Best Selling Books by Mike Phillips

CMMI-ACQ® (Capability Maturity Model® Integration for Acquisition) describes best practices for the successful acquisition of products and services. Providing a practical framework for improving acquisition processes, CMMI-ACQ addresses the growing trend in business and government for organizations to purchase or outsource required products and services as an alternative to in-house development or resource allocation. Modeled after CMMI®, Second Edition, which documented CMMI for Development, this book is the definitive reference for the current release of CMMI for Acquisition (version 1.2). In addition to the entire CMMI-ACQ model, the book includes tips, hints, cross-references, and other author notes to help you understand, apply, and find more information about the content of the acquisition process areas. The authors also have added two chapters to illustrate the application of CMMI-ACQ in industry (a case study from General Motors) and government. Whether you are new to CMMI models or are already familiar with one or more of them, you will find this book an essential resource for managing your acquisition processes and improving your overall performance. The book is divided into three parts. Part One introduces CMMI-ACQ in the broad context of CMMI models, including essential concepts and useful background. It then describes and shows the relationships among all the components of the CMMI-ACQ process areas, and explains paths to the adoption and use of the model for process improvement and benchmarking. Finally, two separate chapters describe special acquisition needs in a government environment and real experiences with CMMI-ACQ from industry. Part Two first describes generic goals and generic practices, and then, in twenty-two sections, details each of the CMMI-ACQ process areas, including specific goals, specific practices, and examples. These process areas are organized alphabetically by process area acronym to facilitate quick reference. Part Three provides several useful references, including sources for further information about CMMI and CMMI-ACQ, acronym definitions, a glossary of terms, and an index.

A gripping new thriller from the master of crime... ''It''s a winner, involving bent MPs, snatched heiresses, sex, drugs, and double dealing'' Time Out In the 1980s, London is a melting pot of cultures, but race and class create sharp divisions. Black British journalist Sam Dean looks for stories, not missing persons. But when an old friend asks for help tracking down a White Conservative MP''s daughter, he feels he can''t say no. Especially as Virginia''s disappearance is tangled with the fate of Roy, a young mixed-race boy who reminds Sam of his own son. A trail of secrets leads Sam into the backstreets of Black British culture, to the crossroads of race and class where you''ll find seedy walk-up flats, betting parlours and smoky nightclubs. London''s answer to S.A. Cosby, Blood Rights is a riveting time capsule of London''s multi-cultural history wrapped up in a tense thriller.

CMMI® for Acquisition (CMMI-ACQ) describes best practices for the successful acquisition of products and services. Providing a practical framework for improving acquisition processes, CMMI-ACQ addresses the growing trend in business and government for organizations to purchase or outsource required products and services as an alternative to in-house development or resource allocation. Changes in CMMI-ACQ Version 1.3 include improvements to high maturity process areas, improvements to the model architecture to simplify use of multiple models, and added guidance about using preferred suppliers. CMMI® for Acquisition, Second Edition, is the definitive reference for CMMI-ACQ Version 1.3. In addition to the entire revised CMMI-ACQ model, the book includes updated tips, hints, cross-references, and other author notes to help you understand, apply, and quickly find information about the content of the acquisition process areas. The book now includes more than a dozen contributed essays to help guide the adoption and use of CMMI-ACQ in industry and government. Whether you are new to CMMI models or are already familiar with one or more of them, you will find this book an essential resource for managing your acquisition processes and improving your overall performance. The book is divided into three parts. Part One introduces CMMI-ACQ in the broad context of CMMI models, including essential concepts and useful background. It then describes and shows the relationships among all the components of the CMMI-ACQ process areas, and explains paths to the adoption and use of the model for process improvement and benchmarking. Several original essays share insights and real experiences with CMMI-ACQ in both industry and government environments. Part Two first describes generic goals and generic practices, and then details the twenty-two CMMI-ACQ process areas, including specific goals, specific practices, and examples. These process areas are organized alphabetically and are tabbed by process area acronym to facilitate quick reference. Part Three provides several useful resources, including sources of further information about CMMI and CMMI-ACQ, acronym definitions, a glossary of terms, and an index.

Daniel grew up without a father. His mother told him that his father died the year he was born, and he had no reason to doubt her ... until now.

This book is a kind of "knowledge dump", its intention is to provide you with information you need to grow your business successfully and profitably. In it I talk about some of the things I believe are crucial in a modern business: business culture, business strategy, leadership, and getting the whole business to work together to achieve common objectives. So what qualifies me to write this book and why might you read it? My wife and I started a business in 1996 Direct Visual Ltd (DV). Back then we owed money to everyone. About all we had was ambition and the knowledge we had accumulated over the years. By 2011 the business that started in our garage achieved a turnover of around ten million pounds and was sold at a premium. But this is not "our story"; it is a shortcut to your business success.

Another terrific compilation of jokes in the hugely successful series of Robinson Children''s joke books - this one specialises in completely ridiculous and utterly stupid ones - they''ll love it!

"Mike Phillips was born in Guyana, migrated to Britain as a child, went to school and grew up in London. Now he is one of the leading black writers in Europe. London Crossings is a portrait of the city and the role it played in remaking his identity and nourishing the creative process."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Broadcaster Trevor Phillips and his novelist brother retell the very human story of Britain''s first West Indian immigrants and their descendants from the first wave of immigration fifty years ago to the present day.

The brutal murders of a young woman and her children on a London housing estate seem straightforward. Then a television researcher is stabbed to death. Black journalist-cum-sometime sleuth Sam Dean reluctantly investigates.

In 1980s London, Black political leaders who can straddle the racial divide are a rarity. So when a rising Black politician, Aston Edwards, is murdered, the effects quickly ripple through London''s Afro-Caribbean community. Then a young Black boy is arrested for his murder, surrounded by rumours of an affair with Aston''s wife. Sammy Dean, journalist-turned-investigator, is determined to find the truth. When a Black activist''s death is written off as a suicide, Sam begins to think the two cases are linked. With tensions running high, can Sam find the truth before the city erupts? The Late Candidate is a gritty and authentic representation of London''s multi-cultural history, wrapped up in a tense thriller.

Find out all you need to know about the legendary leagues that make up the Football leagues. Full of fascinating fact''s!

Attending a film festival in Prague, black documentary film maker Joseph Coker is approached by a complete stranger claiming to be his brother. George, who has been brought up in East Germany by his Russian mother, tells Joseph that they share the same father: Kofi Coker, a Ghanaian now living in London. Joseph''s reluctant acceptance of this relationship propels him into a nightmare world of intrigue and murder that threatens not just his identity, but his life. And behind the two sons is the enigmatic figure of Kofi himself, an idealistic African whose time in Kruschev''s Moscow led to betrayal and planted the seeds of tragedy in the next generation. Both thriller and love story, A Shadow of Myself is set against the backdrop of post-Cold War Europe, exploring the impact of the Third World on its future. Gripping and moving, it follows its characters from the fifties to the present day, as they move between the clashing ideologies of East and West.

This book is stuffed with the fastest, brightest, longest, funniest, weirdest, wildest, wettest, saddest, brainiest, and fascinating-est things in the world.It will amuse, entertain and amaze you with the most excellent, outstanding and, quite simply, best things on our planet and beyond. For instance, did you know the oldest skyscraper in the world is in Chicago and was built in 1885? Or, that the most extraordinary fireworks display was the one that closed the Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia, in 2000? Or that the world''s most expensive painting is ''The Scream'' by Edvard Munch, sold in 2012 for $119.9 million? From the highest peaks to the murkiest depths, the fastest man to the slowest sloth, the oldest lake to the most venomous snake and much, much more.

Taking all the best of the original Coping with Christmas this is a pocket-sized version of that title, condensed into 96 tiny pages.

Pulp Empire debuts its biggest anthology ever with 19 stories that run the gamut from heroic sword & sorcery to outer space adventure. Heroes & Heretics brings some of the most talented new stars of pulp together in one massive collection of great pulp fiction!

Chronicles of the Goblin King Book One. In ancient times, magical creatures inhabited the Earth. They lived on mountaintops, in the branches of trees, at the bottom of lakes and rivers. That was long ago, before the human race declared war on the creatures they feared and hated. Now, the enchanted peoples are all but gone. Those few who remain fear being stretched out on an examination table in some secret, governmental facility. The only place they can hide from the ever increasing number of satellites and smart phones is in the World Below.

Iolanda Stireanu is a brilliant criminal investigator. She is also crippled by mental instability and the fact that she can''t leave her flat. Anatomical Clues is a gripping exploration of damaged psychologies, fear and greed in a constantly shifting social landscape. Like Iolanda, this tale will creep into your head and stay there. (Mike Phillips)

In September 1971 Ion Rimaru stood trial for the murder of several women, accused of 23 very serious offences over a period of one year from May 1970: murders committed in extremely aggravated circumstances, with cruelty, premeditation, bestiality and sadism in four cases; attempted murders in six cases; rapes and attempted rapes; theft.

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Stelian Munteanu, a book editor with a sideline in international police work, has to kill a man, a general whose book he''s just published. Will he pull the trigger? Kill the General is an exciting, suspenseful thriller, a roller coaster ride through the transitions which have taken place over the last decades in Romanian history. (Mike Phillips)

Notting Hill in the Sixties attempts to capture the exuberance and vivacity of the people in one of London''s most famous neighbourhoods. Charlie Phillips, a former professional photographer with credits on Italian Vogue, Harper''s Bazaar, Stern and Life, presents a pictorial documentary of the area of North Kensington which, from the fifties, became the spiritual home of Britain''s Afro-Caribbean community. His pictures are both affectionate personal portraits of friends and neighbours, and a social commentary which evokes the flavour of the period and the locality. Phillips. Using short stories, anecdotes, poems and descriptive passages, he adds a verbal dimension to his namesakes''s photographic journal.

The research gathered led to the following recommendations: Earlier notification to the schools on the field trip tour dates, giving all of the handouts to the teachers at the end of the tour, a data collection point for juvenile set fires, training for department staff on the Life Safety House Tour and the department need to add a fire and life safety line item to the department budget.