The Innovative CIO


Book Description

“Does your organization fumble when it comes to innovation? ‘The Innovative CIO’ presents a pragmatic guide to overcoming the 10 ‘innovation killers’ within your company.” --Dennis McCafferty “CIO Insight”, 1/23/2013 (www.cioinsight.com/it-management/innovation/slideshows/ten-ways-to-kill-innovation/) “Are you unwittingly stifling your employees’ entrepreneurial spirit? ‘The Innovative CIO’ discusses ‘innovation killers’ that could be holding back your small business or startup.” --Paul Shread “TIME/Business & Money”, 1/29/2013 (business.time.com/2013/01/29/removing-barriers-to-innovation/#ixzz2JSrUlD3A) The Chief Information Officer’s influence in the business organization has been waning for years. The rest of the C-suite has come to regard Information Technology as slow, costly, error-prone, boring, and unresponsive to business needs. This perception blinds company leaders to the critical value IT can deliver and threatens the competitive health and long-term survival of their enterprise. The modern CIO must reassert the operational and strategic importance of technology to the enterprise and reintegrate it with every department and level of the business from boardroom to mailroom. IT leaders must design, sell, and implement a vigorous culture of IT competence and innovation that pervades the enterprise. The culture must be rooted in bidirectional exchange across organizations and C-level policies that drive technology innovation as the engine of business innovation. The authors, international IT strategists and innovators, quantify the benefits and risks of IT innovation, survey and rank the myriad innovation opportunities from mature, new, and emerging technologies,and identify the organizational structures and processes that have been proven to deliver ongoing innovation. Buttressing their brief with dozens of case studies and specific examples, The Innovative CIO shows you how to: Take advantage of the IT and business innovation opportunities created by new and emerging technologies Shift IT innovation from afterthought to prime mover in strategic business planning Inject IT into the dynamic core of your organization’s culture, training, structure, practice, and policy




Dancing with the Devil


Book Description

The world has seldom been as dangerous as it is now. Rogue regimes—governments and groups that eschew diplomatic normality, sponsor terrorism, and proliferate nuclear weapons—threaten the United States around the globe. Because sanctions and military action are so costly, the American strategy of first resort is dialogue, on the theory that “it never hurts to talk to enemies.” Seldom is conventional wisdom so wrong. Engagement with rogue regimes is not cost-free, as Michael Rubin demonstrates by tracing the history of American diplomacy with North Korea, Iran, Iraq, Libya, the Taliban’s Afghanistan, and Pakistan. Further challenges to traditional diplomacy have come from terrorist groups, such as the PLO in the 1970s and 1980s, or Hamas and Hezbollah in the last two decades. The argument in favor of negotiation with terrorists is suffused with moral equivalence, the idea that one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter. Rarely does the actual record of talking to terrorists come under serious examination. While soldiers spend weeks developing lessons learned after every exercise, diplomats generally do not reflect on why their strategy toward rogues has failed, or consider whether their basic assumptions have been faulty. Rubin’s analysis finds that rogue regimes all have one thing in common: they pretend to be aggrieved in order to put Western diplomats on the defensive. Whether in Pyongyang, Tehran, or Islamabad, rogue leaders understand that the West rewards bluster with incentives and that the U.S. State Department too often values process more than results.




Rogue Regimes


Book Description

Explores U.S. foreign policy with regard to nations such as Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Libya, uncovering the reasons why these countries are so menacing to the United States.




EMBRACE THE TWILIGHT 2 (Harlequin Comics)


Book Description

In the distant past, a prophetess named Sarafina was sentenced to the lonely fate of becoming a vampire. While she was still human, she would sometimes be visited by her “guardian spirit”—a man named Will, with whom she fell in love. On one of his last visits, he told the now-ageless prophetess, “I’m from the future. Trust me…and wait for me.” So Sarafina waited until the day when she finally found him…Colonel Will Stone, an American war hero who’d just returned home. Sarafina should be thrilled to reunite with him, but deep in her heart she’s already made other plans, convinced that he could never truly love her.




Rescued by a Rogue


Book Description

"Lose yourself in the perfect Romance by a perfect author!" ~ BERTRICE SMALL, New York Times Bestselling Author Originally published as CAROLINE ~The year is 1783, and rakish Alexandre Beauvisage is returning from the Revolutionary War when he discovers Caroline, unconscious in the Connecticut woods. Dressed as a boy, she has no memory of her past. Against his better judgment, he takes the lovely foundling with him to his home in Philadelphia and finds his life increasingly complicated as the fiery attraction between them builds and Caro's dangerous past reaches out to her. CAROLINE is Cynthia Wright's unforgettable debut novel and is on keeper shelves worldwide. The story of a confirmed rake and an innocent, spirited young woman, it is filled with sensual romance, evocative history, memorable characters, and the joy of true love. "The First Lady of Colonial American romance breathes life, passion, and vibrant historical details into every page. Magic, sensitivity, and humor have made RESCUED BY A ROGUE a classic historical romance for more than 3 decades!" ~ Kathe Robin, RT BOOK REVIEWS Rakes & Rebels: The Beauvisage Family: 1 – STOLEN BY A PIRATE: a novella prequel to RESCUED BY A ROGUE (Jean-Philippe & Antonia) 2 – RESCUED BY A ROGUE (Alec & Caro) 3 – TOUCH THE SUN (Lion & Meagan) 4 – SPRING FIRES (Nicholai & Lisette) 5 – HER DANGEROUS VISCOUNT (Grey & Natalya) Rakes & Rebels: The Raveneau Family: 1 – SILVER STORM (André & Devon) 2 - HER HUSBAND, THE RAKE: a novella sequel to SILVER STORM (André & Devon) 3 – SMUGGLER’S MOON (Sebastian & Julia) 4 – THE SECRET OF LOVE (Gabriel & Isabella) 5 - SURRENDER THE STARS (Ryan & Lindsay) 6 - HIS MAKE-BELIEVE BRIDE (Justin & Mouette) 7 - HIS RECKLESS BARGAIN (Nathan & Adrienne) 8 - TEMPEST (Adam & Cathy)




Empower


Book Description

It's all come down to this. It's time to stop running. It's time to make a choice. Two years ago, Violet Eden walked away from her home, her friends, the Academy, and hardest of all, she walked away from her soul mate, Lincoln. Now Spence is gone, and Violet knows she is the best person to go after him. But doing so means facing everything and everyone she left behind. Violet must find out who she really is—and exactly what she is capable of—before the abilities the angels gave her are turned against them. She is all that stands between the forces of good and evil. The Embrace Series: Embrace (Book 1) Entice (Book 2) Emblaze (Book 3) Endless (Book 4) Empower (Book 5) Praise for the Embrace Series: "A delicious romantic triangle." —USA Today "One of the best YA novels we've seen in a while. Get ready for a confident, kick-butt, well-defined heroine." —RT Book Reviews "Strong, compelling and wonderfully flawed, Violet is the kind of heroine that will keep readers enthralled and rooting for her until the final page is turned." —Kirkus Reviews




The League of Rogues


Book Description

Fans of Julia Quinn's Bridgerton series and Johanna Lindsey Malory series will love this wild and adventurous Regency romance series full of passion and intrigue! Wicked Rivals- The League of Rogues Book 4 A business driven baron finds himself in competition with a feisty Scottish widow and their game of cat and mouse becomes too tempting for either of them to resist. Her Wicked Longing- The League of Rogues Book 5 A lady and her maid find themselves in the deadliest of dangers when they infiltrate a hellfire club in these two short novellas. His Wicked Embrace- The League of Rogues Book 6 A wicked rakehell finds himself playing the part of a hero when he rescues a young woman from being sold at a brothel to the highest bidder. When he discovers she’s a Persian princess and that men seek to kidnap her, he’ll do anything to protect her.




His Immortal Embrace


Book Description

His Immortal Embrace The Yearning, by Hannah Howell Tormented by an ancient curse, the young men of Clan MacCordy reach manhood only to walk forever in darkness, thirsting for blood--and Alpin MacCordy is no different. He must wed for coin and land, despite his betrothed's terror--and his own fascination for another woman, Lady Sophie Hay. . . Bitten, by Lynsay Sands After brooding Keeran MacKay saves Emily Wentworth Collins from a storm-tossed ship: he offers her shelter in his secluded castle. But when a savage kiss reveals Keeran's true nature, Emily realizes that yielding to Keeran's untamed desire may change her own life. . .forever. Stranger in the Night, by Sara Blayne Georgiana Thornberry hopes to unearth ancient treasure while exploring the moldering ruins of her ancestral home. Instead she encounters Julius Lathrop. Does the enigmatic--and disturbingly attractive--stranger hold the key to a family legend? Or something far more sinister? The Awakening, by Kate Huntington Orphaned Thalia Layton is stricken to hear that her beloved, eccentric Aunt Cordelia has taken ill. But upon her arrival at Cordelia's remote estate, Thalia discovers that her aunt has harbored dangerous secrets--and that Thalia's own attraction to Adrian Lucerne, Cordelia's mysterious--and oddly nocturnal--companion, may prove to be a sensual temptation that will cost her life. . .




The Substitute Villainess


Book Description

" No ! No! ! I didn't; I didn't do it ! I wasn't the one who killed your child let me go , I'm not guilty Your highness !" The woman's fuchsia hair was dishevelled and her dark oceanic blue eyes glimmered with despair , without a month's bath, her entire body was covered in stink and dirt . With her trembling shoulders , she cut a sorry figure but none , not one person standing in front of her felt pity for her . The woman was Chelsea Kaisen who was currently being held responsible for the crime of killing the unborn child of the Emperor ; Rogue Kellington . " Chelsea Rosalie Kaisen ; I ; The Emperor on account of the various witnesses and proves ; claim you as the culprit for killing the child of the Empress ; Lilian Amelia Kaisen. With Your Criminal record, This Emperor penalizes you with death due dismemberment " " No ! No , I didn't, Your Majesty I didn't!" Once the sentence fell in her ears Chelsea plunged to the greatest despair . She struggled against her cuffs but her magic failed against them , the harder she struggled the tighter they became . " Father ; brothers! Tell his majesty I didn't do it " When her pleas remained unheard by the Emperor . Chelsea could only turn her plea to her family yet no one listened to her . Instead they were consoling a pretty looking woman with silvery blonde hair and bright blue eyes . When The woman saw Chelsea look her way she shrunk into the embrace of the the man who looked so diffrent yet similar to her . " What are you waiting for; drag that criminal away!" when Rubious Kaisen saw his sister trembling in fear he immediately yelled the guards to take Chelsea away . Even though both were his sister yet he only supported Lilian not her .




The Secret of Love


Book Description