Corporate Lunacy : How to Win (or at Least Survive) the Corporate Game

McMillan, Robert

ISBN 10: 0967856809 ISBN 13: 9780967856803

Publisher: Reality Pr, 2000

Synopsis

R. A. McMillan, a retired Vice President & Treasurer of B.F. Goodrich, has just released a funny new book called Corporate Lunacy, "How to win (or at least survive) the corporate game," a humorous, all-too-true expose’ of life in the corporate world.

During his successful career, McMillan was adorned with many corporate titles. Now, with many corporate adventures behind him, McMillan has written a guidebook to be used by those entering or already living in the minefields of the corporate world.

With chapters named Beginning Corporate Life, Who Are These People, Bosses Are "Beautiful" and Let Me Out of Here, McMillan illustrates the idiosyncrasies that we all love to hate about our jobs.

R. A. McMillan earned a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of California at Berkeley in 1972. He began his professional career at the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, Ohio. McMillan continued to climb the corporate ladder at an Akron, Ohio-based Fortune 500 company in positions including Chief Economist, Director of Investor Relations, Planning & Development, Analysis & Control and Vice President & Treasurer. Now, McMillan is spending his retirement writing, consulting, traveling and playing bad golf.

About the illustrator. Currently, Douglas M. Goldsmith teaches Illustration and Color Theory classes at Kent State University in Kent, Ohio. Goldsmith received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1981 from the Cleveland Institute of Art and received his Master of Fine Arts in 1988 from Carnegie Mellon University. Goldsmith enjoys traveling to Portland, Maine and Long Island, New York to paint landscapes.

About this title

From the Author:

The modern corporation can be an exciting place. Unlike those boring old-style businesses in which hard work and a sense of responsibility carried you up the ladder of success, the new corporate world is so large, so intellectually incoherent, so fixated on appearances, so focused on right now, that old rules do not apply.

Do you need to work hard? Probably not, although the appearance of doing so helps. Do you need to be responsible? Responsible to whom and for what? Do you need to be loyal, form firm alliances and lifelong business friendships? Seriously, now. What is a "business friendship?"

This is the modern corporation, remember. If you want to get rid of some of the venom accumulated during your disastrous high school social career, opportunity knocks. The subtle undercut, the verbal sideswipe and the dexterously executed dollop of meager, pitying praise are all delightful. As your relationship to your peers and competitors matures and deepens, these can all be considered preludes to the final act. I refer, of course, to the "not-so-subtle" backstab.

With a proper attitude and an ego as large as the moon, you too can shred old businesses, fire workers in job lot packages, downsize, outsource and shift production overseas. You will not have had so much fun since you tied an M-80 to the tail of Aunt Hattie's cat.

Corporations are insane places. In corporate life, you only have to give the appearance of being a grown-up.

From the Inside Flap:

Corporate Lunacy, "How to win (or at least survive) the corporate game" isn't just a funny book, it's a survival guide. Whether you're just entering the corporate world - or wondering why you are still there, you'll learn to muddle through - equipped with a thick skin, a little cunning and a sense of humor. You will explore effective counter-terrorist strategies to thrash those over-confident, apple-polishing, business executive wannabes who don't care who they squash on their way to the top. If you've been canned or downsized by some corporate demon, or forced to retire early, because you didn't master the corporate game, this book will allow you to laugh through the tears.

You'll undoubtedly smile as you look at corporate mania through the eyes of Ralph (the author's eager but naive friend). You'll chuckle as Ralph helps you ace The Job Interview, survive the Pre-employment Physical, assist in Getting Past the Gatekeeper, differentiate between lies and creativity in The Art of Expense Control and reveal why Bosses are Beautiful. By the conclusion, this all-too-true expose will make you laugh out loud at the uncanny similarities to your own corporate calamities.

After accompanying Ralph as he traipses through the corporate asylum, you'll acquire the knowledge to distinguish between temporary friends and immediate enemies. But most importantly, you'll learn how to survive the corporate game. So, let's go get 'em tiger.

About this edition

• Publisher: Reality Pr
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0967856809
• ISBN 13: 9780967856803
• Binding: Library Binding
• Number of pages: 238
• Illustrator: Goldsmith Douglas