Books

In ZOOZ we strongly believe in self education. In other words, we think you can increase your horizons and improve your performance through reading. However, reading books can also be a BIG waste of time: while some management books provide real value, many are poorly written and of pretty low quality. With dozens of books about marketing and management on the shelf, and considering your limited time resources, selecting the books YOU really need becomes crucial.

To save your precious reading time, we have compounded a list of recommended books covering various marketing and management topics. These books were carefully selected on the basis of practicality (ability to actually enhance your everyday work) and readability (clear explanations, attractive texts). For your convenience, we added some details on every book in the list.  
 
1. Built to last - Successful Habits of Visionary Companies
 

Name	Built to Last / James Collins and Jerry Porras  English: Collins and Porras, 1994  Hebrew: Pecker Literary Agency, Ltd., 1995	Alt=""
Topics	Management, Strategy, Corporate Vision, Core Abilities, Innovation
Main Point	What makes #1 companies better than #2 companies? In short: Mechanisms which ensure a clear corporate vision, focus on core abilities, and constant innovation.
Value	Learn how to increase the chances of your company to survive and to lead. If there is one management book you will read this year, make sure it is this book!

 
 
2. The One Minute Manager  

Name	The One Minute Manager / Kenneth Blanchard & Spencer Johnson  ISBN 0-425-09847-8  English: Berkeley Books, New-York, 1983  Hebrew: Modan Publishing
Topics	Management
Main Point	How can you manage other people better while saving your time and efforts? Define your workers' goals, then catch them doing something RIGHT.
Value	If you need to improve the way you manage other people, this book should be your first stop.

 
 
3. Six Thinking Hats
 

Name	Six Thinking Hats / Edward de Bono  ISBN 965-286-516-8  English: Mica Management Resources, 1985  Hebrew: Kineret Publishing, 1996
Topics	Thinking Skills, Creativity, Corporate Culture
Main Point	Combine 6 different ways of thinking (Emotional, Factual, Critical, Positive, Creative, and Managerial) to improve your thinking and collaboration skills.
Value	If you need to solve pressing problems, and are tired of endless disputes at work,  this book will teach you how to think deeper, and collaborate better.

 
 
4. Blur - The Speed of Change in the Connected Economy
 

Name	Blur / Stan Davis, Christopher Meyer  ISBN 0-201-33987-0  English: Ernst & Young LLP, 1998  Hebrew: The Int. Businessmen Library Ltd., 1998
Topics	E-Commerce, Globalization, Virtual Assets
Main Point	The old rules of commerce are over. New ways to exchange goods, INFORMATION, and EMOTIONS with your clients are here to stay.
Value	Afraid of being left out? Learn to grow and profit in the information age era.

 
 
5. Ogilvy on Advertising
 

Name	Ogilvy on Advertising / David Ogilvy  ISBN 1-85375-196-0  English: Multimedia Books (UK) Ltd., 1983  Hebrew: Keter Publishing,
Topics	Advertising, Marketing Communications
Main Point	An ad is supposed to sell - make sure the consumers react to it.
Value	The best introduction to advertising. Learn simple rules that make advertising work, and get better value for your advertising money.

 
 
6. Only the Paranoid Survive
 

Name	Only the Paranoid Survive / Andrew Grove  English: Andrew Grove, 1996  Hebrew: Matar Publishing House, 1997
Topics	Change Management, Crisis Management, Strategy
Main Point	"10 fold" changes are bound to happen in your industry. They will hurt less if you will be prepared.
Value	Learn to identify changes that can destroy your company, and to transform your strategy fast enough.

 
 
 7. The Principles of Marketing
 

Name	The Principles of marketing / Philip Kotler & Gary Armstrong  ISBN 0-13-705360-6  English: Prentice-Hall, Inc., New Jersey, 1989  Hebrew: The Institute for Productivity, 1994
Topics	Marketing Management
Main Point	A great introduction to marketing management.
Value	This comprehensive text book is very readable, includes dozens of valuable examples, and covers almost anything you may want to know about marketing. Keep it handy!

 
 
8. Selling the Invisible - A Field Guide to Modern Marketing
 

Name	Selling the Invisible/ Harry Beckwith  English: Warner Books, New-York, 1997  Hebrew: Commerce Chambers Union, 1998
Topics	Marketing Services
Main Point	There are dozens of "main points" in this book. Here are some:  1. Marketing a service starts with the service itself  2. Don't try to be 10% better, try to be DIFFERENT.  3. Don't be "the best" service,  it sounds pretentious: very good is good enough.
Value	If you are selling services - you must read this book. If not - you probably have to anyhow... Learn what turns potential customers into actual clients, when no one can touch, smell, or even see your "goods".

 
 
9. The Fifth Discipline
 

Name	The Fifth Discipline / Peter Senge  English: Doubleday - Currency, Inc., New-York  Hebrew: Matar Publishing House, Tel Aviv, 1998
Topics	Learning Organizations, Planning, Feedback loops
Main Point	If something bad happens, the actual reason is usually hidden deep beneath the surface.
Value	If when you try to improve things (e.g. - save wasted money) they become even worse (e.g. - you lose even more money) - read this book.

 
 
 10. The Goal
 

Name	The Goal / Dr. Eliyahu Goldratt  English: Eliyahu Goldratt, 1986  Hebrew: Eliyahu Goldratt, 1988
Topics	Production, Performance Scales, Theory of Constraints
Main Point	Focus on the bottle necks. Let them dictate the pace of production.
Value	Learn how to eliminate costs, decrease storage space, and speed up production, by replacing your performance scale.

 
 
11. Major Account Sales Strategy
 

Name	SPIN / Neil Rackham  English: McGraw-Hill 0070511136  Hebrew: Tcherikover Publishing Ltd. , Company Ltd. ISBN 965-16-0107-8
Topics	Large scale sales, bids, the SPIN method
Main Point	Focus on your clients, not on your products.
Value	Win large sales by adjusting your tactics to the way clients make their decisions. If you are after big money, following the proven step-by-step process outlined in this book will get you there.

 
 
  12. The Witch Doctors - Making Sense of Management Gurus
 

Name	The Witch Doctors / John Micklethwait & Adrian Wooldridge  ISBN 0-8129-2988-8  English: Times Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York, 1996  Hebrew: Not translated yet.
Topics	Management Theory, Business Consulting.
Main Point	Seeking for advice? It is a jungle out there, and most business gurus do better for their own pockets then to your organization.
Value	A visit beneath the curtains of the business consulting industry, that will make you very worried. It should! If you can overcome the (British) English, it will save you a lot of future reading.

 
13. Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap…
      and Others Don't  
 

Name	Good to Great / Jim Collins      ISBN   0-8129-2988-8 English: Harper Business, New York, 2001 Hebrew: Pecker Publishing.
Topics	Strategy, Management, Competitive Advantage.
Main Point	How does a good company become a great one? You have to recruit the right people, manage in a humble yet firm manner, and create momentum using a series of small changes.
Value	If you want to lead your market and deliver your company from the ranks of mediocrity, this book will show you how.

 
14. Leading the Revolution
 

Name	Leading the Revolution / Gary Hamel English: Plume, 2002 Hebrew: Meter Publishing.
Topics	Innovation Management, Growth, Organizational Politics.
Main Point	In order to succeed in today's business world, you need to be extremely innovative. Therefore, you have to manage innovation like you would a high-risk investment portfolio - invest a little in a lot of daring innovative directions.
Value	Acquire tools that will help you turn your company into a truly innovative one, and take advantage of economic models that can lead you to high revenue growth.

 
15. My Years with General Motors
 

Name	My Years with General Motors / Alfred Sloan English: Currency, 1990 Hebrew: Cherikover Publishing.
Topics	Corporate Management, Organizational Development, Marketing Strategy.
Main Point	Management is a professional and methodical affair that has no bounds.
Value	Learn the principles of modern management as they were originally designed. They are still valid today.

 
16. The New Positioning: The Latest on the World's #1
      Business Strategy  
 

Name	The New Positioning / Jack Trout English: McGraw-Hill, 1997 Hebrew: Meter Publishing.
Topics	Marketing Communications, Strategy, Marketing, Positioning.
Main Point	The human mind works in set patterns, and this is also the key to effective brand positioning.
Value	Are you creating a new brand? This is the recommended place to start, with Dos and Don'ts essential for success.

 
17. The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing: Violate Them at
      Your Own Risk!  
 

Name	The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing / Al Ries & Jack Trout English: Harper Business, 1994 Hebrew: Meter Publishing.
Topics	Marketing, Marketing Communications.
Main Point	Marketing is a battle waged in the customers' minds, and therefore there are very clear constraints that you can use to your advantage.
Value	22 direct and proven paths to differentiation and marketing success. A must-read for any marketing professional.

 
18. Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping
 

Name	Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping / Paco Underhill English: Simon & Schuster, 2000 Hebrew: Meter Publishing.
Topics	Commercialization and the Retail Trade.
Main Point	People behave in fixed patterns when shopping, and when you learn these patterns it is possible to sell more.
Value	Learn how to optimally organize shelves, place displays, signs, sales packages, etc.

 
19. The Fall of Advertising and the Rise of PR
 

Name	The Fall of Advertising and the Rise of PR / Al Ries, Laura Ries English: HarperCollins Publishers, 2002 Hebrew: Meter Publishing.
Topics	Public Relations.
Main Point	PR will yield better results than advertising, if you are patient.
Value	Learn why advertising is less effective today, and how PR can give you the boost your business needs.

 
20. Reengineering the Corporation: A Manifesto for
      Business Revolution  
 

Name	Reengineering the Corporation / Michael Hammer, James Champy English: HarperCollins Publishers, 2003 Hebrew: Meter Publishing.
Topics	Process Management.
Main Point	Departmentalization harms an organization's effectiveness. It's better to create teams around business processes.
Value	If your organization has become ineffective, learn how to improve the situation from the bottom up, and focus on customers and on the critical processes.

 
21. Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested
      Market Space and Make Competition Irrelevant
 

Name	Blue Ocean Strategy / W. Chan Kim, Renee Mauborgne English: Harvard Business School Press, 2005 Hebrew: Meter Publishing.
Topics	Strategy
Main Point	In order to make competitors irrelevant you have to offer an exceptional benefit coveted by the majority of customers, and save in other areas.
Value	If you are fed up with the crowded competitive market, read this book to learn how to escape the competition and grow.

 
22. Integrated Direct Marketing  
 

Name	Integrated Direct Marketing / Ernan Roman English: McGraw-Hill, 1995 Hebrew: Meter Publishing.
Topics	Direct Marketing
Main Point	A well-timed integration of a number of simultaneous marketing channels can increase sales by 10 fold.
Value	Learn how to take maximum advantage of your sales promotions budget.

 
23. Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being
      Remarkable 
 

Name	The Purple Cow / Seth Godin English: Portfolio Hardcover, 2003 Hebrew: Opus Publishing.
Topics	Strategy, Differentiation, Viral Distribution.
Main Point	In order to really stand out among your competitors, you need extreme differentiation - if you are not a purple cow then you are invisible.
Value	Learn how to make your business remarkable, and be the talk of the day among customers and potential customers (viral distribution).

 
24. Bag the Elephant! How to Win and Keep Big Customers
 

Name	Bag the Elephant! / Steve Kaplan English: Bard Press, 2005 Hebrew: Meter Publishing
Topics	Marketing and Selling to Corporations
Main Point	If you want to bag the elephants (large corporations), you have to think just like they do, even if you are small.
Value	Acquire tools on marketing and selling to organizations that are 100 or more times bigger than you.

 
25. State of the World 2004: The Consumer
 

Name	State of the World 2004: the consumer / The Worldwatch Institude
Topics	Green Economy, Environment
Main Point	Even is you're not "green", you can flourish with green businesses
Value	Insights on world consumption trends, and how to profit from them in "green" as well as in regular businesses.

 
26. How Customers Think
 

Name	How Customers Think / Gerald Zaltman
Topics	Market Researches, Consuming.
Main Point	New research methods can uncover the sub-conscience of your customers.
Value	Up-to-date (but not easily read) review on consumer's mind and ways to explore it.

 
27. The Innovator's Solution
 

Name	The Innovators Solution / Clayton M. Cristensen & Michael M. Rayner
Topics	Strategic Innovation, Value Chain
Main Point	Leading brands collapse when the market gets commoditized
Value	Learn how value shifts, and how to use it to your advantage

 
28. The Origin of the Brands
 

Name	The Origin of the Brands / Al & Laura Ries
Topics	Marketing, Positioning
Main Point	New brands come up from splitting old brands
Value	Use Darwin's survival theory  for creating new and successful brands