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Press Releases from Gower Publishing Ltd (45 total)

Business Leadership for IT Projects

The track record of IT projects is poor. Less than a third of IT projects deliver what they said they would, on schedule and on budget. The major cause of IT project failure is not poor IT leadership or difficult technology but poor business leadership. One of the reasons is that, unlike their IT peers, business managers often get little training or education in project delivery, let alone the special

Business Transformation Essentials: Case Studies and Articles

Transformation programs are an increasing feature of global companies carrying out major change projects with high strategic relevance. These programs combine business and technical content bringing together management and information systems. Regardless of their form, they can deliver real benefits to an organization’s bottom line. However, such complex endeavours are always affiliated with extensive interventions within the organization’s business model, organizational structure, business processes, and enterprise architecture, and have significant

Naked Project Management: The Bare Facts

Project management depends largely on common sense and a logical, systematic approach. But it is necessary also to acquire some special skills to organize, schedule and control a project so that it produces the result that everyone wants. Dennis Lock explains and illustrates those skills in pragmatic and jargon-free terms. An entertaining case study runs through the chapters and the book covers all the vital topics in astonishingly few words.

Project Risk Analysis: Techniques for Forecasting Funding Requirements, Costs an …

Risk and opportunity are inherent in projects and yet, whilst many organizations invest heavily in project management methodologies and processes in the hope of ensuring delivery on time and to budget, project sponsors, project board members or managers do not see that the root cause of the problem of overspend and late completion could be that their projects were underestimated in the first place. Often the techniques used to calculate

Branding and Product Design: An Integrated Perspective

Branding and design are moving closer together. Despite the strong link between famous brands and the products sold under their name, there is still a gap in understanding the relationship between product design and brand-building - Monika Hestad plugs that gap. Branding and Product Design examines how winning brands appear to be more creative and authentic than less successful ones. The book provides tools to help understand the role of products

Threat Finance

Criminal and terrorist organisations are increasingly targeting victims indiscriminately around the globe through white collar and violent crime to fund and pursue their goals. Furthermore, the current environment continues to favour the criminal and the terrorist. Shima Keene’s Threat Finance offers new thinking to equip any organisation whether government, law enforcement, military or corporate, with the knowledge and tools to deploy effective counter measures to tackle the threat. Threat Finance

Customer-Centric Project Management

This short guide explains what customer-centricity means in terms of how a company works and its importance for project performance; using tools and processes to guide customer-centric thinking will help to see the results of engagement and demonstrate how things can improve, even on difficult projects. The text provides a straightforward implementation guide to moving a business to a customer-centric way of working, using a model called Exceed, and provides

Managing Value in Organisations

Managing Value in Organisations offers new ideas, starting by acknowledging that old thinking is now the first barrier to progress. It experiments with value creation to build a climate where new ideas have a chance to live. Those succeeding have the right mind-set: using new ways to organise effort, thinking and value, to produce independent self-managing staff, commitment, growth and agility. The author, Donal Carroll, worked with five organizations to

Third Generation Leadership and the Locus of Control

First Generation Leadership (command and control) was the dominant model until the 1940s and Second Generation Leadership (compliance coupled with rewards and punishments) is still dominant today. In the information age this approach has come under increasing threat and it is being rejected by 'Generation Y ', threatening the longevity of traditional organisations. Third Generation Leadership is a new approach that elicits engagement, commitment, and enhanced accountability. This book is

The Palestinian Executive: Leadership Under Challenging Conditions

The Palestinian Executive is based on field research in the West Bank and Gaza, which involved interviewing 110 executives from 63 publicly and family-owned companies. Using a cross-cultural and contextual approach, the authors examine the leadership styles of successful senior executives and managers living and working under challenging conditions in Palestine. The book: • Explores the impact of culture, environmental pressures, and harsh circumstances on doing business in Palestine • Sheds light

Taking Technology to the Market

Taking Technology to the Market provides a practical guide to the critical success factors in marketing technology. It uses a project-based approach, providing comprehensive guidelines for key strategic and tactical marketing programmes. The book will help improve the chances of developing a winning marketing programme by providing essential steps to success and insight into best practice. Individual chapters provide self-contained guides to planning specific marketing tasks. The range of tasks covers

Game Theory in Management

Architects and engineers can build models to test their ideas - why not managers? Game theory can be used to evaluate rival technical approaches to solving managerial problems in order to discover the most effective solutions. While the topic may seem complex, Game Theory in Management is a readable and fast-paced book; readers will come away with an entirely new perspective on the objectives, tactics, even purpose of management, and

Sustainability in Project Management

Sustainability is one of the most important challenges today. How can prosperity be developed, without compromising the life of future generations? Companies are integrating ideas of sustainability in their marketing, corporate communications, annual reports and in their actions. It is for that reason that 'sustainability' will find its way to project management methodologies and practices. This book explores the concept of sustainability and its application to project management. It aims

The Principles of Project Finance

The Principles of Project Finance highlights the ideas behind an important concept in the global capital markets-project finance. This technique is used to fund large capital expenditure projects and is positioned at a key point between the global capital markets and the energy and infrastructure industries. The chapters, written by a range of leading players from around the world, explain and illustrate the ideas behind project finance. The first section reviews

Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Business Clusters

In Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Business Clusters, Dr Panos Piperopoulos provides a comprehensive introduction to what entrepreneurship is all about, how and why entrepreneurs innovate and how innovation systems operate. Acknowledging that what are now known as small and medium enterprises (SMEs) constitute the backbone of most economies, the author then examines in depth the characteristics of SMEs and the crucial role played by the owners and entrepreneurs who innovate to

Communicating Clearly about Science and Medicine

Communicating Clearly about Science and Medicine helps to develop and deliver impactful presentations on medical and scientific data and tell a clear, compelling story based on research findings, developing clear messages and themes, while adhering to the advice attributed to Einstein: 'Make things as simple as possible...but no simpler.' John Clare illustrates how to communicate clearly the risks and benefits contained in a complex data set, and balance the hope and

The Road to Co-operation

Gordon Pearson offers this critical and informed protest against the absurdity and error of economic theory, shedding new light on the predicament faced in 2012. He highlights the dangers of using bizarre mathematical models to guide policy prescriptions, arguing that the global challenges of growth and sustainability affect free market fundamentalist orthodoxy, causing a negative impact on enterprises, their governance and their stakeholders. His proposed realistic changes in policy and

The Focused Organization

In The Focused Organization Antonio Nieto-Rodriguez shows how fewer, more effectively elected and managed projects are the key to strategic and long-term success. Using his own research and work experience he explains how and why those organizations that focus on just a few key initiatives can perform significantly better than unfocused organizations, not only financially but also in achieving their strategic objectives and motivating their staff. The author introduces a new

The Rise and Fall of Management

Pearson reviews how management became a practice and body of understanding, the development of its crucial role in economic progress, and then how its corruption came about as a result of malign theory, leading to the dominance of the bonus payment culture and short term deal-making that plague us today. Understanding management's past, suggests Pearson, will help its improvement for the future. Contributing to that understanding, this book sheds light

Reconstructing Medical Practice

Change in the medical profession carries with it disturbing features – established practitioners are no longer sure what to recommend to their trainees about how to think and act. In Reconstructing Medical Practice Dr Jorm concludes that regulation, despite its recent proliferation, is a clumsy and limited tool to ensure good care. She offers original and much needed ideas for ways to improve the relationship between doctors and the system. Hardback

Global HR

The HR function is having to adjust itself to the implications of the globalisation of business activity. This has meant adjusting its philosophy, policies and practices to fit new organisational imperatives, as well as creating its own refashioned service delivery model. Global HR explores the key issues of building an international brand, culture and talent pool, whilst contributing to business and functional transformation, drawing on examples from multinationals in telecoms,

The Internationalisation of Corruption

With an inclusive and broad-based understanding of corruption from the perspective of international studies as an interdisciplinary space in the social sciences, the authors of The Internationalisation of Corruption have produced a book that is accessible to anyone approaching the study of corruption from any one of the different disciplinary traditions. Hardback 302 pages March 2012 ISBN 978-1-4094-1129-1 Price £70.00/US$134.95 Available from Gower and Amazon Gower is recognised

Measuring Performance

David Jenkins' book examines many of the more traditional measures of performance and highlights their shortcomings as well as assessing the merits of the alternative approaches that are currently available. The book concludes with a step-by-step guide to reviewing the effectiveness of an organization's existing systems for measuring performance and identifying ways of improving them. Published by Gower March 2012 Hardback 150 pages ISBN 978-0-566-08860-5 Price £60.00/US$114.95 Available from Gower and Amazon Gower is

Islamic Values and Management Practices

Islamic Values and Management Practices explains how a set of management principles based on Islamic values, has been developed over time by the author and her colleagues. This Islamic management model stresses that effectiveness is an outcome of operating efficiently, but at the same time unifying the organization's objectives with those of its employees and wider society, and ensuring that at the strategic level the long view is always maintained.

Second Order Project Management

Second Order Project Management will help alleviate the frustration that every member of the profession has experienced when trying to gain approval for investment in process improvement from sponsors. Illustrated by extracts from a series of interviews with an international group of very senior managers responsible for managing highly complex projects, Michael Cavanagh explains there is nothing magical, or even complicated, about Second Order Project Management. Gower is recognised as

Human Resources or Human Capital?

Are people really an organisation's most important asset? Not necessarily. Some are liabilities – but some undoubtedly are the most important drivers of value that an organisation has. The question is – who are they? How do we know? How can we maximise the value they have and the value they provide? These questions are what human capital management is about. This book explains the answers and discusses approaches

Universal Design

Universal Design offers every organization, whether a provider of services or of products, a clear understanding of the role and value of Design for All/Universal Design. It provides a model for assessing current design practices and making the changes that will make a product or service accessible to all potential customers to create a better consumer-oriented experience. Each chapter contains examples and case studies plus a set of tools to

Human Dignity and Managerial Responsibility

The treatment of employees is increasingly becoming recognised as an important ingredient of sustainable enterprise. As sustainability, and all that it implies, becomes ever more critical, this book, with its multiple perspectives on the workplace and on the issues therein, such as diversity in the broadest sense, fills a gap in the research related literature essential to a more rounded understanding of CSR. Human Dignity and Managerial Responsibility was published by

Project Psychology

Whether looking to set up and manage a new project or working to develop the competence and maturity of an organization's project management capability, Sharon De Mascia's book will provide insights and tools for making sense of the people involved and for managing them to best effect. Project Psychology:Using Psychological Models and Techniques to Create a Successful Project was published by Gower in January 2012. Hardback £60.00 ISBN 978-0-566-08942-8 Gower is recognised

Action Learning in Practice

Previous editions of this book established themselves as authoritative overviews of action learning practice around the globe. Given the increase in action learning activity since this book last appeared, the demand for an up-to-date edition has grown. Whilst chapters on action learning are now obligatory in every collection on leadership and management development, there is still no competing specialist work of this nature. Action Learning in Practice (Fourth Edition) was published

Age Discrimination

Age Discrimination looks at how both young and old can be penalised by prejudice against their age group. This comprehensive new book is essential to practitioners responsible for HR issues, finance, operations, service delivery, quality and customer relations, and for those with a policy focus or academic interest in diversity issues. Gower is recognised as one of the world's leading publishers of specialist business and management books and resources. Our publishing

Vulnerable Workers

Vulnerable Workers considers the growth of job insecurity, the prevalence of flexible or temporary work, and the emergence of precarious forms of self-employment. It looks at new market economies, where economic development may occur at the expense of workers' lives and health, and the plight of migrant, transient and 'invisible' workers. The contributors also propose responses to the challenges they highlight. The role of employee representatives is examined, together with

Father–Daughter Succession in Family Business

Using case studies from many different cultures and continents Father–Daughter Succession in Family Business looks at the cultural and other changes which have led to daughters gaining influence in more and more family businesses and the tensions this can produce between old notions of how men and women should behave and the new style of leadership that often comes about when a woman takes the helm. Gower is recognised as one

Disability Management and Workplace Integration

Disability Management and Workplace Integration considers the development of disability management over the last three decades in different countries. It looks at the ongoing debate about methodology and implementation of disability management strategies and programmes, highlighting the critical debate about the implications of a stricter cost-benefit approach to social work theory and practice. Disability Management and Workplace Integration was published by Gower in December 2011 Hardback Price £60.00 ISBN 978-1-4094-1888-7 Gower is

Strategy Mapping for Learning Organizations

For anyone involved in strategy and performance, Strategy Mapping for Learning Organizations is a detailed guide to developing, rolling out and managing strategy. It incorporates the latest strategic thinking on strategy maps and modern balanced scorecards. Illustrated by examples from both commercial and not for profit organizations, it explains the underlying thinking and techniques that help organizations to manage with greater flexibility and agility. Applying even the basic techniques

International Operations Management

International Operations Management: Lessons in Global Business, uses a fascinating selection of case studies researched during the international operations management project sponsored by the European Commission. Throughout, the authors compare the Western and Eastern approaches to business, and introduce theory to clarify the comparison and the real consequences of internationalisation. With its balance of theoretical and applied content, this volume serves as both a primary and supplementary source for higher level

Interactive Business Communities

In Interactive Business Communities, Mitsuru Kodama shows how a new business approach can enable managers to access, share and integrate diverse knowledge both inside and outside the corporation using Boundary Networks to operate across more formal organizational and knowledge boundaries at all levels. Business educators, researchers and senior executives responsible for strategy, particularly in high-tech industries, will find insights and ideas to tackle market and business discontinuities of the 21st

Design Education

Design Education encapsulates and analyses the research findings facilitated by the UK based Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning through Design. By examining over 40 projects, ranging in focus from design students' use of archives and museum collections to the potential of specific technologies to enhance teaching and learning, Design Education explores aspects of learning and teaching in higher education design subjects, from architecture and 3D design through to

Assessment Centres and Global Talent Management

Assessment Centres and Global Talent Management focuses on strategies that influence the design of the assessment centre in terms of the competencies being assessed, the exercises that are used and the nature of the event, so that they can deliver what is required. Practical examples and case studies are sprinkled throughout the book. Practitioners will see how science informs good practice; scholars will find the chapters a rich source of ideas

Reconnecting Markets

Reconnecting Markets is the second volume of case examples from the Regoverning Markets Project, (2005-2007). It focuses on the keys to inclusion of small scale farmers and rural SMEs into dynamic national and regional markets. The cases document specific arrangements that appear to have played a positive role in supporting greater inclusion, such as public policies and business initiatives, collective action by farmers and support from development agencies. Published by Gower

Marketing Research with SAS Enterprise Guide

Marketing Research with SAS Enterprise Guide provides a detailed explanation of the SAS® Enterprise Guide software. Using 236 screen shots and based on a step-by-step approach and real managerial situations, it guides the reader to an understanding of the use of statistical methods. It demonstrates ways of extracting information and collating it to provide reliable results, and how to use these results to solve day-to-day business and research problems. Published

Solvency II

Stakeholder communications need to be robust, at every level, to secure Solvency II compliance and gain internal buy-in for Solvency II as the new business-as-usual. If a Chief Executive fails to communicate to the markets his organization's ability to deliver on the E.U. Directive, or if a local Regulator finds that the Board has been slipshod in communicating and embedding a risk culture internally, leading to a fail in the

Playing with Purpose: How Experiential Learning Can Be More Than a Game

Playing with Purpose shows how a facilitator, coach, manager, people developer or trainer can invent or reinvigorate an artificial learning experience and make it so much more than a game. The authors look at a range of dilemmas, challenges and problems faced by anyone wanting to run memorable training sessions, classes and project meetings and then demonstrate how to get powerful lessons from the simplest of household and office objects

Bullying in the Arts: Vocation, Exploitation and the Abuse of Power

Diva, Prima Donna, Maestro, Virtuoso: creative geniuses with the ability to deliver artistic excellence. However this perception can serve to tilt the balance of power in relationships and to substantiate the notion of artistic temperament; the Master is always right and the Diva must have her way. The artistic genius may be hell to work with but the end result (the art) is exceptional, so behaviour deemed unacceptable in normal

Project Management for the Pharmaceutical Industry

'A comprehensive set of tools and techniques...The techniques and advice can be applied to many projects in the pharmaceutical industry, including drug development. This is particularly useful for managers who are looking to gain a new perspective for maximising project success...The importance of taking account of behavioural aspects for the successful running of pharmaceutical projects, often overlooked, is included...Above all, the case studies illustrate excellent techniques and principles to help

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