Building Character is written for leaders who understand their responsibility to develop authentic leaders within their organizations. Without presenting an overarching moral code or a prescriptive code of behavior, this book offers leaders and managers a practical model complete with the tools, information, and processes to develop character in leaders at all levels. The author explains the role character plays in leadership success and effectiveness and outlines how character can be developed through the Five E's—Example, Education, Experience, Evaluation, and Environment.
Innovation leaders promote and address the innovation agenda in their company. Through personal conviction or competitive necessity they are obsessed with providing superior value to customers through innovation. They know how to mobilize their staff behind concrete innovation initiatives and do not hesitate to personally coach innovation teams. For innovation to occur leadership has to be collective. To create a momentum for innovation in their company, leaders from different functions need to team up, to build innovation networks. Innovation leadership is not just an innate talent that can be selected at the hiring level. It can be developed within an appropriate company culture through careful leadership development, typically achieved through career management and coaching. Innovation leaders also need to stay on board and it is the responsibility of the top management team to create an attractive climate to develop and keep its innovation leaders. There are plenty of books that deal with innovation, or with new product development, or with leadership; this is different in its focus on the specifics of innovation leadership – that particular form of leadership that stimulates and sustains innovation. This book maps the broad territory of innovation leadership and contributes new thinking on the focus of the emerging leadership role of the CTO; distinction between ‘front end’ and ‘back end’ innovation leaders; the concept of aligning leadership styles with strategy; and the chain of leadership concept. Combining practice-based and empirical research-based observations with simple conceptual frameworks, illustrated by many company examples and case stories from a broad range of industries in the US and Europe, this is a systematic presentation of innovation drivers and their implications in terms of what leaders need to do to make it work.
Family businesses prosper by pursuing unconventional strategies. Because they are values-driven and think very long-term, they take approaches not popular with current management fashion or most companies. That is the key to their competitive advantage. However, family businesses must find ways to simultaneously serve business needs and family goals, which require very different priorities and principles. As a result, they must think paradoxically, and find insights that single-purpose enterprises need not contemplate. They must dare to be different. Family business requires a different governance system, but it must nevertheless be one that can be controlled. Building on insights from the worldâ??s premier family business executive education course, this book offers the Unconventional Wisdom needed to leverage the strategic and cultural uniqueness of a family business for enduring success.
‘Clothing that is not purchased or worn is not fashion’ (to paraphrase Armani) Knowledge of marketing is essential to help ensure success and reduce the risk of failure in fashion. For the designer starting up in business, this book offers a guide to the major decisions that will enable you to fulfil your creative potential and be a financial success: What are the major trends we should be monitoring?; How should we set our prices?; What is the most effective way to get our message across about the new product range?; Which colour-wash will be the most popular with buyers? Marketing is now a firmly established element of most fashion and clothing courses. Fashion Marketing is written to meet students’ requirements and has many features making it essential reading for anyone involved in the fashion and clothing business: · deals with contemporary issues in fashion marketing · up-to-date examples of global good practice · exclusively about fashion marketing · a unique contribution on range planning with a practical blend of sound design sense and commercial realism · a balance of theory and practice, with examples to illustrate key concepts · clear worked numerical examples to ensure that the ideas are easily understood and retained · over 50 diagrams · a glossary of the main fashion marketing terms and a guide to further reading · a systematic approach to fashion marketing, not hyperbole or speculation. The new edition has been updated throughout with new material on different promotional media, visual marketing and international marketing research; and new coverage of internal marketing, supply chain management, international marketing communications as well as the role of the internet. See www.blackwellpublishing.com/easey for supporting pack for tutors, including PowerPoint slides for each chapter plus ideas and exercises for seminars.
In this stimulating and highly original work, Kevin Doogan looks at contemporary social transformation through the lens of the labour market. Major themes of the day – globalization, technological change and the new economy, the pension and demographic timebombs, flexibility and traditional employment – are all subject to critical scrutiny. We are often told that a new global economy has emerged which has transformed our lives. It is argued that the pace of technological change, the mobility of multinational capital and the privatization of the welfare state have combined to create a more precarious world. Companies are outsourcing, jobs are migrating to China and India, and a job for life is said to be a thing of the past. The so-called ‘new capitalism’ is said to be the result of these profound changes. Kevin Doogan takes issue with these widely-accepted ideas and subjects the transformation of work to detailed examination through a comprehensive analysis of developments in Europe and North America. He argues that precariousness is not a natural consequence of this fast-changing world; rather, current insecurities are manufactured, emanating from neoliberal policy and the greater exposure of the economy to market forces. New Capitalism? The Transformation of Work is sure to stimulate academic debate. Kevin Doogan's account will appeal not just to scholars, but also to upper-level students across the social sciences, including the sociology of work, industrial relations, globalization, economics, social policy and business studies.
Most learning on the job is informal. This book offers advice on how to support, nurture, and leverage informal learning and helps trainers to go beyond their typical classes and programs in order to widen and deepen heir reach. The author reminds us that we live in a new, radically different, constantly changing, and often distracting workplace. He guides us through the plethora of digital learning tools that workers are now accessing through their computers, PDAs, and cell phones.
Demystifying Outsourcing emphasizes the importance of building partnerships with consultants and vendors to achieve results. Training managers who utilize this resource will build their confidence and strengthen their outsourcing capabilities as they navigate complex outsourced projects. As a comprehensive toolkit, the book takes the reader step by step through an outsourced initiative. Numerous stories bring the challenges of outsourcing to light. Practical tips and tools, and worksheets on the accompanying CD can be tailored easily to any project. Topics include: Current trends and guiding principles in outsourcing A strategic sourcing decision model to help managers make wise choices about what to outsource and what to retain Identifying and selecting outsourcing partners The RFP process and contract negotiations Positioning consultants and vendors in the organization Design, delivery and program evaluation of outsourced initiatives Special situations such as dealing with conflict, inheriting a consultant and working with multiple consultants and vendors Debbie Friedman is Operating Vice President at Federated Department Stores, where she heads up the Federated Leadership Institute, a training function whose mission is to strengthen the leadership capabilities of the top 1,800 executives.
Discover how to optimize business strategies from both qualitative and quantitative points of view Operational Risk: Modeling Analytics is organized around the principle that the analysis of operational risk consists, in part, of the collection of data and the building of mathematical models to describe risk. This book is designed to provide risk analysts with a framework of the mathematical models and methods used in the measurement and modeling of operational risk in both the banking and insurance sectors. Beginning with a foundation for operational risk modeling and a focus on the modeling process, the book flows logically to discussion of probabilistic tools for operational risk modeling and statistical methods for calibrating models of operational risk. Exercises are included in chapters involving numerical computations for students' practice and reinforcement of concepts. Written by Harry Panjer, one of the foremost authorities in the world on risk modeling and its effects in business management, this is the first comprehensive book dedicated to the quantitative assessment of operational risk using the tools of probability, statistics, and actuarial science. In addition to providing great detail of the many probabilistic and statistical methods used in operational risk, this book features: * Ample exercises to further elucidate the concepts in the text * Definitive coverage of distribution functions and related concepts * Models for the size of losses * Models for frequency of loss * Aggregate loss modeling * Extreme value modeling * Dependency modeling using copulas * Statistical methods in model selection and calibration Assuming no previous expertise in either operational risk terminology or in mathematical statistics, the text is designed for beginning graduate-level courses on risk and operational management or enterprise risk management. This book is also useful as a reference for practitioners in both enterprise risk management and risk and operational management.
So What? gets straight to the point so you can cut through the noise and nonsense of work. Much of what we learn in our formative years is unlearnt in later life. As grown-ups we are often unable to answer the simplest of questions in a clear, direct way, and frequently have no idea why we are doing something. This can lead to crippling inefficiency in business, and goes some way to explaining why so many people spend so much time doing things that have no bearing on the true purpose. by behaving in a genuinely inquisitive way, you can get right to the heart of the matter and save yourself hours, days, and even months of anguish. The questions So what?, Why?, How?, and When? can be hugely effective when applied in the right context, and this book shows you how to use them. Once all the right questions have been posed, there is a final sure-fire method for testing whether something is relevant and helpful. By completing the sentence «Something must be wrong if…», it is simple to work out if you are wasting your time. For example, «Something must be wrong if I don't want to go to work in the morning.» So What? shows you how to become truly inquisitive again. So let the questions roll. Pay attention to what the answers are. Learn from them, and you will immediately improve your prospects of finally getting somewhere in life.
Inspired by the true story of a flight with Sir Richard Branson, Millionaire Upgrade blows the lid off the accepted belief that successful entrepreneurs are a breed apart, possessing some special magic. Through the combined wisdom of interviews with 50 self-made millionaire entrepreneurs, this book takes you on your own personal master class in success, as experienced through the eyes of Tom, a frustrated employee who is upgraded on a long haul flight, and finds himself sitting next to self made millionaire Michael. During the flight Michael shares the science and secrets behind his own success. Better than any in-flight movie, Millionaire Upgrade gets you inside the minds of successful entrepreneurs and self-made millionaires giving you the inside track on how they think and act. Praise for Millionaire Upgrade: «It took me a long time to learn this stuff—I wish I’d been on that plane 30 years ago!» —Simon Woodroffe – YO! Sushi & Dragons Den «The principles of success apply equally whether you are an aspiring entrepreneur, chief executive of a large plc or simply looking for inspiration for your own personal life. Here’s where you start, by reading this book.» —Allan Leighton – Chairman, Royal Mail «If you want a toolkit to help you become a successful entrepreneur, read this book. Then put it into practice.» —Duncan Bannatyne – Bannatyne Leisure & Dragons Den «Everything in business is a learning experience. I should know! I'd recommend all would-be entrepreneurs to read this book and be inspired to boldly set out on your own entrepreneurial journey. You won't regret it.» —Rachel Elnaugh – Red Letter Days and Dragons' Den «It is refreshing to find a book that describes the key difference between the entrepreneur and the rest – attitude. So often in life a cigarette paper’s thickness separates success from failure and Richard has written a book that perfectly captures this and suggests a way of thinking that can transform the tin of dog food into a thoroughbred racehorse.» —Tim Smit – Eden Project «Millionaire Upgrade captures the essence of what it takes to be successful in anything you choose to do. The rules of success are timeless and simply explained so you can apply them in your own business or personal life.» —BJ Cunningham – Founder of Death Cigarettes «In Millionaire MBA, Richard decoded entrepreneurs and unpicked their millionaire mindset. With Millionaire Upgrade, he has put it all back together again through IBELIEVE and a compelling story. Very clever and a must read for any budding entrepreneur!» —Rene Carayol – Leadership Guru «It takes a certain mindset to succeed in creating your own business. This book spells out how you need to think and act to succeed – whether you are an entrepreneur or a professional manager. It’s a great read too.» —Matthew Barrett – Chairman, Barclays Bank