Recent books offer valuable business tips

The Business Center of the Springfield-Greene County Library is on the move. The special collection of books, periodicals and electronic products on business aspects is being relocated from the Main Library to the new Library Center, opening Nov. 6 at 4653 S. Campbell.

The collection will be larger than ever. With the added convenience of a full-service computer lab with Internet, word processing and desktop publishing capabilities, the library will be your home away from office.

You can drop by the Business Center any time after the opening, or join us at one of four special business programs. The regular hour-long orientation to the Business Center will take place at 11 a.m. Nov. 16. There will also be a three-part series "Minding Your Business at the Library" Nov. 10, 17 and 24.

You can find out how to use the resources of the Business Center to help you make choices on personal investing, market research and electronic print and business resources. Call 874-8110 to register or for more information on the programs.

While we were packing up the books, I found a few recent titles that might be of interest to you. These books are available to check out from the Springfield-Greene County Library. Call your nearest branch for availability, or visit the Web page at

http://thelibrary.springfield.missouri.org/about/11-01-99.htm

and click on the title of the book.

There is a confusing array of choices when it comes to purchasing the communication system that most often introduces a company to the outside world. This system is one of the company's most vital business tools, since it gives callers that all-important first impression.

A good phone system builds credibility, goodwill and profits by ensuring efficient interaction with suppliers, prospects and customers, as well as present and potential employees. In more than a decade, S.L. Jordan has helped hundreds of small businesses with their telecommunication needs.

His book, "How to Buy the Best Phone System," 651.73 L, can help turn a purchasing nightmare into a manageable task and puts a company on track to getting maximum value without spending a fortune.

Built around the core concept that the best motivation comes from within, the premise of "Streetwise Motivating and Rewarding Employees: New and Better Ways to Inspire Your People," 658.314 H, is that true motivation is about making sure employees know what they're doing, why they're doing it that way and then giving them some control.

Alexander Hiam, a trainer and consultant who has served in management roles for Fortune 100 organizations, says that giving someone a jar of candy with his or her name on it is not likely to produce enhanced results. It's better to determine where the problems are, overcome system-wide challenges and master the key points of negative feedback.

Hand out treats if you want to, but remember that employees don't want to be treated like children. Many employers accept "average" levels of motivation without realizing that these levels could and should be much higher.

According to Jon Katzenback, in his book "The Work of Teams," 658.3128 W, a team is one of the most basic and enduring organizational groups. It is a concept that has been misused and overused in the past decade because managers frequently don't realize that teamwork is not the same thing as team performance.

Simply assembling a group of people and anointing them a team won't get the job done. To discover the six main differences between a working group and a team, read "The Discipline of Teams." To understand the role of constructive conflict in a decision-making team, see "How Management Teams Can Have a Good Fight."

And be sure to read and reflect carefully on the updated version of the now classic Harvard Business Review article of the early '80s, "The Parable of the Sadhu."

In his book, "The Innovator's Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail," 658 C, Clayton Christensen takes the radical position that great companies can fail precisely because they do everything right.

Understanding the competition, listening astutely to customers, investing aggressively in new technologies: these are the elements in the author's challenging theory of disruptive innovation.

Christensen will tell you when it's right not to listen to customers, when to invest in lower-performance products that promise lower margins, and when to pursue small markets at the expense of chimerically larger and more lucrative ones.

Keeping close to customers is critical for current success, but long-term growth and profit often depend on a far different managerial formula. This title was named "Best Business How-To Book of 1997" by The Financial Times.

"How to Set Up and Implement a Records Management System," by Gloria Gold, 651.5 G, is not a textbook or tedious manual, but the explication of a process. Gold originated the records management division for the state of Minnesota, where she and her staff eliminated more than 11,000 forms and conducted the first-ever inventory of state records.

From designing and installing the system components to selling the program within the organization, this book has the potential to evaporate complaints that have been surfacing in your company for years. Written especially for records-management neophytes, this tool will help your company retrieve and deliver information to the right people, at the right time and in the right format.

(Mike DePue is the business librarian at the Main Library, 397 East Central. For almost 18 years he has answered thousands of questions on as many topics.)