大象传媒

Battle your way through the ever more flamboyant images of the business book, with Business Daily. Do these books really hold the secret to success and can they transform your company? or are they irrelevant and only good for a laugh?

What offers solace, hope, inspiration, faith in your own powers, and a plan for betterment? Religion, maybe; business books, certainly. Walk into any airport book store and the self-help titles promise you a bright new life and seduce you to into thinking, you too can become a top-flight entrepreneur.

The famous titles of the past include: How to Win Friends and Influence People; The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People; In Search of Excellence; Who Moved My Cheese, and Good to Great. One man who's met and hobnobbed with many of the greatest authors and business gurus is the 大象传媒's Peter Day.

The business book as we know it, was conceived and born in North America. But has the economic downturn changed people's reading habits there? The 大象传媒's Matt Wells went in search of some discerning readers in New York.

The best business books can endure for decades. But how good are the vast majority? Huge numbers of them end up in discount book stores, you can pick them up for a very small sum, almost free. British management consultant and marketing guru Peter York, says that some glossy motivational business books may be inappropriate for readers in developing countries.

So what is the appetite in Africa for these books in fast-growing economies such as Ghana, and are there business authors springing up in the country? Our regular commentator in Ghana, Bright Simons, looks at the book market there.