Atlas Black: Managing to Succeed is a graphic novel

Graphic novel

A graphic novel is a narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using sequential art in either an experimental design or in a traditional comics format...

 by Jeremy Short, Talya Bauer, and Dave Ketchen, about a fictional character named Atlas Black and his efforts to create a startup restaurant while completing his senior year of college. The series is illustrated by Len Simon. The compilation contains five chapters published by Flat World Knowledge

Flat World Knowledge

Flat World Knowledge is a publisher of college-level open textbooks and educational supplements founded in 2007 by Eric Frank and Jeff Shelstad. Company headquarters are in Irvington, New York. As of December 2010, the publisher has over 74 textbooks in development or published. Flat World...

.

Overview

Faced with meager career opportunities after a series of short-term jobs, Atlas Black decides that his best career prospect is to start his own business. Atlas Black blends the storyline of Atlas’s quest to start his own entrepreneurial startup, with insights from key management theories drawn from the fields of entrepreneurship, organizational behavior and applied psychology, and strategic management.

Background

Atlas Black: Managing to Succeed is the first business management text in graphic novel format. The lead author, Jeremy Short, was inspired by movies such as Office Space

Office Space

Office Space is a 1999 American comedy film satirizing work life in a typical 1990s software company. Written and directed by Mike Judge, it focuses on a handful of individuals fed up with their jobs portrayed by Ron Livingston, Jennifer Aniston, Gary Cole, David Herman, Ajay Naidu, and Diedrich...

 and TV shows such as The Office

The Office

The Office is a popular mockumentary/situation comedy TV show that was first made in the UK and has now been re-made in many other countries, with overall viewership in the hundreds of millions worldwide. The original version of The Office was created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant. It...

 to provide a more entertaining delivery of management content that would follow a storyline rather than disconnected examples common to most traditional textbooks. Texas Tech University, where Short is employed, produced a short interview discussing the book and its potential as a vehicle for learning and education. Short also co-authored the first Harvard Business Publishing case in graphic novel format, which details a fictional company named iPremier as it struggles to deal with a denial of service attack on its online retailer.

Chapter 1. Not So Ancient History

Atlas Black and his best friend and sidekick David Chan are introduced. Atlas is behind on his rent, and realizes that he needs to take dramatic steps to improve his career prospects. He begins to realize that much of his knowledge of business is based on memorizing terms and buzzwords that he has trouble applying to actual business situations. The mysterious ‘Black’ appears and suggests that starting his own business is a risky proposition, but an acceptable trade-off given Atlas’s other prospects.

Chapter 2. How To Make Good Decisions (And Avoid Bad Ones)

Atlas attempts to gain funding by completing his tax returns. Much to his surprise, his ex-girlfriend Maria is working at the accounting firm he visits. Atlas explains that he is now taking school more seriously and even applying the idea of a balanced scorecard

Balanced scorecard

The Balanced Scorecard is a strategic performance management tool - a semi-standard structured report, supported by proven design methods and automation tools, that can be used by managers to keep track of the execution of activities by the staff within their control and to monitor the...

 to his personal life, but Maria is unconvinced. The chapter ends in an embarrassing appearance at a local house party when his friend Tess requesting him as a delivery driver for Pilgrim Pizza, his current job as well.

Chapter 3. Blood, SWOT, and Tears

Atlas learns that the mechanics of starting his own business are not as difficult or important as the need to develop a specific strategy. With the help of David, he concludes that a restaurant makes sense of a potential entrepreneurial venture in most college towns – but he also needs a unique hook if this idea it to truly move forward.

Chapter 4. Human Resources: Sail or Anchor?

After a revelation with the mysterious ‘Black’ while playing disk golf

Disc golf

Disc golf is a disc game in which individual players throw a flying disc into a basket or at a target. According to the Professional Disc Golf Association, "The object of the game is to traverse a course from beginning to end in the fewest number of throws of the disc." Of the more than 3000...

, Atlas develops the idea of the No Cover Café. This restaurant would provide free live music with modestly priced food to attract the audience associated with most college towns. Atlas interviews a classmate for a potential internship, and she is livid to discover the position will be unpaid, providing another opportunity for embarrassment for Atlas.

Chapter 5. Charting the Future: Organizational Structure and Fit

Atlas realizes the need to become more organized if the No Cover Café is to become a reality, and visits his college’s career fair to contemplate potential employees and other local firms that they could supply their restaurant, such as Cat Lady Coffee – a local coffee shop that Atlas and David frequent.

External links

• Atlas Black: Managing to Succeed - Publisher's page for the book