From his youth as the son of a French Canadian blacksmith to the thrilling, ambitious climbing expeditions that inspired his innovative designs for the sport's equipment, Let My People Go Surfing is the story of a man who brought doing good and having grand adventures into the heart of his business life-a book that will deeply affect entrepreneurs and outdoor enthusiasts alike.

    Kalam starts off by telling the readers that there has never been a time in Indian history such as this, where the nation has 540 million youth and 20 million Indians across the globe. He also states that several developed countries have directed their efforts towards setting up research centers across the country, which has benefited scientists, engineers, and professionals from various spheres.Kalam and Rajan tell the readers about their goal to make India one among the five top economic powers in the world by 2020. In the beginning of this book, Kalam presents the readers with a question as to whether India can become a developed country. He then provides insights into the current situation in the country, and explains that this goal is a realistic one. In the subsequent chapters, Kalam and Rajan begin to examine the five industries that need to become reasonably self-sufficient in the coming years, and each chapter tells the readers what can be done to bring a positive change in each industry.They also tell the readers about the current education system in the country, and the latest technology that can be used to improve the quality of education. The readers are also given insights into the present healthcare industry and infrastructural system, which are trademarks of a developed nation. Kalam and Rajan conclude by telling every individual and organization about the role they can play in transforming the nation by 2020.

    E-Myth Mastery is a business development program that helps you turn your company into a world-class operation...into a turn-key money machine! In E-Myth Revisited, Michael Gerber dispels the myths surrounding starting your own business and shows how commonplace assumptions can get in the way of running a business.

    

    In spite of decades of dire media predictions to the contrary, real estate values continue to increase. When real estate values increase, equity happens! If you believe real estate will be worth more in 10 years from now, then someone is going to make a lot of money – why not you?

    But twenty years into this movement, breakthrough innovations are still rare, and most companies find that 50 to 90 percent of their innovation initiatives flop. The cost of these failures to U.S. companies alone is estimated to be well over $100 billion annually.In a book that challenges everything you have learned about being customer driven, internationally acclaimed innovation leader Anthony Ulwick reveals the secret weapon behind some of the most successful companies of recent years. Known as outcome-driven innovation, this revolutionary approach to new product and service creation transforms innovation from a nebulous art into a rigorous science from which randomness and uncertainty are eliminated.Based on more than 200 studies spanning more than seventy companies and twenty-five industries, Ulwick contends that, when it comes to innovation, the traditional methods companies use to communicate with customers are the root cause of chronic waste and missed opportunity. In What Customers Want, Ulwick demonstrates that all popular qualitative research methods yield well-intentioned but unfitting and dreadfully misleading information that serves to derail the innovation process. Rather than accepting customer inputs such as needs, benefits, specifications, and solutions, Ulwick argues that researchers should silence the literal voice of the customer and focus on the metrics that customers use to measure success when executing the jobs, tasks or activities they are trying to get done. Using these customer desired outcomes as inputs into the innovation process eliminates much of the chaos and variability that typically derails innovation initiatives.With the same profound insight, simplicity, and uncommon sense that propelled The Innovator's Solution to worldwide acclaim, this paradigm-changing book details an eight-step approach that uses outcome-driven thinking to dramatically improve every aspect of the innovation process--from segmenting markets and identifying opportunities to creating, evaluating, and positioning breakthrough concepts. Using case studies from Microsoft, Johnson & Johnson, AIG, Pfizer, and other leading companies, What Customers Want shows companies how to:Obtain unique customer inputs that make predictable innovation possibleRecognize opportunities for disruption, new market creation, and core market growth--well before competitors doIdentify which ideas, technologies, and acquisitions have the greatest potential for creating customer valueSystematically define breakthrough products and services conceptsInnovation is fundamental to success and business growth. Offering a proven alternative to failed customer-driven thinking, this landmark book arms you with the tools to unleash innovation, lower costs, and reduce failure rates--and create the products and services customers really want.

    Thinking Skills encourages students to reflect on the processes of thinking, as well as developing and practising thinking skills. It is divided into two sections: Critical thinking and Problem solving. As well as giving students a thorough grounding in these areas, the authors provide opportunities for students to analyse and evaluate arguments, analyse numerical and graphical information and develop a range of skills.

    Each chapter looks at one of the six service secrets and explains how and why it works. From listening to customers, to offering them special favors, to making every customer connection memorable, these proven strategies will impress, entice and win new customers with every interaction. As a successful speaker and author who travels constantly, Phillip Van Hooser has been in and out of his fair share of cabs. But only one cabbie ever taught him anything about customer service. That cabbie is Willie, and the common-sense wisdom he imparted has become known as Willie’s Way. In Willie’s Way, you too will learn Willie’s unique brand of personalized service:• How to woo customers so they come back again and again• How to wow customers so they tell their friends about you• How to win customers’ long-term business by exceeding their expectations• How to apply Willie’s techniques to your own enterprises to build long-term customer loyalty“Willie’s Way is a fascinating compilation of real-life customer service stories that actually make a difference. It’s about building your brand one customer at a time. Read how enthusiasm, confidence and sincerity can impact your customers, grow revenues and impact your bottom line. This is the best book I’ve read on customer service in a long time.” –Joe Scarlett, Chairman of the Board, Tractor Supply Company “Van Hooser absolutely hit the bulls-eye with an outstanding instruction manual about the keys to extraordinary customer service. I have no doubt that companies and customer service professionals across virtually every industry will find value and fresh insights in the pages of this brilliantly written gem.” –Richard G. Kelley, Director of Sales Training, North America Axcan Pharma, Inc.

    This textbook is designed for advanced undergraduate and graduate students as well as others who have an interest in exploring energy resource options and technologies with a view toward achieving sustainability. It clearly presents the trade-offs and uncertainties inherent in evaluating and choosing different energy options and provides a framework for assessing policy solutions. Sustainable Energy includes illustrative examples, problems, references for further reading, and links to relevant Web sites and can be used outside the classroom as a resource for government, industry, and nonprofit organizations. The first six chapters provide the tools for making informed energy choices. estimation, environmental effects, and economic evaluations. Chapters 7-15 review the main energy sources of today and tomorrow, including fossil fuels, nuclear power, biomass, geothermal energy, hydropower, wind energy, and solar energy, examining their technologies, environmental impacts, and economics. The remaining chapters treat energy storage, transmission, and distribution; the electric power sector; transportation; industrial energy usage; commercial and residential buildings; and synergistic complex systems. The book addresses the challenges of integrating diverse factors and the importance for future generations of the energy choices we make today.

    In this volume, he offers the 30-person company as a model for how a company can become as much of a community as a business.

    Yet until recently it has been largely neglected by economists. In The Economics of Entrepreneurship, Simon C. Parker draws on theoretical insights and recent empirical findings to show how economics can contribute to our understanding of entrepreneurship. The book is based on an earlier work, The Economics of Self-employment and Entrepreneurship (Cambridge, 2004), that has quickly become an essential reference for academics researching the economics of entrepreneurship. Written in a more accessible style, this book contains much that made this earlier work so successful and, in addition, includes improved pedagogical features and new material on the theory of the firm, spin-offs, nascent entrepreneurship, growth-enhancing knowledge spillovers and social entrepreneurship. It can be used both as a reference text for academics from a variety of disciplines and as a textbook for graduate students.

    From its dramatic expansion in the early nineteenth century to its decline on the eve of the Sino-Japanese War in the late 1930s, salt production in Zigong was one of the largest and one of the only indigenous large-scale industries in China. Madeleine Zelin recounts the history of the salt industry to reveal a fascinating chapter in China's history and provide new insight into the forces and institutions that shaped Chinese economic and social development independent of Western or Japanese influence. Her book challenges long-held beliefs that social structure, state extraction, the absence of modern banking, and cultural bias against business precluded industrial development in China.Zelin details the novel ways in which Zigong merchants mobilized capital through financial-industrial networks. She describes how entrepreneurs spurred growth by developing new technologies, capturing markets, and building integrated business organizations. Without the state establishing and enforcing rules, Zigong businessmen were free to regulate themselves, utilize contracts, and shape their industry. However, this freedom came at a price, and ultimately the merchants suffered from the underdevelopment of a transportation infrastructure, the political instability of early-twentieth-century China, and the absence of a legislative forum to develop and codify business practices.Zelin's analysis of the political and economic contexts that allowed for the rise and fall of the salt industry also considers why its success did not contribute to "industrial takeoff" during that period in China. Based on extensive research, Zelin's work offers a comprehensive study of the growth of a major Chinese industry and resituates the history of Chinese business within the larger story of worldwide industrial development.

    These tools and techniques can mean the difference between a viable business and closing up shop. But most of what small business owners hear or read about the Internet applies to large businesses with greater resources than their own, or comes from unreliable or shady sources. The Ultimate Guide to Electronic Marketing for Small Business gives the small business owner or aspiring entrepreneur the real-world tools and tactics to market their small business around the world with little investment and even less risk. Full of practical ideas on reaching new customers and increasing sales, this book will make a real difference in the success rate of small businesses and start-ups everywhere.