Praise for
Business Exposed
“Vermeulen has put together an amazing compendium of inter-
esting, counterintuitive, and sometimes disturbing ndings about
management. He delivers the material in succinct, readable, and
often humorous prose, and illustrates his points with compelling
examples. The result is a uniquely valuable book that will be
informative and entertaining to a variety of corporate ‘stake-
holders’, which in the end includes all of us.”
James Westphal, Robert G. Rodkey Collegiate Professor of Business
Administration; Professor of Strategy, University of Michigan,
Ross School of Business
“This book is a delicious read. Freek Vermeulen presents us
with a candy dish of witty reections about the current state of
management in a candid and disarming personal tone. His knack
for cutting through to the essence of complex ideas and stripping
them of a sometimes undeserved pomposity is truly impressive;
it delivers an enlightening wealth of conversation starters for
managers. Two thumbs up!”
Gabriel Szulanski, Professor of Strategy, INSEAD
“Freek is one of those rare people who manage to combine real
substance with air, making complex insights highly under-
standable. He is one of those people who make you feel smarter.
He offers a fresh, honest and atypical way to look at management
issues that few people take the time to stop and analyse. This
book will not disappoint you. Vermeulen decodes and translates
business research with intelligence and wit. He uses his extensive
knowledge of both research and the practice of management
to compile a fascinating overview of the latest insights from
management science.
Business books often seem to have a questionable base to
them, lacking solid evidence for their recommendations. Not this
one. Business Exposed builds on facts and research. Freek’s style is
hardly that of a stuffy professor though: it is fast, sharp and with
a great sense of humour.”
Ruby McGregor-Smith, Chief Executive Ofcer, MITIE Group plc
“Business Exposed is a delight! Using fast-paced analysis and insights
from academic research as well as humour and plain common sense,
it exposes the naked truth behind many of the things that we take
for granted in business. In the process, it disrobes the emperor of
conventional wisdom to reveal how things really work in the strange
business of business. Vermeulen is a master story teller and this book
is a testament to that. It will change the way you think of business
for good.”
Costas Markides, Professor and holder of the Robert P. Bauman Chair in
Strategic Leadership, London Business School
“If the role of CEO is chief storyteller, Vermeulen’s role is chief
doubter. He is the boy laughing at corporate kings with no clothes
on. But he makes sure we all laugh with him. And that we’ll never
look at business in the same way again.”
Stevie Spring, Chief Executive Ofcer, Future plc
“Wow, what a book! It’s fresh, informative, and funny. It’s chock full
of insights that you won’t expect. After reading it, you’ll never think
about your business in the same way again.
Every so often a book comes along that re-frames business.
Business Exposed does just that in a fast-paced, smart read based on
serious research. You’ll nd yourself re-thinking and changing what
you do.”
Kathleen M. Eisenhardt, Stanford Warren Ascherman Professor of
Strategy and Organization, Stanford University
“This deeply insightful and in places controversial book will be
of great interest to managers and observers of business. It does a
wonderful job of distilling insights from research on human behavior
and applying it to business to show how managers can sometimes
systematically deviate from rational behavior.”
Ranjay Gulati, Jaime and Josena Chua Tiampo Professor of Business
Administration, Harvard Business School
“Professor Freek Vermeulen is that rare academic who not only has a
great command of his eld but also can make management research
highly accessible to everybody. His book exposes the many silly
things that go on in business; you can improve your performance
greatly if you understand and correct those. Business Exposed is not
only an eye-opener but also highly entertaining!’’
Morten T. Hansen, Professor of Management, University of California,
Berkeley and Professor of Entrepreneurship, INSEAD
Business Exposed
The naked truth about what really
goes on in the world of business
Freek Vermeulen
PEARSON EDUCATION LIMITED
Edinburgh Gate
Harlow CM20 2JE
Tel: 144 (0)1279 623623
Fax: 144 (0)1279 431059
Website: www.pearsoned.co.uk
First published in Great Britain in 2010
© Freek Vermeulen 2010
The right of Freek Vermeulen to be identied as author of this work has been
asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
Pearson Education is not responsible for the content of third party internet sites.
ISBN: 978-0-273-73292-1
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Vermeulen, Freek.
Business exposed : the naked truth about what really goes on in the
world of business / Freek Vermeulen.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-0-273-73292-1 (pbk.)
1. Management. 2. Business planning. 3. Decision making. I.
Title.
HD31.v44 2010
658--dc22
2010032836
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in
a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without either the prior
written permission of the publisher or a licence permitting restricted copying
in the United Kingdom issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency Ltd, Saffron
House, 6–10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS. This book may not be lent, resold,
hired out or otherwise disposed of by way of trade in any form of binding or
cover other than that in which it is published, without the prior consent of the
Publishers.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
14 13 12 11 10
Typeset in 9/13pt ITC Stone Sans by 3
Printed in Great Britain by Henry Ling Ltd., at the Dorset Press, Dorchester, Dorset
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