Reviews for Pastoral Care Before the Parish (Studies in the Early History of Britain)

The average rating for Pastoral Care Before the Parish (Studies in the Early History of Britain) based on 2 reviews is 5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2011-09-22 00:00:00 Jasmin Martinez My perspective on business has never been management, but rather investment. Still, this book had been recommended by several respected investors, so I decided to give it a try. I was not disappointed! The title aptly describes what this book is about: formulating a business strategy, based on the presence or absence of competitive advantages (barriers of entry into an industry - "moat" in the words of Warren Buffett). Greenwald has build a framework from Michael Porter's famous theories, but put into an updated and more simplified form. This includes issues such as: -Evaluating and managing a business's competitive advantages -How companies can interact to maintain those advantages for their mutual benefit -What companies can do to minimize harmful competition in their industry The book starts by clearly examining what is meant by strategy. One thing that struck me from the beginning is that the book is written in a very straightforward way - no mumbo jumbo, no buzzwords, no pretentiousness. Each chapter is divided into one part theory followed by one relevant case study. Each case study covers 10-20 pages, enough to drive home the points, but not so much as to make you get lost or forget. This structure makes understanding much easier, and it helps you remember and will also train your ability to apply the concepts in practice. You can easily read one chapter at a time and then put the book away for a while, if you have to, without losing track. Greenwald finishes with suggestions on new valuation approaches (for whole businesses or capital investments) that can also encompass a company's strategic position. The book is very well written and easy to grasp. Despite no background in business, I was able to follow everything. Each theoretical concept, no matter how short, is accompanied by loads of examples. Each study is provided with ample explanations of background and industry structure, so you will be able to follow, no matter when or where you grew up. Well worth reading for investors, as well as managers.

Review # 2 was written on 2019-12-11 00:00:00 Teresa Fajardo This book came highly recommended but doubt if there are any surprising insights to anyone familiar with business. In fact, I'm seriously dubious if the authors had adequately considered factors like hindsight bias in choosing their examples. Their obvious lack of in-depth knowledge in industries used as examples (such as a very superficial treatment of the competitive advantages of Intel vs Apple) is a turn-off to anyone who has spent time actually understanding these companies. I would highly recommend authors who have ACTUALLY put in years of effort researching their books, such as the rightfully acclaimed Jim Collins (although also subject to the same hindsight biases but far more thorough and thoughtful), Michael Porter, Clayton Christensen (on tech), instead of this work, which seems based on very shallow analysis and is full of sweeping generalizations.