Engineering Business

Toyota would like us to think that Mother Nature drives a Prius, Ford wants us to Join the Green Revolution,” and McDonald’s has painted its golden arches green. But are big brands and the celebrities endorsing them really as green as they claim? In The Greenwash Effect, Guy Pearse looks behind the corporate façade in the tradition of Fast Food Nation and No Logo - and what he finds will startle you.

Sixty years ago, cars and airplanes were still deathtraps waiting to happen. Today, both are safer than ever, thanks in part to one pioneering air force doctor’s research on seatbelts and ejection seats. The exploits of John Paul Stapp (1910–1999) come to thrilling life in this biography of...

Within every company, there lies a sleeping giant. Companies have long been viewed as either the primary cause of environmental destruction, or as a deep-pocketed funding source for people trying to confront it. But with their access to innovation, new technology, and intellectual firepower, most companies are built to tackle the challenges our planet faces in a way smaller organizations and foundations can’t. What would happen if executives stopped looking at sustainability as a side project for the PR team and saw it instead as a way to benefit the planet and their profits?

This book is perfect for anyone who eats and wants to understand what it takes to produce healthy food. Through new ideas and a different perspective, Marty shares a winning formula for success in modern family farming. Written by the owner of the Spence Farm featured in the documentary, Sustainable, this book provides listeners with the necessary steps an owner-operator must take to set up their family farm for long-term success.

Everyone wants their product to be the next great killer app. But in the increasingly crowded world of mobile content, this pinnacle of success is becoming harder and harder to reach. Visionary author Rana June Sobhany offers a lively step-by-step process that will enable anyone to aggressively position, market, and sell their product.

WHAT IS IT THAT DRIVES THE SUCCESS OF AMERICA AND THE IDENTITY OF ITS PEOPLE? ACCLAIMED WRITER AND CONTRIBUTING EDITOR TO THIS AMERICAN LIFE JACK HITT THINKS IT’S BECAUSE WE’RE ALL A BUNCH OF AMATEURS. America’s self-invented tinkerers are back at it in their metaphorical...

A pioneering neuroscientist shows how the long-sought merger of brains with machines is about to become a paradigm-shifting reality. Imagine living in a world where people use their computers, drive their cars, and communicate with one another simply by thinking. In this stunning and inspiring...

That Monday afternoon, in high-school gyms across America, kids were battling for the only glory American culture seems to want to dispense to the young these days: sports glory. But at Dos Pueblos High School in Goleta, California, in a gear-cluttered classroom, a different type of “cool”...

A stunning and revealing examination of oil's indelible impact on the countries that produce it and the people who possess it. Every unhappy oil-producing nation is unhappy in its own way, but all are touched by the "resource curse"—the power of oil to exacerbate existing problems and create...

The world is a bit crazy right now, but despite uncertainty and a volatile climate, there is a way to farm that generates profit, builds a legacy and involves less stress. Crops, People, Money and You: The Art of Excellent Farming starts with making first-rate choices about yourself so that you can make the best decisions about crops, people and money. With a unique blend of evidence, insight and empathy, Kate encourages listeners to clear the fear and take the steering wheel toward excellent farming.

Capire l'oggi per creare il domani. Un percorso di trasformazione su tre livelli: spirituale, culturale e tecnico. L'Uomo si è ormai perso nella sua rincorsa feroce al progresso, tutti gli ambiti delle sue attività danno continui messaggi d'allarme. L'ecosistema terrestre e la vita dell'Uomo stesso non sono mai stati messi a rischio come in questi ultimi decenni di enorme sviluppo industriale ed economico.

Charles E. Hires and the Drink That Wowed a Nation chronicles the humble origin and meteoric business success of this extraordinary entrepreneur. Author Bill Double uses published interviews, correspondence, newspaper reports, magazine articles, financial data, and a small family archive to tell this story of native ingenuity. Here, the rough-hewn capitalism of the gilded age, the evolution of the neighborhood drugstore, the rise of advertising in creating mass markets, and the emerging temperance movement all come together in a biography that fizzes with entrepreneurial spirit.

Drawing on insights from across the social, behavioral, and natural sciences, Michelle Baddeley explores contexts in which behavior is driven by the herd. She analyzes the rational vs nonrational and cognitive vs emotional forces involved, and she investigates why herding only sometimes works out well. With new perspectives on followers, leaders, and the pros and cons of herd behavior, Baddeley shines vivid light on human behavior in the context of our ever-more-connected world.

Despite extensive evidence highlighting the influence of genetics in the business world, this critical connection has been glossed over by corporate leaders and management gurus. Now, for the first time, author Scott Shane explains why genes matter, and how an understanding of their relationship to behavior is of vital importance to employers, employees, and policy makers.

As human beings, we are fascinated by what makes us tick. We know that nature gave us certain biological appetites to ensure our survival, among those the need for water, food, sex, and love, but meeting these alone is not enough to ensure happiness. Scientists, and now managers, are realizing that people have a biological need to experience social rewards like praise, the thrill of innovation, and the satisfaction of acquiring new skills.

The unprecedented access to other humans that technology provides has ironically freed us from engaging with them. According to social psychologist Adam Waytz, our increasingly human-free lives come with a serious cost that we’ve already begun to pay: the loss of our humanity. Humans have superpowers. More than any other psychological stimulus, our presence can make experiences feel significant, inspire moral behavior, and encourage action. The Power of Human shows us how to rehumanize and harness these unique abilities to improve our lives, beginning with our jobs.

Bombastic headlines about science and technology are nothing new. To cut through the constant stream of information and misinformation on social media, or grab the attention of investors, or convince governments to take notice, strident headlines or bold claims seem necessary to give complex, nuanced information some wow factor. But hype has a dark side, too. It can mislead. It can distract. It can blinker us from seeing what is actually going on.

Creating and implementing a new sustainability program can be daunting–where to start?

The environmental crisis is advancing at an unprecedented pace and scale. It will outpace us if we don’t turn our attention to an even deeper concern regarding the future of humanity: We need to work together to create change. Our current approach to collaboration is outmoded. To transform our world, we must transform the way we lead. We collectively share the power and responsibility for a more just, inclusive, and sustainable future. Leaders who hope to shape that future must develop the ability to embrace relationships as our most impactful, influential tool.

There’s no place for empathy in business was a belief Dr. Price, a logical, results-focused engineer held onto tightly, until a cascade of life-altering events provided her a new perspective. A perspective that recognized empathy as a critical skill that every leader must develop and employ to achieve success. Dr. Price’s empathetic leadership journey has been a multi-year process, one that continues today, and one that she willingly shares with you—the good, the bad, and the ugly.