In all sectors of the economy competition has increased and changed, for instance by technological developments and vanishing trade barriers. The world of work changes like never before. Anybody who works is confronted with new work circumstances, new tasks and new demands. Old rules no longer apply. Organizations desperately look for new formulas of success. The human resources function, too, has to reflect on its own role and future, amidst all of this turbulence. That is what is happening now. HR slowly but surely has begun to transform itself fundamentally in many companies. This book is about that revolution.

The professionalization of the personnel function (nowadays usually called HR) first expressed itself in the development and implementation of procedures and systems for recruitment and selection, appraisal and reward, job descriptions and job evaluation and career development. At the same time the HR-person became the one who guarded the compliance with employee rights legislation.

In the last decade, the HR-function has increasingly become a target of criticism. The criticism is that the HR-function is too bureaucratic, controlling, too operationally focused, reactive and powerless. The author of this book, Weiss, says that HR indeed has not kept up with developments elsewhere in organizations. He says that HR professionals have become numb by the monopoly position they long enjoyed.

Weiss describes in High Impact HR not only how he views the role and positioning of HR in the future but also how HR can transform itself. An entire chapter even deals with the question how HR can systematically get rid of old activities by disposing of them, postponing them, or outsourcing them.

The role of HR can, according to the author, become a very important one, that of a strategic business partner responsible for the return on investment in personnel and organisation. As main contributions of HR the following remain:

1) Business transformation processes: the cultivation of a flexible culture, alignment of initiatives, the implementation of changes and transition and the return on investment in human capital.

2) Organization value added processes: HR technology processes, creation of a continuous learning environment, organization development and consultancy.

3) Core people processes, for instance recruitment and selection, performance development, compensation, etc.

To a lesser extent than before, HR will play a purely operational, administrative and service delivery role. Administration and execution remain important but a considerable part of these activities will be automated or outsourced to external suppliers. HR then becomes more a distributor than a producer of services. Another part of the HR activities will disappear through new technology applications. HR-information systems for example, take over routine tasks by automating the processing transactions and administration. Further, personnel itself will more and more be able to retrieve information from and change information in databases.

I find this book interesting bu not great. Not all ideas in this book get clearly worked out, for instance how HR could play a role in facilitating adding value to external customers. Another point of criticism is that Weiss defines the role of HR very broad. He states for instance that HR can help the company in developing excellence in managing relationships with its suppliers. Must HR be involved in everything and have expertise on everything? Weiss marks out the role of HR too broadly and vaguely, I think. The book contains several other examples of this. I think has little chance of becoming a classic. It does address, however, a very interesting and (still) timely topic. It also offers some useful and relevant knowledge. And, there are not too many other books on this. For that reason I think it is worth reading for HR people (in particular of larger organizations).

A fresh perspective on the HR function, "High-Impact HR" challenges the traditional view of HR as a service function and replaces it with a new vision of HR as an internal business accountable for the return on investment of essential corporate assets - people and organizational processes.

"High-Impact HR" not only challenges HR's traditional role, but also provides practical strategies for transforming HR's role, priorities, accountabilities, and organizational design. It positions the human resources function as a key business partner in helping any organization achieve its strategic goals.

"High-Impact HR" also focuses on what 'not' to do - how and why HR should abandon specific types of work for a better fit with the company's strategic goals. It then provides a roadmap for executives and HR leaders attempting to transform the HR function for competitive advantage.

The book has been widely endorsed by major leaders in the field of HR. Here are some examples of endorsements:

"It is brilliantly insightful" Lynn Evans, Vice President Nortel Networks

"Finally a book that shows us how to build the HR function into one that is truly valued as a strategic business partner - a must-read for all business leaders." James Marchant, Vice President C-MAC Industries

"Don't miss this important new book- a must read for the forward-looking HR professional." Dr. Carol Beatty, Queen's University

"High-Impact HR" was the best selling book at the 1999 Human Resources Professional Association of Ontario Conference.

The National Post listed "High-Impact HR" as the #1 Human Resources bestseller at Books For Business on April 1, 1999 and on April 29, 1999.

The Globe and Mail listed "High-Impact HR" as the #8 best-selling business book at Books For Business.

It is a copy of the first episode of the show "The Journey of Allen Strange." It talks about Allen's arrival to California when he stows away on a Zelon spaceship and is accidently left on Earth, but is cared for and protected by Robbie and Josh Stevenson who try to keep it a secret. A perfect book for kids and adults that are really, really out there!

As this book is a novelized version of the film Jingle All the Way, the English would not be difficult and the presentation is humourous.

The content is somehow similar to the film and of course, this book is preferred to children rather than adults because of its simple English and story structure.

As a Father or Mother of your children, you would not want them to see novels which are violent or sex-related. Therefore, this book is your choice.

Every child has their own expectation to Santa Claus and maybe , they will like this simple-family-based story!

For me, this book is quite interesting and simple enough for non-English-speakers like me. The Father(Arnold) is cute and 'interesting'. Also, the description phrases are good and if you are not a native speaker of English, you will find this book a good introduction to begin your reading of English books! ^_^

David Weiss's "The Mensch" is about a pivotal day in the life of Leon Roth, a landlord's agent for a group of run-down apartment buildings in the South Bronx. The main action of the novel takes place in his visit to one of the buildings, trying to collect late rent from deadbeat tenants and checking up on the incompetent superintendent, many of whose tasks Leon ends up doing himself.

Leon is continually distracted by memories of his ex-girlfriend Magda, who had suffered some kind of mental breakdown years ago. Despite his best efforts, he was unable to help her, to bring her back from the brink of self-destruction, and even was blamed for her problem by Magda's mother. The apartment building is his redemption. Here he can be what his boss, Mr. Fein, calls a "mensch," that is, a man, a responsible person. He finds satisfaction and deliverance in taking care of this building, filled with destitute, broken people who don't know how to take care of themselves. He is meek and reticent and probably not well suited to dealing with uncooperative and rowdy tenants, but he sticks with the job because he feels he has to prove something to himself; he has to be a mensch.

On this particular day, Mr. Fein has decided to sell the troublesome building to a rival landlord named Hakim, whose negligence for his own slums makes Fein's buildings look like the Waldorf Astoria by comparison. When Leon confronts Fein and Hakim during the closing of the deal, his emotions reach a boiling point when he senses his responsibility, his chance to be a mensch, being taken away from him. Leon's name means "lion," of course, a normally gentle and mellow animal that springs into ferocity when provoked.

This novel is bleak in both its setting and its mood, but the grayness of the story is counterbalanced by Weiss's use of colorful, original similes and metaphors found on every page. It is a unique portrayal of an unhappy young man who is struggling to grow up in his own way (Why is he carrying around the faucet all day? Is it a symbol of the manhood he is trying to assert?) and find value in his existence.

after reading "whodunit", i thought that the smallville novels were on the way up finally. this book was rather dull and lifeless and really not worth buying. it's main focus is a teenage girl named heather fox who is an animal right extremist.
she discovers that if she touches an animal she can transform into that animal and decides to seek revenge on any human who has
been cruel to animals. this is rather extreme considering that this setting is in rural kansas and the woman seems like she needs to keep her opinions to herself. if you have read some of the other smallville novels, the ending is way too predictable.
the tv show is beautiful but most of the novels are pathetic at
best.

Animal Rage was the first Smallville novel that I read because they are hard to come by in Australia.
I am a huge fan of the tv show, and so I was really excited when I found out there were novels, and so I ordered them fast from the US.
The first thing I noticed when I opened the Little Brown series of books, was that it wasn't the kinda book i expected. The size of the book is tiny, there are only 160 pages and the writing is rather big, compared to the Aspect TV Tie - In Smallville Novels, which have small writing and 240 pages.

The story is much briefer than the other series, and this book is about a girl called Heather Fox, who is against cruel actions against Animals. Heather also has a secret power that allows her to touch an animal and she instantly changes into the animal she touches.
Meanwhile, Clark has taken Whitney's spot in the public speaking contest along Lana, at a farming fair, where there are sales of animal fur.
Clark realises after time that Heather is able to change into animals, after a late night attack on his farm. He must protect Lana and the rest of Smallville, as Heather's intention is to pay back the people for what they have done to animals.

Overall I enjoyed the book, but I think it focussed too much on Heather, and her thoughts, and there wasn't a lot about Clark, Lana, Pete. When there was though there was some comic dialouge that I really enjoyed reading.

Once again like the rest of the Smallville novels, they are interesting to read, if you are a Smallville fan you'll love them, and if your not then you probably won't find them as good.
Even as a Smallville fan, I still enjoy the TV much more, but I still recommend this book for any young Smallville fan. For older teenage Smallville fans, i'd recommend the Aspect Tv Tie In Smallville Novels (Strange Visitors, Dragon, Hauntings & WhoDunnit), instead, but these are still great fun to read.

"Lifeline" is the first starfleet academy novel about Janeway.

The characterization is good, but there is virtually no story in this one. It is too much of a description about teenage-student life and serious storytelling is missing.

It's worth a read, especially if you like Janeway. After all, it gives us some bacround information about Janeway's first days in the academy, but it's nothing nearly as good as it perhaps might have been.

I am a huge Voyager fan and have read every book religiously. Needless to say, I was thrilled when I found this series. However, I was not prepared for this book to be written for teenagers. In fact, in the back of the book, there is an advertisement for "The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo", a Nickelodian sitcom. The book was good, just be prepared for this to be geared towards teenagers. If you are a Star Trek fan and you have teenage or pre-teen children, this is for you. Or, if you are a Voyager fan, its worth the read for the story.

DON'T BELIEVE THE NEGETIVE REVIEWS! This is an awesomely written book for young readers. Adults looking for a good Star Trek Voyager story will find some great writting in this book, but of course, the targeted audience is young readers. This book takes the life of Captain Janeway and adds life, color, dept, fun and plenty of insite to the life of a great Star Fleet officer; this really is the story of a young Captain Janeway! Learn from her mistakes, understand why she sees things in the unique way that Janeway has always seen them and enjoy life at the academy. This book is a must for true Janeway and Voyager fans.

Those really interested in all things ST:VOY, and Janeway in particular, MUST also read: Mosaic: A Novel. This book has the complete surprising, eye-popping, fun and amazing life story of Capt. Janeway; written by Jeri Taylor (the master-mind and one of the original creators of ST:VOY), Mosaic is an amzing peice of work. Mosaic is the geared for adults, but both is these books put together is a perfect look in to the wonderful life of Captain Janeway.

Also, check out Mosaic in tape: it's read by Kate Mulgrew; the actriss that plays Capt. Janeway on Star Trek Voyager!

Much like the "introductory" computer science course I took in Spring 1999, the meaning of the word "introductory" seems to be unclear. We begin the book with a very comforting foray into object-oriented programming with the authors telling the students to keep up with the readings and examples in order to be well on their way to solid programmers. And, these words are kept in the initial chapters as real-life examples meet their computer program counterparts. The examples are worked nicely and are somewhat easy to follow.

Once we hit Chapter 3, though, there is a whiplash transition in terms of the material covered. Before the student knows it, he or she is coding their own Java class with instance variables, interfaces, subclasses, reference variables, boolean expressions, arrays, vectors, enumerations, iteration, lists, searching, sorting, stacks, queues, exceptions, overloading, overriding and not to mention recursion. And, this is all before the half-way mark.

If the authors wish to promote a solid introductory book to the Java language, the first thing is to eliminate recursion. This is not introductory material. Even though the authors try to simplify the topic by constantly comparing example code to a dishwashing chore after a meal, recursion is as difficult as it sounds. Also, searching, sorting, stacks, and queues best fit a book on data structures. Overall, though, I must commend the authors on the use of English when writing this book. I have read too many books where the psuedo-code makes less sense than the actual code itself. Thankfully, this is not one of them. But, if the book were trimmed down to just the basics, then it would truly fit its title and serve as an excellent welcoming to the expansive library of the Java programming language.

Rating: B-

I really enjoyed this book. I am an unschooled "practical programmer," and OOP has been pretty much a mystery to me. I understand the concepts and examples when I see them, but haven't really thought in an object oriented way when I write my own code. This is the book that finally got me actually thinking and designing in objects. The explanations are splendidly clear and thorough. (The section on "recursion," to take one example, is inspired!) I recommend this book highly. It would be a good introduction to Java, or, as in my case, a great way to learn more about programming principles even if you have some experience with Java already.

I have been programming in procedural languages for over 13 years and lately I have been trying to learn Java & OOP. I read "Learn Java in 21 days" but I still didn't understand OOP. This is the book that made me "get it". I found the explanations and exercises in this book outstanding! I have a few other Java books and I have read parts of other on-line books but this one explains OOP the best. Even with many years of programming experience, I found OOP difficult to grasp. This book not only helps you understand what objects are but it shows you how to design them. Other than OOP, the book does a good job of explaining basic programming concepts such as conditions, loops, recursion, etc. The book is designed so that these chapters can be skipped if you are familiar with the subjects but I read them anyway and found them interesting. I think the book gives beginners a big head start by explaning not only how things like loops work, but how to design them and why. So if you are a procedural programmer, I think this book is a MUST HAVE. I also think it would be a great start for beginners.

This was the most boring books in all the Sabrina Series It wasall about salem ok who wants to read about Salem. hey the book isNumber #13 unlucky number no good book Boobi and Cody Weiss usually write good books.

This book is a great book if you like reading books about Salem.This book can be boring because you very well know that Salem will not turn into something more embarrassing than a cat.It did not have Sabrina really in the book,David Cody Weiss and Bobbi JG Weiss wright very boring books in my opinion.

ok if you dont have patience dont buy this book as only about one third of it is about sabrina the rest is about salem and his doggie friend and parts seem to repeat themselfs but i wouldnt completly rule the book out, as its not as boring as dogs life.

This is actually one of the more interesting books for younger readers. The other Data books weren't that good.

This book really deserves two separate ratings. The first five chapters introduce domain engineering in general. If you are new to the idea of family-based software development, or need some convincing of its intended benefits, this section isn't bad. The two case studies presented gloss over some of the complicated concepts while providing too much technical detail in others. For example, the important but non-trivial job of creating the "decision model" for the domain is given minimal coverage. On the other hand, every class in the JAVA code used to illustrate one example is explained individually. I'd give this section a 3-star rating as an introduction to domain engineering.

The rest of the book is an incredibly detailed reference into the authors' implementation of the FAST process. They spend two chapters bringing the reader up-to-speed on the process modeling technique called PASTA. Then they provide almost 200 pages of reference information (also included on CD-ROM) on the specifics of FAST. If you are looking for a recipe to use to try domain analysis and implementation in your company, this section covers it. If nothing else, you'll see a very well defined process modeling notation in action, one that can be used in many applications. Without any personal experience implementing the process, I hesitate to rate this section. But if the process works as well as this section is detailed, I'd give it at least 4 stars.

Its hard to say from their examples how well the FAST process will scale to industrial-size domains. But the authors have presented an easily read book with enough detail that a motivated software engineer may be able to win management support and give domain engineering a try.