Cecily Sommers shows how to apply long-term focus and strategies to needs as diverse as industry forecasts, innovation challenges, leadership development, or future-proofing a brand. By understanding intersecting potentials that one day may impact your organization, you can readily spot emerging trends and market shifts, uncovering opportunities on the horizon.Think Like a Futurist explores such questions as: Where will new markets emerge over the next 5-10-25 years? What will be the big issues of the day? How will lifestyle, social mores, and policy adapt? And what role do we play in that future?Offers a clear framework for thinking like a futurist, and direction for how to integrate it in high-pressure corporate environments Explains how the social, economic, and environmental crises of our time spring from just four constant and predictable forces Reveals the three dramatic disruptions on the horizon that should be a part of every strategic conversation Written by Cecily Sommers the Founder and President of The Push Institute, a non-profit think tank that tracks significant global trends and their implications for business, government, and non-profit. Filled with tools and models for a new world, this book should be required reading for strategists and innovators across disciplines.Refreshing. A book that does not follow today's push to be 'innovative' just to snag attention because of the current hot trending keyword. Matter of fact, Cecily Sommers' book works to get us away from simply identifying and going for a ride on the latest trend(s) in our respective industries.Quite the contrary, rather than avoid a scientific or tactical discussion of trend identification, she works to give us the ability to go beyond trends and into the future.Cecily has drafted a book providing a nice blend of practical reality, philosophy, and practical execution. It speaks well to current discussions about how to drive 'innovation' or, better, creativity within your businesses--however large or small.All in, this is a book 254 pages long, including index, that is written at a practical level that, after closer study following an initial read-through, provides a methodology for anticipating the future and taking action to meet it.Provides a methodology for anticipating the future and taking action to meet it.Think Like a Futurist is a good read for anyone struggling with how to move their organization forward. Business leaders, product and program managers, service providers will all find the concepts Cecily introduces to be well laid-out with a reasonable amount of supporting content.--The source is a blog: http: //jtpedersen.net/2012/11/15/what-ive-re...

    Despite many requests for a follow-up volume, Venison declined, on the basis that he had nothing new to say. Now he does. Holed up for several weeks in five star hotels while concluding a complicated business deal, Venison realized that the standards offered by the industry still fall short of perfection. As a result, he has put pen to paper to produce this handy catalogue of suggestions to hoteliers, based upon his considerable personal experience as a hotelier and perpetual hotel guest.100 Tips for Hoteliers guides you from the inception of a hotel to its opening and operation, offering practical tips for each stage of the journey. It should prove equally useful to hotel school students as a checklist of what they can expect, and also to practicing hotel managers as a reminder of their responsibilities.Proceeds from the sale of 100 Tips for Hoteliers will be donated to the Duke of Edinburgh Cup charity.

    Marketing guru Jack Trout intends to make a lot of people, who made the mess, very uncomfortable: Advertisers are criticized as people who look for the creative and edgy, not the obvious. They will not be happy.Marketing people are criticized for getting hopelessly entangled in corporate egos and complicated projects. They will not be happy.Research people are criticized for generating more confusion than clarity. They will not be happy.Some big companies are criticized for their ill-fated marketing programs or lack of proper strategy. They will not be happy.Wall Street is criticized for putting too much emphasis on growth that is unnecessary and can be destructive to a brand. They will just ignore this criticism and continue trying to make as much money as they can.But this is a book not written to make people happy but to explain to marketers what their real problem is. Only then will they begin to look for the obvious solutions that will separate their products from their competitors -- in a way that is equally obvious to customers. All this comes with no jargon, no numbers, no complexity, and a great deal of common sense.

    We put out fires. We deal with emergencies. We stay downstream, handling one problem after another, but we never make our way upstream to fix the systems that caused the problems ... [This book] probes the psychological forces that push us downstream--including 'problem blindness,' which can leave us oblivious to serious problems in our midst. And Heath introduces us to the thinkers who have overcome these obstacles and scored ... victories by switching to an upstream mindset.

    Keep this ammo on your bookshelf if ever you find yourself in a lurch." ~ Sean Work, Director of Inbound Marketing, KISSmetrics "You could easily find 1,000 books and courses about blogging like a pro, but you won’t find a more useful and engaging one. Henneke’s book will answer every question you have, give you countless shortcuts, and light a fire under your butt to start cranking out hot blog posts. It’ll also make you hungry." ~ Barry Feldman, Feldman Creative "Henneke's book might be the most useful guide on business blogging ever written. I highly recommend it to anyone who’s blogging to promote their company." ~ Jon Morrow, CEO and Founder of Boost Blog Traffic LLC Would you like to win customers with your blog? Are your blog posts not as good as you’d like them to be? Or are you unsure what to blog about? Blog to Win Business teaches you how to write blog posts your customers love to read and share. This practical book takes you through the various elements of blog writing – from developing a unique voice to generating ideas and composing compelling headlines. This book doesn’t just explain how to write a blog, it also helps you decide what to write and how to position your blog as a must-read resource in your industry. It has been described as probably the most useful guide to business blogging. Your guide to writing a company blog This guide explains in simple steps how to write blog posts that engage readers and woo clients: Write lip-smackingly good headlines that entice people to read your posts Position your blog as a voice of authority Generate an endless stream of ideas for blog posts your customers crave to read Make your blog more engaging by describing your ideal reader Develop a unique voice to stand out in a sea of me-too blogs Captivate your readers with your blog opening Inspire your readers with your final paragraph Create a natural flow to hypnotize your readers Seduce Google to send you relevant traffic This guide is easy to read and fun. It includes straightforward advice on how to practice and improve your blog writing. Would you like to gain more readers and turn them into customers? Blog to Win Business also includes: The 5 mistakes you must avoid when defining your blog purpose How to get unstuck when your fountain of inspiration runs dry A complete editing checklist to make your blog posts more conversational The 4 rules for writing delicious sentences The 3-step formula for writing irresistible headlines This is NOT a stuffy, lengthy text book. All information is straightforward and written in plain English. Who this book is for Are you a freelancer or small business owner looking to promote your company with a blog? This book contains practical, down-to-earth advice that you can actually use.

    The assumptions built into business today are not accurate."-Peter DruckerFor sixteen months before his death, Elizabeth Haas Edersheim was given unprecedented access to Peter Drucker, widely regarded as the father of modern management. At Drucker's request, Edersheim, a respected management thinker in her own right, spoke with him about the development of modern business throughout his life-and how it continues to grow and change at an ever-increasing rate.The Definitive Drucker captures his visionary management concepts, applies them to the key business risks and opportunities of the coming decades, and imparts Drucker's views on current business practices, economic changes, and trends-many of which he first predicted decades ago. It also sheds light onto issues such as why so many leaders fail, the fragility of our economic systems, and the new role of the CEO. Drucker's insights are divided into five main themes that the modern organization needs to, as Drucker would say, "create tomorrow" byConnecting with customersInnovating without abandoning what worksDeveloping lasting partnershipsCreating and retaining knowledge workersEstablishing disciplined decision makingDrucker's penetrating questions, posed to those seeking his advice, helped business, corporate, and political leaders throughout the 20th century to see their work in a new perspective, and create phenomenal innovation. Edersheim's extensive interviews with some of these luminaries, including Warren Bennis, Ram Charan, Bill Gates, George Gallup, Jr. and A.G. Lafley offer compelling commentary on Drucker's vast influence.Delivering keen analysis and revealing insights into business, The Definitive Drucker is a celebration of this extraordinary man and his life's work, as well as a unique opportunity to learn from Drucker's final business lessons how to strategize, compete, and triumph in any market.

    Includes Peter Drucker's prophetic The Coming of the New Organization and Ikujiro Nonaka's Knowledge-Creating Company. A Harvard Business Review Paperback.

    Never Split the Difference takes you inside his world of high-stakes negotiations, revealing the nine key principles that helped Voss and his colleagues succeed when it mattered the most – when people’s lives were at stake.Rooted in the real-life experiences of an intelligence professional at the top of his game, Never Split the Difference will give you the competitive edge in any discussion.

    The book begins with an Overview section. This provides an introduction to Financial Management and to the Financial Environment. The next part covers Financial Planning and Analysis. This section explains concepts like taxes, cash flow, financial statements, and analysis of funds flow and statements. It also discusses financial planning and forecasting.The third part covers the Fundamental Valuation Concepts. This section looks at risk and return, and Securities valuation. The next two parts focus on capital structure, budgeting and dividends. These sections discuss cost of capital, capital structure, planning the capital structure, share valuation and dividend policy. The chapter on Capital budgeting also includes techniques of capital budgeting and analyzing risks in capital budgeting. Part seven goes into Long Term Financing. It covers securities market and sources of long term finance.The next part discusses Working Capital Management. It covers topics like working capital policy and financing, inventory management, and cash and credit management. The last part looks at some special topics like acquisitions, restructuring and mergers. It also discusses international finance management, and project finance, leasing and hire purchase.Fundamentals Of Financial Management provides a good coverage of the basic concepts relating to the financial environment. The topics explained include tax systems, financial institutions, banking arrangements and the regulatory framework. All the concepts are explained using numerous examples and illustrations. Besides the illustrations given within the chapter, additional concepts, tools and techniques with illustrations are provided at the end of chapter sections. The book takes an analytical approach, and explains the various analytical methods in context.

    The renewal of interest in India is all the greater because of what’s happening in neighboring China. For over thirty years, China was the growth engine for many Western multinational companies, but the combination of a slowing economy, rising wages, and increasing political risk has most companies looking for the next China. No other country is better positioned to play that role than India. In the short term, though, India will remain a challenging market, with a well-deserved reputation for corruption, uncertainty, and stultifying bureaucracy. Those hurdles are unlikely to go away soon. Yet India may be on the verge of unprecedented growth. Can you afford to wait or should you plunge into this complex market today? What does it really take to win there? How do executives deal with India’s volatility, uncertainty, and intense competition—and even prosper from it? Ravi Venkatesan, the former Chairman of Microsoft India and Cummins India, offers expert advice on how your company can overcome the unique challenges of the Indian market. He argues that India is in fact an archetype for most developing nations, many of which present similar challenges. Succeeding in India is important not just because it is a big market but also because it is a litmus test for your corporation’s ability to succeed in other emerging markets. If you can win in India, you should be able to win anywhere. Hard as these frontier markets are, Venkatesan argues, the bigger hurdle may well be the internal culture and mind-set at a multinational’s headquarters. The unwillingness to make a long-term commitment or to adequately trust local leadership, combined with the propensity to rigidly replicate the products, business models, and operating systems that have worked at home, drives many companies into a “midway trap.” That often results in India remaining an irrelevantly small contributor to the company’s global growth and profits. Combining personal experience and in-depth interviews with CEOs and senior leaders at dozens of companies—including Microsoft, GE, JCB, Dell, Honeywell, Volvo, Bosch, Deere, Unilever, and Nestlé—Venkatesan shows you how to tackle political changes, policy uncertainty, and corruption and thrive in India. He proves that you can break through, but it takes a very different type of leadership, both locally and at corporate headquarters. If you want to succeed in the twenty-first century, you must succeed in emerging markets. This practical book, written by one of India’s most respected CEOs, gives you the keys to win in India, other emerging markets, and, indeed, globally.

    Founded in 1926, McKinsey can lay claim to the following partial list of accomplishments: its consultants have ushered in waves of structural, financial, and technological change to the nation’s best organizations; they remapped the power structure within the White House; they even revo­lutionized business schools. In The New York Times bestseller The Firm, star financial journalist Duff McDonald shows just how, in becoming an indispensable part of decision making at the highest levels, McKinsey has done nothing less than set the course of American capitalism. But he also answers the question that’s on the mind of anyone who has ever heard the word McKinsey: Are they worth it? After all, just as McKinsey can be shown to have helped invent most of the tools of modern management, the company was also involved with a number of striking failures. Its consultants were on the scene when General Motors drove itself into the ground, and they were K-Mart’s advisers when the retailer tumbled into disarray. They played a critical role in building the bomb known as Enron. McDonald is one of the few journalists to have not only parsed the record but also penetrated the culture of McKinsey itself. His access puts him in a unique position to demonstrate when it is worth hiring these gurus—and when they’re full of smoke.

    Under such pressure to stay alive—let alone grow—it’s easy for entrepreneurs to get caught up in a never-ending cycle of “sell it—do it, sell it—do it” that leaves them exhausted, frustrated, and unable to get ahead no matter how hard they try.This is the exact situation Mike Michalowicz found himself in when he was trying to grow his first company. Although it was making steady money, there was never very much left over and he was chasing customers left and right, putting in twenty-eight-hour days, eight days a week. The punishing grind never let up. His company was alive but stunted, and he was barely breathing. That’s when he discovered an unlikely source of inspiration—pumpkin farmers.After reading an article about a local farmer who had dedicated his life to growing giant pump­kins, Michalowicz realized the same process could apply to growing a business. He tested the Pumpkin Plan on his own company and transformed it into a remarkable, multimillion-dollar industry leader. First he did it for himself. Then for others. And now you. So what is the Pumpkin Plan?Plant the right seeds: Don’t waste time doing a bunch of different things just to please your customers. Instead, identify the thing you do better than anyone else and focus all of your attention, money, and time on figuring out how to grow your company doing it. Weed out the losers: In a pumpkin patch small, rotten pumpkins stunt the growth of the robust, healthy ones. The same is true of customers. Figure out which customers add the most value and provide the best opportunities for sustained growth. Then ditch the worst of the worst. Nurture the winners: Once you figure out who your best customers are, blow their minds with care. Discover their unfulfilled needs, innovate to make their wishes come true, and overdeliver on every single promise.Full of stories of other successful entrepreneurs, The Pumpkin Plan guides you through unconven­tional strategies to help you build a truly profitable blue-ribbon company that is the best in its field.

    There was atime when this revered organization ranked among the lowest in the country in this area. Within ten years, however, it had climbed to among the highest and has emerged as the thought leader in the space.How did Cleveland Clinic turn itself around so effectively and so quickly?More important, how can you do the same with your organization?In gripping, visceral, on-the ground fashion, Service Fanatics reveals the strategies and tactics the Clinic applied to become one of today's leading patient-experience healthcare organizations--methods that seamlessly translate to any business seeking to improveits customer experience. This strategic guide covers:How the Clinic's leaders redefined the concept of patient experience and developed a strategy to improve itCritical lessons learned regarding organization, recruitment, training, and measuring service excellenceWays in which the Clinic aligned its entire workforce around its Patients First strategyHow leaders improved the critical element of physician communicationRather than view patients simply as sick people who need treatment, Cleveland Clinic sees them also as important stakeholders in the organization's success. Patients are customers--who desire, pay for, and deserve the best possible care and experience during what is often a challenging time in their lives.Featuring customer service case studies, as well as invaluable insight from C-level executives at top corporations in various industries, Service Fanatics provides actionable lessons for any manager and business leader beyond healthcare.Whether you run a healthcare institution, nonprofit, or for-profit business, Service Fanatics will help you create the kind of customer experience that promises to transform your organization into an industry powerhouse.

    But sooner or later all of our tomorrows will run out. Each day that you postpone the hard work and succumb to the clutter that chokes creativity, discipline, and innovation will result in a net deficit to the world, to your company, and to yourself. Die Empty is a tool for individuals and companies that aren't willing to put off their best work. Todd Henry explains the forces that keep people in stagnation and introduces a three-part process for tapping into your passion: Excavate: Find the bedrock of your work to discover what drives you. Cultivate: Learn how to develop the curiosity, humility, and persistence that save you from getting stuck in ruts. Resonate: Learn how your unique brilliance can inspire others. Henry shows how to find and sustain your passion and curiosity, even in tough times.