A guide to turning survival in the workplace into successful management, Hard-core Management features 100 case studies of business myths and management realities and offers practical solutions for bridging the gap.

From the man the Wall Street Journal hailed as "the guru of Revenue Management" comes revolutionary ways to recover from the after effects of downsizing and refocus your business on growth. Whatever happened to growth? In Revenue Management, Robert G. Cross answers this question with his ground-breaking approach to revitalizing businesses: focusing on the revenue side of the ledger instead of the cost side. The antithesis of slash-and-burn methods that left companies with empty profits and dissatisfied stockholders, Revenue Management overturns conventional thinking on marketing strategies and offers the key to initiating and sustaining growth. Using case studies from a variety of industries, small businesses, and nonprofit organizations, Cross describes no-tech, low-tech, and high-tech methods that managers can use to increase revenue without increasing products or promotions; predict consumer behavior; tap into new markets; and deliver products and services to customers effectively and efficiently. His proven tactics will help any business dramatically improve its bottom line by meeting the challenge of matching supply with demand.

Military service has long been viewed as the steadied model of leadership. Those who've answered that call, yesteryear to current times, from 'old soldier' to modern-day warrior, have carried on this institution's ultimate mission to support and defend freedom. Then what can we, as leaders, learn from this model for dealing with today's mission challenges, uniquely gleaning lessons from the life of an 'old soldier'? For the late retired Command Sergeant Major, Vietnam Vet, Ranger Hall of Fame inductee and the Honorable Harris L. Parker, his oldest niece and fellow army veteran Deborah L. Parker approves his timeless message of leadership. Ensuring that he has not 'faded away, ' she honors the achievements of her late uncle, lovingly known as Hardcore to his family, with these eleven powerful lessons for those who find themselves in charge at work, in their community, or at home. Reporting on her uncle's service to his country and family as well as in leadership positions for their native Virginia county of Sussex, Parker overlays his noted wisdom, courage and vision with practical strategies to start your own leadership campaign. Weaving in take-aways from her work and personal experiences in leadership development through her company The DPJ Training Group, Parker, also a retired reserve Lieutenant Colonel, has put together a thought-provoking book packed with memorable teaching anecdotes. Inspiring and informative in saluting her uncle's biographical legacy, she makes the case for us all in Hardcore's words, to 'press on.'

Focuses on the little-touched but critical parts of the Java programming language that the expert programmers use. Learn about extremely powerful and useful programming techniques such as reflection, advanced data modeling, advanced GUI design, and advanced aspects of JDO, EJB, and XML-based web clients. This unique book reveals the true wizardry behind the complex and often mysterious Java environment. --O'Reilly web site

"Great teams are comprised of ordinary people that are empowered and inspired. They are empowered to solve hard problems in ways their customers love yet work for their business. They are inspired with ideas and techniques for quickly evaluating those ideas to discover solutions that work: they are valuable, usable, feasible and viable. This book is about the idea and reality of "achieving extraordinary results from ordinary people". Empowered is the companion to Inspired. It addresses the other half of the problem of building tech products?how to get the absolute best work from your product teams. However, the book's message applies much more broadly than just to product teams. Inspired was aimed at product managers. Empowered is aimed at all levels of technology-powered organizations: founders and CEO's, leaders of product, technology and design, and the countless product managers, product designers and engineers that comprise the teams. This book will not just inspire companies to empower their employees but will teach them how. This book will help readers achieve the benefits of truly empowered teams"--

Java has quickly become one of the most important languages in programming, particularly for professional and enterprise-level projects. From its infancy as a language primarily used for web applets to its maturity through servlets, Enterprise JavaBeans, and database access, Java has become a complex and robust tool for today's developer.Hardcore Java takes this language and breaks it apart, piece by piece, revealing the important secrets and tricks that will take you from a junior-level programmer to a seasoned and expert developer. You'll fly through the fundamentals and quickly find yourself learning about advanced memory management techniques, optimization and bytecode-level enhancements, and the techniques required to build lightning-fast GUIs. Throughout the book, you'll also master the art of writing and maintaining bulletproof and error-proof code, all while grasping the intricacies of the Java language.Hardcore Java covers: Use of the final keyword to optimize and protect your Java classes. Complete and thorough coverage of all types of nested classes, including how to optimize anonymous and inner classes. Detailed discussion of immutable objects, including unique tips on when to use them (and when not to). Elimination of bugs through exception-handling management. In-depth studies of constants, including their impact on the Java memory model. The most thorough discussion of reflection in print, moving far beyond other books' "Hello World" coverage. Construction and use of dynamic proxies, in both Java Standard and Enterprise editions. Expansive coverage of weak references, including usage patterns and their role in garbage collection and memory management. Hardcore Java is an invaluable addition to every programmer's library, and even the most advanced developers will find themselves moving beyond their own conceptions into truly advanced applications of the language. Thousands of lines of code, heavily commented and easily runnable, illustrate each concept in the book.

Product management has become a critical connective role for modern organizations, from small technology startups to global corporate enterprises. And yet the day-to-day work of product management remains largely misunderstood. In theory, product management is about building products that people love. The real-world practice of product management is often about difficult conversations, practical compromises, and hard-won incremental gains. In this book, author Matt LeMay focuses on the CORE connective skills— communication, organization, research, execution—that can build a successful product management practice across industries, organizations, teams, andtoolsets. For current and aspiring product managers, this book explores:? On-the-ground tactics for facilitating collaboration and communication? How to talk to users and work with executives? The importance of setting clear and actionable goals? Using roadmaps to connect and align your team? A values-first approach to implementing Agile practices? Common behavioral traps that turn good product managers bad