Imagine a company where people love coming to work and are highly productive on a daily basis. Imagine a company whose top executives, in a quest to create the most "fun" workplace ever, obliterate labor-management divisions and push decision-making responsibility down to the plant floor. Could such a company compete in today's bottom-line corporate world? Could it even turn a profit? Well, imagine no more. In Joy at Work, Dennis W. Bakke tells the true story of this extraordinary company--and how, as its co-founder and longtime CEO, he challenged the business establishment with revolutionary ideas that could remake America's organizations. It is the story of AES, whose business model and operating ethos -"let's have fun"-were conceived during a 90-minute car ride from Annapolis, Maryland, to Washington, D.C. In the next two decades, it became a worldwide energy giant with 40,000 employees in 31 countries and revenues of $8.6 billion. It's a remarkable tale told by a remarkable man: Bakke, a farm boy who was shaped by his religious faith, his years at Harvard Business School, and his experience working for the Federal Energy Administration. He rejects workplace drudgery as a noxious remnant of the Industrial Revolution. He believes work should be fun, and at AES he set out to prove it could be. Bakke sought not the empty "fun" of the Friday beer blast but the joy of a workplace where every person, from custodian to CEO, has the power to use his or her God-given talents free of needless corporate bureaucracy. In Joy at Work, Bakke tells how he helped create a company where every decision made at the top was lamented as a lost chance to delegate responsibility--and where all employees were encouraged to take the "game-winning shot," even when it wasn't a slam-dunk. Perhaps Bakke's most radical stand was his struggle to break the stranglehold of "creating shareholder value" on the corporate mind-set and replace it with more timeless values: integrity, fairness, social responsibility, and a sense of fun.

Joy At Work: A Revolutionary Approach To Fun On The Job

Business & Money

Bakke, Dennis W.

Business Culture

Joy At Work: A Revolutionary Aproach To Fun On The Job

Management & Leadership

Presents a theory of personnel management which contends that giving priority to employee satisfaction and autonomy over profits is the best way to business success, with real-life examples from AES, the energy company cofounded by the author.

In 1926 silent film icon, Rudolph Valentino, died unexpectedly at the age of 31. That same year, he had finalized a bitter divorce from his wife of four years, Natacha Rambova. Valentino had been madly in love with the gorgeous and very talented designer, yet they had been unable to make their marriage work. Since their first marriage in 1922, the public had been critical of Rambova, blaming her for any mistakes in Valentino's career or life, never knowing these choices had very little to do with her. As Valentino lay on his deathbed in New York, Rambova was in Paris. The two exchanged telegrams to the very end, with both sides believing they would soon reunite and a reconciliation had taken place. Upon hearing the news of his death, Rambova was so distraught she locked herself in her room for three days. Rambova struggled with how to memorialize her ex-husband. She strongly felt Hollywood was to blame and wrote a play "All That Glitters" to express those feelings (it was unpublished until 2012.) This memoir is a mix of her memories, hatred of Hollywood, love of her husband and deep belief in Spiritualism.First published in the UK in 1927, "Rudy: An Intimate Portrait by His Wife", is now presented as "Rudolph Valentino: A Wife's Memories of an Icon". First republished in 2009, this book is split into 3 parts: her memories, her Spiritual beliefs and additional information by Hala Pickford on both her and Valentino.

Rudolph Valentino: A Wife's Memories of an Icon

Biographies & Memoirs

Pickford, Hala

Rambova, Natacha

Arts & Literature

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