The shortlist for the second annual Financial Times and Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award was announced today.
The shortlist is:
The Long Tail Chris Anderson (Hyperion)
Small Giants Bo Burlingham (Portfolio)
The Wal-Mart Effect Charles Fishman (Penguin Press)
China Shakes the World James Kynge (Houghton Mifflin)
The Box Marc Levinson (Princeton University Press)
The judges Lionel Barber, Lloyd C. Blankfein, Sir Martin Sorrell, Rachel Lomax, N.R Narayana Murthy, Jeffrey Garten and John Gapper met in London to decide on the five books which, in their opinion, provided ‘the most compelling and enjoyable insight into modern business issues.’ Four of the shortlisted authors will each receive £5,000 (more than $9,000), and the winning author will receive £30,00 (more than 54,000). The overall winner will be announced at a gala event at The Mandarin Oriental Hotel, New York on Thursday, October 26, 2006.
Lionel Barber Editor of the Financial Times comments:
“We have drawn a wider range of entries in this second year of the Financial Times/Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year. Last year, the leitimotiv was globaliization, but this year book themes have included the advantage of being small over big, the container revolution, the hedge fund industry, and the new economics of culture and commerce. All our distinguished judges look forward to choosing a winner from the five-strong short-list.”
Lloyd C. Blankfein, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Goldman Sachs, said:
“This year’s finalists provide valuable insights on a range of issues that have great relevance for business people today”
The judging panel for the 2006 Award is:
Lionel Barber, Editor, Financial Times
Lloyd C. Blankfein, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc
John Gapper, Chief Business Commentator and Associate Editor, Financial Times
Jeffrey Garten, Juan Trippe Professor of International Trade,
Finance and Business, Yale School of Management
Rachel Lomax, Deputy Governor for Monetary Policy, Bank of England
N.R. Narayana Murthy, Chairman and Chief Mentor, Infosys Technologies
Sir Martin Sorrell, Chief Executive, WPP
The shortlist is:
The Long Tail Chris Anderson (Hyperion, $24.95, ISBN: 140130278)
What happens when bottlenecks that stand between supply and demand in our culture go away and everything becomes available to everyone? The Long Tail is about the economics of abundance, a powerful new force in our economy: the rise of niche. From supermarket shelves to advertising agencies the ability to offer vast choice is changing from songs on iTunes to advertising on Google. Chris Anderson argues that if the 20th century was about hits, the 21st will be about niches.
Small Giants Bo Burlingham (Portfolio, $24.95, ISBN: 1591840937)
Most books about businesses focus on public companies, where the definition for success is steady growth in revenue and profits. Yet there are many excellent, privately held companies. For anyone who wants to explore America’s most innovative and inspiring small business successes, this unique book is the place to start.
The Wal-Mart Effect Charles Fishman (Penguin Press, $25.00, ISBN: 061870564)
An award-winning journalist breaks through the wall of secrecy to reveal the many astonishing ways Wal-Mart’s power affects our lives and reaches all around the world. Though 70 percent of Americans now live within a fifteen-minute drive of a Wal-Mart store, we have not even begun to understand the true power of the world’s largest company. Fast Company senior editor Fishman takes an unprecedented behind-the-scenes investigative expedition deep inside the company, interviewing twenty-five high level ex-executives. He argues that anyone wanting to understand the forces shaping our world today must understand the company’s hidden reach.
China Shakes the World James Kynge (Houghton Mifflin, $25.95, ISBN: 1594200769)
‘Let China sleep, for when she wakes, she will shake the world.’ Napoleon Bonaparte’s words seem eerily prescient today as the shock waves from China’s awakening reverberate across the globe. James Kynge explores the way we are increasingly dependent on China’s products and markets and the way the slightest change in the Chinese economy quickly reaches our doorstep. He explains how this spectacular change has occurred and what it will mean in the twenty-first century.
The Box Marc Levinson (Princeton University Press , $24.95, 0691123241)
In April 1956, a refitted oil tanker carried fifty-eight shipping containers from Newark to Houston. From that modest beginning, container shipping developed into a huge industry. The Box tells this remarkable story, published on the fiftieth anniversary of that journey. The container paved the way for Asia to become the world’s workshop and brought consumers a previously unimaginable variety of low-cost products.
For further information or for interviews about the Award, please contact:
Barbara Cave Henricks, Goldberg McDuffie Communications
Phone: 512-301-8936 or bhenricks@goldbergmcduffie.com
To contact the FT please speak to: Katy Hemmings, Financial Times:
+44(0) 20 7873 4447 or e-mail katy.hemmings@ft.com
Notes to Editors:
1. The 2006 Financial Times and Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award is designed to highlight the business book that provides the most compelling and enjoyable insight into modern business issues, including management, finance and economics. Entries were invited from publishers of business books in the English language, that are first published between 31st October 2005 and 1st November 2006.
2. This is the second year of the award. The 2005 Award was presented at a gala dinner in London, with guest speaker the Rt Hon Gordon Brown MP, Chancellor of The Exchequer. Over 200 senior executives from the publishing and business communities attended the event, seeing Thomas Friedman crowned 2005 winner, for The World Is Flat, which saw a significant rise in sales following the Award win.
3. Lionel Barber, Editor and Andrew Hill, Financial Editor of the Financial Times and administrator of the Award are available for comment.
4. The Financial Times Group, one of the world’s leading business information companies, provides a broad range of business information and services to a growing audience of internationally minded business people. It includes the Financial Times, one of the world’s leading business newspapers, FT.com and a pan-European network of national business newspapers and online services including Les Echos and FT Deutschland, FT Interactive Data, Investors Chronicle, The Banker, Money Management and Financial Adviser. It also has a number of joint ventures including FTSE International with the London Stock Exchange.
5. Goldman Sachs is a global investment banking, securities and investment management firm. It provides a wide range of services to a substantial and diversified client base that includes corporations, institutional investors, governments, non-profit organizations and individuals. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs has long sustained a commitment to hiring and training outstanding leaders. Its business principles are rooted in integrity, a commitment to excellence, innovation and teamwork. These values enable the firm to execute successfully a business strategy that is focused on extraordinary client service and superior long-term financial performance for its shareholders.
For further information about Goldman Sachs contact:: Chris Williams (212) 357-5296
For more information about the award, please visit the Goldman Sachs Web site or the Financial Times Web site.
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