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This proceedings volume presents a selection of the best papers from the 14th International Conference on Business Excellence, Business Revolution in the Digital Era (ICBE 2020), held in Bucharest, Romania. The respective papers share the latest findings and perspectives on innovation in a turbulent business environment, and on improvements in economic, societal and technological structures and processes to help reach major sustainability goals.

Advances in Business and Management. Volume 15 begins by presenting a paper examining the depth and range of psychological stressors and strains that entrepreneurs encounter in their new ventures, aiming to further clarify the confusion and inconsistencies of being self-employed. The following study was conducted in order to analyze the impacts of IT on e-business adoption and to understand the effects of quality IT strategies in e-business performance. Focusing on Chinese users through an online survey, the measurement instrument of this research model was developed from various studies. The authors go on to discuss brand management and the way in which it attempts to tap into collective meanings, associating life-world categories of thought and emotion. A seduction takes place whereby a captured emotional involvement with advertisements confuses the imaginary with perception and circumvents rational thought prior to purchase—all likely to evolve in directions anticipated by the market specialists. One paper shows that the manner an organisation approaches strategic planning is significant. A case study rooted in stewardship, service and divine endowments develops theoretical findings drawing from biblical strategy and blends these with contemporary strategic human resource management. Social impact assessment (SIA) has become a recent concept of interest within the business and public domains, soliciting further study by academics. SIA is an interdisciplinary social science that incorporates various fields and is regarded as a technique for predicting social impacts as part of an environmental impact assessment (EIA) or as a stand-alone process. This book contributes to the knowledge base of SIA and its relationship with b-corporations and integrated reporting, providing insights between these two fields of research. The penultimate current chapter embraces a topic which is still underdeveloped in the literature: how corporate social responsibility may or may not influence brand equity. Therefore, the authors conducted a literature review to analyse past studies on this topic, focusing on four major aspects. Today every customer is digital customer, and every enterprise is digital enterprise. It is proposed that the significantly changing business environment requires enterprises to rapidly change their structures, processes and systems in order to save their customers and to remain competitive and compliant to the requirements of the modern digital economy.

This book presents a collection of original research papers focused on the relationship between information technology and accounting and control models. The book discusses the importance of establishing a synergetic relationship between new information technologies (ERP, BI, web-based technology, data mining, XBRL, etc.) and new or renewed accounting models and tools (performance indicators, prevision and simulation models, accounting models for public administration, etc.) in order to enhance an organization's capability to manage information and make valuable decisions. The search for these synergies takes place at all organizational levels: at a strategic level, in order to simulate and forecast behaviors and financial results at a management level, in order to innovate performance measurement and improve value creation at the operational level, in order to improve information qualityand the efficiency of the information process. This book is particularly useful for IS and CFO managers and scholars, as it is based on a selection of the best papers – original, double blind reviewed contributions - presented to the Annual Conference of the Italian Chapter of AIS under the category “Accounting Information Systems”.

This book examines the impact of digital innovation on organizations. It reveals how the digital revolution is redefining traditional levels of analysis while at the same time blurring the internal and external boundaries of the organizational environment. It presents a collection of research papers that examine the interaction between Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and behavior from a threefold perspective: First, they analyze individual behavior in terms of specific organizational practices like learning, collaboration and knowledge transfer, as well as the use of ICT within the organization. Second, they explore the dynamics at work on the border between the internal and the external environments by analyzing the organizational impact of ICT usage outside the company, as can be seen in employer branding, consumer behavior and organizational image. Third, they investigate how ICT is being adopted to help face societal challenges outside the company like wasteand pollution, smart cities, and e-government. The diversity of views offered makes this book particularly relevant for users, companies, scientists and governments. The content is based on a selection of the best papers – original double-blind peer reviewed contributions –presented at the annual conference of the Italian chapter of AIS, which took place in Rome, Italy, in October 2015, or in other reputable international peer-refereed Information Systems conferences.

This book offers an up-to-date and comprehensive picture of the Vietnamese economy, which is the fast-growing economy in Southeast Asia. The country has invested heavily in education, health, and development infrastructure across the country. Progress in recent decades has been strong and Vietnam has attracted significant relocation and outsourcing of production from The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries. In the recent years, much of the foreign direct investment from China has been channeled to Vietnam. The state's development policy has created optimal conditions for further expansion of production, supply chain, education and finances. Investment in education, health, infrastructure, administration and regulations is facilitating investment inflows, technology transfer and spillover to the growing national companies. The educated young population and disciplined labor force have provided a strong basis for the growth of the economy. The high level of productivity, improved quality of products, low and competitive cost of production, and over 100 million people provide a strong base for a continuous economic growth. This edited volume, brings together selected papers presented at The 5th International Conference on Business (ICB 2023), providing good insights into the features of the economy and its development potential. They provide an up-to-date overview and an empirical research-based picture of the recent trends in Vietnam's economic development. The book would be a useful read for educators, undergraduate and graduate students, domestic and foreign investors, government agencies, provincial and industrial sector decision-makers, trade partners, libraries, individual researchers, and professional and practitioners. It helps to fill the gap in knowledge and inform development planners and investors about different sectors of the Vietnamese economy and its development potential.

This book gathers selected theoretical and empirical papers from the 29th Eurasia Business and Economics Society (EBES) Conference, held in Lisbon, Portugal. Covering diverse areas of business and management in various geographic regions, it highlights the latest research on human resources, management and marketing, among other topics. It also includes related studies that address marketing and management-relevant aspects such as the impact of supervisor support on employee performance through work engagement, the standardization of global logistics business operations, elements to support long-term B2B communication, and omni-channel strategies in the Marketing 4.0 paradigm.

This book presents selected theoretical and empirical papers from the 26th and 27th Eurasia Business and Economics Society (EBES) Conferences, held in Prague, Czech Republic, and Bali, Indonesia. Covering diverse areas of business and management in various geographic regions, it addresses a range of current topics, such as human resources, management, SMEs and marketing. It also includes related studies that analyze management and marketing aspects, e.g. workplace learning, gamification in business, resilience and entrepreneurship, the use of IT tools in small businesses, and dynamic marketing capabilities in an intercultural environment.

This book gathers selected theoretical and empirical papers from the 28th Eurasia Business and Economics Society (EBES) Conference, held in Coventry, United Kingdom. Covering diverse areas of business and management in various geographic regions, it highlights the latest research on human resources, management and marketing, among other topics. It also includes related studies that address management and marketing aspects such as telecommuting versus the traditional work environment, the effect of value congruence, promoting product characteristics using social media, perception of terrorism risks, and personal innovativeness and employability.

For decades Germany and France have been forming the core of the European Union. They generate about 40 per cent of total economic output in the Euro Zone. Nowhere else, there does exist such an intense relationship between neighbouring economies like between these two countries. Those links go far beyond external trade relations and are targeted towards mutual business cooperation. In the light of globalisation, a rising number of competitors, increasing customer demands and short product life cycles, cross-national commerce are of great importance for German Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) – particularly in the B2B sector. Sales is often tagged as an enterprise's figurehead. It is responsible for determining whether a manufacturer effectively conveys its capabilities to the B2B customer. To date, there exists no single reference book covering all four topics of this paper's headline: B2B, SMEs, sales and Franco-German business relationships. The ongoing literature is mainly focussed on large firms. The subject of international sales has hardly been investigated, yet. Apart from the sales excellence approach, there are few selling models for corporate practice. The lack of sales expertise both in theory and practise is thus not the ideal prerequisite for succeeding on a cross-border scale. This study addresses sales challenges of German SMEs with its trading partner France in the B2B sector. It should be stressed that the focus is on SMEs from Germany only. The company size of French business partners does not play a role in this context. The acquisition-related part of sales (selling) is highlighted while the physical component (distribution) is secondary within the framework of this assignment. In consequence, the central question is to figure out what kind of challenges German SMEs must face when exerting B2B sales activities in France. A related sub-issue is defined as follows: “Which type of challenge has the greatest impact on cross-border sales operations in France?” The declared purpose of this study is to answer the above-mentioned queries. Following the acquired basic knowledge this is done through an empirical survey. Furthermore, it is targeted to provide recommendations in order to enhance sales efficiency and effectiveness of German SMEs.

This book discusses the concepts of volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity (VUCA) that are the core of various paradigms used in strategic management to understand competitive advantage as well as flexibility in organizational boundaries. It serves as a valuable reference resource in the area of VUCA markets. An increase in the levels and types of uncertainty has important implications potentially for the durability of a company's advantages, the way firms learn and adapt, approaches for managing innovation and knowledge, and the attractiveness of different strategies and organizational models. In today's world, strategic flexibility in VUCA is essential for business leaders to sustain market advantage and attain a clear vision amid the chaos. Business leaders who stay focused and are aware of external volatility as the prevalent characteristic are successful, while those who are not flexible in this VUCA world and lock themselves into fixed positions lose out.The book includes empirical and conceptual research papers along with case studies and models discussing strategies for emerging markets in volatile and uncertain environments. It also covers a variety of issues, including innovation, people and processes, financial management, and leadership and strategies in VUCA markets. Apart from research fraternity and academia, the contents of the book will be useful for practitioners as well as industry watchers.

This volume provides the latest outcomes of augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) research conducted in various industries. It reveals how AR and VR are currently changing the business landscape, and how new innovations provide opportunities for businesses to offer their customers unique services and experiences. Collecting the proceedings of the International AR & VR Conference held in Manchester, UK, in February 2017, the book advances the state of the art in AR and VR technologies and their applications in various industries such as tourism, hospitality, events, fashion, entertainment, retail, education and the gaming industry. The papers presented here cover the most significant topics within the field of AR and VR for both researchers and practitioners, approaching them from a business and management perspective.

This edited book focuses on growth and entrepreneurial development in rapidly developing countries in Asia-Pacific region. The book synthesizes the scholarly papers and ideas presented at the 3rd International Conference on Managing the Asian Century, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in 2015. It accounts for that fact that entrepreneurs of today are focusing more on technology and that this is happening in so-called Smart Nations. Chapters in the book elaborate on huge gains in innovation in ASEAN, China and India. Gains that are essential for national growth. Some of the issues that are covered include developments in Financial-Data Analysis, Global Healthcare, Geospatial Analysis, Lean Manufacturing, Human Resource, and Big Data and Learning Analytics.

These conference proceedings focus on the topic of decision-making under uncertainty, smart decisions, management simulation and their applications in operations management for power and logistics companies. The Beijing University of Chemical Technology organized IFDS2015, the 3rd International Forum on Decision Sciences, with this year's theme being “Decision Making under Uncertainty”. The proceedings collect 7 selected papers presenting the cutting-edge modeling and solution methods and including numerous practical case studies, which are of interest for researchers and practitioners alike. Teachers, students and practitioners working in the fields of decision science, operations research, management science and engineering will benefit from the valuable findings presented in this book.

Management and Leadership Innovations, vol. 38 of Advances in Librarianship presents techniques, cases and theoretical papers on how libraries and other non-profit organizations can achieve sustainability through application of the UN's Agenda 21, how to interview candidates through non-traditional and interactive processes to assess'soft skills'needed to join a team, how a model was developed to ensure successful school libraries, and how academic libraries can provide leadership in sustaining and preserving their surrounding communities'history and culture. It also offers chapters on the utility of gossip in management, how to provide mindful leadership within an organization, and how to identify and manage levels of stress and burnout. The volume presents a case study of how a library altered the skill sets of subject librarians to function in teams using a matrix approach in order to better serve clients. Another innovation is represented by a chapter on staff development and service through participation in a community of practice. Also included is a chapter on service design a relatively new concept of service design which is critical in improving user/customer satisfaction and patronage.

In the early 1980s, Springfield Remanufacturing Corporation (SRC) in Springfield, Missouri, was a near bankrupt division of International Harvester. That's when a green young manager, Jack Stack, took over and turned it around. He didn't know how to'manage'a company, but he did know about the principal, of athletic competition and democracy: keeping score, having fun, playing fair, providing choice, and having a voice. With these principals he created his own style of management -- open-book management. The key is to let everyone in on financial decisions. At SRC, everyone learns how to read a P&L -- even those without a high school education know how much the toilet paper they use cuts into profits. SRC people have a piece of the action and a vote in company matters. Imagine having a vote on your bonus and on what businesses the company should be in. SRC restored the dignity of economic freedom to its people. Stack's'open-book management'is the key -- a system which, as he describes it here, is literally a game, and one so simple anyone can use it. As part of the Currency paperback line, the book includes a'User's Guide'-- an introduction and discussion guide created for the paperback by the author -- to help readers make practical use of the book's ideas. Jack Stack is the president and CEO of the Springfield Remanufacturing Corporation, in Springfield, Missouri. The recipient of the 1993 Business Enterprise Trust Award, Jack speaks throughout the country on The Great Game Of Business and Open Book Management.

This book originated in a symposium on business ethics that took place in the Faculty of Commerce at the University of Canterbury in September of 1997. Professor Werhane, who was a visiting Erskine Fellow, provided the keynote address, and many of the papers in this collection were originally presented at this symposium. We are grateful to Kluwer Publishers for the opportunity to publish these essays in their series on International Business Ethics. We want to thank the Olsson Center for Applied Ethics at the Darden School, University of Virginia, and the Erskine Trust and the Department of Management at the University of Canterbury for their support of Professor Werhane's fellowship, research for this text, and funding for its production. We especially want to thank Lisa Spiro, who copy-edited and prepared the manuscript for publication. INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW This book originated in a symposium on business ethics that took place in the faculty of commerce, at the University of Canterbury, in September 1997. Professor Werhane, who was a visiting Erskine Fellow, provided the keynote address. Contributions to the proceedings were. inter-disciplinary, spanning theory and practice. Subsequent contributions were obtained from within New Zealand and from Asia. The book starts off on rather a pessimistic note: the new managerialism (the kind of thing Scott Adams jokes about in the world-famous Dilbert cartoons) is economically suspect and psychologically damaging.

Increasingly companies'stakeholders require organisations to observe international standards prescribed by international laws, treaties, conventions, recommendations, and/or codes of conduct. The papers selected for this volume explore 1) the ethical pressures on international business to meet the challenges of diversity, 2) suggested methods of coping with diversity, and 3) the challenges required to overcome corporate self-interest in the search for new instruments. Collectively these articles reflect scholarly insights and corporate responses to diversity in international business, a topic of wide interest in contemporary business ethics.

Computer-Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) is an interdisicplinary research area devoted to exploring the issues of designing computer-based systems that enhance the abilities of cooperating workers to coordinate and integrate their activities in an efficient, effective, and flexible manner. This rigorously selected volume represents both practical and theoretical approaches from many of the leading researchers in the field. As an interdisciplinary area of research, CSCW is characterized by bringing together widely disparate research traditions and perspectives into an arena of collaboration and contention. The selected papers reflect the diverse approaches and cultures of this multi-disciplinary field. This collection will be of interest to a wide audience - because of the huge practical import of the issues and because of the interdisciplinary nature of the problems and the solutions proposed. In particular, the volume will be of interest to researchers and professionals in computing, sociology, cognitive science, and human factors.

Innovation networks are a major source for acquiring new information and knowledge and thus for supporting innovation processes. Despite the many theoretical and empirical contributions to the explanation of networks, many questions still remain open. For example: How can networks, if they do not emerge by their own, be initiated? How can fragmentation in innovation systems be overcome? And how can networking experience from market economies be transferred to the emerging economies of Central and Eastern Europe? By presenting a selection of papers which address innovation networking from theoretical and political viewpoints, the book aims at giving answers to these questions.

Taken from the post colonialism stream at the International Critical Management Studies Conference 2006, this e-book contains theoretical and empirical papers from across the world, which reflect different aspects of contemporary issues in post colonialism. This e-book sets the standards by which all future postcolonial organization studies will be judged.

This book presents a comprehensive overview of contemporary indigenization topics in the cultural context of sub-Saharan Africa. Discussing current state of affairs of indigenous entrepreneurship in Africa, it seeks to understand what enables and constrains indigenous entrepreneurship in the region. Further, it explores the role of the institutional environment in promoting indigenous entrepreneurship. Tying in the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the chapters examine how indigenous entrepreneurship relates to ending poverty, creating decent work and economic growth, reducing inequalities, contributing to sustainable cities and communities, and promoting peace, justice and strong institutions. For researchers interested in how indigenous entrepreneurship practices in sub- Saharan Africa contest contemporary theories in entrepreneurship and management research, this work will prove a valuable resource with its much- needed case studies, quantitative and qualitative research, and practitioner perspectives.

Drawing on research into leadership and emotional intelligence, this updated second edition presents a framework that can lead to effective change implementation. It reflects on more recent arguments, research and changes in the areas of leadership and change, such as relational leadership, shared leadership, and the significant role of purpose beyond profit. Two new chapters explore the dark side of leadership and mindful leadership.Set against a backdrop of increasing complexity, the book responds to the need for organisations to continuously change and transform and book addresses the real challenges of effective implementation. Exploring these concepts at individual, team and organizational levels, this book recognises the complexity of the topic and combines rigour with relevance to underpin the framework with empirical evidence.

This book explores how theories of cognition inform our theoretical understanding of business models and business model innovation. A business model can either be viewed as an objective description of an activity system, or as an abstract, conceptual, and perceptual construct, that is the result of cognition. From this second point of view, the business model becomes a schematic mental model that is created, shaped, and shared over time. In other words, managers hold in their mind perceptual constructs that constitute schemas of the business model.This book examines how the underlying processes of the creation, shaping, and sharing of business (mental) models take place at individual, organizational, and even inter-organizational levels. Theories of managerial and organizational cognition are explored to inform our understanding of business modelling and business model innovation. The reader is thus provided with an overview of existing literature and reflections on future avenues of research to explore the cognitive foundations of business modelling.

In the contemporary business landscape, the imperative for innovative approaches to business model innovation (BMI) is more pronounced than ever, especially given the pressing grand challenges, technological disruptions, digital transformation, and pressing environmental and social concerns of our era. The prevailing discourse in business model and BMI scholarship predominantly revolves around established frameworks and methodologies, thereby not fully capturing the burgeoning opportunities and transformative forces redefining BMI's future trajectory. This open access volume aims to fill the gap in scholarly discourse by offering a theory-rich exploration into the innovative pathways of business model innovation. Crafted for a global readership, this text serves as an invaluable resource for academic institutions, their faculty, students, and practitioners of business development within both expansive corporations and medium-sized enterprises. A key contribution of this edited book is the introduction of groundbreaking models and theoretical insights within the BMI domain, identifying key research gaps and further research venues for junior and senior academics to pursue, while enhancing the comprehension of how entities—ranging from individual organizations to expansive networks—can innovate, execute, and capitalize on BMI in the forthcoming landscape. Furthermore, this book elucidates the multifaceted nature of business model innovation across diverse contexts, illustrating the myriad ways BMI can be conceptualized and operationalized to achieve varying objectives, benefits, and results contingent upon the specific scenario. Lastly, this volume is dedicated to invigorating and equipping both nascent startups and entrenched firms to seize emergent BMI opportunities, fostering an environment where leveraging networks and platforms becomes a cornerstone for future business model innovation.

This book improves the alignment of economics with the idea of justice, the first virtue of any social institution, according to Rawls. To this aim, it provides the analytical framework necessary to ensure a just economy. While today's notion of economics favours the economics of extortion, this book proposes a model that transcends Lionel Robbins'canonical relationship between ends and means, as it proposes a broader notion of rationality incorporating the range of human attributes. In contrast to Robbins'economic rationality, economic choices must be based on adequate and good reasons, as Rescher claims, because both the means and the ends require rational deliberation. As a result, the book challenges Robbins'hope of turning general concepts like scarcity, costs, etc. into universal economic principles guiding human behavior in a vacuum. It disputes the idea that, through the application of the abstract formulation of economic statements unconnected to reality, economics can be rationalized in a morally neutral space, based on empty rationality. By contrasting the three rival versions of economics —formalism (axiomatic), empiricism (technocratic-consequential), and institutionalism (axio-ideological)— the book shows that it is not possible to switch between them as they refer to segmented mental universes of abstraction.

The purpose of this book is to highlight how current successful Japanese multinational enterprises (MNEs) and companies have changed their business or business models in the past three decades. Japanese MNEs received a lot of attention from academia and industry during the 1980s and the early 1990s, and their factors for success have been compared with those of Western MNEs. Unfortunately, following the collapse of the “bubble economy” in the early 1990s, international business researchers and practitioners'attention has turned away from Japan and its MNEs to emerging markets, notably the rapidly growing China.Japanese MNEs have faced the mature domestic economy and also have had to overcome many new challenges in the twenty-first century, such as rapid aging, depopulation, and response to new technologies. Japanese MNEs and companies today are being forced to respond to new business environments never seen in the past. The prerequisites for business activities have significantly changed from those of former Japanese companies and their management practices. Even in such a difficult situation, however, many Japanese MNEs and emerging companies have achieved steady growth and have succeeded by changing their business models. This book provides the reader with new directions for research and lessons by analyzing the challenges of Japanese multinational enterprises and emerging companies. The redirection of attention is expected to have a positive impact on the field of international business study and practice.

This book focuses on advances in business and management. Chapter 1 discusses sustainable financing for green businesses, examining it through the lenses of Islamic finance and Islamic spirituality. In Chapter 2, with the aim of finding out the presence of internal corporate culture variables, the authors investigate the Sustainability Reports published in 2023 from companies that make up the IBEX 35 (Spanish Stock Exchange). Chapter 3 investigates the impact of website style, security and privacy measures, user experience, customer support, and the delivery of goods service on the level of satisfaction experienced by online shoppers in Saudi Arabia. Chapter 4 delves into the multifaceted landscape of Masstige marketing, examining its origins, evolution, and contemporary applications. Chapter 5 analyzes the implications of green knowledge and technology in organizational green innovation and green human talent development management. Chapter 6 compares preferred work values of Muslim and Jewish managers in Israel, a Western country where Muslims constitute a substantial but marginalized minority. Chapter 7 discusses the relationship between law and ethics in accounting. Finally, Chapter 8 provides a comprehensive overview of the recent developments surrounding Parate Execution in Sri Lanka.

This book focuses on analytical and quantitative methods that align improvement opportunities with organizational goals and metrics. The book describes a framework that starts with developing a holistic view of an organization and then defining the organization's goals, objectives, decision criteria, and metrics to result in meaningful measures for process, project, and product investment decisions. The author describes how to utilize decision-making tools, analytical methods, and optimization techniques to enhance the objectivity and robustness of the readers'decisions. This framework supports the use of these tools and enables readers to make decisions that drive bottom-line performance. Aspects of this approach have been used in corporate, military, and government agencies to drive the efficient use of available resources.

The place and impact of large, elite business schools is hotly debated. Compared to such establishments, little has been written about smaller, regional, community-oriented business schools that serve and interact with their various communities at home or abroad.Focusing on one of the smaller regional business schools in the UK, and incorporating perspectives from further afield, this book seeks to redress that balance. This local focus enables a more holistic understanding of what really goes on in terms of the complex relationships, practices, challenges and contexts at play in such an arena. The book, conceived throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, reverberates with a multiplicity of voices, perspectives and narratives, and reflects a process of collaborative autoethnography and critical friendship. It will be of great value to academics, students and others who are interested in optimising the benefits of regional business schools around the world.

Adopting a multidisciplinary approach, Justin Craig and Ken Moores reinforce the positioning of business as a science and remind the reader that those involved in the practice of business are, in fact, social scientists. Showcasing a novel science of business framework, the book is populated with economic, entrepreneurial, accounting, financial, marketing and management discipline perspectives.Incorporating critical insights from practising business scientists, this incisive book emphasises the significance of theoretical explanations and scientific foundations, valuing science, theory and practice as equally important. Chapters rigorously analyse the works of seminal thinkers who have helped to formalise the position of business as a social science. The evolution of economics, entrepreneurship, accounting, finance, marketing and management disciplines as standalone scientific pursuits is explored.The Science of Business is a reminder that there is a business component to most activities and will prove to be an indispensable resource for academics, researchers, educators and students in many arenas, including government, engineering, medicine, law as well as traditional domains such as entrepreneurship, management education, organisation studies, and management. Business practitioners and advisors across a broad spectrum will similarly benefit from the book's practical implications.

Learn how pioneering business leaders are resetting their companies'relationship to nature, society, and our common future In The New Nature of Business: The Path to Prosperity and Sustainability, businessman Andre Hoffmann and journalist Peter Vanham describe how companies should change their ways to have continued success, and why the current modus operandi is not working. They present a template for creating “sustainable prosperity”, and case-studies of companies that survived and thrived by opting for change. In doing so, they provide a way out of long-standing dilemmas, such as how to balance business needs with impact on nature, shareholders with stakeholders, and short-term vs. long-term profits. You'll find: A first-hand account of global healthcare company Roche's sustainability practice, as told by André (Roche's vice-chairman), chairman Severin Schwan, and several other senior management members Case-studies and lessons of organizations with visionary leaders, such as INSEAD, IKEA, Harley Davidson, and Holcim, all of whom have taken a holistic view of their role in the world, and succeeded in doing well while doing good Strategies for addressing the negative externalities and trade-offs that arise from doing business; identifying the right metrics and targets to deliver on your purpose; and accounting for human, social, and natural capital, alongside financial capital A must-read book for business leaders, entrepreneurs, and changemakers at companies around the world, The New Nature of Business, is also insightful and timely for those who advise or oversee companies and their leadership teams.

This book, now in a thoroughly revised and updated second edition, takes a pragmatic and hype–free approach to explaining artificial intelligence and how it can be utilised by businesses today. At the book's core is a framework which describes, in nontechnical language, the nine core capabilities of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Each of these capabilities, ranging from image recognition, through prediction, to Generative AI, is explained using real–life examples and how they can be applied in a business environment. The advent of Large Language Models has put AI front and centre of Board discussions. AI has the ability to deliver step–change benefits to organisations and enables forward–thinking business leaders to rethink their business models or create completely new businesses. But most of the real value of AI is hidden behind marketing hyperbole, confusing terminology, inflated expectations and dire warnings of ‘robot overlords'. Any business executive who wants to know how to exploit AI in their business today is left confused and frustrated. As an advisor in AI, Andrew Burgess regularly comes face–to–face with business executives who are struggling to cut through the AI and LLM hype. The knowledge and experience he has gained in advising them has provided him with the skills to help business executives understand what AI is and how they can exploit its many benefits. Through the distilled knowledge included in this book, business leaders will be able to take full advantage of this most disruptive of technologies and create substantial competitive advantage for their companies.

This book describes a new methodology for planning and delivering projects and products. HYPERID (Hyper Inter-Methodological Delivery) is suitable for any type of project - from developing AI-powered software to building a skyscraper - regardless of whether those projects have typically been delivered using agile or sequential methods to date. HYPERID is particularly suitable for'fixed time/fixed price'projects and can address the core project delivery needs of today's enterprises that primarily revolve around predictability and successful delivery in terms of cost, time, and added value while remaining agile.HYPERID, as a hybrid methodology, makes use of some existing approaches and complements them with additional processes, structures, best practices, and behaviors. The methodology was developed because previous process models - classic (such as the waterfall method) and agile (including Scrum) cannot meet some of today's key requirements. HYPERID can be used to address the following core needs: reliable predictability and rapid planning, iterative and value-added results, and on-time and on-budget execution. The book is structured in such a way that the reader can learn all the necessary skills for planning and implementation according to the HYPERID methodology. The explanation of the individual steps is supplemented by background information, examples, and both best and bad practices. HYPERID is aimed at project managers and product managers, as well as executives who want to improve the implementation of their projects or products. On the HYPERID website you will find further information, updates, and tools for practical implementation.

This ambitious book develops an integrative understanding of business transparency spanning business disciplines. It synthesizes the vast, siloed research on business transparency to develop and provide an integrative view for business researchers and scholars, pointing out research opportunities in the process. The first chapter introduces business transparency with a brief historical overview, followed by its key conceptualizations and challenges. Chapters 2 through 5 take up four conceptually distinct views of transparency in depth: transparency as strategic disclosure (Chapter 2), transparency as a business tactic (Chapter 3), transparency as organizational culture (Chapter 4) and transparency as a managerial virtue (Chapter 5). Chapter 6 explores transparency's infeasibility challenge through the chasm between disclosure and understanding and considers its implications. The final chapter provides an integrative framework of business transparency. This book will be useful to business academics who are interested in transparency and associated concepts.

Business in Action remains the premier text for important introductory business principles and concepts. Featuring a highly organized, objective-driven structure, it incorporates relevant, contemporary examples and trends from the business world. From the life-changing impact of the pandemic to the prospect of conducting business in the metaverse to a spark of hope in the union movement, the past several years have been momentous for business. The 10th Edition has been thoroughly revised to reflect all these changes and help prepare you for the complexities and expectations of today's workplace.

This book is devoted to fuzzy quantitative studies in managerial science, discussing the philosophical background and decision-making essentials. For reference, a series of practical examples illustrate broad areas of application that are important in project risk management problems, and in complicated mega projects. Using computers to simulate human intelligence with fuzzy approaches is the basis of “Fuzzy-AI model,” which offers an efficient tool capable of simulating human intelligence in order to perform digitized decision inference and quantitative information management.

The best employees don't stick around just because they like your product, you, or their coworkers. Turnover is the pandemic of today in the world of employment and there don't appear to be too many cures. Leadership is rarely taught and the pressure on untrained managers and owners leads to the pitfalls that come with a revolving door of new faces who don't stick around long enough to earn an annual bonus. Or they do stay, and you sometimes wish they wouldn't?Sean Barnard instinctively knows how to help leaders at any level get the most out of their team members and can show you innovative ways to increase retention from the first chapter. From a middle-class background in southern England to the C - Suite in Charlotte, North Carolina, Sean tells his story in a way that leaders at all levels can easily relate. His first book is a firsthand look inside every aspect of how to manage people. He understands what it's like to be unmotivated as an hourly employee and what it takes to turn that into a loyal and happy team player who roots for the success of everyone around him, including the company he works for.Sharing a career that spans living in three countries, leading teams from Europe to the Caribbean and the United States, the reader will hear his story, with blunders, pitfalls to avoid and the huge wins that came along the way. With a genuine commitment to telling his story, readers will walk away knowing how they will be the leader they want to be and the leader their employees deserve.'

The rise of China poses a significant challenge to the existing, Western-dominated world economic order. The effectiveness of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is contingent on a smooth transition of the world's economic center toward the Asia-Pacific Region. For Western investors, the vast market opportunities can be tempting. However, the lack of experience and knowledge of international management in China – a country with radically different business rules and cultural background – poses a substantial risk. This book provides comprehensive insights into the fast-changing business world in China. Based on the authors'theoretical knowledge and invaluable years of practical experience, it discusses the various options for doing business in China, with current examples that demonstrate how European SMEs can successfully position themselves between multinational companies and local competitors. It also highlights new opportunities arising from China's international involvement (New Silk Road, RCEP) and addresses risk management for European SMEs operating in China. Moreover, it sheds light on how to form relationships of mutual trust between Chinese policymakers and their advisors/cooperation partners from abroad. Readers with an interest in doing business in China will find this book particularly valuable.

Grasp essential economic concepts applied to the business world. If you are a student on a business or management degree or diploma and taking a one-semester module or short course which includes economics, then this text is written for you. The text covers the core economics that you will need as a business student, but also various business-related topics not typically covered in an introductory economics textbook, such as the business environment, organisation and strategy. Written in a clear and friendly style with no jargon, each chapter includes topical examples, news stories and case studies from real businesses to explain and illustrate key economic concepts as well as activities, questions and useful summaries to help you check your understanding. The new edition has been thoroughly updated to reflect recent events that have shaken the business world, including the Covid-19 pandemic, Brexit and rampant inflation caused first by supply-chain problems after global lockdowns and then by the surge in energy, input and food prices following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Access the free student website that accompanies this book for additional learning support, including animated explainers of key economic models, multiple choice questions, extra case studies and answers to in-text questions.

This book describes the adoption process of TRIZ under challenging conditions and under serious limitations. It presents the integration of TRIZ with other techniques to solve problems in the Latin America industry. The chapters contain some industrial cases that explain the adoption process of TRIZ. They also describe the restrictions or limits on the use and adoption of TRIZ. This book describes a strategy to apply the TRIZ tools for product or service design. Case studies from different universities and enterprises are presented to facilitate the assimilation of the TRIZ concepts and tools.

A deep dive into the internal and external environments in which a business operates today. The Business Environment: A Global Perspective, 9th Edition, by Thompson, Worthington and Britton offers a comprehensive and accessible introduction to how local and international business environments operate. Employing a PESTLE model which is relevant to all industries, this best-selling textbook takes you through contexts, types of organisation and markets, dealing with contemporary issues in socioeconomic, political and legal structures. The new edition offers a clear explanation of economics such as why the prices of the things you buy might go up or down, or why employment might be harder or easier to find at any given time. New chapters on the global Covid-19 pandemic and de-globalising factors, including Brexit, give an all-round perspective on how factors influence one another, and convey the complexity of the business environment. The wealth of contemporary case studies from local and international organisations, helps you put theory into practice.

This book explores diverse dimensions of innovation in business and finance from a micro as well as macro perspective through various case studies and analyses of trends. The previous decade is known as the era of digital transformation and innovation. The rise of new technologies is having an impact on the global trends and leading to innovation in business and finance. In this competitive market, businesses and financial institutions must be responsive to the trends in order to survive and thrive, governments must cope with the complex and uncertain environments by being smart, transforming service delivery, and implementing smart governance practices, and entrepreneurs and investors are faced with alternative sources of finance and investment.However, keeping up with these trends and innovations is fraught with its own set of challenges. Thus, it is important to analyze new and emerging technologies and innovations through a myriad of disciplinary lenses. This book not only expands conceptual understanding of digital transformation and innovation by presenting strong empirical evidence, but also by adding to the vigorous worldwide policy discussion on how to assist businesses in the digital transition. The book will be useful to scholars and researchers of business management, financial management, business economics, international business, human resources, and marketing. It will also be of interest to entrepreneurs, policymakers, academicians, and practitioners in the field.

This handbook explores the theme of managing inside China and consists of chapters that communicate the major managerial concepts within the context of Mainland China. Its key emphasis is to clearly highlight the differences in the art of managing in China vs. the West, while acknowledging that these differences may be narrowing as a result of globalization. Chapters in the book elaborate on how management is affected as China experiences rapid change while some aspects of Chinese culture remain unchanged and steeped in tradition. The book goes further in exploring this complexity by juxtaposing China's orientation towards interpersonal relations, or'guanxi', with the government's emphasis on law, which is now becoming more rule-based than before. Business & Management academics and practitioners will gain useful insight into Chinese management practices and their contrast to established Western ones when they use the Handbook of Chinese Management as a reference.

To effectively deliver sustainable management in practice for Africa, we need responsible leadership. We need to deepen our understanding of sustainability in the unique socio-political and economic context of the continent. The roles of various actors across public, private and non-profit sectors as enablers of sustainable development need to be explored to understand the social, economic and environmental (SEE) trends in Africa and its emerging and developing economies, as well as to chart the way forward for the continent.This second volume explores the roles and responsibilities of the players—leaders and followers—in the core, public purpose and business spheres in delivering sustainable development outcomes for Africa. Drawing on interviews, cases and extensive literature, this volume contributes to reflection on the leadership values and practices required for a sustainable Africa and the crafting of new policy approaches to address the development challenges such as environmental degradation, economic inequities and social exclusion in Africa. The African scope of the book is hinged on collaboration from authors across Africa and the inclusion of case stories from emerging economies in the five African subregions (East, West, North, Central and Southern Africa) within the chapters. The core message is that, to achieve effective and sustainable management and development for Africa, the practice of responsible leadership is critical.

It is an unconditional reality that the tourism industry in Asia is becoming exposed to innovative technologies more than ever before. This book reports the latest research in the application of innovative technology to the tourism industry, covering the perspectives, innovativeness, theories, issues, complexities, opportunities and challenges affecting tourism in Asia. A blend of comprehensive and extensive efforts by the contributors and editors, it is designed especially to cover technology applications in tourism fairs, festivals and events in Asia. The application and practice of technologies in tourism, including the relevant niches of fairs, festivals and events are also covered, with a focus on the importance of technology in tourism. This book highlights, in a comprehensive manner, technologies that are impacting the tourism industry in Asia, as well as the constraints it is facing. It deals with distinct topics, such as tourism promotion, technology-driven sustainable tourism development, social media, accessibility and so on to cover fairs, festivals and events. This book is a significant contribution towards the very limited knowledge in this identified research area, with examples from selected Asian countries. This book is designed to accommodate both qualitative and quantitative research linking theory and practice. This book has a clear focus on outlining the research issues. Each chapter of the book highlights a methodology that was used, with rationale for its use. This book addresses a number of revisions that unify the theme or framework to integrate the chapters.

If each of us on this Earth has 24 hours every day, how do some achieve so much, while others can hardly get by? Is there a way to manage time much more efficiently without losing sight of the good things in life? In this book, August-Wilhelm Scheer, a scientist, entrepreneur, political advisor and passionate jazz saxophonist, presents a definitive guide to time management based on his own experience. The reader is introduced to bold start-ups, exciting corporate takeovers and sales, and the demands on politicians in this regard. In addition to insider tips on the start-up ecosystem, the book offers a wealth of advice on how to manage time effectively. August-Wilhelm Scheer is one of the most influential scientists and entrepreneurs in German information technology. The ARIS method for process management, which he developed, is used in virtually many DAX companies and internationally. He heads a group of nine companies including Scheer GmbH, imc AG and Scheer PAS GmbH, as well as the non-profit August-Wilhelm Scheer Research Institute.

This volume includes eleven chapters that present various research updates in the fields of business and management. Chapter One describes the current disruptive process and growing fragmentation in the global labor market and shows how digital platforms have reconfigured the organization of work and the trends that emerge in the context of the pandemic. Chapter Two addresses how the development of people in organizations around the world is achieved and what advancements are on the horizon in this area, specifically in Latin America. Chapter Three analyzes corporate social responsibility in agribusiness in Latin America. Chapter Four investigates whether the shift in focus of companies from shareholder to all stakeholders has led to a reorientation of renumeration incentives. Chapter Five explores the role of buyers'personalities on their responses to business-to-business advertising messages. Chapter Six analyzes the main entropy measures applied to the sovereign credit rating data of the European Union. Chapter Seven highlights the importance of collaborative entrepreneurship education. Chapter Eight describes strategies for success for small and medium enterprises using action-oriented systems thinking simulations. Chapter Nine analyzes narrative practices of greenwashing developed by multinational corporations in Spain. Chapter Ten discusses major policy changes for Bhutan in light of the impact of the pandemic on tourism. Finally, Chapter Eleven proposes and evaluates a framework augmenting the standard business cycle model with shopping time to study business cycles in Bulgaria.

The days of cheap raw materials and energy sources are gone. Suppliers will demand price increases due to the rising costs of energy and materials. This book describes how your purchasing department is able to gain (more) profit for your company and includes new ideas for successful purchasing and supplier development in Asia. The author discusses how to reduce costs in productive (BOM) and non-productive materials (NPMs) and how to calculate product and tool costs. As well, the book shows ways to negotiate your results with your suppliers in Asia and build an effective system of supplier relationship management.

This book discusses the aspects of global competition in terms of the strategies that could be applied to improve the competitive position of businesses and consolidate gains particularly in the Thai market. The book is composed of 10 chapters focusing on topics related to business strategy, such as competition, marketing, innovation, utilizing information, technology, human resources, strategic alliances, customer service, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of strategies, and corporate social responsibility. This book will serve as a useful guide for those already in business in Thailand as well as for businesses that hope to expand their existing operations in Thailand to the global market.

Better Business introduces the business content you need, in a better way. By presenting and connecting the evolving issues and opportunities of business, the text encourages you to come to class prepared to have better conversations. Throughout the text, unique features illustrate positive and negative outcomes of relevant business ventures, while Mini Chapters focus on key topics in business. The 6th Edition continues to feature updated social media strategies and technologies, reflecting the explosive growth of social media in the contemporary business environment.