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Business Stripped Bare: Adventures of a Global Entrepreneur |  | Author: Sir Richard Branson
Publisher: Virgin Books
Category: Book
List Price: £20.00
Buy Used: £2.50
as of 25/11/2009 02:47 GMT details
You Save: £17.50 (88%)
New (23) Used (14) Collectible (6) from £2.50
Seller: irina_shifner
Rating:  17 reviews
Sales Rank: 11432
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 352
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.5
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.1 x 1.4
ISBN: 1905264437
EAN: 9781905264438
ASIN: 1905264437
Publication Date: September 18, 2008
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 17
 Virgin Optimism November 1, 2008
Mr President (Glasgow)
9 out of 10 found this review helpful
Regardless of who you are - one thing you have to admit is that Richard Branson oozes charisma, energy and vitality. Even looking at the front cover of the book he is given an exotic yet accessible quality. But enough of this hero worship on my part - what are my thoughts on the contents of the book?
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br /Branson does not claim to be an academic businessman. What comes across in this book is his ethos and belief in the power of entrepreneurship. He covers such themes as Leadership, Brand and Social Responsiblity.
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br /The book has of number of strengths. Throughout he uses stories to illustrate his points. My particular favourites were his tales regarding BA, Coco Cola and his initial set up of Virgin Money. So Branson avoids the situation that other business books fall into - using big words and leaving the reader none the wiser to what they are actually talking about.
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br /A second strength of this book is that Branson portrays business not as an entity detached from his or our everyday lives. If used properly and ethically - it can be a source of great change. I reckon Branson and Adam Smith would have gotten on like a house on fire.
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br /A third strength is Branson's ideas about self empowerment. We may think of Virgin as a monster sized company - whereas in fact it is made up of lots of smaller companies (aside from Virgin Atlantic which Branson readily admits is big). Branson states that the smaller companies avoid the problem of stagnation and each employee can stay energised and involved. Staying with this small scale approach - Branson illustrates how it can be used to tackle such problems as climate change. Correctly he states that large scale solutions often become bogged down.
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br /However the book does have one issue. Branson is much more engaging when talking about the individuals that makes up his company and his relationship with them. The sections where he talks about the high profile individuals such as Al Gore, Clinton and Mandela - tend to get bogged down and I found my attention drifting. I got it that he thinks these guys are great - I just didnt need to read about it for the next 10 pages. Bit rich coming from me since I have just read 328 pages about my hero Branson!
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br /Overall - a great book and with great messages.
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br /The best message being "the brave may not live forever - but the cautious do not live at all".
Kallokain reviews: Business Stripped Bare November 7, 2008
Henrik Mårtensson (Gothenburg, Sweden)
3 out of 5 found this review helpful
a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/review/R34XCEWXTBLEZO"Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/review/R34XCEWXTBLEZO/a Business Stripped Bare was refreshing, to say the least. A most enjoyable book. I hope the review shows why. I have included very brief chapter-by-chapter descriptions.
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br /Nice to see someone actually doing what management experts have preached for decades. Also nice to see it work so well.
Good Business Training November 23, 2008
M. OWOADE (Lond, UK)
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
Although I have not finished reading the book, i have thoroughly enjoyed the bit I have read. There is a lot to learn about business from this book and you should read it with a pencil or highlighter. No matter what size your business is you will learn something from it. Sorry for my short comments but I've got to get back to reading it.
Excellent book from a more mature Branson! April 9, 2009
H. Payne-Kumar
As someone who decided to adapt to the credit crunch by setting up my own business; I found this book witty, informative and motivational. Yes, there is much one can be critical of regarding Branson, but not his the Virgin teams' hard earned success (rare for these depressing times) genuine enthusiasm. Having been on the entrepreneurial trail for several months now, there is much I identified with and will adopt from his counsel.
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br /Faults with the book? Well, like a wine; you can drink it to find fault or just enjoy it! Branson is aging like a good vintage (!); there is depth of reflection, which personally, I found really engaging!
The evolving Branson May 15, 2009
R. L. Armitage
Branson's books are always worth a read - this one shows how business could evolve on our planet where competence, fun, spirit and ethics start to meet.
br /It is extraordinary how business ethics, politics accept such low integrity where Branson refreshingly rejects that approach. The book is inspirational and I am especially encouraged by Branson's willingness to commit to such initiatives as contributing to the formation of the 'Elders', a group of people headed up by Nelson Mandela to support the evolution of progress on our planet from other than a highly monetary base.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 17
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