The Creation of Wealth - RM Lala (2004)

A swift read. The overall book talks about the history of the Tata Group. The book has three parts. Part-1 the Jamshetji era where audicious visions are undertaken. Part-2 the JRD era which marks development of collaboration and corporate structure. Some extraordinary actions around R &D on various areas. Part-3 redesigning the organisation for rapid growth and expansion with focus on technology with Ratan Tata at the driving seat. The book ends right before the Nano project. The Tatas didn't have a smooth sail with their business. There were many ups and downs they braved through to develop one of the most respected companies in India. The Tatas are as much contributing to philanthropy as much they have developed profit making corporate giants. 

A book worth reading.

What the customer wants you to know - Ram Charan (2007)

Most books and articles by consultants start with MBA bashing. Certainly not this one. Here is a book that has picked up the basics of B2B marketing, modified the terminologies to common man's terminologies and presented the concept very nicely. In short it suggests to create a Value Creation Sales Process to show the customer a Total Value of Ownership. To achieve this, use the whole organisation to assist sales team to create a Value Account Plan. VCS, TVO and VAP are the only terms used to explain the whole sales process. The rest of the book is about a short case study and intra organisation collaboration and how customer is able to realise the TVO with the VCS process. Thus helping the organisation realise better revenues and profits.

Good refresher if you have gone through the B2B marketing courses. Otherwise a great introduction to the topic. Definitely recommended.