Our market system has evolved in line with capitalist philosophy, and at its heart is profit. But while profit can be a powerful motive, it is not always used responsibly and, in the worst cases, this can have damaging effects at a wider level. The calls for a corporate conscience grow louder, but no one has yet suggested an alternative to profit that people find as compelling. Profit is here and now. In this climate, the solution is to refine the profit motive, not replace it. We all value things, and we’re all motivated by what we value. If value could replace the profit motive, it would reconcile the interests of CEOs, shareholders, citizens and government. Profits would still rise but at the same time society would gain value. This book is a call to manage for maximum value – to follow The Value Motive. Kearns Endorsements «In 'The Value Motive,' Paul Kearns clarifies the confusing concept of 'value' and shows how it can be used to transform thinking and action in organizations. Paul's books are always stimulating and controversial, and this one is no exception. If you are interested in creating more value in your organization and willing to have your existing mental models challenged, then you should read this book!» —Dean Spitzer, Performance Measurement Thought Leader, IBM Research, and author of «Transforming Performance Measurement» USA «I have worked with a host of HR professional over the years. To date I know of noone that compares to Paul when it comes to presenting the issues and challenges of managing human capital and providing practical approaches for doing so. Like his past books, The Value Motive, brings clarity to a world of HR, which often is filled with disarray and recommendations that tend to be driven by political correctness rather than by the intent to produce value. Paul's discussion of value as a driving force in organizations (in addition to profit) brings together the worlds of for and not for profit organizations. It also provides an overarching theme that includes the best interest of all stakeholders, customers, community and shareholders alike. This certainly represents a very much needed approach.» —Finnur Oddsson, Ph.D., Director of MBA Programs & Executive Education, Reykjavík University, Iceland «This is a timely, forward-looking, and convincing exposition delving into why value is a better determination of sustained ROI than profit. Paul provides simple, yet valid methodology regarding how much value is added by any organizational activity. His writings are a must for anyone measuring the true effectiveness of people development, an organization’s primary value-added activity.» —Tery Tennant, Attainment, Inc, USA
There's no dearth of books on the logistics of event planning, but not much has been published to address the legal and business issues that concern the thousands of companies that make up this industry. This book covers all the legal and business issues that special events professionals need to understand – from contractual considerations to little-known governmental regulations with heavy ramifications. Ignorance of the law can prove very costly in an industry in which expectations must be met the first time, and in our ever-more litigious society, the need for this niche title is clear.
While boards acknowledge they bear ultimate responsibility and accountability for their organizations' affairs, governance quality is often far from optimal. The High- Performance Board offers pragmatic and candid advice about what your board must do to maximize performance and contributions. The authors provide sixty-four principles designed to help your board achieve peak performance. They describe every principle in detail and present best practices and practical applications for each one. Each section of the book concludes with a board check-up-a set of questions that can be used to assess your board in light of the principles. A quick read for busy board members, this book is the ultimate board «drivers' manual.»
The Performance Consultant’s Fieldbook will help trainers, training managers, and internal and external consultants working in partnership with clients to identify barriers to performance, explore a suite of solutions, and work collaboratively to get new procedures, technology, behaviors, and ideas adopted. Step-by-step, the book details the techniques you need to conduct performance interventions and offers a customizable collection of worksheets, flowcharts, planning guides, and job aids. It provides practical guidance and proven tools to help analyze an organizational environment, diagnose performance problems, identify barriers to performance, select appropriate interventions, and measure intervention success.
Describes all aspects of sustainable conversion adaptation of existing buildings and provides solutions for making urban settlements resilient to climate change This comprehensive book explores the potential to change the character of cities with residential conversion of office space in order to withstand the negative effects of climate change. It investigates the nature and extent of sustainable conversion in a number of global cities, as well as the political, economic, social, technological, environmental, and legal drivers and barriers to successful conversion. The book also identifies the key lessons learned through international comparisons with cases in the UK, US, Australia, and the Netherlands. Building Urban Resilience Through Change of Use covers the benefits and aspects of sustainable conversion adaptation through the whole lifecycle from inception, planning, and design, to procurement, construction, and management and operational issues. It illustrates and quantifies, through empirical research, the changes that have been achieved or delivered in sustainable conversion adaptation. The book gives an overview of all aspects of performance characteristics and the conversion adaptation of existing buildings. In the end, it enables planners to make more informed decisions about whether conversion adaptation is a good choice—and if so, which types of sustainability measures are best suited for projects. Provides detailed, empirical knowledge based on real-world research undertaken in five countries over three continents on both a citywide scale and on individual buildings Case studies and exemplars demonstrate the application of the knowledge in North and South America, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and in Europe Addresses the key themes of technology, finance and procurement, and the regulatory framework The first research-based book to examine how to improve resilience to climate change through sustainable reuse of buildings, Building Urban Resilience Through Change of Use is a welcome book for researchers and academics involved in building surveying, urban development, and sustainability planning.
In principle the advanced, market-driven world in which we now live is fuelled by knowledge, information and transparency, but in practice the processes that produce this world systematically corrupt and denigrate knowledge: this is the powerful and provocative argument advanced by Colin Crouch in his latest exploration of societies on the road to post-democracy. Crouch shows that executives in profit-maximizing corporations have incentives to ignore or distort knowledge, especially firms in the information business of the mass media themselves, as financial knowledge increasingly trumps the other kinds of knowledge that business needs. Firms also seek to take control of public knowledge and use it for their own ends, often at the cost of other stakeholders in society. Meanwhile the transfer of similar practices to professional public services undermines professional skills and ethics – especially when these services are out-sourced to the private sector. Attempts to extricate ourselves from these problems involve reshaping the complex and often conflicting relationships among citizens, professionals, managers and financiers. This new book by one of the most incisive critics of contemporary Western societies will be of interest to a wide range of readers, from students to policy-makers and those who work in the public and private sectors.
Economic players must often choose between several strategic options in a fierce competitive environment where interactions with competitors make decisions particularly complex. Game theory offers useful insights to choose an optimal decision or at least a basis for making rational decision given the constraints of the stakeholders’ environment. In presenting the concepts and the logical structure of the reasoning offered by game theory and their applications, the book explains the rational process of decision making in the framework of firm management and market competition. By avoiding the usual complexity of presentation often due to mathematical formalism, the book proposes a reflection and practical insights of game theory for practitioners (managers, strategists) and social, managerial and economic researchers. The book will expose both general teachings and a comprehensive analysis applied to specific case studies of various sectors of the economy.
With an animated fable, the Journey to Newland storybook provides readers with a cast of memorable characters, a captivating story, and a common language to deal with difficult and often emotionally sensitive issues in negotiating change within their organizations. The allegory follows a group of animal characters through uncharted territory, from Oldland to Newland. Each animal represents a different type of work personality; navigating such metaphorical places as Nostalgia Desert, Transition Valley, and Leverage Lake, the team—comprised of Eagle, Owl, Lion, Dolphin, and Ant—finds a way to survive, even thrive, by leading change.
Podcasting 101 for Training and Development Podcasting can help you revolutionize the way you deliver training. This groundbreaking book provides an innovative approach to designing and developing podcasts that can improve employees' productivity by providing them with easy-to-access up-to-date information. The book is designed to help you to decide if podcasting is the right solution for the business challenge that your organization is facing, and then guide you to make the right decisions in selecting the software and hardware that you will use to create your podcasts. Podcasting 101 for Training and Development includes critical information about the legal issues surrounding podcast development, contains an approach to developing podcasts that will ensure that your podcasts make a positive business impact, and teaches you how to plan, record, edit, and publish a training podcast. «Timely and relevant, Podcasting 101 for Training and Development is required reading for anyone interested in realistic cost-effective strategies for delivering rapidly changing content to an increasingly mobile-enabled workforce. Kaliym strikes a perfect balance between visionary thinking and practical application.» –Tai Goodwin, principal lead, Learning Media «This book introduces not only a great media, but a great approach for developing and deploying podcasts in a training environment. Podcasting 101 for Training and Development is a must read for any training manager who must deploy frequently changing training programs to a distributed workforce.» –Herman C. Thomas, deputy director for technical training, New York City Housing Authority
The New Virtual Classroom draws on the most current research in multimedia learning as well as practitioner experience to show how to effectively harness the power of the virtual classroom. Written by Ruth Clark, co-author of the best selling e-Learning & the Science of Instruction, and Ann Kwinn¾recognized experts in instructional design and workforce learning, this important resource includes guidelines, research, and illustrative examples that clearly show how to leverage the powerful instructional features in the new virtual classroom.