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Bookshelf Over the centuries, the world has moved fromthe Agriculture Age to the Industrial Age to the Information Age; each transition has been helped along by upgrades in affluence, technology, and globalization. No surprise, then, that themodern conflu- ence of wealth, tech- nology, and global connectedness is spurring us into a new era—the Conceptual Age. While knowledge workers such as com- puter programmers and accountants ruled in the Information Age, a whole new group of people will shape the world in com- ing decades: artists, inventors, design- ers, storytellers, and dreamers. So says DanielH. Pink in AWholeNewMind, which investigates how right-brain skills such as emotion, synergy, and empathy will be in higher demand than left-brain skills of logic and sequence. Pink's informal and enter- taining language is always a delight to read; his ideas are equally appealing. Pink believes the aptitudes that will carry workers triumphantly through the Conceptual Age are design, story, symphony, empathy, play, and mean- ing. These capabilities, once consid- ered frivolous, "will determine who flourishes and who floun- ders." Let the new age begin. (Riverhead Books, $24.95) Chiropractor Jeff Greenfield want- ed to attract patients to his new practice, but how could he draw attention in a crowded market? He decid- ed to treat anyone—even those without insurance and those who couldn't pay— 56 BizEd SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2005 with the stipulation that they had to tell everyone they knew what a great chiropractor he was and how he'd changed their lives. He eventually built a multimillion dollar business, mostly from word-of-mouth advertis- ing that created "buzz" about his service. His tale is just one of the fas- cinating and thought-provoking case studiesMark Hughes offers in Buzzmarketing, which is accurately subtitled How to Get People to Talk About Your Stuff. Hughes' ideas are a little zany but most of them have been proven to work—forMiller Lite, for Half.com, for "American Idol." Hughes makes marketing seem both fun and success- ful. (Portfolio, $23.95) Is the covenant between society and institutions of higher education undergoing a worri- some transformation? Many believe it is. Some leaders are con- cerned that "higher education is forgoing its role as a social institution and pub- lic role in society and is functioning increasingly as an industry," writes Adrianna J. Kezar. She has joined with Tony C. Chambers, John C. Burkhardt, and others to write Higher Education for the Public Good, which examines the changing role of universities in today's society. Their observations are bolstered by commentary of experts from the National Forum onHigher Education for the Public Good, formerly the Kellogg Forum. They acknowledge that educa- tion's "historic agreement with the American people" constantly evolves to meet present times, but they also fear that higher education is in danger of losing its way. The book is a dense and detailed look at the compact between education and soci- ety. (Jossey-Bass, $40) While Michael Porter has identified five forces that govern competi- tive strategy, Bruce Greenwald and Judd Kahn believe one of them is far more sig- nificant than the oth- ers: barriers to entry. "If there are barriers, then it is difficult for new firms to enter the market or for existing companies to expand," they write in Competition Demystified. "If there are no barriers to entry, then many strategic concerns can be ignored." The top three barriers—which also act as competitive advantages for existing companies—boil down to supply, demand, and economies of scale. For instance, a company has a demand advantage when customers are "captive" to its products because the costs of switch- ing to new products are so high; this creates a barrier to entry for a new company with similar products or services that are too expensive or time-consuming to implement. The authors also offer straightforward advice for both entrenched corpora- tions and feisty newcomers: Think locally, expand strategically, and always defend your territory. Clear writing and plenty of real-life case studies make the book easy to read and the arguments persuasive. (Portfolio, $26.95)