Radu Haraga

Senior finance professional with more than 15 years of diversified P&L management, financial analysis, cost reduction and reporting system experience in the commercial finance and accounting. Besides multi-country team management, demonstrated capabilities to analyze and support sales growth, profit margins improvement, as well as sustainable cost reductions. Top notch business and professional qualifications - top 40 MBA (Hons.), FCCA, CIA, CIMA and others.

“Blockchain: The Insights You Need from Harvard Business Review” – a HBR Book Review

a doitinvest.com book review

Blockchain – everybody heard about it, half of my acquaintances traded it. Most of them actually traded Bitcoin – and most likely without grasping 100% its features. Unfortunately, this is our new modern reality – we do not really have the time to study hundreds  of pages tomes before we do an informed trade.

This is where the new book series from Harvard Business Review comes ✋ly in. Launched in 2019, the “Insights” series aims to deliver the essential knowledge around topical subjects – all in a condensed manner. As this is my first review of the “Insights” series, I am trying to see if the “Insights” are delivering the above mentioned promise.
The editors of Harvard Business Review press state (somehow boldly) that these Insights series themes will transform both the worlds of business and society. One can argue about the scope here, but not about the statement. It is clear that the blockchain is here to stay – and to change irreversibly the way we do transactions.

The introduction starts with an interesting yet less acknowledged reality – whilst data sharing and digital communications have literally jumped decades, the data security and the storage integrity did not keep pace. This gap was not going unnoticed. And whilst the large actors were (and remain) somehow content to assume the guardian role, the society at large realized that there must be an alternative. The goal of this alternative would be to validate the data without giving over-proportionate control to any party. And so the modern, still puzzling idea of the blockchain was born.Read More »“Blockchain: The Insights You Need from Harvard Business Review” – a HBR Book Review

„Time Smart – How To Reclaim Your Life And Live A Happier Life“ by Ashley Whilllans – A Harvard Business Review Press Book Review

HBR Book Review - Time Smart

doitinvest.com HBR book reviews and summaries – Time Smart

Reclaim your life! Slow down and breathe! There is not enough time in a day! The new HBR book titled “Time Smart” attempts to help us claw back the most precious resource we humans possess. The book takes an interesting approach to managing your time and offers plenty of techniques to do just about that.
Coming from a scientific background, the book opens by paraphrasing what research says again and again: happier people value time above money – and spend it wisely. As an assistant professor at the Harvard Business School, Ashley uses her own behavioral research to turn our thinking about time around. “Time Smart” revolves around a very simple premise – we all can treat time as currency and start being more productive and mindful. After all, the book’s subtitle reads: “How To Reclaim Your Time And Live A Happier Life.Read More »„Time Smart – How To Reclaim Your Life And Live A Happier Life“ by Ashley Whilllans – A Harvard Business Review Press Book Review

“Fit to Compete – Why Honest Conversations about Your Company’s Capabilities Are the Key to a Winning Strategy” – by Michael Beer – a Harvard Business Review Press Book

a HBR Press book review by doitinvest.com

Another strategy receipt book? Not quite – the author is addressing a rather lateral topic on the hot strategy area. Organisational change towards agility and responsiveness is by far more read about than implemented. However, Michael Beer plans to change the order – by writing a book that is set to change the rules. “Fit to Compete” will transform the way the leaders should steer their businesses if they want to go for improved results.


Interestingly enough, “Fit to Compete” became extremely topical 9 months after its publication. With the dramatic economic impact of the coronavirus, the organisations are navigating uncharted waters. Almost no company operates now under normal conditions. That’s why I strongly believe that Beer’s honest conversations approach (and his other dozen recommendations) are now needed more than ever. Companies struggle to survive and mange their cash flows. This is the moment when unleashing the wild ideas and energy of your employees and collaborators looks more appropriate than ever. No leader or smart board of directors can manage such an economic reality in an conventional way. Employees need to be mobilized at their best if they are to contribute to the companies survival. And of course, the crisis offers s natural opportunity for fast and agile organisational changes…Read More »“Fit to Compete – Why Honest Conversations about Your Company’s Capabilities Are the Key to a Winning Strategy” – by Michael Beer – a Harvard Business Review Press Book

“Parents Who Lead – The Leadership Approach You Need to Parent wih Purpose, Fuel Your Career and Create a Richer Life” – a HBR Press Book Review

Parents Who Lead

A HBR Press book review by doitinvest.com

Before we become leaders, we are family members. Or is it the other way around? In their new book, Alyssa F. Westring and Stewart D. Friedman take their total leadership concept to a new level. “Parents Who Lead” transfer their Total Leadership concept inversely – from the he private into the worklives. The authors look at our values, what we put first in our private lives – and asknus to transfer this experiwnce in the work hours.
Sounds easy, right? After all, what is so difficult in trying to convince your colleague (who acts like a spoiled toddler) on the necessity of doing a task before all others? And it should be easy to show your boss how great you are when you constantly exceed your sales targets – by giving more than average discounts?

In practice, we are not leaving in an ideal world. And neither are companies. The projects are muddled with uncertainty, markets are changing constantly… And children grow continuously. So all in all, an ever changing game. So how do we stay ahead?
Alyssa F. Westring and Stewart D. Friedman argue that key to this is to persistently pursue the “four-win way” – moving from managing a zero sum game. We are constantly pursuing incremental gains in our lives – trying to do a little extra for our childr n, careers, goals and ourselves. It does not have to be a his way – and “Parents Who Lead” propose several specific tools to achieve this.Read More »“Parents Who Lead – The Leadership Approach You Need to Parent wih Purpose, Fuel Your Career and Create a Richer Life” – a HBR Press Book Review