Human Psychology for Business

The story of the book.

Some nine or so years ago I was sitting in the Dean’s office for the School of Business at the University of Toronto, Scarborough. I had just completed a second term of marginal performance at teaching a course in quantitative methods. As indicated, it had been my second term being an instructor, I was well aware that my performance was poor, but I also felt that I had figured out how I could do a much better job, and I was still very interested in pursuing being an instructor. The number one suggestion put forward by the Dean was for me to publish a book.

A few years later I had been working at delivering various seminars with my associate, Hal King. As I reviewed the seminar material, it occurred to me that it would not be difficult to roll up the material into a book. It was quite easy for me to convert the presentation material and diagrams into text and graphics. I reviewed the material and asked myself, “what kind of book could I make out of the material.” It occurred to me that I had not seen a psychology course offered by any of the business schools I was familiar with. I performed a web search of business schools in North America, and again, I did not find any business schools offering a course in psychology appropriate or specific to business. I reviewed the course material offered in the Human Resources area for business and found that the material offered was virtually exclusively focused on the administrative and legal aspects of Human Resource Management, but again no real focus on the human aspect of the management of Human Capital. It appeared there was a need for a book that dealt with the human aspect of Human Capital Management and it seemed that my material would serve well at possibly meeting that need.

Then came the task of structuring the material. A significant part of my informal education as well as a significant influence in my adolescence was the mother of my long-standing friend Greg Guichon. Through my teens I would sit for hours on a stool in her kitchen while she prattled on about politics, philosophy, theology, psychology, people… just about anything. I loved the intellectual stimulation.

Mary Guichon (Greg’s mother) was my first exposure to philosophy and psychology the information was conveyed in a very personable way. My first degree was a general bachelor degree with a major in biology, then I obtained a specialization in psychology, followed by an MBA in Management Science and Information Systems and finally my PhD in Organization and Management. This is the sequence I learned the material and it seemed quite natural to present the material in a similar sequence.

In a relatively short period I had completed a rough draft of the text and I sent the material to a few of my friends and associates for review and editing. A number of edits were made, and I again I reviewed the text of the developing book. It appeared to me that I was on track for supplying the basic information that would be of benefit in an introductory course to Human Psychology for Business. It also occurred to me that the book may also be of interest to the general public, business executives, managers, and the business community in general—great, more weight for marketing.

Then I went looking for a publisher. By far the most difficult and time-consuming task of the whole endeavour was finding the path to publishing. I presented my work to a number of publishing companies that are in the business of publishing on speculation that the book will sell in sufficient numbers to make a good profit. These publishers were not overly impressed with my project. After a protracted period of time and considerable effort I happened upon Friesen Press, a company that facilitates self-publishing. Friesen Press has a structured approach to taking a book to print. They provide reasonable support and were helpful in moving a project along. And, I did not find them prohibitively expensive.

The project was completed in April 2019 and the book “Human Psychology for Business, Our brains are as unique as our Finger Prints.” (ISBN 9781525527579) is available through outlets such as Friesen Press, Indigo/Chapters, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Book Depository, and many more. If you would, I would appreciate it if you could contact your favourite retailer to see if they are carrying my book.

I am, and can make myself available to discuss the book and further represent the material.

Thanks.

Dr. Dennis Wilson, PhD, MBA

dr.wilson@wilson-research.ca

Please let us know as you find other retailers carrying the book. Thanks

← Dennis W.

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