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Biology!" It's a helpful resource for professors who aren't sure how to increase their publishing output. (Atwood Publishing, $12.50) In troubled times, it's often comforting to look back at turning points in his- tory and see how our predecessors survived. That's exactly the perspec- tive Nancy F. Koehn brings to The Story of American Business, derived from 150 years of business report- ing in The New York Times. Koehn, a professor at Harvard Business School, provides an overview of the country's massive shift, first from an agricultural economy, then to an industrial econ- omy, and finally to a service-oriented economy; she describes the rise of big business and tracks the changes wrought by advancements in trans- portation and technology. And then she provides a fascinating selection of real-time newspaper clippings—an October 29, 1929, report on the stock market crash; a July 9, 1955, descrip- tion of the opening of Disneyland; a September 21, 2000, essay that opens with the line, "You know they've gotten a Black- Berry when they stop call- ing." These freeze-frame glimpses of great and small moments of Ameri- can business don't just illuminate the past, but also help us understand our messy and unsettled present. (Har- vard Business Press, $29.95) It's fashionable to blame bad leaders for dysfunctional workplaces, but some- times that answer is too simplistic, warns Alan Goldman in Transform- ing Toxic Leaders. Sometimes the entire ecosystem of a corporation— from the executive board through the junior management—helps cre- ate a dysfunctional environment where a toxic leader rages unchecked. "Destructive lead- ers require inves- tors, followers, and a supportive and sustainable network of true believers and toxic cohorts seeded throughout the organization," he points out. While it requires skill and patience—and sometimes the input of trained psychologists or outside experts—poisonous work- places frequently can be analyzed, cleaned up, and made functional again. Goldman, a management pro- fessor at Arizona State, emphasizes that dangerous CEOs are dangerous problems: "As a toxic leader goes, so may the company go." (Stanford Business Books, $24.95) Today, 51 of the 100 largest economies are corporations, which means that the world's biggest firms have about as much social leverage as most heads of state. Therefore, says Bruce Piasecki in The Surprising Solution, they're the ones with the power to create the products and implement the social changes that make the world a better place. "Most of your water, air, hous- ing, and food has been processed by corporations before you use it," he writes. "We should expect, then, more from the corporations who are in charge of so many aspects of our lives." In fact, increased transparency and rising consumer demand have forced these companies to compete not just on price and quality, but also on "social brand," or how their products improve the world. "This differen- tiator now applies to how the coffee beans used to make your cup of java were grown or how you do your laundry at home," Piasecki notes. He calls this new imperative Social Response Capital- ism. He also calls social history the "grand hand larger than the invisible hand of markets"—and his case is so persuasive that readers can only hope he's right. (SourceBooks, $15.99) Spanish clothing manufacturer Zara has redefined the fashion industry, bring- ing low-priced, well-made knockoffs to the masses almost as fast as haute couture shops can turn out designs. How to compete? Some high-end rivals, like Hermès, focus only on their elite brands; others, like Armani, move into wholly new industries, such as designer hotels and cars. With these tactics, says Richard A. D'Aveni, they are Beat- ing the Commodity Trap sprung when new com- petitors enter a market and change the game. Actu- ally, the Tuck professor describes three different traps: deterioration, caused by a surge in low-priced, low-quality options; prolif- eration, caused by too many options and price points; and escalation, cre- ated when new products are cheaper and offer more benefits. D'Aveni warns that companies in any indus- try can fall victim to one of these commodity traps, but he also offers concrete responses, from moving upscale, as Hermès did, or moving on, like Armani. "Most commod- itization results when managers fail to innovate, issue bad products, or deny trends already in motion," he writes. He shows readers how to recognize threats in their infancy— and how to fight back. (Harvard Business Press, $29.95) ■ z BizEd JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2010 65