Some of your favorite faculty pick their favorite books. Professors are used to telling you what to do, and just because you’ve graduated don’t think they’re about to stop.
This summer’s homework: check out top pleasure and professional titles recommended by Marriott School faculty.
And while you won’t be tested on the reading material, the information may score you some extra credit in the workplace or simply help you relax during a summer vacation.
KAYE HANSON
Assistant Professor of Organizational Leadership and Strategy
PROFESSIONAL PICK: The First-Time Supervisor’s Survival Guide, George Fuller
“This is a practical, down-to-earth, quick read on how to stay alert during the first week of a new job. It’s full of good ideas to help leaders who may feel overwhelmed in a new position. I found it browsing online; it intrigued me, and it turned out to be a good buy.”
PLEASURE PICK: Peace Like a River, Leif Enger
“This book was recommended to me by a friend who had read it in a book club and was astonished by its beauty. It’s a wonderful, symbolic story told through the eyes of girl as she grows up with her father. It has been touted as the best story told through a child’s viewpoint since To Kill a Mockingbird, and I agree.”
KATE KIRKHAM
Associate Professor of Organizational Behavior
PROFESSIONAL PICK: A Behavioral Theory of the Firm, Richard M. Cyert and James G. March
“I just finished rereading A Behavioral Theory of the Firm. This year is the fortieth anniversary of its original publication. The discussion of business goals, constraints, unresolved conflict, local rationality, and problematic search are still useful analytical tools. And the epilogue to the new printing integrates developments in both the economic theory of the firm and the behavioral study of decision making in organizations.”
PLEASURE PICK:
The Classmates: A Mystery Novel, Marilyn Arnold
“For pleasure reading, I’ve always enjoyed mysteries that are based on character not ‘action,’ such as Helen MacInnes, Dick Francis, and Nevada Barr. So, I was delighted to find out that Marilyn Arnold’s new novel was a mystery. It kept my interest, raised questions about assumptions we make about those we know, and made me think about how we assess the circumstances in which we find ourselves. A great read.”
MICHAEL SWENSON
Ford Motor Professor of Marketing
PROFESSIONAL PICK: Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap . . . and Others Don’t, Jim Collins
“This is a must-read for students of business and students of leadership. I enjoyed reading this book because of 1) the quest to understand how good companies become great companies, 2) the research approach, and 3) the findings and managerial implications. I agree with the book’s messages identified by The Wall Street Journal: ‘Great management is attainable by mere mortals and that its practitioners can build great institutions.’”
PLEASURE PICK: The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown
“This book is a gripping, suspenseful, thrilling, page-turner. Indeed, once I started the book, I couldn’t put it down. It provides a fascinating quest for and unique definition of the Holy Grail. Dan Brown explores a number of interesting topics along the way—cryptography (particularly encoding methods Da Vinci used in his art and manuscripts), Knights Templar, Priory of Sion, Holy Grail. After reading this book, I wanted to read other books by Dan Brown. I immediately read Angels and Demons and Deception Point and also enjoyed those books.”
HAL HEATON
Denny Brown Professor of Business Management
PROFESSIONAL PICK: Valuation: Measuring and Managing the Value of Companies, Tom Copeland, Tim Koller, and Jack Murrin
“Unlike most books on corporate finance, this is a very readable text on approaches to valuation. It takes a strategic approach illustrating how transactions can enhance or destroy value. It also deals with the unusual problems faced by corporate finance professionals in valuing companies in emerging markets, new technologies, and other difficult situations.”
PLEASURE / PROFESSIONAL PICK: The Lexus and the Olive Tree, Thomas Friedman
“Thomas Friedman is a journalist with The New York Times who writes about international politics and economics. In this book, he talks about the power of capital markets to prevent misguided politicians in many countries from making economically devastating decisions. It takes a positive view of globalization and illustrates the ability of free markets to help the very poorest people on the planet.”
BONNIE ANDERSON
Assistant Professor of Information Systems
PROFESSIONAL PICK: Women Don’t Ask: Negotiation and the Gender Divide, Linda Babcock and Sara Laschever
“This new book does an amazing job identifying and providing solutions to a very real issue: the challenges women face in negotiating. The authors highlight the problem of gender differences in negotiation and provide ways to begin fixing it. Numerous examples of the financial and emotional impacts make this issue compelling. The principles taught are valuable in the home as well as in the workplace. Females and males alike will benefit from reading this book.”
PLEASURE PICK: Faster: The Acceleration of Just About Everything, James Gleick
“This is one of my favorite books because it is a wise and witty look at a harried world not likely to slow down anytime soon. Elegantly composed and insightfully researched, Faster delivers a brisk volley of observations on how microchips, media, and economics, among other things, have accelerated the pace of everyday experience over the course of the manic 20th century. Gleick manages to weave in slyly perceptive and occasionally profound points about our increasingly hopped-up relationship to time. I plan to read it a fourth time this summer.”
NEIL BRADY
Professor of Management Ethics
PROFESSIONAL PICK: The Authoritarian Specter, Bob Altemeyer
“Three books have influenced me tremendously over the past decade, and Altemeyer’s book is probably the most important. It’s meticulously scientific but fairly readable. It’s about a certain psychological type of person we often find in business—the authoritarian personality. This book helps me understand this kind of personality. Altemeyer is the current leader in studying this phenomenon.”
PLEASURE PICK: Sweet Thursday, John Steinbeck
“Steinbeck was a pretty sober, serious writer, but Sweet Thursday is hilarious. It’s one of only two humorous books he wrote, and I’ve read it several times. It was made into a movie that was actually named after the book’s prequel, Cannery Row. This would be my choice of something super fun to read.”
K. FRED SKOUSEN
BYU Advancement Vice President and Former Marriott School Dean
PLEASURE PICK: Man’s Search for Meaning, Viktor Frankl
“I have read this book several times. It became one of my favorites when I participated in a Marriott School program where professors would assign students a book to read. The students would then meet at professors’ homes and discuss the book. I assigned this book for a number of years. We shared a lot of fun times, brownies, and meaningful discussions. Some of the key points of this book became engrained in me during these group sessions. If someone would like to think more philosophically about life, then I recommend this book.”
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Compiled by Emily Smurthwaite
