A highly readable and thought-provoking set of interviews about leveraging wealth to make the world a better place.
Jafar presents a collection of experts’ and pundits’ reflections on the commerce of philanthropy.
In his nonfiction debut, the author paints a wide-range portrait of the current state of the world and the challenges that it poses to contemporary philanthropic institutions: “The geopolitical fractures that constitute the headlines every day—regional conflicts, political extremism, and the resulting refugee and humanitarian crises,” he writes, “are compounded by environmental challenges, including climate change, biodiversity loss, energy and food shortages, and global health crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.” Wealth is being created at unprecedented rates everywhere in the emerging markets of Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, he notes, and whether motivated by an urge to give back to communities, religious obligations, or government incentives, “strategic philanthropy,” as Jafar calls it, has likewise been on the rise. But in many of these countries, as the author points out, “next-generation donors are demanding more hands-on and evidence-based approaches to giving, and higher standards of accountability and transparency.” In this book, he collects many detailed interviews he’s conducted with CEOs and industry leaders, young and old, and the perspectives range over many aspects of philanthropy. Naina Subberwal Batra, CEO of Singapore-based AVPN, points out that although Southeast Asian countries have been involved in philanthropic causes for centuries, it needs much more “institutional” philanthropy to meet the needs of the modern world, and Wamda Group Chairman Fadi Ghandour reflects on the connection between business and philosophy: “This story of ‘the business of business is only business’ doesn’t work anymore,” he warns. “There is a social responsibility for business, not only in the PR sense.”
Jafar’s collection of reflections on “strategic philanthropy” must contend with the common criticism that some wealthy philanthropists pursue their activities not only to help humankind, but also, as Ghandour notes, for good PR. Cynical readers are likely to find some fuel for such criticism in these pages, which feature reflections by princes, sheiks, sultans, and at least one baroness. Certainly, there are questionable moments, as when readers are told of an annual roundtable that has “welcomed nearly 40 philanthropists from around the world”—a not-inconsiderable outlay of air-traffic carbon emissions for an event that aims to address sustainable carbon emissions. However, there are also a great many earnest, heartfelt sentiments in this book about the urgent need for giving, especially in the modern moment: “We are not human beings anymore, because the word ‘human’ doesn’t exist in economic jargon,” says the well-known professor Muhammad Yunus, founder of Grameen Bank in Bangladesh. Jafar also proves himself to be a skilled interviewer, highlighting conversations that are uniformly engaging, particularly when multiple subjects bring up common concerns. For instance, Jacqueline Novogratz, the CEO of the award-winning not-for-profit Acumen, is not the only interviewee to mention how the new interconnectedness of the modern world affects philanthropic activities. Overall, this balance makes the book a compelling read throughout.
A highly readable and thought-provoking set of interviews about leveraging wealth to make the world a better place.Pub Date: today
ISBN: 9780008620950
Page Count: 336
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Dec. 18, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Striking research showing the immense complexity of ordinary thought and revealing the identities of the gatekeepers in our...
A psychologist and Nobel Prize winner summarizes and synthesizes the recent decades of research on intuition and systematic thinking.
The author of several scholarly texts, Kahneman (Emeritus Psychology and Public Affairs/Princeton Univ.) now offers general readers not just the findings of psychological research but also a better understanding of how research questions arise and how scholars systematically frame and answer them. He begins with the distinction between System 1 and System 2 mental operations, the former referring to quick, automatic thought, the latter to more effortful, overt thinking. We rely heavily, writes, on System 1, resorting to the higher-energy System 2 only when we need or want to. Kahneman continually refers to System 2 as “lazy”: We don’t want to think rigorously about something. The author then explores the nuances of our two-system minds, showing how they perform in various situations. Psychological experiments have repeatedly revealed that our intuitions are generally wrong, that our assessments are based on biases and that our System 1 hates doubt and despises ambiguity. Kahneman largely avoids jargon; when he does use some (“heuristics,” for example), he argues that such terms really ought to join our everyday vocabulary. He reviews many fundamental concepts in psychology and statistics (regression to the mean, the narrative fallacy, the optimistic bias), showing how they relate to his overall concerns about how we think and why we make the decisions that we do. Some of the later chapters (dealing with risk-taking and statistics and probabilities) are denser than others (some readers may resent such demands on System 2!), but the passages that deal with the economic and political implications of the research are gripping.
Striking research showing the immense complexity of ordinary thought and revealing the identities of the gatekeepers in our minds.Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-374-27563-1
Page Count: 512
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Sept. 3, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
IN THE NEWS
These are not hard and fast rules, but Meyer delivers important reading for those engaged in international business.
A helpful guide to working effectively with people from other cultures.
“The sad truth is that the vast majority of managers who conduct business internationally have little understanding about how culture is impacting their work,” writes Meyer, a professor at INSEAD, an international business school. Yet they face a wider array of work styles than ever before in dealing with clients, suppliers and colleagues from around the world. When is it best to speak or stay quiet? What is the role of the leader in the room? When working with foreign business people, failing to take cultural differences into account can lead to frustration, misunderstanding or worse. Based on research and her experiences teaching cross-cultural behaviors to executive students, the author examines a handful of key areas. Among others, they include communicating (Anglo-Saxons are explicit; Asians communicate implicitly, requiring listeners to read between the lines), developing a sense of trust (Brazilians do it over long lunches), and decision-making (Germans rely on consensus, Americans on one decider). In each area, the author provides a “culture map scale” that positions behaviors in more than 20 countries along a continuum, allowing readers to anticipate the preferences of individuals from a particular country: Do they like direct or indirect negative feedback? Are they rigid or flexible regarding deadlines? Do they favor verbal or written commitments? And so on. Meyer discusses managers who have faced perplexing situations, such as knowledgeable team members who fail to speak up in meetings or Indians who offer a puzzling half-shake, half-nod of the head. Cultural differences—not personality quirks—are the motivating factors behind many behavioral styles. Depending on our cultures, we understand the world in a particular way, find certain arguments persuasive or lacking merit, and consider some ways of making decisions or measuring time natural and others quite strange.
These are not hard and fast rules, but Meyer delivers important reading for those engaged in international business.Pub Date: May 27, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-61039-250-1
Page Count: 288
Publisher: PublicAffairs
Review Posted Online: April 15, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2014
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