Congratulations to the medalists of the 8th annual Axiom Business Book Awards.
Listed below are the gold, silver, and bronze medal winners in each category, 74 in all, representing 21 U.S. states; 2 Canadian provinces; and 4 other countries: Australia, United Kingdom, South Korea and Switzerland. There were just over 400 books entered.
GENERAL CATEGORIES:
1. Business Theory | 2. Business Commentary | 3. Economics | 4. Career (job search, career advancement) | 5. Sales (sales skills, negotiating, closing) | 6. Leadership | 7. Networking (social networking, communication skills) | 8. Business Ethics | 9. Operations Management / Lean / Continuous Improvement | 10. Human Resources / Employee Training | 11. Entrepreneurship | 12. Philanthropy / Nonprofit / Sustainability | 13. International Business / Globalization | 14. Personal Finance / Retirement Planning / Investing | 15. Business Technology | 16. Women / BIPOC in Business | 17. Success / Motivation / Coaching | 18. Advertising / Marketing / PR / Event Planning | 19. Corporate History / Milestone | 20. Business Reference (legal, how-to, industry specific) | 21. Memoir / Biography | 22. Business Fable
GENERAL CATEGORIES
1. BUSINESS THEORY
GOLD: The Process Improvement Handbook: A Blueprint for Managing Change and Increasing Organizational Performance, by Tristan Bourtros and Tim Purdie (McGraw-Hill Education)
SILVER: The Risk-Driven Business Model: Four Questions that Will Define Your Company, by Karan Girotra and Serguei Netessine (Harvard Business Review Press)
BRONZE: The Age of the Customer: Prepare for the Moment of Relevance, by Jim Blasingame (SBN Books)
2. BUSINESS COMMENTARY
GOLD (tie): Shortcut: How Analogies Reveal Connections, Spark Innovation, and Sell Our Greatest Ideas, by John Pollack (Gotham Books)
Citizen Coke: The Making of Coca-Cola Capitalism, by Bartow J. Elmore (W.W. Norton & Company)
SILVER: The Next Crash: How Short Term Profit Seeking Trumps Airline Safety, by Amy L. Fraher (Cornell University Press)
BRONZE: Rebuilding Empires: How Best Buy and Other Retailers Are Transforming and Competing in the Digital Age of Retailing, by Thomas
3. ECONOMICS
GOLD: The Dollar Trap: How the U.S. Dollar Tightened Its Grip on Global Finance, by Eswar S. Prasad (Princeton University Press)
SILVER: The End of Normal, by James K. Galbraith (Simon & Schuster)
BRONZE: GDP: A Brief but Affectionate History, by Diane Coyle (Princeton University Press)
4. CAREER (job search, career advancement)
GOLD: The Alliance: Managing Talent in the Networked Age, by Reid Hoffman, Ben Casnocha and Chris Yeh (Harvard Business Review Press)
SILVER: Secrets of a Hiring Manager Turned Coach, by Lisa Quast (Career Woman, Inc.)
BRONZE: Get Hired! Grow. Lead. Live., by Hal Eastman (Peregrine Images)
5. SALES (sales skills, negotiating, closing)
GOLD: Aligning Strategy and Sales: The Choices, Systems, and Behaviors that Drive Effective Selling, by Frank V. Cespedes (Harvard Business Review Press)
SILVER: Ditch the Pitch: The Art of Improvised Persuasion, by Steve Yastrow (SelectBooks)
BRONZE: Selling Energy: Inspiring Ideas that Get More Projects Approved! by Mark Jewell with Rachel Christenson (Energy Efficiency Funding Group)
6. LEADERSHIP
GOLD: Collective Genius: The Art and Practice of Leading Innovation, by Linda A. Hill, Greg Brandeau, Emily Truelove & Kent Lineback (Harvard Business Review Press)
Flex: The New Playbook for Managing Across Differences, by Jane Hyun and Audrey S. Lee (Harper Business)
SILVER: The CEO Tightrope: How to Master the Balancing Act of a Successful CEO, by Joel Trammell (Greenleaf Book Group Press)
The Management Shift: How to Harness the Power of People and Transform Your Organization for Sustainable Success, by Vlatka Hlupic (Palgrave Macmillan)
BRONZE: Left Brain, Right Stuff: How Leaders Make Winning Decisions, by Phil Rosenzweig (Profile Books)
7. NETWORKING (social networking, communication skills)
GOLD: A Social Strategy: How We Profit from Social Media, by Mikolaj Jan Piskorski (Princeton University Press)
SILVER: On Message: How a Compelling Narrative Will Make Your Organization Succeed, by Zach Friend (Turner Publishing)
BRONZE: Edge Presentation: Your Guide to Trust-Based Presentations, by Ben A. Ratje (300 Publishing)
8. BUSINESS ETHICS
GOLD (tie): Criminal Capital: How the Finance Industry Facilitates Crime, by Stephen Platt (Palgrave Macmillan)
Responsible Leadership: Lessons from the Front Line of Sustainability and Ethics, by Mark Moody-Stuart (Greenleaf Publishing)
SILVER: Time to Trust: Mobilizing Humanity for a Sustainable Future, by Mark C. Coleman (Motivational Press)
BRONZE: Clarke Williams: How One Man’s Belief in the Golden Rule Built CenturyLink, by Leo Honeycutt (Lisburn Press)
9. OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT / LEAN / CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT
GOLD: The Innovator’s Method: Bringing the Lean Startup into Your Organization, by Nathan Furr and Jeff Dyer (Harvard Business Review Press)
SILVER: Magic: Five Keys to Unlock the Power of Employee Engagement, by Tracy Maylett, Ed.D. & Paul Warner, Ph.D. (Greenleaf Book Group Press)
BRONZE: The Time Bandit™ Structured Time & Workflow Solution: Recovering Stolen Time You Never Knew You Had, by Edward G. Brown (Cohen Brown Picture Company)
10. HUMAN RESOURCES / EMPLOYEE TRAINING
GOLD: It’s Not the How or the What but the Who: Succeed by Surrounding Yourself with the Best, by Claudio Fernández-Aráoz (Harvard Business Review Press)
SILVER: The Power of Thanks: How Social Recognition Empowers Employees and Creates a Best Place to Work, by Eric Mosley and Derek Irvine (McGraw-Hill Education)
BRONZE: It’s All Your Fault at Work: Managing Narcissists and Other High-Conflict People, by Bill Eddy, LCSW, ESQ and L. Georgi DiStefano, LCSW (Unhooked Books)
11. ENTREPRENEURSHIP
GOLD: The Social Entrepreneur’s Playbook: Pressure Test, Plan, Launch and Scale Your Enterprise (Expanded Edition), by Ian C. MacMillan and James D. Thompson (Wharton Digital Press)
SILVER: Heed Your Call: Integrating Myth, Science, Spirituality, and Business, by David M. Howitt (Beyond Words/Atria)
BRONZE: Sell Your Business for an Outrageous Price: An Insider’s Guide to Getting More Than You Ever Thought Possible, by Kevin M. Short (AMACOM)
12. PHILANTHROPY / NONPROFIT / SUSTAINABILITY
GOLD: The Responsible Entrepreneur: Four Game-Changing Archetypes for Founders, Leaders, and Impact Investors, by Carol Sanford (Jossey-Bass)
SILVER: The Power of Impact Investing: Putting Markets to Work for Profit and Global Good, by Judith Rodin and Margot Brandenburg (Wharton Digital Press)
BRONZE: Practical Project Management for Agile Nonprofits: Approaches and Templates to Help You Manage with Limited Resources, by Karen R.J. White (Maven House Press)
13. INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS / GLOBALIZATION
GOLD: Quest: Leading Global Transformations, by N. Anand and Jean-Louis Barsoux (IMD)
SILVER: The Upside of Down: Why the Rise of the Rest Is Good for the West, by Charles Kenny (Basic Books)
BRONZE: China Goes West: Everything You Need to Know About Chinese Companies Going Global, by Joel Backaler (Palgrave Macmillan)
14. PERSONAL FINANCE / RETIREMENT PLANNING / INVESTING (estate planning, stocks, bonds)
GOLD: Money Master the Game: 7 Simple Steps to Financial Freedom, by Tony Robbins (Simon & Schuster)
SILVER: Jonathan Clements Money Guide 2015, by Jonathan Clements (Jonathan Clements LLC)
BRONZE: Investing for Dummies, 7th Edition, by Eric Tyson (Wiley)
15. BUSINESS TECHNOLOGY
GOLD (tie): The Decoded Company: Know Your Talent Better Than You Know Your Customers, by Leerom Segal, Aaron Goldstein, Jay Goldman, Rahaf Harfoush (Portfolio/Penguin)
The Innovators: How a Group of Hackers, Geniuses, and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution, by Walter Isaacson (Simon & Schuster)
SILVER: Leading Digital: Turning Technology Into Business Transformation, by George Westerman, Didier Bonnet, Andrew McAfee (Harvard Business Review Press)
BRONZE: Bitcoin: The Future of Money? by Dominic Frisby (Unbound)
16. WOMEN / MINORITIES IN BUSINESS
GOLD: The Third Law, by Tamra Ryan (Gilpin House Press)
SILVER: Work, Pump, Repeat: How to Survive Breastfeeding and Going Back to Work, by Jessica Shortall (Abrams Books)
BRONZE: Playing Big: Find Your Voice, Your Mission, Your Message, by Tara Mohr (Gotham Books)
17. SUCCESS / MOTIVATION / COACHING
GOLD: The Resiliency rEvolution: Your Stress Solution for Life – 60 Seconds at a Time, by Jenny C. Evans (Wise Ink)
SILVER (tie): Edgy Conversations: How Ordinary People Can Achieve Outrageous Success, by Dan Waldschmidt (Hydra Publishing)
Leading the Life You Want: Skills for Integrating Work and Life, by Stewart D. Friedman (Harvard Business Review Press)
BRONZE: The Necessity of Strangers: The Intriguing Truth About Insight, Innovation, and Success, by Alan Gregerman (Jossey-Bass)
18. ADVERTISING / MARKETING / PR / EVENT PLANNING
GOLD: Targeted: How Technology Is Revolutionizing Advertising and the Way Companies Reach Consumers, by Mike Smith (AMACOM)
SILVER: Romancing the Brand: How Brands Create Strong, Intimate Relationships with Consumers, by Tim Halloran (Jossey-Bass)
BRONZE (tie): The Old Rush: Marketing for Gold in the Age of Aging, by Peter Hubbell (LID Publishing Inc.)
Trendology: Building an Advantage Through Data-Driven Real-Time Marketing, by Chris Kerns (Palgrave Macmillan)
19. CORPORATE HISTORY / MILESTONE
GOLD: Call of the Couch: A Family’s Love Affair with Its Business, Schneiderman’s Furniture, by Larry Schneiderman with Jody Mabry (Beaver’s Pond Press)
SILVER: Made to Order: The Sheetz Story, by Kenneth Womack (Arcadia Publishing)
BRONZE: Madness Miracles Millions, by Joseph Semprevivo and Larry Semprevivo (Tate Publishing)
20. BUSINESS REFERENCE (legal, how-to)
GOLD: Presentations: Sharpen your Message, Persuade your Audience, Gauge your Impact, 20 Minute Manager Series (Harvard Business Review Press)
SILVER: Everyone’s a Genius: Simple Tips to Boost Your Brilliance Now, by Jen Fraser (Ideation Training)
BRONZE: Swanepoel Trends Report 2015, by Stefan Swanepoel (RealSure, Inc.)
21. MEMOIR / BIOGRAPHY
GOLD: Winners Dream: A Journey from Corner Store to Corner Office, by Bill McDermott with Joanne Gordon (Simon & Schuster)
SILVER (tie): Fire in the Belly: How Purdy Crawford Rescued Canada and Changed the Way We Do Business, by Gordon Pitts (Nimbus Publishing, Ltd.)
Sweet Success: A Journey of Change and Challenges, by Doug Lapins (Foursome Press)
BRONZE: Inside the Founding of Newsweek: How a Hot-Tempered, One-Legged R.A.F. Pilot Launched an American Media Giant, by Thomas J.C. Martyn (Purple Plum Press)
22. BUSINESS FABLE
GOLD: The Project Manifesto: Transforming Your Life and Work with Critical Chain Values, by Rob Newbold and Bill Lynch (ProChain Press)
SILVER: A Forest Tale: A Startup Fable, by Bill Murphy (iUniverse)
BRONZE: The Unexpected Tour Guide, by Jeff C. West (The Sales Tour Guide Publishing)
