitted). The photographs included are also of uneven quality; indeed, some are quite fuzzy. The maps are generally sound, but are relatively few in number (only nine). These factors notwithstanding, I rate the book highly because of the considerable research that went into it and its overall value as a source for all interested in the battle of Gettysburg and the Civil War in general.

The Generals of Gettysburg.......2000-06-15

I bought this book as a reference book. The profiles on each officer were well done and contained much information. However, there is no index in this book and only corp commanders are listed in the table of contents. Unless one knows the corp in which a particular officer served, it makes it very difficult to find any information. It is difficult to use as a reference. The book contains no footnotes, end notes, or a bibliography. The suggested readings at the end of each profile were helpful.

The Generals of Gettysburg: the Leaders of America's Greatest Battle

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The Generals of Gettysburg: the Leaders of America's Greatest Battle
Larry Tagg
Manufacturer: Da Capo Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000N7BBNK

Product Description

Unabridged audiobook in MP3 format.

Customer Reviews:

The story of San Michele-where can I find the film .......2005-03-31

I read this wonderful book as a young man back in the sixties and I have just ordered a new version to recapture its wonderful moments

But I also saw the film version many years ago.

No I would be wery exited if anyone could lead me to a DVD or VHS version of the film

A Book to Cherish.......2005-01-28

How can one write a review of The Story of San Michele that comes close to doing justice to the book? There are many humorous episodes, such as The Giant and Mamsell Agata, touches of the macabre in the description of the cholera epidemic in Naples, misadventures, like the journey to Sweden accompanying a young man (then his corpse). There are also angry moments, as when his dog Tom is brutally kicked by the slimy Vicomte Maurice. Who could not be moved by the story of the boy John, who was rescued by Munthe but never lived long enough to find a loving home. It is a book that includes many memorable events in a life that was very full indeed. Many of the chapters in this book could be made into marvelous films, given the right adaptation.

The Story of San Michele is very well written, to say the least, and the many people, events and personal feelings of the author combine to make this a special adventure. Perhaps most special of all is Axel Munthe's relationship to animals that allowed him to get close, even to "wild" animals and have a special relationship with them. He was a man who held nature and all life in special regard but was pragmatic in the face of illness and death.

I have had a copy since 1988 and I have given Axel Munthe's book as a gift and been thanked for the introduction. I could not recommend this book highly enough.

A Magnificent Raconteur.......2002-09-21

I came to this strange and wonderful book without the slightest inkling of what it was about -- simply because it was in the recommended reading for many guidebooks about Italy. First and foremost, it is an autobiography of a great physician and animal lover who just happened to spend some years of his life on Capri.

Autobiographies can make for strange reading, especially when there are obvious omissions. Although Axel Munthe frequently accuses himself of being a ladies' man, there is no mention of any love interest by name or even generic description. (That reminds me of film director Josef von Sternberg's FUN IN A CHINESE LAUNDRY, where we learn in passing that the author was married because of a cryptic mention in a subordinate clause 300 pages into the book.) Also missing is any mention of Munthe's childhood, although I understand there is at least one other autobiography written by him (MEMORIES AND VAGARIES), which I have not read.

There is, however, one section that does not appear in any autobiography that I have ever seen: An anticipation of Munthe's Last Judgment in Heaven following his death, with St. Peter, Moses, Athanasius, and St. Francis joining in the discussion.

STORY OF SAN MICHELE ranges from Paris to Lapland, Rome, Naples, Calabria, and Capri. We see duels, medical cases of wealthy women with imaginary diseases, demonic housekeepers, quacks, midwives, prostitutes, victims of cholera and earthquakes, brigands, shamans, and even an alcoholic ape. Munthe is a magnificent raconteur, and his book is a joy to read and reread.

A thought provoking book.......2002-02-11

My father had mentioned this book to me as a teenager. I read portions of it then, but have always wanted to read it in full. Finally, I found a paperback edition and found an absorbing and thought stimulating book. Dr. Munthe's care of the sick, his love of animals and the characters he describes, all will stay in my memory. This is not a book that you read once. I plan to read it again and again. Hopefully I will be able to visit Villa St. Michele some day and see the beauty of the place that he saw. I hope to find a bound edition with the photographs.

Many-Times-in-a-Lifetime Book.......2001-12-11

How gratifying to read the other reviews, and to learn that others have also experienced and loved this book at different times in their lives. The remarkable thing about it is how Dr. Munthe speaks to us in different ways at different ages. As a teenager, I was impressed by the passions, even though a lot of the details were above my head. In my late twenties, the way he tried to balance career and his love for San Michele was very meaningful. As a 44-year-old, I was impressed (and saddened) with the loneliness of Dr. Munthe's struggle, with really only his animals for company. While he speaks of friends, he shares little about them. And nothing about a lasting romantic involvement.

We all have our San Micheles. They may not be homes, but they are ideals toward which we strive. But for me, it exists only in my mind. Dr. Munthe was in some ways very lucky, yet also cursed, to be able to bring it to life.

The only frustrating aspect of "San Michele" is that it is, as its author notes, a fragment. I am interested to learn more of this fascinating man. Does anyone know if any biographies are in print, or in English? Thank you.

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This doctor dedicated all royalties from the book to animal shelters

The Story of San Michele
Axel Munthe
Manufacturer: E. P. Dutton
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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The Story of San Michele

ASIN: B000GT3RN2

Customer Reviews:

This doctor dedicated all royalties from the book to animal shelters.......2007-08-19

AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A MEDICAL DOCTOR, WHO BUILT SAN MICHELE OVER THE TOWER OF TIBERIUS; THIS IS THE STORY OF COURAGE OF THE WRITER, THE GIFT OF BEING ABLE TO WRITE IT; THE EXPERIMENTS IN HYPNOTISM; A TALENT WHICH COULD DO JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING, EXCEPT TO RAISE THE DEAD; THESE MEMOIRS TELL US OF THINGS ONLY A VETERAN PHYSICIAN COULD REVEAL.

530 pgs, hardback, 1929. This is the very FIRST EDITION. Book covers are the same turquoise blue as Paul Newman's eyes, with gold lettering on the front and the spine. (Mine doesn't have a dustjacket.)

No Sanctuary: The True Story of a Rabbi's Deadly Affair

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does she still think about this book

No Sanctuary: The True Story of a Rabbi's Deadly Affair
Michele Samit
Manufacturer: Carol Publishing Corporation
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1559721820

Customer Reviews:

does she still think about this book.......2000-07-27

Is Melvin free or sitting in jail where he belongs????? Did they ever find the shooter or confuse???? Did they ever get the temple built, what happen to the land? However book interesting, but left me curious about the previous questions.

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Story of San Michele, The

Manufacturer: Dutton
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000GSKE3E

Captain Newman MD/Devil Water/The Story of San Michele/Nine Hours to Rama/Watchers at the Pond (Reader's Digest Condensed Books, Volume 2: 1962)

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Captain Newman MD/Devil Water/The Story of San Michele/Nine Hours to Rama/Watchers at the Pond (Reader's Digest Condensed Books, Volume 2: 1962)
Leo Rosten , Anya Seton , Axel Munthe , Stanley Wolpert , and Franklin Russell
Manufacturer: Reader's Digest Association
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000EGPQUO

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The Story of Axel Munthe: A Biography of the Great Physician Who Wrote the Story of San Michele

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The Story of Axel Munthe: A Biography of the Great Physician Who Wrote the Story of San Michele

Manufacturer: E. P. Dutton & Co., Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000FPDZ1Q

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THE STORY OF SAN MICHELE
AXEL MUNTHE
Manufacturer: MURRAY
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000S5HFSC

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