7 Deadly Scenarios

What if our worst nightmares could actually happen? Krepinevich analyzes the current global and political trends, identifying seven of these nightmare scenarios which he believes is a realistic threat to our security. Based on open-source intelligence, current political, economic, and social trends, as well as broad knowledge of recent history, each of the scenarios begins with today's reality, then slowly moves toward crisis. He reveals the visible as well as hidden forces that are involved to move toward this crisis, the goals and agendas of world powers, terrorist groups, and rogue states, and the actions and responses that American allies and enemies are likely to take. This reality-based thriller demonstrates the need for military intelligence gathering and strategic planning in order to avert scenarios like this today and hopefully in the future.

This book can be found in HECSA Library:

7 Deadly Scenarios: A Military Futurist Explores War in the 21st Century
Andrew F. Krepinevich
U 21.2 .K57 2008

Gue??timation

This book takes a really fun approach to understanding big concepts and questions that the world poses. It does this using reason and scientific method. First, it breaks the problems or questions down into approachable pieces. Second, it teaches readers how to estimate the size or quantity of these small pieces. Third, it provides a refresher on using scientific notation to deal with very large numbers. When you put these steps together, you are shown how these simple skills allow you to address very big questions.

The majority of this book is devoted to practicing the estimation and mathematical reasoning skills learned at the beginning on real world questions and problems. Not surprisingly, many of these have their roots in scientific disciplines, from zoology to nutrition, transportation to astrophysics. However, may of these questions are posed in ways that you wouldn't traditionally think about them. For example, how much does a mole of cats weigh? Or, if the sun were made out of gerbils, how much energy would it produce? For the answers to these and many more realistic science-based problems, you'll have to check out this book.

This book can be found in HECSA Library:

Gue??timation: Solving the World's Problems on the Back of a Coctail Napkin
Lawrence Weinstein and John A. Adam
QA 276.8 .W45 2008

Design for Six Sigma

This authoritative text extends the ideas of Six Sigma to new product and service development. In this second edition, extensive new information on product innovation and discussion of mixture experiments have been added. This volume also adds numerous case studies and learning models. Like the previous edition, the second edition also contains numerous flow charts and illustrations which help to explain quality concepts and Six Sigma fundamentals. This volume walks users through real-world product development, helping them to choose the right design and analysis tools at each step of the process.

This book can be found in HECSA Library:

Design for Six Sigma: A Roadmap for Product Development
2nd ed.
Kai Yang and Basem S. El-Haik
TS 156 .Y33 2009

Losing the Golden Hour

In emergency medicine, the "golden hour" is the first hour after a person is injured, during which time treatment is most effective at increasing the patient's ability to survive. Stephenson has extended this analogy to post-conflict restoration, asserting that the first year after conflict plays a similar role to medicine's "golden hour." In this book, however, Stephenson asserts that the golden hour has been lost in Iraq. Stephenson ran the Iraq mission for the Agency for International Development in 2004 and 2005, overseeing more than 1000 employees and contractors. During that time, the Coalition Provisional Authority oversaw the largest reconstruction and nation-building efforts ever. Performing this work, however, was a group cobbled together by the Department of Defense from temporary employees and a few permanent employees, primarily from other agencies. This group tried to overcome mistakes made during the ill-thought through occupation of Iraq. Nevertheless, as they were unable to make progress, the insurgency grew and the Iraqi people lost faith in America. Trying to provide an objective analysis of how Iraqi reconstruction got to this point, Stephenson offers an assessment of Iraq's future.

This book can be found in HECSA Library:

Losing the Golden Hour: An Insider's View of Iraq's Reconstruction
James Stephenson
DS 79.769 .S74 2007

Dead Pool

A century ago, the desert west was concerned about being overrun by floodwaters from the great Colorado River. Scientists worked to harness this "natural menace," turning it into a resource which irrigated local crops and provided drinking water to the growing populations in Los Angeles, Phoinix, and Los Vegas. A large dam was built across the Glen Canyon, creating Lake Powell. Today, however, Lake Powell is less than half full. Bathtub rings line the perimeter, showing how the waterline has receeded as the surounding populations grew and increasingly consumed its water. James Powell chronicles the history of the lake and Glen Canyon Dam drawing on primary materials and original photographs from the U.S. Geological Survey and numerous contemporaneous writings. He asserts that modern water use patterns and the threats of global warming are contributing to drout as a significant threat in the 21st century west, a sharp contrast with last century's concern about being overrun by water.

This book can be found in HECSA Library:

Dead Pool: Lake Powell, Global Warming, and the Future of Water in the West
James Lawrence Powell
TC 527 .C62 G54 2008

The Complete Lean Enterprise

Production processes are becoming more efficient as business process engineers are working to streamline and cut out waste. However, these lean initiatives are not being transferred to the administrative or support activities, even within the same companies. The result is that production capabilities are now out of sync with the companies' ability to monitor, track, and financially support them. Ultimately, this is equally unproductive. This book offers a step-by-step approach to applying the same lean approaches and initiatives that are used in production processes to administrative and office environments.

This book can be found in HECSA Library:

The Complete Lean Enterprise: Value Stream Mapping for Administrative and Office Processes
Beau Keyte and Drew Locher
HD 58.9 .K455 2004