Format for the Book Review Writeup

Your review should be a critical summary and analysis of the book--what it is about, how it covers the topic, and your opinion of it. The following is intended as a guideline to enable you to write a coherent, well-organized book review. Minor departures from the format may be made if pertinent information is not excluded and you feel the changes add to the finished product.

The review should be from 6-10 typewritten pages in length. It must be double spaced, 12 point, Times Roman, with 1 inch margins on each side. Pages must be numbered. Provide the pertinent bibliographic information at the top of the first page of text. Bibliographic information includes the author, title (including subtitle), place of publication, publisher, and original date of publication, as well as the date of the reprint edition.

Your paper should contain no headings or subheadings other than the bibliographic information noted in the preceding paragraph. Do not list or outline. Your review should be a seamless piece of prose, i.e., one constructed of paragraphs only. In that seamless piece of prose, you should cover the following:

1. Introduction: The introduction should inform the reader about the major thesis (theses) or theme(s) of the book. You should briefly summarize the author's scholarly or professional background, comment on the type of sources used, and note for your reader any of his or her apparent biases or other preconceptions.
2. Support: Include a summary of the main thoughts of the book. This should give the reader a clear idea of the contents of the book as well as the manner in which the author attempted to prove his thesis.
3. Application: What advice does this book give to managers and leaders?
4. Integration: How are the ideas (theories and practices) advanced in this book related to what we have learned to date?
5. Critique: How well did the author prove his or her thesis? Does the evidence support each of his or her conclusions? Was it "stacked" unfairly in order to justify the author's apparent prejudices? Similarly, how were the sources used or misused? Describe them in greater detail here if necessary, as well as the author's biases. Was the book well written? What could have been improved? Criticize the methodology if appropriate.
6. Conclusion: Do you agree with the author's conclusions? If not, why not? Briefly recount what is good about the book as well as what is bad. Would you recommend the book to others, especially business school students? Note: Parts E and F deal essentially with your evaluation of the book.

Be sure to bring five hard copies of your review.