Publishers Weekly - January 26, 2015

Turning the Corner
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With the American economy gradually gaining some for-
ward momentum as it recovers from the Great Recession,
several spring business titles reflect indications that the
economy could be entering a period of sustained growth.
That doesn’t mean, however, that publishers have abandoned books that deal
with the serious issues that led to the worst financial crisis since the
Depression and its aftermath.
One sign of an improving economy is the fact that companies are trying to
be more attuned to the needs of their employees. The “stay interview” has
taken hold at some companies, and several books address that topic, includ-
ing Hello Stay Interviews, Goodbye Talent Loss, by Beverly Kaye and
Sharon Jordan-Evans. Attracting talent is the subject of Work Rules, writ-
ten by the head of Google’s People Operations, Laszlo Bock, who provides a
blueprint for attracting talented employees and making sure they succeed.
New types of businesses have helped the economy grow, and in The
Membership Economy, Robbie Kellman Baxter examines the success of
“membership” businesses such as Netflix to see which of their practices
can be used by other companies.
The spread of technology has inundated consumers with choices, and sev-
eral books address the “discoverability” issue. Captivology by Ben Parr dis-
cusses the “triggers” businesses can use to gain, and retain, the attention of
consumers.
Two of the biggest business successes in the past few years have been the
Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba and the entrepreneur Elon Musk. In
Alibaba’s World, Porter Erisman, a former v-p at Alibaba Group, analyzes
the company’s success while detailing how founder Jack Ma rose from obscu-
rity to revolutionize e-commerce in China. Ashlee Vance’s Elon Musk looks at
the life of the founder of two of today’s best-known cutting-edge companies.
With more people poised to start earning more money, a new book warns
that money doesn’t necessarily buy happiness. In Measuring Happiness,
three economists examine the evolution of happiness research, which has
found that average life satisfaction doesn’t seem to depend on income.
Even with an improving economy, unemployment remains high. How
government can return more people to the workforce is the subject of Ravi
Batra’s End Unemployment Now. The recession and technological advances
have made companies in all areas and of all sizes adjust the way they operate,
and those changes are the subject of The Great Disruption, by the
Economist’s Adrian Wooldridge. One of the next major disruptions
that businesses will face is global warming: Climate Shock by
Gernot Wagner and Martin L. Weitzman discusses how companies
need to think about the impact of humans on the environment.
BUSINESS &
ECONOMICS
SPRING 2015 ADULT
ANNOUNCEMENTS

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