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business frame- works that mea- sure performance in other functional areas—and that use the language CEOs understand. In Retooling HR, USC professor John W. Boudreau takes tried-and-true business tools such as engineering performance optimization, portfolio diversifica- tion, and segmentation analysis, and he applies them to HR metrics. For instance, he discusses using bottle- neck analysis as a way to measure return on improved performance (ROIP). Identifying and removing bottlenecks on the assembly line can appreciably improve the manu- facturing process, but such actions also can make teams function more smoothly, he points out. Boudreau suggests that executives work with their HR professionals "to answer questions like, 'If I could improve only one or two work elements, where should I place my efforts?'" Other business tools provide addi- tional insights when applied in this new fashion. (Harvard Business Press, $35) Most people cherish dreams like losing weight, traveling the world, or founding a business. But they're unlikely to succeed unless they set what leadership trainer Mark Mur- phy calls HARD Goals. The acro- nym stands for heartfelt, animated, required, and difficult. Murphy uses research about psychology, neuro- science, and behavioral economics to explain why humans respond to pictures, remember concrete rather than abstract concepts, and demon- strate more generosity when con- fronted with individuals rather than statistics. And that leads him to explain how, if you want to moti- vate employees to achieve a certain target, you have to get them emo- tionally invested and provide them with specific imagery of what suc- cess looks like. The problem is, most CEOs ask their employees to Business schools have long been focused on internationalizing their campuses, but the phenomenon of globalized higher education in general gets a detailed and intriguing examination in Ben Wildavsky's The Great Brain Race. Wildavsky, a research fellow at the Kauffman Foundation, looks at the grand historical tradition of "scholarly mobility," from 12th- century Europe through today, and finds that it has not only created an elite academic class, but also enhanced the spread of knowledge throughout global populations. "The academic mobil- ity made possible by our increasingly borderless academic world will, like other kinds of free trade, bring widespread economic benefits, along with valuable intellectual ferment and tremendous opportunities for individuals," he writes. While some fear that "flourishing" universities in developing nations will pose a threat to Western nations, particularly the U.S., Wildavsky doesn't agree. "Increas- ing knowledge is not a zero-sum game," he emphasizes. "Intellectual gains by one country often benefit others." Given the way he presents his case, it's hard to argue. (Princeton University Press, $26.95) hit "29 percent mar- ket share" or obtain "significant results." Writes Murphy, "Too many goals, especially those in the corporate or financial realms, are too abstract to turn into a picture. … If a 6-year-old can draw a picture of your goal, it's spe- cific. If not, it needs more work." The book is a lively, entertaining— and, yes, motivating—read. (McGraw-Hill, $28) Is it smart to offer a lower price to new customers than to loyal buyers? Should a consumer goods manu- facturer reward its top retailers by giving them more business? How much should a company invest in maintaining a sterling reputation? The answers to these questions can have huge impacts on the strate- gies that corporations choose, but if they guess wrong, they might pay enormous financial penalties. It's sometimes safer, simpler—and utterly fascinating—to first study consumer behavior in controlled laboratory experiments. Kay-Yut Chen, a behavioral economics researcher at HP Labs, and journal- ist Marina Krakovsky describe some of these experiments in Secrets of the Moneylab. They report not just on HP research into how people perceive risk, fairness, and other fac- tors that affect purchasing behavior; they also cite studies conducted by psy- chologists and academics for the past 30 years. The result is an engaging look at those irrational crea- tures called consumers. (Portfolio, $25.95) ■ z BizEd NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2010 65