LITTLE BOOK OF BIG IDEAS: BUSINESS

Dr John Lipczynski

Publisher: A & C Black

Price: £9.99

ISBN: 9780713686142

Sasha Wood takes a tour around 50 of the greatest business minds in global commerce.

This most recent addition to the Little Book of Big Ideas series, selects 50 of the World’s best business minds and offers up succinct summaries with interesting information. Readers learn that Rockefeller started off as an accountant, giving him the business acumen to begin trading alone. I was fascinated to discover that paternalistic businessman Alfred Krupp was a real-life Undershaft from Major Barbara. Krupp, the ‘Cannon King’, made his money in munitions but set up educational facilities for his workforce, along with welfare and pensions, thus creating an ethical paradox.

The book makes a charming introduction to the world of business and reminded me of a user friendly rough guide.Business people are analysed in context, effectively demystifying enigmatic entrepreneurs and financial geniuses. The diverse collection includes everyone from pioneer Thomas Edison to modern mavericks Larry Page and Sergei Brin, founders of Google.

John Lipczynski’s PhD in oligopolistic collusion, explains some of the book’s more interesting insights about the connections between business and power. The Rothschild Family made their fortune by speculating on the outcome of the Napoleonic wars and indeed the author does not shy away from revealing the darker or more controversial side of business. The Railway Pirate John Gould, who was involved in unethical and even criminal activity is included in his selection, as is Rupert Murdoch’s destruction of the Print trade in the 1980s, along with accusations his products are used to peddle political propaganda.

This book has a lively, readable style and should appeal to anybody who has an interest in how society, politics and business interact. There are famous names to grab everybody’s attention and it is the sort of book you can pick up, read a little, and put down again, thus unwittingly imbibing useful bits of business knowledge.