Business Books

By Andrea Sachs

A Bull in China: Investing Profitably in the World's Greatest Market

By Jim Rogers

Random House; 221 pages

Don't look for superinvestor Rogers in a boardroom or office, analyzing graphs and charts. He's more likely to be speeding across China on a motorcycle. The self-described "adventure capitalist" says his modus operandi is to go out and "see, smell and taste the real action."

That real business action is in China. "Just as the 19th century belonged to England and the 20th century to America, so the 21st century will be China's turn to set the agenda and rule the roost," Rogers says. Not exactly a new thought but one that he explores diligently. Rogers' leading evidence? The country boasts 1.3 billion people with a rate of savings and investment exceeding 35%, and its foreign reserves are the world's largest. Give it 20 to 30 years, he says, and China will pass the U.S. as the world's biggest economy.

Could anything prevent that from happening? Sure. Rogers--a co-founder, with George Soros, of the Quantum Fund--ticks off a list of danger points, including potential military conflicts (with Taiwan as the No. 1 candidate), political instability, social unrest, widening gaps between social classes, labor turmoil, dwindling resources, environmental threats and the like. But, he says, "China doesn't have to be perfectly mistake-free in order to produce some of the most profitable companies in the world."

The author doesn't tip his own hand, alas. Rogers doesn't reveal his personal holdings but gives the would-be investor dozens of possibilities, which range from the more predictable (Dongfang Electrical Machinery Co., a generator company) to the more exotic (Zhejiang GuYueLongShan Shaoxing Wine Co., a maker of traditional rice wine). Studying, says Rogers, will pay off: "If you do your homework, buy cheap and remain patient, you should be able to walk over and pick up that pile of cash in the corner that nobody else notices."

Of course, Rogers' idea of homework is rather rigorous, recommending Chinese lessons to the diligent. "I'm such a believer in China's long-term prospects that I brought in a Chinese nanny to rear my daughter, Happy, born in 2003 and already a happy Mandarin speaker." While most readers won't go that far, adventurous investors may choose to ride alongside Rogers. Meanwhile, the author is looking ahead: he plans to move to Singapore in 2008. If his investments don't work out, there's always travel writing.

It's Not a Glass Ceiling: It's a Sticky Floor

By Rebecca Shambaugh

McGraw-Hill; 221 pages

Is female self-sabotage the reason women hold only 2.6% of FORTUNE 500 CEO positions? You'd think so, to read this sincere but Pollyannaish book. Shambaugh argues that self-defeating behaviors like allowing work to crowd out family and friends and failing to assert oneself are holding women back. "Remember," declares the author, a Washington human-resources consultant, "once women free themselves from the sticky floors, there is no glass ceiling. Instead, the sky is the limit!" If only it were that easy.

Giving Notice: Why the Best and the Brightest Leave the Workplace and How You Can Help Them Stay

By Freada Kapor Klein

Jossey-Bass; 219 pages

If Shambaugh is Mary Poppins, then Klein is Scrooge. Examining the same evidence of inequities against women, as well as against minorities and gays, Klein's politically correct treatise comes to a diametrically opposite conclusion. Her data essentially find a malign plot by those in power. For many in those oppressed groups, she maintains, work "is a constantly dripping pipe of daily indignities that cumulatively lead to feelings of isolation and distrust--and ultimately to extraordinarily high rates of voluntary turnover." It's hard not to conclude that the truth falls somewhere between the poles these two books represent.