Just about everyone thinks they know how they got there. Just about everyone is wrong. For all that's been written about the Four over the last two decades, no one has captured their power and staggering success as insightfully as Scott Galloway.Instead of buying the myths these compa-nies broadcast, Galloway asks fundamental questions. How did the Four infiltrate our lives so completely that they're almost impossible to avoid (or boycott)? Why does the stock market forgive them for sins that would destroy other firms? And as they race to become the world's first trillion-dollar company, can anyone chal-lenge them?In the same irreverent style that has made him one of the world's most celebrated business professors, Galloway deconstructs the strategies of the Four that lurk beneath their shiny veneers. He shows how they manipulate the fundamental emotional needs that have driven us since our ancestors lived in caves, at a speed and scope others can't match. And he reveals how you can apply the lessons of their ascent to your own business or career.Whether you want to compete with them, do business with them, or simply live in the world they dominate, you need to understand the Four.

    If you blinked, you might have missed them, because Gatorade has swiftly and decisively fended off every would-be rival. Although a few other brands hold slim market shares, the fact is that Gatorade single-handedly created the sports drink industry 40 years ago and has absolutely ruled it ever since.But Gatorade is more than just a triumph of branding. First, it's a trusted product that has been scientifically proven to do what it claims to do.Second, Gatorade is an enthralling story, brought to life in bright color and sharp detail in First in Thirst. Author Darren Rovell, a skilled, objective, and passionate journalist, chronicles every astonishing milestone of the company's history.With unprecedented access to the inventors, the marketers, the analysts and observers, and key company figures past and present, Rovell recounts the sweat-drenched University of Florida football practices, the first (unpalatable) prototypes, and the commercial and financial interest that quickly took hold following the drink's first on-field successes. Then came the advertising, sponsorships, product placements (many of them fortuitous), and finally the two milestones that cemented Gatorade's iconic status once and for all -- the ubiquitous Gatorade bath and the Michael Jordan ""Be Like Mike"" endorsement deal.With refreshing candor, First in Thirst also offers an inside look at the negotiations, battles, lawsuits, mergers and acquisitions, product strategies, lucky breaks, and even the missteps (there have not been many) that have attended Gatorade's reign as the 800-pound gorilla of the sports-drink scene. Rovell places the reader inside labs and brainstorming sessions, at board meetings and ad shoots, on the sidelines and in the dugouts, even in the winner's circle at NASCAR events -- where Gatorade manages maximum exposure even at tracks whose official sponsors include chief rival POWERade.The book identifies the nine Gatorade Rules, business principles that have helped Gatorade become one of the most dominant brands ever. By adhering to these principles, businesses in other industries may achieve greater brand recognition and market share.Long before America knew what ""deep-down body thirst"" was, a team of university scientists had already invented something to quench it. First in Thirst is the story of the product and the company, and of America's fascination with the one and only Gatorade.

    Who will succeed in the twenty first century?Today's creative business leaders already know the answer and it's not about cutting overhead downsizing or meeting next quarter's budget.  Corporateleaders of the twenty-first century will be spiritual leaders-- grounded in vision, integrity and intuition--and they will know how to nurture thesequalities in others.Gay Hendricks and Kate Ludeman have been training top executives for more than twenty-five years.  They have distilled the experience of the hundred wisestbusinessmen and women they know into nuggets of just-in-time wisdom that take no more than a minute or two to read.  You will discover:*       The twelve qualities of twenty-first-century leaders*       How to make breakthrough decisions with intuitive ease*       The visionary's ability to think twenty years down the line*       How to spot and correct integrity problems in your organization*       How to create a mind-set of prosperity in yourself and your companyDrawing on insights and observations from legendary CEOs like Bob Galvin ofMotorola and Ed McCracken of Silicon Graphics, The Corporate Mystic alsooffers spirited solutions to the day-in, day-out problems of business.  You'll learn what these visionaries with their feet on the ground say about:*       Giving and receiving honest feedback*       Ending destructive turf battles*       High-firing people who drain your energy*       Handling big wins and big losses*       Protecting your creative think-time*       And much much more.Whether you're a new hire or already division chief The Corporate Mystic is a book to nourish your soul and light your path to professionalsuccess.From the Trade Paperback edition.

    Strategic, applied, and performance-oriented. While most textbooks in this area stress concepts and theory, Market-Based Management, 4e, incorporates a more strategic and applied approach. External performance metrics of a business are emphasized and actual measurement tools are provided. Its streamlined organization makes it ideal for courses in which outside cases and readings will be assigned.

    Author Mike Rohde shows you how to incorporate sketchnoting techniques into your note-taking process--regardless of your artistic abilities--to help you better process the information that you are hearing and seeing through drawing, and to actually have fun taking notes. The Sketchnote Handbook explains and illustrates practical sketchnote techniques for taking visual notes at your own pace as well as in real time during meetings and events. Rhode also addresses most people's fear of drawing by showing, step-by-step, how to quickly draw people, faces, type, and simple objects for effective and fast sketchnoting. The book looks like a peek into the author's private sketchnote journal, but it functions like a beginner's guide to sketchnoting with easy-to-follow instructions for drawing out your notes that will leave you itching to attend a meeting just so you can draw about it.

    With boundless erudition and in delightfully clear prose, Surowiecki ranges across fields as diverse as popular culture, psychology, ant biology, behavioral economics, artificial intelligence, military history, and politics to show how this simple idea offers important lessons for how we live our lives, select our leaders, run our companies, and think about our world.

    A challenging customer, in his view, goes from being someone who poses an obstacle to quality work to someone with eye-opening ideas and concepts. Approached as an exercise in listening and learning, these conversations can become long-term lessons. Ambi has worked with some of the most respected brands and names in the Indian corporate world, and each of those assignments were for him masterclasses in leadership development. In this book, Ambi recounts conversations with some of the most iconic business leaders, such as Ratan Tata, Azim Premji, S. Ramadorai, Karsanbhai Patel, M. Damodaran, Dr V. Kurien and many others. He soaked up these conversations, in his own words, 'like a sponge’. This book is an attempt to walk us through some of those dialogues – both the illuminating and the difficult aspects of them – to help us understand how they were learning sessions. For anyone looking at turbocharging their business and career, the ‘Sponge Process’ that emphasises listening is a radical new way of engaging with clients and customers.

    The winners and losers are easily identified.In infinite games, like business or politics or life itself, the players come and go, the rules are changeable, and there is no defined endpoint. There are no winners or losers in an infinite game; there is only ahead and behind.The more I started to understand the difference between finite and infinite games, the more I began to see infinite games all around us. I started to see that many of the struggles that organizations face exist simply because their leaders were playing with a finite mindset in an infinite game. These organizations tend to lag behind in innovation, discretionary effort, morale and ultimately performance.The leaders who embrace an infinite mindset, in stark contrast, build stronger, more innovative, more inspiring organizations. Their people trust each other and their leaders. They have the resilience to thrive in an ever-changing world, while their competitors fall by the wayside. Ultimately, they are the ones who lead the rest of us into the future.Any worthwhile undertaking starts with Why - the purpose, cause or belief that inspires us to do what we do and inspires others to join us. Good leaders know how to build Circles of Safety that promote trust and cooperation throughout their organizations. But that's not enough to help us chart a course through the unpredictable, often chaotic landscape of today's marketplace.I now believe that the ability to adopt an infinite mindset is a prerequisite for any leader who aspires to leave their organization in better shape than they found it.

    R. Vaidyanathan delves deep into India Uninc. and presents a persuasive case for why the latter is really what is at the heart of our economy, and why any growth story about India is incomplete if that real engine of our growth is ignored. The author argues that the real India story, over generations, lies with the many proprietorship and partnership firms, small manufacturing units, kirana stores, single entrepreneurs and household enterprises. That they are being finally given their due, in this important study, is the result of many years of cutting-edge research, which lays bare the lopsided viewpoints of policy-makers and ‘experts’, and urges a broader vision of the country’s economy. The small entrepreneur says Prof. Vaidyanathan, should prevail over crony capitalism. Scholarly yet accessible, and offering a wealth of information on an uncharted territory, India Uninc. is a must-read for anybody who aspires to understand the Indian economy —as well as India itself.

    For over a decade,the authors have studied the world’s successful traders. Based on their learnings, they started practicing it and are now part of the 5%. Trade and Grow Rich teaches not just concepts but also methods with the help of anecdotes. This book has to be read one chapter at a time, rather than just being a one-time read. If you want to enjoy an adventurous journey to become a successful trader, then this is the book you are looking for!

    And all of these capabilities are founded in a deep and rich embrace of what it means to be a designer.Design Like Apple uncovers the lessons from Apple's unique approach to product creation, manufacturing, delivery, and customer experience.Offers behind-the-scenes stories from current and recent Apple insiders Draws on case studies from other companies that have mastered the creative application of design to create outrageous business results Delivers how-to lessons across design, marketing, and business strategy Bridging creativity and commerce, this book will show you to how to truly Design Like Apple.

    Introduction to Services Chapter 2. Conceptual Framework for the Book: The Gaps Model of Service Quality PART TWO: FOCUS ON THE CUSTOMER Chapter 3. Consumer Behavior in Services Chapter 4. Customer Expectations in Services Chapter 5.

    Even as technology exerts new pressures to speed up our lives, it turns out that the choices we make--unconsciously and consciously, in time frames varying from milliseconds to years--benefit profoundly from delay. As this winning and provocative book reveals, taking control of time and slowing down our responses yields better results in almost every arena of life ... even when time seems to be of the essence.The procrastinator in all of us will delight in Partnoy's accounts of celebrity "delay specialists," from Warren Buffett to Chris Evert to Steve Kroft, underscoring the myriad ways in which delaying our reactions to everyday choices--large and small--can improve the quality of our lives.

    During his long life, Basil H. Liddell Hart was considered one of the world's foremost military thinkers--a man generally regarded as the "Clausewitz of the 20th century." Strategy is a seminal work of military history and theory, a perfect companion to Sun-tzu’s The Art of War and Carl von Clauswitz’s On War. Liddell Hart stressed movement, flexibility, and surprise. He saw that in most military campaigns dislocation of the enemy's psychological and physical balance is prelude to victory. This dislocation results from a strategic indirect approach. Reflect for a moment on the results of direct confrontation (trench war in WW I) versus indirect dislocation (Blitzkreig in WW II). Liddell Hart is also tonic for business and political planning: just change the vocabulary and his concepts fit.

    Seemingly out of nowhere, startups and other tech-savvy disruptors attack. Your customers bolt for the door and revenues stall. Senior executives ignore the problem, or turn to yesterday's management playbook. In months instead of years, you've gone from market leader to also-ran.This scenario is beginning to play out in every industry. Everything that can be digitized - from products and services to the entire value chain - is being digitized, to the advantage of companies that can harness disruption. Unfortunately, few companies are building the organizational capabilities and strategic responses to compete in this stark new reality.In Digital Vortex, you will learn how to use the business models and strategies of startups to your own advantage. Instead of waiting to be disrupted, you can maximize the value of your existing businesses and move into profitable new ones. Most importantly, you will learn how to build the agility to anticipate threats, sense opportunities, and seize them before your rivals do.In today's world there are two paths: navigating to a new digital future, or being engulfed by exponential competitive change. With recommendations backed by research with thousands of senior executives from market leaders and startups alike, this book gives you a compass to chart your own course - to compete with disruptors and win.