Marginality : Addressing the Nexus of poverty, exclusion and ecology
In this volume economists, ecology experts, geographers, agronomists, sociologist, and business experts come together to address marginality. The inter-disciplinary research offers conceptual innovations and presents the dimensions of marginality in developing countries. Economic, political, and environmental drivers are assessed and mapped globally and in detail for countries in Africa and Asia, especially Ethiopia, India, Bangladesh, China, Indonesia. Economic growth especially in rural areas remains and farming communities is central to poverty reduction but needs to be complemented with specific actions to reach those at the margins.
Managing public services : Making informed choices
Chapters provide a valuable frame of reference for the 21st-century manager of public services by assessing the renewal of existing practices such as strategic costing, performance management, digitization and procurement and innovations in management practices, including branding, Lean Management, resilience and risk management. The book suggests that, as the management of public services is imbued with financial, social, economic and political uncertainties, management needs to be flexible and responsive to new ideas and practices to fulfil its purpose. This book ultimately supports the reflective manager, those who think about their job and are open to new ideas on how their job can be done better, by revisiting existing practices and examining innovations in public management.
Managing innovation in organisations : ostering an entrepreneurial approach
Explores how organisations need to manage their innovation processes in order to compete in the global marketplace. Innovation is essential to the ongoing competitiveness of organisations but can be difficult to capture and disseminate. This book states that there needs to be guidelines about how to manage innovation in an organisational context. This includes focusing on different types of innovation from incremental to radical. This book will focus on ways to manage innovation from incorporating it into organisational practices to implementing it into beneficial partnerships.
Managing Business Projects : The Essentials
Strong emphasis is placed on things that happen before, around, and after the project itself. So, while the basic disciplines like engaging with stakeholders, managing scope, schedules, costs, risks, issues, changes, and communication, are thoroughly explained, other important aspects are covered. These include: governance of a project and of a portfolio of projects, project selection with its financial and non-financial aspects, effective use of the business case through to benefits realization, procurement, outsourcing and partnership, and also the agile mindset that is valuable beyond Agile projects.
Managing Agile Business Technology : The Business and Technology Relationship Model in Practice
Describes in detail how the BTRM, combined with a focus on value creation and value delivery, will enable continuous change, in the context of current, emerging and future technologies. It illustrates the potential for real-time insight and control not previously considered and provides a wide range of information to plan an implementation, understand where AI can be applied, and its importance in the world of self-managing systems.
Management of Regulatory Influences on Corporate Strategy and Structure
In many industries, e.g. telecommunications, transportation, energy, chemicals, food and beverages, firm performance is heavily influenced by regulation. Despite this fact, strategic management research has traditionally focused on market strategies and related issues. Questions of how to manage regulatory involvement have been left to separate research streams on corporate political activity and a broader understanding of the complex inter-dependencies and mutual influences between corporate and external actors remains lacking.
Management by Measurement : Designing Key Indicators and Performance Measurement Systems
The selection of good performance indicators is not an easy process. This monograph focuses on the designing of a Performance Measurement System (PMS), knowing that "magic rules" to identify them do not exist. Some indicators seem right and easy to measure, but have subtle, counter-productive consequences. Other indicators are more difficult to measure, but focus the enterprise on those decisions and actions that are critical to success. This book suggests how to identify indicators that achieve a balance in these effects and enhance long-term profitability.
Making European Merger Policy More Predictable
Making European Merger Policy More Predictable analyses European Merger Control with regard to its capacity to generate predictability among the concerned parties. Starting from the premise that predictability is of overwhelming importance for the functioning of market economies, Voigt and Schmidt ask to what degree European Merger Control has been predictable over the last couple of years. The authors show both theoretically and empirically that there have been serious shortcomings with regard to the predictability of competition policy. They identify the insufficient recognition of the consequences of globalization on the competitive processes as well as an often inconsistent application of economic theory as the root causes for the lack of predictability. The inconsistent application of economic theory is particularly relevant with regard to potential competition and the evaluation of collective dominance. The authors generate a substantial number of proposals that could help to improve predictability. On this basis, Voigt and Schmidt critically assess the recent reforms of European Merger Control.
Logistics Outsourcing Relationships : Measurement, Antecedents, and Effects of Logistics Outsourcing Performance
In recent years, logistics outsourcing has gained increasing importance and today is used by a large number of firms across virtually all industries worldwide. Logistics service providers have developed a wide array of services that are utilized to improve logistics processes - and mainly to cut costs.This book uses state-of-the-art scientific methods to reveal that most firms currently do not realize the full potential of logistics outsourcing. It shows the complexity of outsourcing performance and that its true drivers lie in the relationship between service providers and their customers. Through the results of a large-scale empirical survey, the book also emphasizes the importance of a firm's approach towards outsourcing: solely striving for cost reductions may be a dead end, while the often overlooked increased logistics service levels are equally important for boosting logistics performance. In the light of current outsourcing practices, this indicates substantial room for improvement for most firms.
Life Cycle Investing and Occupational Old-Age Provision in Switzerland
Florian Zainhofer uses the theory of life cycle investing, i.e. how we should optimally choose our savings rate and risky asset share throughout our lives, as a framework to study the implications of a potential BVG individualization. Following an introduction on the Swiss system of old-age provision, the author reviews recent life cycle models of portfolio choice and covers their numerical solution algorithms in depth. He presents an empirical analysis of Swiss workers’ earnings dynamics since these are important determinants of life cycle investment behavior. To further investigate the implications of a flexible contribution rate and risky asset share in the mandatory BVG, the author proposes a model adapted to Swiss conditions and parameterized with the estimated earnings dynamics.
Leveraging Mobile Media : Cross-Media Strategy and Innovation Policy for Mobile Media Communication
Mobile communications and next generation wireless networks emerge as new distribution channels for the media. This development offers exciting new opportunities for media companies: the mobile communication system creates new usage contexts for media content and services; the social use of mobile communications suggests that identity representation in social networks, impulsive access to trusted media brands, and micro-coordination emerge as new sources of value creation in the media industries. In the light of this background, this book takes two different viewpoints on the development of mobile media: from a competitive strategy point of view it analyzes the extension of cross-media strategies and the emergence of cross-network strategies; from a public policy point of view it develops demands and requirements for an innovation policy that fosters innovation in mobile media markets.
Learning Analytics : Using Talent Data to Improve Business Outcomes
Effective evaluation and measurement of learning and development initiatives is critical to maximise the impact of training, identify gaps for improvement and ensure that efforts are aligned to the business' needs. Learning Analytics outlines how analytical approaches can respond to these challenges, the types and benefits of technological solutions and how to ask the right questions of organizational data in order to build a learning organization that boosts performance and competitive advantage.
Leading Pharmaceutical Innovation : Trends and Drivers for Growth in the Pharmaceutical Industry
Pharmaceutical giants have doubled their investments in drug development in the past decade only to see new drug approvals remain constant. This book investigates and highlights a set of proactive strategies aimed at generating sustainable competitive advantage based on value-generating business practices. We focus on three sources of pharmaceutical innovation: new management methods in the drug development pipeline, new technologies as enablers for cutting-edge R&D, and new forms of cooperation and internationalization, such as open innovation in the early phases of R&D. Our findings are illustrated by cases from Europe, the US, and Asia.
Leadership
• Practical, “how-to” approach that teaches you the skills you need to run a project successfully. • New spreads on powerful leadership while working remotely. / • Step-by-step instructions, tips, checklists and “Ask yourself” features that show you how to make an impact / • Tables, illustrations, “in-focus” panels and real-life case studies that demonstrate and explain problem-solving, and how to build confidence and get results.
Just-in-Time Scheduling : Models and Algorithms for Computer and Manufacturing Systems
As the field of Supply Chain Management has matured, maintaining the precise flow of goods to maintain schedules (hence, minimizing inventories) on a just-in-time basis still remains as a major challenge. This problem or challenge has resulted in a fair amount of quantitative research in the area, producing an array of models and algorithms to help ensure the precise flow of components and final products into inventories to meet just-in-time requirements.The scheduling models and algorithms presented and illustrated in the book will be done so in the context of extensive use of computer systems in a "real time context.
Competition in Marketing : Two Essays on the Impact of Information on Managerial Decisions and on Spatial Product Differentiation
In her first essay Vera Magin uses primary experimental data to explore the effects of information on marketing decisions, performance, and competition. In her second essay the author discusses several approaches to measure product differentiation in spatial contexts. In doing so, she refers to the measurement of diversity and also applies methods from disciplines like spatial statistics, forestry, and geography.
Competence of Top Management Teams and Success of New Technology-Based Firms : A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis Concerning Competencies of Entrepreneurial Teams and the Development of Their Ventures
In his book, Jan Brinckmann develops a comprehensive competence concept for new technology-based firms. It is grounded in competence-related literature combining insights from entrepreneurship and management research. The competence concept comprises three domains: general entrepreneurial competencies, social competencies, and functional competencies in technology, marketing, and financial management. A measurement model is developed to specify the contents of each sub-domain and to facilitate self-assessment of these competencies. In an empirical study, 212 executives of German NTBFs assessed their team’s competencies. This data is analyzed using structural equation modelling to identify the most relevant competencies for new venture success.
China's Energy Revolution in the Context of the Global Energy Transition
This book is an encyclopaedic analysis of the current and future energy system of the world’s most populous country and second biggest economy. What happens in China impacts the planet. In the past 40 years China has achieved one of the most remarkable economic growth rates in history. Its GDP has risen by a factor of 65, enabling 850,000 people to rise out of poverty.
Catastrophe modeling : A new approach to managing risk
Catastrophe Modeling: A New Approach to Managing Risk is the first book that systematically analyzes how catastrophe models can be used for assessing and managing risks of extreme events. It focuses on natural disaster risk, but also discusses the management of terrorism risk. A unique feature of this book is the involvement of three leading catastrophe modeling firms, AIR Worldwide, EQECAT, and Risk Management Solutions, who examine the role of catastrophe modeling in rate setting, portfolio management and risk financing. Given the uncertainties associated with terrorism the book points out the opportunities for utilizing catastrophe models to set insurance rates and to examine public-private partnerships for providing financial assistance in the event of a terrorist attack. This book is strongly recommended for individuals who must make decisions regarding the management of impacts of catastrophe risks including those in both the public and private sector.
Building intuition : Insights from basic operations management models and principles
"‘This user-friendly book will help the reader to develop insights with respect to a number of models that are important in the study and practice of operations management’. … all the chapters are extremely well written and a pleasure to read. … This would be a good book to use as a text in any operations management course, and in particular for operations management courses which are part of a ‘liberal studies’ program. It would also be good book for managers … ." (R Bharath, Journal of the Operational Research society, Vol. 60 (7), 2009)



















