The War for Talent, by Ed Michaels, Helen Handfield-Jones, and Beth Axelrod, presents a strategic view of what managers must do to hire and keep the best employees. Drawing on five years of research, including surveys of thirteen thousand executives and case studies of 27 companies, the authors map out five bold imperatives for attracting, developing, and retaining the very best people. They show that great talent management has more to do with a pervasive "talent mindset" than it does with better HR processes.

Loyalty Rules!: How Today's Leaders Build Lasting Relationships, by Frederick F. Reichheld, maintains that it isn't new market forces that make loyalty so elusive in the digital arena — it's faulty leadership. Applying his breakthrough loyalty theories to the digital economy, the author shows that the Web can actually enhance the loyalty effect but that few leaders understand what loyalty means or how to build it. Reichheld, author of the 1996 bestseller The Loyalty Effect, outlines six principles of loyalty that can make the Internet a hospitable and highly profitable place for businesses to succeed.

20/20 Foresight: Crafting Strategy in an Uncertain World, by Hugh Courtney, outlines a new approach to strategy making that enables managers to move beyond outdated prediction-based models by embracing — not fearing — uncertainty. Courtney argues that most executives suffer from an all-or-nothing view of strategy in which future events are either certain or uncertain. He believes the key to making better strategic choices in turbulent markets lies in understanding the level of uncertainty faced in a given situation. 20/20 Foresight provides a framework for learning to separate what can be known from what can't — and then using that residual uncertainty to tailor the decision-making process.

From Global to Metanational: How Companies Win in the Knowledge Economy, by Yves Doz, José Santos, and Peter Williamson, focuses on a new breed of global company — the metanational — that is turning the strategies of traditional multinationals upside down. Metanationals are first to sense and capture new knowledge all over the world; they mobilize this globally dispersed knowledge to become more innovative than their competitors; and they turn this innovation into value by effectively managing operations for maximum sales growth and profitability. The authors maintain that in order to survive, traditional multinationals must stop playing yesterday's global game — essentially creating a homegrown strategy and then projecting it around the world — and start competing the metanational way.

The Infinite Asset: Managing Brands to Build New Value, by Sam Hill and Chris Lederer, argues that marketers and CEOs urgently need tools to manage vast groups of brands — not as individual elements or collections under one corporate roof but as complex systems that transcend corporate boundaries. The Infinite Asset provides top executives with an original strategic approach to resolving tough questions, such as whether or not to umbrella brand, how to determine the right number of brands, and the role of the brand manager in the 21st century.

Tempered Radicals: How People Use Difference to Inspire Change at Work, by Debra E. Meyerson, considers the virtues of people who want to become valued and successful members of their organizations without selling out on their identities and their beliefs. These "tempered radicals" may have differences based on moral values, social perspectives, or racial, gender, or sexual identity that put them at odds with the "mainstream" organizational culture. But Meyerson argues that these "everyday leaders" can act as crucial sources of new ideas, alternative perspectives, and organizational learning and change.

Expectations Investing: Reading Stock Prices for Better Returns, by Alfred Rappaport and Michael J. Mauboussin, offers a powerful alternative for identifying value-price gaps. The authors provide everything the reader needs to utilize the discounted cash flow model successfully. And they add an important twist: They suggest that rather than forecasting cash flows, investors should begin by estimating the expectations embedded in a company's stock price. Providing a fundamentally new way to evaluate all stocks, Expectations Investing will set investors on the path to success. Managers can also use the book to devise, adjust, and communicate their company's strategy in light of shareholder expectations.

To order HBS Press books, call 800-545-7685 or visit www.hbsp.harvard.edu. Other books by HBS authors are available at the Business School Coop (617-499-3248; 617-547-5003 fax).

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