BOOKS
“Leon has that rare ability to stir the pot with controversial ideas while winning over an audience through his presentation style and quality research. This was vital when he addressed a large group of marketing and management leaders at our recent Editor Forum event.”
Grant Butler, Managing Director, Editor Group www.editorgroup.com
AN UNPROMISED LAND: THE PLAN FOR A REFUGEE HAVEN IN AUSTRALIA’S NORTHWEST
Can you imagine how the world would have been different if Israel was in Australia? This is the true and little known story of an attempt to set up a Jewish settlement of refugees in the Kimberleys during the Second World War. Months before Hitler’s tanks rolled into Poland, it won the support of the West Australian government. It also had the support of the ACTU, all the churches, and business. The Federal government sat on it for five years until it decided not to go ahead with it. But the debate around migration and what kind of country people wanted Australia to be paved the way for the post-war migration boom which changed Australia, allowing in non-British migrants. Although it happened decades ago, I’m sure you would agree the topic is highly relevant now.
The book An Unpromised Land was published in the 1990s, and I got an Australian Book Council award for it. It was originally published by Fremantle Arts Centre Press. I own the rights to the book. It has now been published on Audible.
TRAGEDY OF CORPORATE PATHOLOGY
Modern corporations, like the mythical hero Oedipus Rex, are afflicted by a refusal to acknowledge the truth that is almost psychopathic. This is according to Leon Gettler, who argues in Organisations Behaving Badly that the spirit of this Greek king to turn a blind eye to the bleeding obvious, is indicative of how many national and international corporations run their empires. This fascinating, and at times humorous exploration of big business, parallels Greek mythology.
Like a chief executive confronted with news that threatens the established order, not to mention his job, Oedipus flies into a rage and begins to accuse his brother-in-law, Creon, of plotting to overthrow him. You get the picture? With fascinating and insightful explorations into such organisations as HIH, OneTel, Parmalat, James Hardie and even the role of the Church and the education system, Leon Gettler leaves no stone unturned and sets out to prove that organisations have been behaving badly since ancient civilisation. Leon Gettler is the Economics staff writer at The Age.
TEN WAYS TO SURVIVE THE CORPORATE WORLD
Modern corporations, like the mythical hero Oedipus Rex, are afflicted by a refusal to acknowledge the truth that is almost psychopathic. This is according to Leon Gettler, who argues in Organisations Behaving Badly that the spirit of this Greek king to turn a blind eye to the bleeding obvious, is indicative of how many national and international corporations run their empires. This fascinating, and at times humorous exploration of big business, parallels Greek mythology.
Like a chief executive confronted with news that threatens the established order, not to mention his job, Oedipus flies into a rage and begins to accuse his brother-in-law, Creon, of plotting to overthrow him. You get the picture? With fascinating and insightful explorations into such organisations as HIH, OneTel, Parmalat, James Hardie and even the role of the Church and the education system, Leon Gettler leaves no stone unturned and sets out to prove that organisations have been behaving badly since ancient civilisation. Leon Gettler is the Economics staff writer at The Age.