We find risk everywhere--from genetically modified crops, medical malpractice, and stem-cell therapy to heartbreak, online predators, identity theft, inflation, and robbery. They arise from our own acts and they are imposed on us. In this Very Short Introduction, Baruch Fischhoff and John Kadvany draw on both the sciences and humanities to illuminate both the similarities and differences of var…
If managed sustainably, forests play an indispensable role in climate and biodiversity protection. They protect soils and water resources, provide livelihoods, and contribute to the wellbeing of rural and urban communities. European forests are multifunctional, providing a range of ecosystem services, including the production of renewable materials that are able to substitute for alternatives w…
In 2024, the Biden administration issued a policy that will make over four million workers newly eligible to qualify for overtime pay. The U.S. Department of Labor did this by raising the “overtime threshold,” which is the salary ceiling under which salaried workers still qualify automatically for overtime pay if they work more than 40 hours in a week, even though those workers are not …
Modern civilization is at a crossroads, at a potential inflection point in its historical evolution. The scientific community has advised that the window for decisive collective action to stabilize greenhouse gas emissions and avoid catastrophic impacts on people and the planet will close within a decade. The COVID-19 pandemic has created one of the worst health and socio-economic …
The 'data revolution' offers many new opportunities for research in the social sciences. Increasingly, social and political interactions can be recorded digitally, leading to vast amounts of new data available for research. This poses new challenges for organizing and processing research data. This comprehensive introduction covers the entire range of data management techniques, from flat files…
The Internet has evolved in a series of waves (Cisco 2012). The first three waves were device-centric. In the first wave, we went to a device, typically a desktop PC, to access the Internet. As mobile computing evolved, soon we brought our own devices with us and could access the Internet any-where anytime. Today, we are in the midst of the so-called Internet of Things (IoT) wher…
Many of us insist the main impediment to a full, successful life is the outside world. In fact, the most common enemy lies within: our ego. Early in our careers, it impedes learning and the cultivation of talent. With success, it can blind us to our faults and sow future problems. In failure, it magnifies each blow and makes recovery more difficult. At every stage, ego holds us back. Ego Is…
This book identifies and explains the key analytical issues (state knowledge, causation, and reasonableness) that need to be considered in determining whether a State is responsible under the European Convention on Human Rights for omissions. In addition to this technical analytical question, the book also reflects upon what is at stake for the political community when the triggering, the conte…
Critical management studies in South Africa: Directions and contexts’ represents the second formalised work on critical management studies (CMS) in South Africa. Following 5 years after ‘Critical management studies in the South African context’, this book shows how CMS scholarship is starting to develop a character of its own in South Africa. It attests to…
Management consultancies like McKinsey and BCG are nearly always at the top of the first job wish list of young US and European MBA gradua-tes. Over a third become management consultants (Cox, 1997).In the course of the last thirty years, the relationship between manage-ment consulting and management education1 has become more complex, and the dividing line between the two has become less stabl…
his chapter describes the key aspects of public financial management and internal control reform, viewed through a managerial lens. It describes how, without a thorough appreciation of the linkage with management, this reform will at best fail to meet the intended objectives and at worst could add to administrative bureaucracy and hence costs. These are recurren…
Let’s stop the time, and rewind. Fifteen years ago, almost none of us had a smart-phone–the iPhone was first released in the United States on June 29, 2007. Tenyears ago, many of us owned a smartphone, and if we could do almost everything thatwe can do today via digital devices (the iPad was released in April 2010), most of usdid not.The digital devices were available; however, they were no…
Complex technology has been around ever since the start of computers. MaxwellNewman’sfirst programmable computer Colossus in 1943 cracking World War IIcryptography was a truly complex system at that time (Haigh & Ceruzzi,2021). In1965 Gordon Moore posited that the number of transistors on microchips doublesevery 2 years, implying that the technical developments underlying our increasinglycomp…
Think outside the box and get results with Essential Managers: Innovation. This book will give you all the tools you'll need to succeed.
The research landscape in the area of forecasting and assessing working conditionshas become increasingly difficult to understand. There are plenty of identifiedreasons, drivers and catchwords to describe a systemic transformation. Individual-and subject-specific approaches to describe and understand the changes to work arebeing developed in almost every scientific discipline, as well as by (ec…
Since the Industrial Revolution in late eighteenth century, there have been tremendous increases in both production and population growth. In the 1960s, the society began to consider the relationship between industrial development, environmental degradation, and the costs it imposed on everyone in one way or another. The United Nations (UN) initiated the World Co…
Business-driven pro-environmental measures were the inspiration behind col-lating practical examples from both within and outside the EU into one book. Another impulse to conduct a case-study type analysis was research carried out within the 7th Framework Program of the EU on “Proecological restructur-ing for jobs”. Three countries participated in the research: Poland as the leade…
The chapter will describe the studies which the book project has finallyfeatured and how the analysis and thesis forming part of the book havebeen arranged. The chapter will describe and show how the thoroughstudy of the subject –High Speed Product Development Processes andModels Based on Networks (NB HS PD)– together with the explo-rative analysis of the product development system of gener…
In the European Union (EU) over 250,000 public organizations spend around 2 tril-lion € annually, which is about 14% of GDP, procuring works, supplies, and ser-vices. Also, in countries outside the EU, around 12% of the GDP is spent by public organizations. This can add up to values between 5000 and 8000 € per citizen per year. Despite the considerable impact that public …
In June 1947, a group of nuclear scientists from the former Manhattan Projectlaunched theBulletin of the Atomic Scientists, a magazine that monitors newdevelopments in the life sciences and technology that could inflict irrevocableharm to humanity. That first issue had a simple image on its cover, a clock with itshands set at 7 min to midnight, that was the Bulletin’s visual metaphor to warn …
Megatrends are “large social, economic, political and technological changes [that]are slow to form, and once in place, they influence us for some time” (Kotler2002,p. 137). Trends, as an indication into a direction of change, are driven by megatrends.Forexample,agingpopulationisamegatrendandsomeofitstrendsarebuyinghabits,and workforce gaps. Megatrends are observed over decades (15+years) an…
If you’re aiming to innovate, failure along the way is a given. But can you fail better? Whether you’re rolling out a new product from a city-view office or rolling up your sleeves to deliver a social service in the field, learning why and how to embrace failure can help you do better, faster. Smart leaders, entrepreneurs, and change agents design their innovation projects with a key ide…
The 5S-Kaizen-Total Quality Management (TQM) is the three-step approach to improve hospital management under limited resources. The steps are: a) Application of 5S (Sort, Set, Shine, Standardize and Sustain) for improvement of working environment; b) Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) or KAIZEN activities for evidence-based participatory problem solving at the workplace for continuous quality…
Think of your to-do list at work. Chances are the most important tasks require you to work with others - and the success of those endeavors depends on the effectiveness of your collaboration. According to management expert Leigh Thompson, collaboration that is conscious, planned, and focused on generating new ideas builds excitement and produces what she calls a "creative conspiracy". Teams …
The aftermath of a global pandemic, warfare in Eastern Europe, increas-ingly uncertain supply chains, spiralling cost of living, populist politics and the consequences of disastrous climate change: all these challenges bring the uncertainty of a hostile world into our most immediate focus. What was once only known through history or television news reporting from a different continent is now–…
The present has made a pressing matter of the future. The crises of the present—climate change, biodiversity crises, the foreseeable scarcity of resources, energy consumption, and (more) pandemics—have thrown human existence, or at least the specific lifestyles we cultivate, into question. One probable future that looms on the horizon is of particular concern: if pro-ducts continue to be ma…
The first global story concerns Finland’s entry to the world of global capitalism and the benefits of accommodating a huge international company. It also looks at the other side of the coin, a Nordic welfare state dependent on one field of technology and the special interests of one dominant actor with an Anglo-Saxon busi-ness mindset. In that context, ideas and argumentat…
This book is about the challenges and opportunities that countries face inusing their extractive industries to achieve inclusive development. Its focus ison the developing world, both low-income countries (LICs) and middle-income countries (MICs), drawing upon the experiences of high-incomecountries (HICs) when relevant. Extractive industries have shaped the econ-omies, societies, and politics …
In the past few years, there has been a significant increase in the use and development of KGs and their various applications. These KGs are designed to store world knowledge, represented as triples (i.e., .) consisting of entities, relations, and other entities, with each entity referring to a distinct real-world object, and each relation repre…
The ‘universal value’ of vernacular architectural heritage in the prestigious UNESCO World Heritage List, although more or less recognised and considered in the holistic dimension of their integration in-to exceptional cultural contexts, which are themselves listed, is still very limited as shown by the 11211properties inscribed on this list to date, in 2020. The tangible and intangible val…
Conventional wisdom on strategy is no longer a reliable guide. In Essential Advantage, Booz & Company's Cesare Mainardi and Paul Leinwand maintain that success in any market accrues to firms with coherence: a tight match between their strategic direction and the capabilities that make them unique. Achieving this clarity takes a sharpness of focus that only exceptional companies have mastered…
Introducing the new, realistic loyalty pact between employer and employee. The employer-employee relationship is broken, and managers face a seemingly impossible dilemma: the old model of guaranteed long-term employment no longer works in a business environment defined by continuous change, but neither does a system in which every employee acts like a free agent. The solution? Stop thinki…
An argument for simplicity from the best-selling authors of Profit from the Core. Is radical reinvention the key to winning in today’s fast-paced world? Not judging by the results of some of the world’s best-performing companies. In Repeatability, Chris Zook and James Allen - leaders of Bain & Company’s influential Strategy practice - warn that complexity is a silent killer of profitab…
There’s a bewildering array of management tools out there. And they all promise to help you excel at the toughest parts of your job: defining your organization’s strategic direction, managing customers and costs, and boosting workforce performance. But just 30 percent of these tools deliver as intended. Why? As Jeremy Hope and Steve Player reveal in Beyond Performance Management, while m…
What does it take to lead a global business? What makes being a global business leader today such a complex task? It’s more than mastering your knowledge of various geographies and cultures, though that is essential. But to succeed, you must also master the complex mind-set and competencies needed to lead in today’s fully globalized world. Not an easy assignment. Enter Ángel Cabrera …
How do you rein in the scope of your project when you’ve got a group of demanding stakeholders breathing down your neck? And map out a schedule everyone can stick to? And motivate team members who have competing demands on their time and attention? Whether you’re managing your first project or just tired of improvising, this guide will give you the tools and confidence you need to define…
Make every minute count. Your calendar is full, and yet your meetings don’t always seem to advance your work. Problems often arise with unrealistic or vague agendas, off-track conversations, tuned-out participants who don’t know why they’re there, and follow-up notes that no one reads?or acts on. Meetings can feel like a waste of time. But when you invest a little energy in preparing y…
This Open Access volume highlights how tree ring stable isotopes have been used to address a range of environmental issues from paleoclimatology to forest management, and anthropogenic impacts on forest growth. It will further evaluate weaknesses and strengths of isotope applications in tree rings. In contrast to older tree ring studies, which predominantly applied a pure statistical approach t…
The path to your professional success starts with a critical look in the mirror. HBR's 10 Must Reads on Managing Yourself will inspire you to: stay engaged throughout your fifty-plus-year work life; tap into your deepest values; solicit candid feedback; replenish physical and mental energy; balance work, home, community, and self; spread positive energy throughout your organization; rebound …
Managing people is fraught with challenges?even if you're a seasoned manager. Here's how to handle them. If you read nothing else on managing people, read these 10 articles (featuring “Leadership That Gets Results,” by Daniel Goleman). We've combed through hundreds of Harvard Business Review articles and selected the most important ones to help you maximize your employees' performance.
Learn why bad decisions happen to good managers?and how to make better ones. If you read nothing else on decision making, read these 10 articles. We’ve combed through hundreds of articles in the Harvard Business Review archive and selected the most important ones to help you and your organization make better choices and avoid common traps.
No organization can survive without iconoclasts -- innovators who single-handedly upturn conventional wisdom and manage to achieve what so many others deem impossible.Though indispensable, true iconoclasts are few and far between. In Iconoclast, neuroscientist Gregory Berns explains why. He explores the constraints the human brain places on innovative thinking, including fear of failure, the ur…
David Allen reads an all-new edition of his popular self-help classic for managing work-life balance in the 21st century - now updated for the new challenges facing individuals and organizations in today's rapidly changing world. Since it was first published more than 15 years ago, David Allen's Getting Things Done has become one of the most influential business books of its era and the ulti…
After a stint policing the rough streets of Kansas City, Missouri, Chris Voss joined the FBI, where his career as a hostage negotiator brought him face-to-face with a range of criminals, including bank robbers and terrorists. Reaching the pinnacle of his profession, he became the FBI’s lead international kidnapping negotiator. Never Split the Difference takes you inside the world of high-stak…
Don't wait for someone else to manage your career. The days of HR-sponsored development plans are over. Managing your career--and the skills you need to be successful--is your responsibility. If you're looking to push yourself to the next level, it can be hard to determine where to start.
Terrified of speaking in front of a group? Or simply looking to polish your skills? No matter where you are on the spectrum, this guide will give you the confidence and the tools you need to get results. Written by presentation expert Nancy Duarte, the HBR Guide to Persuasive Presentations will help you: Win over tough crowds Organize a coherent narrative Create powerful messages and vi…
Does your organization manage complexity by making things more complicated? If so, you are not alone. According to The Boston Consulting Group’s fascinating Complexity Index, business complexity has increased sixfold during the past sixty years. And, all the while, organizational complicatedness?that is, the number of structures, processes, committees, decision-making forums, and systems?h…
When the term ?big data” first came on the scene, bestselling author Tom Davenport (Competing on Analytics, Analytics at Work) thought it was just another example of technology hype. But his research in the years that followed changed his mind. Now, in clear, conversational language, Davenport explains what big data means?and why everyone in business needs to know about it. Big Data at Work …
When discussing being stuck in a "win-win vs. win-lose" debate, most negotiation books focus on face-to-face tactics. Yet, table tactics are only the "first dimension" of David A. Lax and James K. Sebenius' pathbreaking 3-D Negotiation (TM) approach, developed from their decades of doing deals and analyzing great dealmakers. Moves in their "second dimension"?deal design?systematically unlock ec…