A biting, hilarious literary satire of war, business, and contemporary masculinity, set in the cutthroat-but-ridiculous world of management consulting
King of the Mississippi is an incisive, uproarious dissection of contemporary male vanity and delusion, centered around a 'war' for dominance of a prestigious Houston consulting firm. On one side of the conflict is Brock Wharton, an old money ex-jock whose delight in telling clients to downsize is matched only by his firm conviction that people like himself deserve to run the world. On the other is Mike Fink, a newly hired wily former soldier trying to ride his veteran status to the top of a corporate world that lionizes 'the troops' without truly understanding them. Brock and Mike are mortal enemies on sight, bitterly divided not only by background and class but by diametrically opposed (yet equally delusional) visions of what it means to 'be a man.' And as their escalating conflict spirals out of control, it will take them all the way from the hidebound boardrooms and gladiatorial football fields of Texas to the vapid and self-serving upper echelon of Silicon Valley, to the corporatized battlefield of Iraq, all the while serving as a ruthlessly funny takedown of the vacuity and empty machismo of corporate life and alpha-male culture in modern America.
Devastatingly witty, unapologetically scathing, and ultimately surprisingly moving, King of the Mississippi marks the arrival of a unique and scintillating new voice in American fiction, one that boldly punctures the myths of American manhood like no one has since the heyday of The Bonfire of the Vanities and American Psycho.
'The strategy process Mike Freedman so ably discusses has been put to work at La-Z-Boy. You will come away from The Art and Discipline of Strategic Leadership better equipped to not only think more incisively about future competitive advantage, but your organization will have greater strategic focus at every level, beginning with the top management team.'--Gerald L. Kiser, President & Chief Executive Officer, La-Z-Boy Incorporated A powerful new approach to strategy setting from a worldwide leader in strategic thinking Written by a leading consultant at Kepner-Tregoe, one of the world's most respected strategy consulting groups, The Art and Discipline of Strategic Leadership goes far beyond most other strategy books to offer business strategists an integrated five-phase model for setting and implementing strategy. Proven effective at a diverse range of organizations worldwide, the model provides executives with a powerful framework for assessing and tweaking current strategy, or charting a bold new strategic course. Encompassing all the critical phases of the strategic process, The Art and Discipline of Strategic Leadership shows readers how to: Gather and analyze strategic intelligence Craft a strategy Develop an implementation plan Take action Monitor progress and more Throughout, key points are illustrated with case examples from a diverse range of organizations, including Hallmark, Hong Kong and China Gas, Lockheed Martin, Savoy Hotel Group, and others.
