Business, Finance & Law Books

Book SynopsisThis book fills a gap in international literature by providing critical reviews on variables of organizational behavior and the main psychological instruments developed to measure them. Measuring instruments developed with theoretical and methodological rigor in the field of Organizational and Work Psychology can contribute to the development of diagnostic analyses to enable organizations to implement the evidence-based changes required for their survival. These changes demand diagnoses based on precise assessments of organizational and individual variables, but many times the professionals responsible for conducting these assessments are not sure of what is the best measuring instrument available. This book is intended to serve as a guide to these professionals. The volume is divided in two parts. The first part brings together chapters dedicated to the following micro-organizational variables: Job Crafting, reactions to organizational change, Psychological Wellbeing at Work, Bridge Employment Assessment in the Work-Retirement Transition, Resilience at Work, and Leadership in Organizations. The second part presents the state-of-the-art of research on the following macro-organizational constructs: Quality of Life at Work, Organizational Climate for Creativity, Values and Organizations, Assessments of Organizational Support, and Contributions by Social Networks Analysis and Organizational Effectiveness. The last chapter presents a critical discussion about the nature and future of organization behavior measuring. Assessing Organizational Behaviors: A Critical Analysis of Measuring Instruments is intended to help market professionals select the diagnostic instruments that best fit into their organizational reality in order to correctly assess organizational behavior. The book will also be of interest to researchers and students in the field of Organizational and Work Psychology as it provides comprehensive overviews of a wide range of instruments developed to measure different variables of organizational behavior. Table of Contents1.Job crafting measures.- 2.Employee reactions to organizational change: the main models and measures.- 3.Psychological Well-Being at Work Measures.- 4.Bridge Employment Assessment Measures in the Work-Retirement Transition.- 5.Resilience at work: research itineraries, a critical review of measures and a proposal for measurement of the construct for organizational diagnosis.- 6.Leadership in Organizations: state-of-the-art with emphasis on measurement instruments.- 7.Quality of life at work: concepts, models and measures.- 8.Creativity Climate: An Analysis of Measurement Scales.- 9.Values in Organizations: Theory, measurement, and theoretical reflections.- 10.Evaluation tools of Social Support at Work and contributions of Social Networks Analysis.- 11.Organizational Effectiveness: a critical review of the proposals for conceptualization and measurement of the construct.- 12.The next challenges for measuring organizational behavior constructs.

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Book SynopsisBusiness education and executive development has been one of the most fascinating industries in the world and the fastest growing segment of higher education over the past decades. Today, it is experiencing change on a scale unprecedented since the foundation of the first business schools in the early 20th Century, both due to changes in the corporate environment and also due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic across all industries. In this context how do you create world-class educational and training institutions that can cope with those challenges, and be rigorous, vocationally relevant and suited to the corporate growing needs in this new fluid world? And how do you combine the very best of traditional academic values with new learning technologies to create an educational model that is fit to compete in the global economy, threatened today by populism, nationalism and economic turmoil? Yet, as daunting as it is, some institutions have already made significant progress in the journey. In this book Santiago Iñiguez de Onzoño, President of IE University, and Peter Lorange, former President of IMD, bring together contributions from leading figures from some of the world’s major universities. They share their experiences in addressing some of the challenges that the industry faces today, such as diversity and inclusion, employability, the role of AI and the advent of innovative new platforms. Packed with case studies of successful initiatives in business education and executive training, this is a truly visionary book. Authors anticipate future trends and share their in-depth knowledge of what it takes to build world-class educational providers – and their vision of higher education in the future.Trade Review“It presents invaluable insights, based on experience and real cases … . The book provides a guide for business schools, executive education centres and their corporate clients … . Santiago Iñiguez de Onzoño and Peter Lorange have selected a broad range of topnotch contributors and revealing case studies to anticipate future trends and share in-depth knowledge … . Overall, the conclusions reached are positive and important reading for anyone involved in executive development.” (Peter Chadwick, IEDP, iedp.com, February 9, 2022)Table of ContentsIntroduction: Business Education in Times of Disruption and Resilience.- Values and Purpose: Rethinking Executive Education for the Virtual World.- Megatrends Impacting Higher Education After the Pandemic.- The Enlightened Manager: Management and the Humanities.- Business Schools as Catalysts for Sustainable Development.- Executive Education 2.0 Coming Right Up.- Perennial Insights from Peter Drucker.- The Role of Business Education in Supporting the Future of Work.- Case Studies to Part I: The Innovative Ecosystem.- AACSB: Paving New Ways in Business Education.- Traditional Corporations Going Green: Yara.- Diversity and Inclusion: Santander.- Reinventing Public Service: US Postal Service.- The Renaissance of Business Schools: 'Abracadabra': How Technology-Enhanced Education Personalizes Learning.- The MBA Is Dead: Long Live the MBA.- Organizational Responses to Societal and Business Challenges.- Reimagine Executive Education.- Case Studies to Part II: Bridging Academia and Business: Mazars.- Executive Education in Southeast Asia: Asian Institute of Management.- Learning to Learn: PWC.- International Campuses Abroad: University of Southampton in Malaysia.- Transforming Organizations: Haier.- Innovation: Formats, Methods, Platforms: Using the Pandemic to Reset Executive Programs.- Post-Pandemic Architecture and Education.- How the Pandemic Has Demonstrated the Importance of System Leadership in Executive Education.- Executive Education Post-Pandemic: Some Reflections on the Role of Technology-Mediated Interactions Going Forward.- Executive Education for Family Owned Portfolio Corporations: Needs and Challenges.- Learning Analytics.- Case Studies to Part III: Learning Platforms: edX.- Enhancing Social Reach: OpenClassrooms.- Chinese Executive Education in Perspective: CKGSB's Innovations in Business Education.

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Book SynopsisBusiness education and executive development has been one of the most fascinating industries in the world and the fastest growing segment of higher education over the past decades. Today, it is experiencing change on a scale unprecedented since the foundation of the first business schools in the early 20th Century, both due to changes in the corporate environment and also due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic across all industries. In this context how do you create world-class educational and training institutions that can cope with those challenges, and be rigorous, vocationally relevant and suited to the corporate growing needs in this new fluid world? And how do you combine the very best of traditional academic values with new learning technologies to create an educational model that is fit to compete in the global economy, threatened today by populism, nationalism and economic turmoil? Yet, as daunting as it is, some institutions have already made significant progress in the journey. In this book Santiago Iñiguez de Onzoño, President of IE University, and Peter Lorange, former President of IMD, bring together contributions from leading figures from some of the world’s major universities. They share their experiences in addressing some of the challenges that the industry faces today, such as diversity and inclusion, employability, the role of AI and the advent of innovative new platforms. Packed with case studies of successful initiatives in business education and executive training, this is a truly visionary book. Authors anticipate future trends and share their in-depth knowledge of what it takes to build world-class educational providers – and their vision of higher education in the future.Trade Review“It presents invaluable insights, based on experience and real cases … . The book provides a guide for business schools, executive education centres and their corporate clients … . Santiago Iñiguez de Onzoño and Peter Lorange have selected a broad range of topnotch contributors and revealing case studies to anticipate future trends and share in-depth knowledge … . Overall, the conclusions reached are positive and important reading for anyone involved in executive development.” (Peter Chadwick, IEDP, iedp.com, February 9, 2022)Table of ContentsIntroduction: Business Education in Times of Disruption and Resilience.- Values and Purpose: Rethinking Executive Education for the Virtual World.- Megatrends Impacting Higher Education After the Pandemic.- The Enlightened Manager: Management and the Humanities.- Business Schools as Catalysts for Sustainable Development.- Executive Education 2.0 Coming Right Up.- Perennial Insights from Peter Drucker.- The Role of Business Education in Supporting the Future of Work.- Case Studies to Part I: The Innovative Ecosystem.- AACSB: Paving New Ways in Business Education.- Traditional Corporations Going Green: Yara.- Diversity and Inclusion: Santander.- Reinventing Public Service: US Postal Service.- The Renaissance of Business Schools: 'Abracadabra': How Technology-Enhanced Education Personalizes Learning.- The MBA Is Dead: Long Live the MBA.- Organizational Responses to Societal and Business Challenges.- Reimagine Executive Education.- Case Studies to Part II: Bridging Academia and Business: Mazars.- Executive Education in Southeast Asia: Asian Institute of Management.- Learning to Learn: PWC.- International Campuses Abroad: University of Southampton in Malaysia.- Transforming Organizations: Haier.- Innovation: Formats, Methods, Platforms: Using the Pandemic to Reset Executive Programs.- Post-Pandemic Architecture and Education.- How the Pandemic Has Demonstrated the Importance of System Leadership in Executive Education.- Executive Education Post-Pandemic: Some Reflections on the Role of Technology-Mediated Interactions Going Forward.- Executive Education for Family Owned Portfolio Corporations: Needs and Challenges.- Learning Analytics.- Case Studies to Part III: Learning Platforms: edX.- Enhancing Social Reach: OpenClassrooms.- Chinese Executive Education in Perspective: CKGSB's Innovations in Business Education.

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Book SynopsisExploring the rise and fall of global power from the mid-nineteenth century, this book tracks the long and interrelated trajectories of the most serious challenges facing the world today. Although at first the urgency of the coronavirus outbreak in 2020 seemed to take precedence over other global problems such as socioeconomic inequality and climate change, it has ultimately exacerbated these issues and created opportunities to address them boldly and innovatively. A Brief History of Now provides a bird’s-eye view of world hegemony, economic globalization and political regimes as they have evolved and developed over the last two hundred years, providing context and insights into the forces which have shaped the Western world. Presented in an accessible and engaging narrative, the book addresses key contemporary challenges and explores the repercussions of a technological revolution, the potential instability of democracy over the coming years, and the urgent struggle to tackle climate change. With his book, Diego Olstein helps to answer pressing questions about our world today and provides a roadmap for analysing future trajectories.Table of Contents

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Book SynopsisThis book explores how digitalization and digital technologies influence markets, firms, financial institutions and organizations. Drawing on examples from Canada, Poland, France, Albania, Africa and Turkey this book takes a truly international perspective. It explores the technical aspects of digitalization, with chapters examining topics like how digitization creates value in a small company, how digital-driven business drives innovation, how import-exporting firms can increase productivity within the digital economy and how financial systems and institutions evolve due to new technologies. However, the book goes beyond this and, by adopting a holistic view, examines the social impact of digitalization, with the authors discussing how trade unions and employers present Industry 4.0 to employees and the general public. This book will be of interest to anyone studying digital innovation, digital management, digital strategy, Fin Tech, firm management, and Industry 4.0.Chapter 1 is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.Table of Contents1. Introduction: Digitalization as a Driver of the Contemporary Economy (Paweł Marszałek, Milena Ratajczak-Mrozek)2. Digital Transformation: An Analysis of the Role of Technology Service Providers in Montreal's Emerging AI Business Program (Diane-Gabrielle Tremblay, Amina Yagoubi, Valéry Psyché)3. Digitalization and the Process of Creating and Appropriating Value by Small Companies - The Network Approach (Aleksandra Hauke-Lopes, Milena Ratajczak-Mrozek, Marcin Wierzeczycki)4. Digital-Driven Business Model Innovation: the Role of Data in Changing Companies' Value Logic (Ancillai Chiara, Marinelli Luca, Pascucci Federica)5. Economic Structure, Globalization, Governance, and Digitalization: Global Evidence from Digital-Intensive ICT Trade (Mehmet Demiral, Özge Demiral)6. The Digitalization of Contracts in International Trade and Finance: Comparative Law Perspectives on Smart Contracts (Cristina Poncibò)7. Industry 4.0 in the Messages Publishes by Employers and Trade Unions in France, Germany, Poland, and the United Kingdom (Michał Pilc, Beata Woźniak-Jęchorek, Katarzyna Woźniak, Dawid Piątek)8. The Impact of Digitalization on Human Capital Skills and Talent Flows in the Financial Industry: A Graph Theory Approach (Héctor Díaz-Rodríguez, Miriam Sosa, Alejandra Cabello)9. East Asia and East Africa: Different Ways to Digitalize Payments (XU Qing)10. Digitalization and the Transition to a Cashless Economy (Paweł Marszałek, Katarzyna Szarzec)11. Identifying the Financial Drivers of Bitcoin Price in Times of Economic and Policy Uncertainty: A Threshold Analysis (Teodora Cristina Barbu, Iustina Alina Boitan, Raluca Crina Petrescu, Cosmin Cepoi)

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Book SynopsisAs drivers of climate action enter the fourth decade of what has become a multi-stage race, Net Zero has emerged as the dominant organizing principle. Hundreds of corporations and investors worldwide, together responsible for assets in the tens of trillions of dollars, are lining-up for the UN Race to Zero. This latest stage in the race to save civilization from heat, drought, fires, and floods, is defined by steering toward zeroing out greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Settling Climate Accounts probes the practice of Net Zero finance. It elucidates both the state of play and a set of directions that help form judgements about whether Net Zero is going to carry climate action far enough. The book delves into technical analyses and activates the reader’s imagination with narrative accounts of climate action past, present, and future. Settling Climate Accounts is edited and authored by Stanford University faculty and researchers. The first part of the book investigates the rough edges of Net Zero in practice, exploring questions of hedging risk, Scope 3 emissions, greenwashing, and the business of asset management. The second half looks at states, markets, and transitions through the lenses of blended finance, offsets, debt, and securitization. The editors tease out possible solutions and raise further questions about the adequacy and reach of the Net Zero agenda. To effectively navigate the road ahead, the editors call out the need for accountability and ask: who is in charge of making Net Zero add up? Settling Climate Accounts offers context and foundation to ground the rapidly evolving practice of Net Zero finance. Targeted at seasoned practitioners, newly activated leaders, educators, and students of climate action the world over, this book embraces the complexity of climate action and, in so doing, proposes to animate and drive hope.Table of ContentsIntroduction.- Part I: The Dynamics of Net Zero Finance.- 1.A Portfolio Approach to Hedging Climate Risk.- 2.Carbonwashing: ESG Data Greenwashing in a Post-Paris World.- 3.The Road from Scope Three to Net Zero.- 4.Fixing the Plumbing: Asset Management, Clean Energy Technology, and The Valley of Death.- Part II: Beyond Net Zero: States, Markets, and Transition.- 5.Blended Finance for State-led Decarbonization.- 6.A Natural Approach to Net-Zero.- 7.A Note on Transition Bonds and Finance.- 8.Securitization as a Model for an Equitable Transition.- Conclusion.

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Book SynopsisThis book presents scholarly reflections on women's entrepreneurial propensity and on women's entrepreneurship in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields. Contributing to a country's innovativeness and competitiveness, women entrepreneurs also promote healthy social and economic growth and act as mentors and role models for younger women. However, the low involvement of women in STEM, which begins at education, affects the share of women entrepreneurs in these fields. The authors address these issues and highlight the output of research studies by bringing together both global and country-specific evidence. Researchers and policymakers interested in advancing women's entrepreneurship, especially in STEM, will particularly benefit from this book.Table of ContentsUnderstanding the entrepreneurial intention of women in STEM fields.- Individual factors explaining women entrepreneurship in STEM fields.- Analysis of the European Women entrepreneurship in STEM fields.- Women High Tech Entrepreneurship in India.- Public policies and private efforts to increase women entrepreneurship in STEM field.

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Book Synopsis​This book presents both theory of financial data analytics, as well as comprehensive insights into the application of financial data analytics techniques in real financial world situations. It offers solutions on how to logically analyze the enormous amount of structured and unstructured data generated every moment in the finance sector. This data can be used by companies, organizations, and investors to create strategies, as the finance sector rapidly moves towards data-driven optimization.This book provides an efficient resource, addressing all applications of data analytics in the finance sector. International experts from around the globe cover the most important subjects in finance, including data processing, knowledge management, machine learning models, data modeling, visualization, optimization for financial problems, financial econometrics, financial time series analysis, project management, and decision making. The authors provide empirical evidence as examples of specific topics. By combining both applications and theory, the book offers a holistic approach. Therefore, it is a must-read for researchers and scholars of financial economics and finance, as well as practitioners interested in a better understanding of financial data analytics. Table of ContentsPART 1. INTRODUCTION AND ANALYTICS MODELS.- Retraining and Reskilling Financial Participators in the Digital Age.- Basics of Financial Data Analytics.- Predictive Analytics Techniques: Theory and Applications in Finance.- Prescriptive Analytics Techniques: Theory and Applications in Finance.- Forecasting Returns of Crypto Currency - Analyzing Robustness of Auto Regressive and Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) and Artificial Neural Networks (ANNS).- PART 2. MACHINE LEARNING.- Machine Learning in Financial Markets: Dimension Reduction and Support Vector Machine.- Pruned Random Forests for Effective and Efficient Financial Data Analytics.- Foreign Currency Exchange Rate Prediction Using Long Short Term Memory.- Natural Language Processing (NLP) for Exploring Culture in Finance: Theory and Applications.- PART 3. TECHNOLOGY DRIVEN FINANCE.- Financial Networks: A Review of Models and the Use of Network Similarities.- Optimization of Regulatory Economic-Capital Structured Portfolios: Modeling Algorithms, Financial Data Analytics and Reinforcement Machine Learning in Emerging Markets.- Transforming Insurance Business with Data Science.- A General Cyber Hygiene Approach for Financial Analytical Environment.

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Book SynopsisThis open access book offers unique and novel views on the social innovation landscape, tools, practices, pedagogies, and research in the context of higher education. International, multi-disciplinary academics and industry leaders present new developments, research evidence, and practice expertise on social innovation in higher education institutions (HEIs), across academic and professional disciplines.The book includes a selected set of peer-reviewed chapters presenting different perspectives against which relevant actors can identify and analyse social innovation in HEIs. The volume demonstrates how HEIs can respond to societal challenges, support positive social change, and contribute to the development of international public policy discourse. It answers the question ‘how does the present higher education system, in different countries, promote social innovation and create social change and impact’. In answering this question, the book identifies factors driving success as well as obstacles. Furthermore, it examines how higher education innovation assists societal challenges and investigates the benefits of effective social innovation engagement by HEIs.The interdisciplinary approach of the volume makes it a must-read for scholars, students, policy-makers, and practitioners of economics, education, business and management, political science, and sociology interested in a better understanding of social innovation.Table of ContentsIntroduction: An Overview of the Research.- Facets of Social Innovation in Higher Education.- Pathways towards Enhancing HEI’s Role in the Local Social Innovation Ecosystem.- Digital Transformation in Higher Education Institutions as a Driver of Social Oriented Innovations.- Design of a Social Innovation Competence Framework to Educate Entrepreneurs in Developing on the International Stage.- Higher Education Practices for Social Innovation and Sustainable Development.- The Role of Higher Education Institutions in Development of Social Entrepreneurship: The Case of Tallinn University Social Entrepreneurship Study Program, Estonia.- Fostering Research with Societal Impact in Higher Education Institutions: A Review and Conceptualization.- The Role of Higher Education in Creating Socially Responsible Innovations – A Case Study of the EIT Food RIS Consumer Engagement Labs project.- Defining ‘Responsible’ in Responsible Research and Innovation: The Case of Quadruple Helix Innovation in the Energy Sector in the Tampere Region.- A Human-Centric Co-Creation Platform for Solving Wicked Social Challenges.- “Thinking Outside the Box”: Social Innovations Emerging from Academic Nursing-Community Partnerships.- Social Innovation in Higher Education from a Disability Studies Perspective.- Possibilities of Social Bonds Using to Finance Higher Education Institutions.

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Book SynopsisThis book provides a method to plan, develop, validate, or evolve the design of an enterprise architecture function so that it fully meets the organization’s needs. The reader will benefit from this book in two ways. First, it provides a structured overview and orientation to the subject of architecture from an architecture function perspective. Second, it guides through the process of planning, building, and operating your own architecture organization based on a generic architecture function blueprint presented in the form of a pattern language offering a structured means for navigating, contextualizing, combining, and composing the architecture function patterns. The book is structured in six chapters. Chapter 1 “Introduction” explains the starting position and objectives of the book and introduces key concepts that will be explained further in subsequent chapters. Chapter 2 “Architecture Function Pattern Language” introduces the concepts of pattern, pattern catalogue, pattern topology, and ontology and explains how these concepts are combined to form a pattern language for planning, designing, and operating an architecture function. Next, Chapter 3 “Architecture Function – Context“ introduces concepts that are crucial for understanding the challenges that an architecture function faces and presents a generic schema for the business organizations and value chain. Chapter 4 “Architecture Function – Challenge” looks at an architecture function from a black box perspective and outlines the expectations and requirements that companies place on architecture organizations. It discusses the building blocks of an architecture function, the services it provides along the enterprise value chain, and the quality attributes that enterprises expect from their functions. Chapter 5 “Architecture Function – Constitution” then shifts from a black-box perspective to a white-box perspective and outlines the generic design of an architecture function in order to realize functional and quality-related requirements. Chapter 6 “Pattern Catalogue“ eventually introduces the pattern catalogue with a total of 48 architecture function patterns. These patterns suggest designs for collaboration between the architecture function and enterprise organizations, for the elaboration and development of enterprise services along the enterprise value chain, or for aligning architecture governance with enterprise governance. The book is intended for a broad readership, including enterprise, domain, and solution architects, lecturers and students, and anyone else interested in understanding the value proposition, responsibilities, outcomes, methods, and practices of architecture functions. It introduces the basic concepts and theories needed to understand the pattern language presented and the patterns it summarizes. Table of Contents1. Introduction.- 2. Architecture Function Pattern Language.- 3. Architecture Function: Context.- 4. Architecture Function: Challenge.- 5. Architecture Function: Constitution.- 6. Pattern Catalog.

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Book SynopsisThis open access book offers a multidisciplinary dialogue on relational anthropology in contemporary economics. A particular view of the human being is often assumed in economic models, but seldom acknowledged let alone explicated. Addressing this neglected area of research in economic studies, altogether the contributors touch upon the importance and potential of virtues, the notions of freedom and self-love, the potential of simulation models, the dialectics of love, and questions of methodology in constructing a relational anthropology for contemporary economics. The overall result is a highly informative and constructive dialogue, establishing inter alia a research agenda for future collaborative and multidisciplinary study.Table of Contents

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Book SynopsisThe COVID-19 pandemic has permanently changed lives around the world and no dimension of life and leadership seems to have been spared from its wrath. It has also stirred us into thinking about novel approaches to lead organizations and societies toward a shared, sustainable future. This book offers novel perspectives on leadership and change management after the COVID-19 pandemic that take us beyond striving for thriving—perspectives that are grounded in emergent theory, research and practice. It highlights sustainable leadership and change management strategies to effectively deal with unpredictable and rapidly changing situations—particularly in a world that is increasingly volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA). This book also highlights engaging perspectives by specialists from different disciplines such as business, psychology, education, and health care. It serves as a practical guide in identifying and responding to leadership challenges and opportunities in each of the four VUCA categories of volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity—and how they affect businesses, organizations, and societies as a whole.Table of Contents1. Holistic Leadership for Post-COVID-19 Organizations: Perspectives and Prospects.- 2. Leaders’ Resilience: What leaders can learn from the COVID-19 crisis.- 3. A Paean to the “Poet Laureate of Management”.- 4. The Compatibility of Christian Servant Leadership and Sustainable Leadership in a Post Covid-19 World.- 5. Quiet Ego Leadership after Covid-19: Releasing Compassion, Confidence and Creativity.- 6. Leadership for an unknowable tomorrow.- 7. Coevolutive Leadership for an After COVID-19 World.- 8. E-leadership 2.0: Meet Your AI Leader.- 9. The Role of Leaders in Enabling Organizational Resilience by Generating a Culture of Grit.- 10. Moral Leadership in a Post-COVID 19 World.- 11. COURAGE as a Roadmap Toward Sustainable Practices in a Post-COVID World.- 12. Towards Transformational Leadership Beyond the Covid-19 Pandemic.- 13. Transformational leadership and Job Crafting.- 14. Fostering Sustainable Change: Building on the Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic.- 15. Leading through VUCA times for a sustainable future of work: Expert views on the global automotive industry.- 16. Leading through Crisis: The Role of Mindfulness.- 17. Post-Pandemic Crisis Global Leadership and Our New Food Emergency.- 18. School Leadership and Information Literacy: Leading in Crisis and Beyond Covid-19.-19. Supporting leadership success in times of global disruption: Best practices for transformational executive coaching.- 20. Everything gonna be alright: antecedents to nurses’ change adaptability in the COVID-19 era.

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Book SynopsisBuilding on insights from the fields of textual criticism, bibliography, narratology, authorship studies, and book history, The Preface: American Authorship in the Twentieth Century examines the role that prefaces played in the development of professional authorship in America. Many of the prefaces written by American writers in the twentieth century catalogue the shifting landscape of a more self-consciously professionalized trade, one fraught with tension and compromise, and influenced by evolving reading publics. With analyses of Willa Cather, Ring Lardner, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Robert Penn Warren, and Toni Morrison, Ross K. Tangedal argues that writers used prefaces as a means of expanding and complicating authority over their work and, ultimately, as a way to write about their careers. Tangedal’s approach offers a new way of examining American writers in the evolving literary marketplace of the twentieth century.Table of ContentsIntroduction An Influence on the Public: Writers, Authors, Prefaces.- Chapter One People Have to Learn: Willa Cather’s Introductions to My Ántonia.- Chapter Two Stepping In or Turning Back: Ring Lardner and Authorial Refusal.- Chapter Three Inhibiting Signposts: F. Scott Fitzgerald and Authorial Anxiety.- Chapter Four The Will to Control: Ernest Hemingway and the Action of Writing.- Chapter Five The Awful Responsibility: Robert Penn Warren, Ralph Ellison, and Time.- Chapter Six A Safe Distance: Toni Morrison and the Search for Legacy.- Conclusion Every Given Moment Has Its Value: To Get a Proper Reading.

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Book SynopsisThis book will take the reader through the past, the present, and into the future of the flagship institution of the international customs community: the World Customs Organization (WCO). The purpose is to present to the reader, in a comprehensive, orderly, and synthetic manner, the enormous contributions that this prestigious and recognized institution has been making to the secure growth of global international trade. In the development of the text, special consideration has been given to the relevant instruments in day-to-day customs work, which constitute the bases of the WCO (the Harmonized System Convention, the Revised Kyoto Convention, and the SAFE Framework of Standards, among many others), as well as those issues that are currently of specific interest to the global customs community (cross-border e-commerce, trade facilitation, and authorized economic operator, to mention but a few), trying to reconcile the various practical aspects of customs operations with their theoretical underpinnings. In the final part, the book turns to the future of customs, analyzing the most pressing challenges presented by technological advances, including the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, 3D printing, and blockchain. In short, this book will be of great interest to all foreign trade operators, mainly to customs officials, customs brokers, carriers and international forwarding agents, managers of importing and exporting companies, as well as all those (professionals and students) who wish to deepen their knowledge of the exciting world of customs and international trade. Table of ContentsIntroduction.- Institutional Structure.- Legal Instruments.- The WCO's Relationship with other Organizations.- WCO Relation with Customs Brokers.- Nomenclature and Classification of Goods.- Valuation of Goods.- Origin of Goods.- Enforcement.- Procedures and Facilitation.- Capacity Building.- Integrity.- Packages.- Other Instruments.- Research.- Appraisal of Performance.- The Agenda of the Future.- Closing Words.

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Book SynopsisThis book will take the reader through the past, the present, and into the future of the flagship institution of the international customs community: the World Customs Organization (WCO). The purpose is to present to the reader, in a comprehensive, orderly, and synthetic manner, the enormous contributions that this prestigious and recognized institution has been making to the secure growth of global international trade. In the development of the text, special consideration has been given to the relevant instruments in day-to-day customs work, which constitute the bases of the WCO (the Harmonized System Convention, the Revised Kyoto Convention, and the SAFE Framework of Standards, among many others), as well as those issues that are currently of specific interest to the global customs community (cross-border e-commerce, trade facilitation, and authorized economic operator, to mention but a few), trying to reconcile the various practical aspects of customs operations with their theoretical underpinnings. In the final part, the book turns to the future of customs, analyzing the most pressing challenges presented by technological advances, including the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, 3D printing, and blockchain. In short, this book will be of great interest to all foreign trade operators, mainly to customs officials, customs brokers, carriers and international forwarding agents, managers of importing and exporting companies, as well as all those (professionals and students) who wish to deepen their knowledge of the exciting world of customs and international trade. Table of ContentsIntroduction.- Institutional Structure.- Legal Instruments.- The WCO's Relationship with other Organizations.- WCO Relation with Customs Brokers.- Nomenclature and Classification of Goods.- Valuation of Goods.- Origin of Goods.- Enforcement.- Procedures and Facilitation.- Capacity Building.- Integrity.- Packages.- Other Instruments.- Research.- Appraisal of Performance.- The Agenda of the Future.- Closing Words.

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Book SynopsisThis book offers invaluable insights about the full spectrum of core design course contents systematically and in detail. This book is for instructors and students who are involved in teaching and learning of ‘capstone senior design projects’ in mechanical engineering.It consists of 17 chapters, over 300 illustrations with many real-world student project examples.The main project processes are grouped into three phases, i.e., project scoping and specification, conceptual design, and detail design, and each has dedicated two chapters of process description and report content prescription, respectively. The basic principles and engineering process flow are well applicable for professional development of mechanical design engineers.CAD/CAM/CAE technologies are commonly used within many project examples. Thematic chapters also cover student teamwork organization and evaluation, project management, design standards and regulations, and rubrics of course activity grading. Key criteria of successful course accreditation and graduation attributes are discussed in details. In summary, it is a handy textbook for the capstone design project course in mechanical engineering and an insightful teaching guidebook for engineering design instructors.Table of ContentsChapter 1. Framework and Syllabus: Introduction to Capstone Projects – a Hidden Gem of Engineering Education.- Chapter 2. Project Proposals and Intellectual Properties.- Chapter 3. Teamwork and Group Dynamics.- Design Process and Evolving Phases.- Chapter 5. Phase 1 Process: Problem Definition, Design Specification.- Chapter 6. Phase 2 Process: Concept generation, design and evaluation.- Chapter 7. Phase 3 Process: Detail Design.- Chapter 8. Phase 1 Report: Problem Definition, Design Specification, and Project Plan.- Chapter 9. Phase 2 Report: Conceptual Design.- Chapter 10. Phase 3 Report: Detailed Design.- Chapter 11. Research and Information Resources in Mechanical Engineering Design.- Chapter 12. Industrial Design Elements in Product Development, Part 1: WHAT MAKES A GOOD INDUSTRIAL DESIGN?.- Chapter 13. Industrial Design Part 2: Cases in Product Development, WHAT MAKES A GOOD PRODUCT DESIGN?.- Chapter 14. Project planning and management.- Chapter 15. How to Write Engineering Report.- Chapter 16. Design Standards and Regulations.- Chapter 17. Accreditation and Graduate Attributes.

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Book SynopsisRapid shifts in technology and societal changes accelerated by the Pandemic have fundamentally changed the way that customers experience luxury. While digital transformation has unlocked new opportunities to connect one-to-one with customers, the challenge for luxury brands is to engage with customers while protecting their brand equity and leveraging digital tools to build personal relationships with customers. Taking you beyond omni-channel marketing, this book takes a deep dive into the concept of omni-personal, which enables you to connect your brand to relevant and individual experiences. Highly practical in scope, it takes you on a journey to building individual and relevant experiences and relationships at scale. The authors answer the essential questions of who, why, how, what and when omni-personal matters most in luxury, offering best-practice examples, case studies and interviews with industry leaders. Ultimately, this book shows you how to embed the omni-personal strategy into your business and offers a framework to help you assess your organization’s ability to deliver omni-personal marketing along the different channels and touchpoints within the customer journey. This book is for anyone who is interested in the future of luxury, including industry experts and brand managers who want a better understanding of the required steps towards an omni-personal customer relationship.Table of Contents1: Introduction: the future of luxury2: The industry is special3: Cautious Steps towards Digital4: Customer Centricity is Key5: Digital Transformation of the Omni-personal Customer Journey6: How To Go Omni-personal7: Conclusion: Embark on Your Journey to the Omni-personal Now

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Book SynopsisFrom data collection to evaluation and visualization of prediction results, this book provides a comprehensive overview of the process of predicting demand for retailers. Each step is illustrated with the relevant code and implementation details to demystify how historical data can be leveraged to predict future demand. The tools and methods presented can be applied to most retail settings, both online and brick-and-mortar, such as fashion, electronics, groceries, and furniture. This book is intended to help students in business analytics and data scientists better master how to leverage data for predicting demand in retail applications. It can also be used as a guide for supply chain practitioners who are interested in predicting demand. It enables readers to understand how to leverage data to predict future demand, how to clean and pre-process the data to make it suitable for predictive analytics, what the common caveats are in terms of implementation and how to assess prediction accuracy.Table of Contents1. Introduction.- 2. Data Pre-Processing and Modeling Factors.- 3. Common Demand Prediction Methods.- 4. Tree-Based Methods.- 5. Clustering Techniques.- 6. Evaluation and Visualization.- 7. More Advanced Methods.- 8. Conclusion and Advanced Topics.

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Book SynopsisThis book constitutes the proceedings of the Blockchain and RPA Forum, held as part of the 19th International Conference on Business Process Management, BPM 2021, which took place during September 6-10, 2021, in Rome, Italy.The Blockchain Forum and the RPA Forum have in common that they are centered around an emerging and exciting technology. The blockchain is a sophisticated distributed ledger technology, while RPA software allows for mimicking human, repetitive actions. Each of these have the potential to fundamentally change how business processes are being orchestrated and executed in practice. The 8 papers presented in this volume were carefully reviewed and selected from a total of 14 submissions. Table of ContentsRobotic Process Automation Forum.- Humans, Processes and Robots: a journey to Hyperautomation.- A Framework of Cost Drivers for Robotic Process Automation Projects.- Adding Decision Management to Robotic Process Automation.- AIRPA: An architecture to support the execution and maintenance of AI-powered RPA robots.- Blockchain Forum.- An empirical evaluation of smart contract-based data quality assessment in Ethereum.- Blockchain as a Countermeasure Solution for Security Threats of Healthcare Applications.- Studying Bitcoin privacy attacks and their Impact on Bitcoin-based Identity Methods.- Enhancing Blockchain-based Processes with Decentralized Oracles.- Methods for Decentralized Identities: Evaluation and Insights.

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This book offers students a philosophical introduction to the ethical foundations of business management. It combines lessons from Kant with virtue ethics and also touches upon additional approaches such as utilitarianism. At the core of the book lies the concept of the nexus of imperfect managerial duty: building and reinforcing the virtuous managerial team, engaging in reasoned discourse among all stakeholders, and diligently pursuing business responsibilities, including the creative efforts necessary for modern organizations.Case illustrations of these applications are presented throughout the book, including chapter appendices. Ancillary videos, test and answer banks and sample syllabi are available online via the author’s website.

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Book SynopsisThis open access textbook introduces the emerging field of Development Engineering and its constituent theories, methods, and applications. It is both a teaching text for students and a resource for researchers and practitioners engaged in the design and scaling of technologies for low-resource communities. The scope is broad, ranging from the development of mobile applications for low-literacy users to hardware and software solutions for providing electricity and water in remote settings. It is also highly interdisciplinary, drawing on methods and theory from the social sciences as well as engineering and the natural sciences.The opening section reviews the history of “technology-for-development” research, and presents a framework that formalizes this body of work and begins its transformation into an academic discipline. It identifies common challenges in development and explains the book’s iterative approach of “innovation, implementation, evaluation, adaptation.” Each of the next six thematic sections focuses on a different sector: energy and environment; market performance; education and labor; water, sanitation and health; digital governance; and connectivity. These thematic sections contain case studies from landmark research that directly integrates engineering innovation with technically rigorous methods from the social sciences. Each case study describes the design, evaluation, and/or scaling of a technology in the field and follows a single form, with common elements and discussion questions, to create continuity and pedagogical consistency. Together, they highlight successful solutions to development challenges, while also analyzing the rarely discussed failures. The book concludes by reiterating the core principles of development engineering illustrated in the case studies, highlighting common challenges that engineers and scientists will face in designing technology interventions that sustainably accelerate economic development.Development Engineering provides, for the first time, a coherent intellectual framework for attacking the challenges of poverty and global climate change through the design of better technologies. It offers the rigorous discipline needed to channel the energy of a new generation of scientists and engineers toward advancing social justice and improved living conditions in low-resource communities around the world.Table of ContentsPart I: A New Discipline: Development Engineering.-Chapter 1: The Role Of Technology In Development.- Chapter 2: The Development Engineering Framework: Innovate, Evaluate, Scale.-Chapter 3: Asking the Right Questions.-Part II: Water, Sanitation and Health.-Chapter 4: Advances In Water and Health Technologies.-Chapter 5: Case Study: Electrochemical Arsenic Remediation, India (Innovation).-Chapter 6: Case Study: Information For Intermittent Water Supply, India (Evaluation).-Chapter 7: Case Study: Mobile Phone Diagnostic Microscopy, Vietnam/Cameroon (Innovation, Scale).-Part III: Governance.- Chapter 8: Technologies for Governance And Accountability.-Chapter 9: Case Study: Sensors For Aid Accountability, Rwanda (Evaluation, Scale).-Chapter 10: Case Study: High Resolution Development Indicators, Afghanistan (Evaluation, Scale).-Chapter 11: Case Study: Monitoring For Elections And Public Service Delivery, Kenya (Evaluation, Scale).-Part IV: Energy and Resources.-Chapter 12: Advances in Energy & Environmental Technologies.-Chapter 13: Case Study: Economic Impacts Of Rural Electrification, Kenya (Evaluation, Scale).-Chapter 14: Case Study: Cool Joule: Flexible Energy Loads, Nicaragua (Innovation, Evaluation).-Chapter 15: Case Study: Cookstove Monitoring and Use In East Africa (Innovation, Evaluation).-Part V: Information.-Chapter 16: Information and Communications Technology For Development.-Chapter 17: Case Study: Community Cellular Networks, Philippines (Innovation, Evaluation).-Chapter 18: Case Study: ICT Solutions To Bring Telemedicine To Rural India (Innovation).-Chapter 19: Case Study: Platforms For Development Data (ODK/Mezuri) (Innovation, Scale).-PART VI: Markets (Incorporates Agriculture).-Chapter 20: Technologies To Improve Market Performance.-Chapter 21: Case Study: Ag Market Information Platforms, India (Innovation, Evaluation, Scale).-Chapter 22: Case Study: Agricultural Trading Platforms, Uganda (Innovation, Evaluation).-Chapter 23: Case Study: Inventory And Supply Chain Tracking, Sri Lanka (Evaluation).-PART VII: Human Capital (Incorporates Labor).-Chapter 24: Increasing the Productivity of Human Capital.-Chapter 25: Case Study: Electronic Job Search Platforms, India (Evaluation, Scale).-Chapter 26: Case Study: Customized E-Learning Innovations, India (Evaluation).-Chapter 27: Case Study: TBD (Evaluation).-PART VIII: Conclusion.-Chapter 28: Promising Directions in Development Engineering.

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Book SynopsisThis graduate-level textbook covers modelling, programming and analysis of stochastic computer simulation experiments, including the mathematical and statistical foundations of simulation and why it works. The book is rigorous and complete, but concise and accessible, providing all necessary background material. Object-oriented programming of simulations is illustrated in Python, while the majority of the book is programming language independent. In addition to covering the foundations of simulation and simulation programming for applications, the text prepares readers to use simulation in their research. A solutions manual for end-of-chapter exercises is available for instructors.Table of ContentsChapter 1: Why Do We Simulate.- Chapter 2: Simulation Programming: Quick Start.- Chapter 3: Examples.- Chapter 4: Simulation Programming with PythonSim.- Chapter 5: Three Views of Simulation.- Chapter 6: Simulation Input.- Chapter 7: Simulation Output.- Chapter 8: Experiment Design and Analysis.- Chapter 9: Simulation Optimization and Sensitivity.- Chapter 10: Simulation for Research.- References.- Index.

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Book SynopsisThis edited volume discusses digital transformation in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and the widespread lockdown policies that followed, digital technologies were touted as an effective means towards ensuring continuity and minimal interruption of day-to-day operations for businesses and other institutions. Digital transformation, however, is an inherently complex process and the pressure of short adoption times may further increase complexities for organizations looking to foster digital technologies. This volume comprises original research contributions on theoretical foundations and empirical studies of digital transformations in the pandemic era. Written by academics and practitioners from diverse disciplines and industries, the chapters cover topics such as psychological and technical implications of pandemic situations, the economic, organizational, social, and legal implications of digital adoption, and case studies for digital transformation in different industries. This book will be useful for academics, technology professionals, business policy makers, NGO managers, and governments looking to optimize their digital transformation processes to better prepare their organizations in the presence of pandemic situations. Table of Contents1. Policies for Enhancing Public Trust and Avoiding Distrust in Digital Government During Pandemics: Insights from A SyStematic Literature Review.- 2. Data driven implementation: the role of information and technology in public responses to social emergencies.- 3. Implementation of emerging technologies in pandemic situations: Contact tracing.- 4. eTourism and Cultural Resilience: Exploring Opportunities for Indigenous Communities in an Extremely Precarious State.- 5. Digital Transformation of Health Systems During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Challenges and Opportunities for the Future.- 6. Digital Transformation and Usability: User acceptance of Tawakkalna Application during Covid-19 in Saudi Arabia Digital Transformation and Usability: UX Tawakkalna Application in Saudi Arabia.- 7. Digital transformations to challenge-based learning in the context of COVID-19 and beyond.- 8. Change Management in Digital Environment amid the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Scenario from Malaysian Higher Education Institutions.- 9. Challenges and Implications of Digital Transformation in Higher Education: A Student Perspective from Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.- 10. Digital transformation in Higher Education – Impact of Instructor Training on Class Effectiveness during COVID-19.

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Book SynopsisThis textbook aims to guide, instruct and inspire the next generation of innovation designers, managers and leaders. Building upon an evidence-based innovation development process, it introduces, explains and provides visual models and case examples of what Business Design is, how it is applied across sectors and organizations, and its impact on decision-making and value creation.Students will read and analyze design-led innovation business cases from across the globe, discover multi-disciplinary strategies (from marketing to anthropology) and practice applying a designer’s toolkit to find, frame, and solve business problems in contemporary ways. Throughout the book, students will break down the process of innovation and move from initiation to implementation, engage in iterative feedback loops, and develop concrete plans for personal and professional collaboration and workplace application.For MBA and senior undergraduate students, this book offers a step-by-step and comprehensive reference guide to creative problem framing and solving – inside and beyond the classroom. It integrates marketing principles and management frameworks, with anthropological and design methods reflecting the diverse and in-demand skills vital to tomorrow’s workforce.For instructors, this book offers a way to confidently engage learners in the realm of design practices and strategies relevant to business decision-making. The pedagogical framework, along with a comprehensive suite of techniques and templates, offers both novice and experienced teachers a step-by-step reference guide that facilitates skills development in creative problem framing and solving.Table of ContentsChapter 1.- Introduction to Design-driven Innovation_Chapter 2.- Introduction to Business Design Chapter 3:- Business Design Method Step 1: Start_Chapter 4.- Business Design Method Step 2: Find_ Chapter 5.- Business Design Method Step 3: Frame_ Chapter 6.- Business Design Method Step 4: Solve_ Chapter 7.- Reflective Practice and Design_Chapter 8.- Templates and Worksheets.

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Book SynopsisThis open access book considers the development of the sharing and collaborative economy with a European focus, mapping across economic sectors, and country-specific case studies. It looks at the roles the sharing economy plays in sharing and redistribution of goods and services across the population in order to maximise their functionality, monetary exchange, and other aspects important to societies. It also looks at the place of the sharing economy among various policies and how the contexts of public policies, legislation, digital platforms, and other infrastructure interrelate with the development and function of the sharing economy. The book will help in understanding the future (sharing) economy models as well as to contribute in solving questions of better access to resources and sustainable innovation in the context of degrowth and growing inequalities within and between societies. It will also provide a useful source for solutions to the big challenges of our times such as climate change, the loss of biodiversity, and recently the coronavirus disease pandemic (COVID-19). This book will be of interest to academics and students in economics and business, organisational studies, sociology, media and communication and computer science.Table of ContentsChapter 1. Introduction: The Sharing Economy in Europe from Idea to Reality; Andrzej Klimczuk, Vida Česnuitytė, Cristina Miguel, Gabriela Avram, Bori Simonovits,Mijalche Santa, & Bálint Balázs.- 2. Conceptualisation of the Sharing Economy; Cristina Miguel, Esther Martos-Carrión, Andrzej Klimczuk, & Mijalche Santa.- 3. 3. The Context of Public Policy on the Sharing Economy; Andrzej Klimczuk.- 4. 4. The Regulatory Context and Legal Evolution: The Cases of Airbnb and Uber; Kosjenka Dumančić, & Natalia-Rozalia Avlona.- 5. Infrastructure for the Sharing Economy Spreading; by Vida Česnuitytė, Leta Dromantienė,& Julijana Angelovska.- 6. 6. Mobility and Transportation Sharing; Agnieszka Łukasiewicz, Anikó Bernát, & Vera Lúcia Alves Pereira Diogo.- 7. Peer-to-peer Accommodation in Europe: Trends, Challenges, and Opportunities; Anna Farmaki, & Cristina Miguel.- 8. From Uberisation to Commoning: Experiences, Challenges, and Potential Pathways of the Sharing Economy in Food Supply Chains in Europe; Bálint Balázs, & Bori Simonovits.- 9. Unpacking the Financial Services Evolution in the Sharing Economy; Mijalche Santa, & Agnieszka Łukasiewicz.- 10. Education, Information, and Data in the Era of Sharing; Gabriela Avram, & Eglantina Hysa.- 11. Sharing of Material Goods and Household Services; Vida Česnuitytė, Leta Dromantienė, & Anita Čeh Časni.- 12. Solidarity and Care Economy During Times of Crises: A Comparative View Between Hungary and Greece in 2015 and 2020; Penny Travlou, & Anikó Bernát.- 13. Sharing Economy in the Netherlands: Grounding Public Values in Shared Mobility and Gig Work Platforms; Martijn de Waal, & Martijn Arets.- 14. The Sharing Economy in France: From Cooperative Business to Platform Cooperatives; Myriam Lewkowicz, & Jean-Pierre Cahier.- 15. A Critical Perspective on the Sharing Economy in Tourism and the Hospitality Sector in Austria; Malte Höfner, & Rainer Rosegger; 16. Recent Developments in the Collaborative and Sharing Economy in Italy: Old and New Issues After the COVID-19 Crisis; Chiara Bassetti, Cary Yungmee Hendrickson, Monica Postiglione, Giulia Priora, Venere Sanna, & Stefano Valerio.- 17. Albania: Advances in Agriculture and Relation to Food Delivery and Health Sector; Eglantina Hysa, Alba Kruja, & Vera Shikp.- 18. An Examination of the Evolution of Timebanks in the United Kingdom Rodrigo Perez Vega, & Cristina Miguel.- 19. Facing COVID-19 and the Sharing Economy Business Models: Case Study of Poland; Agnieszka Łukasiewicz, & Aleksandra Nadolska.- 20. 20. Conclusion: The State and Future Prospects of the Sharing Economy in Europe; Vida Česnuitytė, Andrzej Klimczuk, Cristina Miguel, Gabriela Avram, Bori Simonovits,Mijalche Santa, & Bálint Balázs.

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Book SynopsisThis book examines the Westernization Movement in modern Chinese History, in the latter 19th century and the economic impact on manufacturing and enterprise evolution. It examines the rise, development, and performance of this movement on both the micro and macro-levels. This book reveals achievements in technology transfer without political changes, which set the limits for the westernization movement. It evaluates the link between the Westernization Movement and China’s economic reforms after 1978, and the factors that may have constrained the development of economic thought in China. The book provides valuable insights into how Chinese economic thought transitioned, and is a valuable contribution to the debate on how the early Westernization Movement in China caused a change in consumer thought. It will be of interest to academics in economic history and those interested in the development of modern China and the emergence of manufacturing and entrepreneurship in China.Table of ContentsPart 1 Introduction.- Chapter 1. The Change of Time and the Formation of the Westernization Thought.- Chapter 2. The Guiding Principle of Westernization Movement.-Chapter 3. The Development Strategies of the Self-Strengthening Modernization.- Chapter 4. Social Reformative Thought of Westernization Group.- Part 2. Business.- Chapter 5. Raising Capital.- Chapter 6. Improve the thought of technology.- Chapter 7. The thinking of cultivation personnel of running business.- Chapter 8. Thoughts of Hiring Free Labors.- Chapter 9. Theories of enterprise operation and management.- Chapter 10. Companies Organization System Thoughts.- Part 3. National Economy.- Chapter 11. Develop Thought of Modern Agriculture.- Chapter 12. Development of modern industry thought.- Chapter 13. The ideology of developing modern business.- Chapter 14. Development of transportation & Communication thought.- Chapter 15. The Development of Modern Financial Thinking.- Chapter 16. Thinking of Transferring the Surplus Workforce in Agricultural Society.- Part 4. Peroration.- Chapter 17. The Origins of Westernization Thought.- Chapter 18. Ideological evaluation of westernization movement.- Chapter 19. Qing Government and Westernization.

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Book SynopsisShared value is a management strategy in which companies find business opportunities in social problems. While philanthropy and CSR focus efforts focus on “giving back” or minimizing the harm business has on society, shared value focuses company leaders on maximizing the competitive value of solving social problems in new customers and markets, cost savings, talent retention, and more.This book takes the concept of shared value to the next level, with the concept of “Me to We” (also abbreviated as “M2W”) and discusses the current state of the business-environment-government relationship and shows how the shared value model can contribute to each entity. Citing real cases and examples from multiple industries, the authors show that shared value promotes shareholder interests while serving as a successful business strategy. Chapters explore the emerging phenomenon of shared value, the shareholder-stakeholder comparisons, the role of government in the stakeholder environment, shared value as it related to competitiveness, and operational issues such as implementation, communication, and leadership in their relationship to shared value.Readers will find useful strategies of Me to We and its implementation by firms that have become leaders in their market. They will receive ideas and insights into business strategies that will overshadow CSR activities as a differentiation or brand development strategy of the past.Featuring interviews with corporate executives offering their perspectives on shared value, this book will discuss shared value within the context of business and society, competitiveness, and globalization.Table of Contents

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Book SynopsisThis open access book uses an interdisciplinary approach that not only focuses on social organization but also analyzes how societies and ecological settings were interwoven. How did early modern indigenous Sami inhabitants in interior northwest Fennoscandia build institutions for governance of natural resources? The book answers this question by exploring how they made decisions regarding natural resource management, mainly with regard to wild game, fish, and grazing land and illuminate how Sami users, in a changing economy, altered the long-term rules for use of land and water in a self-governance context. The early modern period was a transforming phase of property rights due to fundamental changes in Sami economy: from an economy based on fishing and hunting to an economy where reindeer pastoralism became the main occupation for many Sami. The book gives a new portrayal of how proficiently and systematically indigenous inhabitants organized and governed natural assets and how capable they were in building highly functioning institutions for governance.Trade Review“The book by Jesper Larsson and Eva-Lotta Päiviö Sjaunja is really fascinating and a definite must-read for anyone interested in the history of reindeer pastoralism and, may be, pastoralism in general.” (Kirill V. Istomin, Pastoralism, June 8, 2022)Table of ContentsPart I: Introduction, Framework, Methods and Starting Points.- Chapter 1: Introduction.- Chapter 2: Linking long-term changes in socioecological systems with the development of property rights.- Chapter 3: Methods and staring points.- Chapter 4: Important variables.- Part II: Land Use, Livelihood and Ecological Settings.- Chapter 5: Fishing.- Chapter 6: Hunting.- Chapter 7: Reindeer husbandry.- Chapter 8: Other.- Part III: Synthesis.- Chapter 9: From private to common – coevolution of land-use practices and property rights.- Chapter 10: Early modern self-governance and colonial structures – the current state of affairs.

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Book SynopsisThis Second Edition updates the companion workbook to match the new edition of the textbook Principles of Microeconomics. Each chapter features a wide variety of exercises, ranging from basic multiple-choice questions to challenging mathematical problems and case study scenarios. The textbook pursues an integrative approach to modern microeconomics by critically reflecting on the main findings of economics from a philosophical standpoint and comparing them to approaches found in the social sciences. It adopts an institutional perspective to analyze the potential and limitations of different market types, and highlights implications for the design of the legal system and business practices throughout. In addition to traditional rational-choice models, important findings from behavioral economics and psychology are also presented.Table of ContentsFirst Principles.- Gains from Trade.- Markets and Institutions - Introduction.- Supply and Demand.- Normative Economics.- Externalities.- Decisions and Consumber Behavior.- Costs.- A Second Look.- Firm Behavior in Monopolistic Markets.- Principles of Game Theories.- Firm Behavior in Oligopolistic Markets.- Elasticity.

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Book SynopsisCryptocurrencies and digital assets are increasingly garnering interest from institutional investors. This is on top of the already strong support in place for cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin from the retail investor. With this rapid growth has come a series of complex operational and regulatory compliance challenges. These challenges have become further exacerbated by the increasing pace of technological advances in areas such as decentralized finance (DeFi) tokenization, blockchain and distributed ledger technology (DLT) essential to the crypto and digital asset markets. This book will be the first book to provide current and practical guidance on the operational and compliance foundations of crypto investing and asset management. The book will include: · Step-by-step analysis of the modern operational mechanics behind cryptocurrency investment operations · Detailed guidance and example documentation on the procedures launching a crypto fund · Explanation of the operational procedures and compliance requirements for crytpo asset managers · Detailed analysis of crypto anti-money laundering compliance, regulations and laws for cryptocurrencies · Up-to-date analysis of recent crypto case studies, frauds and regulatory enforcement actions · Review of the digital asset landscape including non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and asset tokenization · Current examples of real-world crypto operations policies and compliance manuals · Analysis of the emerging trends in crypto operations and compliance in areas including blockchain, DeFi, crypto lending, yield farming, crypto mining and dApps Cryptocurrency Compliance and Operations will be an invaluable up-to-date resource for investors, fund managers, and their operations and compliance personnel as well as service providers on the implementation and management of best practice operations.​Table of ContentsCHAPTER 1: Introduction to Cryptocurrency Compliance and Operations.- CHAPTER 2: Procedures for Launching a Crypto Investment Fund.- CHAPTER 3: Operations for Crypto Asset Managers.- CHAPTER 4: Compliance and Governance for Crypto Asset Managers.- CHAPTER 5: Anti-Money Laundering Compliance for Cryptocurrencies.- CHAPTER 6: Crytpocurrency Regulatory Framework and Regulatory Reporting.- CHAPTER 7: Crypto Related Services and Interaction with Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technology.- CHAPTER 8: Cryptocurrency Compliance and Operations Case Studies.- CHAPTER 9: Decentralized Finance (DeFi) Compliance and Operations.- CHAPTER 10: Investor Due Diligence on Crypto currency and digital asset investments.- CHAPTER 11: Additional crypto operations and compliance topics.- CHAPTER 12: Trends and Future Developments.

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Book SynopsisWe as humans are prone to a variety of wired-in cognitive mistakes in the way we interpret and react to risk-related information. This is highly consequential since the cognitive biases managers are exposed to in their day-to-day business erode the objectivity of their risk-related decisions, which ultimately hurts the financial well-being of their firms. This book seeks to develop risk literacy as a leadership skill. It helps managers develop the skills to improve managerial decision-making in regards to managing risk.The last decades have offered various insights into how human nature often gets in the way of rational decision-making. This book is a valuable resource for insurance executives, chief risk officers, company leaders, and graduate students of risk management and risk psychology. It is the first behavioral risk management guide for managers and other interested readers - using examples from economic theory, behavioral finance, and game theory, it studies the hidden forces that drive our decision-making processes under risk. Table of Contents1. Introduction.- 2. Risk and Risk Perception: Why we are not Rational in the Face of Risk.- 3. Expected Utility, Prospect Theory, and the Allais Paradox: Why Reference Points are Important.- 4. Confirmation Bias and Anchoring Effect: Why the First Piece of Information is Key in Negotiations.- 5. Framing and the Ostrich effect: Why our Decisions depend on how Information is presented.- 6. Emotions and Zero Risk Bias: Why we make bad Decisions and overspend on Risk Avoidance.- 7. Endowment Effect and Status-Quo Bias: Why we Stick with Bad Decisions.- 8. Overconfidence and Self-Blindness: Why we think we are better than we actually are.- 9. The Low-Probability Puzzle: Why we insure our Cellphone but Not our Home.- 10. Fairness, Diversity, Groupthink, and Peer Effects: Why Other People matter for our Risky Decisions.- 11. Hindsight Bias: Why We Think we are Good Predictors even though we are not.

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Book SynopsisThis open access book is the result of an expert panel convened by the Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability and Nature Sustainability. The panel tackled the seventeen UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for 2030 head-on, with respect to the global systems that produce and distribute food. The panel’s rigorous synthesis and analysis of existing research leads compellingly to multiple actionable recommendations that, if adopted, would simultaneously lead to healthy and nutritious diets, equitable and inclusive value chains, resilience to shocks and stressors, and climate and environmental sustainability.Table of Contents1:- Panel Members.- 2:- Socio-technical Innovation Bundles for Agri-food Systems Transformation.- 3;- The State of Agri-food Systems and Agri-food Value Chains in 2020.- 4:- Key External Drivers of Change to 2070.- 5;- Envisioning Four Design Objectives for 2045–70.- 6;- Getting from Here to There.- 7:- A Profuse Pipeline of Promising Options.- 8:- Socio-technical Innovation Bundles Tailored to Distinct Agri-Food Systems.- 9:- Impact Pathways.- 10:- Towards Co-creation of AFS Innovations by AVC Actors.- 11:- Technical Appendix.- References.

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Book SynopsisThis book is inspired by the term “digiwine,” a neologism referring to the production and/or marketing of wine through the use of new technologies and robotics such as vineyard information systems, sensor units, weather stations, drones, robotic harvesters, social media videos, digital labels, and wine apps. The alcohol industry is using these technologies to develop digital strategies and online tools for more efficient sales of wine. This book analyzes the use of digital alcohol marketing, the reasons for it, the role of regulation, and its social impact. In particular, malignant forms of alcohol marketing to youth are precisely described through exact case descriptions from the global milieu. The author questions whether the loopholes in the legislation or inefficiency of self-regulation have negative consequences that can no longer be prevented by public health care programs. When and how did the alcohol industry become so deeply interwoven in our lives that we mindlessly advertise and parade in its shadow on social media and that we increasingly buy alcohol digitally for fun, in innovative packaging, and with strange ingredients combinations? Dr. Mojca Ramšak’s book peels back the layers of the alcohol industry’s most obvious yet overlooked marketing tactics. It also reveals the sluggishness of preventive and curative efforts, as well as legal or self-regulatory measures, at keeping up with the alcohol industry’s use of technology. - Nadja Furlan Štante, Principal Research Associate and Professor of Religious Studies, Science and Research Centre of Koper, Slovenia.Table of Contents1. Introduction: Wine and Technology Between Cultural Attitudes to Alcohol, Sales, Legislation, and Health.- 2. The Greatest Tricks of Digital Alcohol Marketing: The Consumer’s Voice and Alcohol e-Marketing.- 3. Wine Storytelling.- 4. Wearable Technology and Wine.- 5. Smart Packaging: The Labels Come to Life.- 6. Wearable Technology for Preventive or Curative Purposes.- 7. Children and Adolescents as a Marketing Target.- 8. Social Media, Alcohol, and Young People.- 9. Masculinity and Practices of Drinking.- 10. Drinking Games.- 11. Digital Marketing Strategies during a Coronavirus Pandemic.- 12. Femininity, Online Practices of Drinking and Women in Alcohol Industry.- 13. Brand Stretching and Popular Culture.- 14. Legislation between Norm and Practice.- 15. Conclusion: The Unplugged Path to Alcoholism.

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Book SynopsisWhen should organizations think about adopting a flat structure? And what does it take to make it work? Is it even the silver bullet that we’ve been told it is? Often we have heard about how businesses should organize in non-traditional ways to succeed in today’s world: be ‘agile’, or adopt approaches such as ‘holacracy,’ ‘RenDanHeYi’ or ‘scrum’. But what do these concepts actually mean? Are they even helping us to custom-tailor flat structures to our needs?Leading expert, Markus Reitzig, provides a no-holds barred account of flat organizational structures, taking the good with the bad and asking the reader to balance the opportunities and challenges that come with less hierarchical structures. He explains that there are many types of flat organizations, and that they may only be better than traditional companies in some instances, and only when the company picks the right structure given its goal and its people.Taking an evidence-based approach to the advantages and disadvantages of decentralizing, this book offers a unique, practical guide for managers. You’ll learn how to formulate realistic goals with fewer hierarchical layers, where to decentralize, whom to recruit and how to treat your staff. This is an indispensable guide for anyone who wants to figure out how to work with flat organizational structures, and whether ‘flat’ may even be right for them. Table of ContentsPart 1: Why Flat Structures Work at All.- Chapter 1: What does it mean to move towards a “flatter” structure?.- Chapter 2: What managers can effectively and efficiently delegate.- Chapter 3: Why would employees ever assume extra work in a decentralized organization?.- Part 2: What Managers Can Do to Make Flat Structures Work Well.- Chapter 4: What type of persons should you take on the journey?.- Chapter 5: How to enforce and foster effective self-organization?.- Chapter 6: How to design the playing field for efficient quasi-decentralization?.- Part 3: When, Why, and How Flat Structures Can Beat Traditional Hierarchies.- Chapter 7: When can flat structures beat more centralized ones?.- Chapter 8: Where does a flat structure reach its limits?.- Chapter 9: The guide(s) to successful decentralizing.- Part 4: Test Your Understanding.- Chapter 10: Delayering the hierarchical firm—The case of Borek.- Chapter 11: Flat growth—The case of WirDesign.- Chapter 12: Flat fads or more? From a as in “agile” to z as in “zi zhu jing ying ti”.

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Book SynopsisThis open access book provides an essential guide to value sets for anyone working with EQ-5D-5L data. The EQ-5D-5L is one of the most widely used health related quality of life questionnaires around the world, with applications in clinical trials, population health surveys and routine outcomes measurement. In addition to providing a concise, generic way of describing health, the EQ-5D-5L facilitates the valuation of health and health improvements through its value sets, which play a pivotal role in Health Technology Assessment across the world. Value sets for the EQ-5D-5L have been produced in a wide range of countries and regions, using a standardised international protocol developed by the EuroQol Group. This book brings together, for the first time, a comprehensive inventory of these value sets and a comparative review of their characteristics. In addition to the structured summaries of each value set, the book provides clear guidance to users and researchers on how to choose which value set to use, for what purpose. It also provides information about the methods that were used to produce these values, how these methods have been refined and how they may evolve in future. The book is the culmination of a substantial programme of work internationally. By collating these value sets into a single volume, the book aims to provide an easy-to-use resource which is likely to become a key reference source for EQ-5D-5L users and researchers. Table of ContentsForeword 1 (Michael Drummond)Foreword 2 (Kim Rand)PrefaceChapter 1. The development of the EQ-5D-5L and its value sets (Nancy Devlin, Simon Pickard, Jan Busschbach)Chapter 2. The Development and Strengthening of Methods for Valuing EQ-5D-5L – an Overview (Elly Stolk, Juan Manuel Ramos-Goñi, Kristina Ludwig, Mark Oppe, Richard Norman)Chapter 3. Experimental Design for the Valuation of the EQ-5D-5L (Mark Oppe, Richard Norman, Zhihao Yang, Ben van Hout)Chapter 4. EQ-5D-5L value set summaries (Bram Roudijk, Kristina Ludwig, Nancy Devlin)Chapter 5. Guidance to users of EQ-5D-5L value sets (Nancy Devlin, Aureliano Paolo Finch, David Parkin)Chapter 6. How do EQ-5D-5L value sets differ? (Bram Roudijk, Bas Janssen, Jan Abel Olsen)Chapter 7. Where next for EQ-5D-5L national value sets and the EQ-VT protocol? (Richard Norman, Nancy Devlin, Elly Stolk)GlossaryReferences

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Book SynopsisValuation is the natural starting point toward buying or selling a business orsecurities through the stock market. Essential in wealth management, thevaluation process allows the measurement of the strengths and weaknesses of acompany and provides a historical reference for its development.This guide on valuation methods focuses on three global approaches: the assetbasedapproach, the fundamental or DCF approach, and the market approach.Ultimately, this book provides the basics needed to estimate the value of a smallbusiness.Many pedagogical cases and illustrations underpin its pragmatic and didacticcontent. However, it also contains enough theories to satisfy an expert audience.This book is ideal for business owners and additional players in the businessworld, legal professionals, accountants, wealth management advisers, and bankers, while also of interest to business school students and investors.Table of Contents1 Enterprise Value, Company Value, and other Essential Financial Data1.1 Abstract and Keywords. 9 1.2 Definition of Two Essential Aggregates. 10 1.2.1 Enterprise Value. 10 1.2.2 The Fair Market Value of Equity. 13 1.2.3 Case Study Showing the Differences Between the Two Aggregates. 15 1.2.4 Fundamental Equations. 17 1.2.5 Market Efficiency and Behavioral Finance. 19 1.3 The Strategic Positioning of a Company. 23 1.4 Method Comparison and a Few Recommendations. 27 1.5 Key Takeaways and Limitations. 31 2 Asset-Based Approach to Valuation. 34 2.1 Abstract and Keywords. 34 2.2 The Net Worth of a Company. 36 2.3 Adjusted Net Asset Value Method. 41 2.3.1 Essential Income Statement Adjustments. 43 2.3.2 Essential Asset Adjustments. 53 2.3.3 Essential Equity and Liability Adjustments. 60 2.3.4 Case Study of a Family-Owned Real Estate Investment Company. 66 2.3.5 Adjusted Net Asset Value Case Study. 67 2.4 The Capitalized Excess Earnings or Goodwill Method. 71 2.4.1 Intangible Assets and Goodwill 71 2.4.2 Implementation of the CEEM or Goodwill Method. 72 2.4.3 Goodwill Valuation Case Study. 82 2.5 Key Takeaways and Limitations. 91 3 Fundamental Value or DCF Approach to Valuation. 94 3.1 Abstract and Keywords. 94 3.2 Fundamental Value Definition. 95 3.3 The Two-Stage DCF Method. 96 3.4 Generalities on the Forecast and Scenarios. 100 3.5 Free Cash Flows. 103 3.5.1 Free Cash Flow to the Firm.. 103 3.5.2 Free Cash Flow to Equity. 106 3.5.3 Company SEGI’s Free Cash flows Case Study. 106 3.5.4 Free Cash Flow Summary. 112 3.6 Cost of Equity. 113 3.6.1 The Methods Used. 113 3.6.2 The Issues and Ambiguities of the Risk Premiums. 116 3.6.3 Estimated Cost of Equity for a Small Business. 117 3.6.4 Implementation of the Build-Up Method. 122 3.7 Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC) 124 3.8 Dividend Discount Model 127 3.9 DCF Case Study (Company SEGY) 128 3.9.1 Free Cash Flows and Assumptions. 129 3.9.2 Indirect DCF Method. 130 3.9.3 Direct DCF Method. 133 3.9.4 Estimated Equity Value. 134 3.10 Key Takeaways and Limitations. 136 4 Market Approach to Valuation. 139 4.1 Abstract and Keywords. 139 4.2 Precedent Transaction Analysis. 141 4.3 The P/E Multiple Approach. 142 4.3.1 Potential Valuation Case Study. 144 4.3.2 P/E Dynamics. 144 4.3.3 P/E Limitations. 150 4.4 The EV/EBITDA Multiple Approach. 151 4.5 Other Comparative Valuation Methods. 153 4.5.1 The Price to Book Value Multiple. 153 4.5.2 Cash Flow Valuation Methods. 154 4.5.3 Valuation with a Non-Financial Multiple. 154 4.6 Market Multiple Adjustments. 155 4.7 Case Study with the P/E and EV/EBITDA Multiples. 157 4.7.1 Company Y’s Financial Data. 157 4.7.2 Comparison Between the P/E and EV/EBITDA Multiples. 157 4.7.3 Equity Value Calculation with the Two Sector Multiples. 158 4.7.4 Equity Value Calculation with the Leader Multiples. 159 4.7.5 Equity Value Calculation with the Laggard Multiples. 160 4.7.6 Equity Value Overview.. 160 4.7.7 The Business Valuation Professional’s Decision. 161 4.7.8 The Drawbacks of Historical Averages. 161 4.8 Key Takeaways and Limitations. 163 5 Full Valuation Case Study (Company SEGA) 167 5.1 Abstract and Keywords. 167 5.2 Generalities on the Applied Valuation Methods. 168 5.3 Presentation of Company SEGA.. 171 5.4 Adjusted Net Asset Value. 175 5.4.1 The Adjusted Net Asset Value Method. 175 5.4.2 The CEEM or Goodwill Method. 178 5.4.3 Asset-Based Equity Value Estimates. 182 5.5 Discounted Cash Flow Methods. 183 5.5.1 Valuation According to the Optimistic-Case Scenario. 184 5.5.2 Valuation According to the Pessimistic-Case Scenario. 186 5.5.3 DCF Value Estimates. 190 5.6 Precedent Transaction Analysis and Market Multiple Valuation. 190 5.6.1 Precedent Transaction Analysis. 190 5.6.2 Adjusted P/E Multiple. 191 5.6.3 Dividend Discount Model 192 5.6.4 EV/EBITDA Multiple Valuation. 195 5.6.5 Market Value Estimates. 195 5.7 Estimated Equity Value of Company SEGA.. 196 5.7.1 Results. 196 5.7.2 The Valuation Professional’s Decision. 197 6 General Bibliography, Webography, and Further Reading. 201

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Book SynopsisThis book develops key messages for city stakeholders: how can cities and properties adapt to this crisis and how can public and private actors help to make cities more resilient in the long run. The book is addressed to actors from the real estate industry and the city, to project developers, architects, planners, engineers, financiers, investors and asset managers - and to everyone who lives and works in cities.Table of ContentsStrategies for Resilient Cities and Real Estate: Challenges for European Cities After the COVID-19 Pandemic.- Implications for Urban Development: Urban Planning Aspects of the Resilient City.- The Health Equity Imperative and the Role of the Built Environment.- Lessons from the Cholera in Paris and Hamburg.- Urban Form, Neighbourhood Governance, and Real Estate Management: Chinese Cities Fighting a Pandemic.- How COVID-19 Is Changing Mobility Behaviour and What That Means for Sustainable Urban Transport.- The Preservation of Economic Structures as a Main Challenge of Urban Development.- Revisiting the Economic Effects of Density in the Wake of the COVID-19 Pandemic.- Density and the Spread of COVID-19 in Cities - Lessons from the United States and the United Kingdom.- The Future Viability of City Networks.- Implications for Housing and Hotel: Cities to Live: Living in the City - Or Rather Nearby?.- Is the COVID-19 Pandemic Accelerating the Path to Smarter Cities?.- The Urban Neighbourhood of the Future Is just one Step Away.- The Challenge for Developers to Build Attractive Places.- Implications for Office and More: Cities to Work: The Flexible Office Space.- The Future Workplace - Reimagining the Office for the 21st Century.- Office Work in Post-pandemic Cities and the Importance of Population Density.- It's About Responsibility, Technology and Culture.- The Screen Cannot Replace a Sense of Community.- Implications for Retail and Logistics: Cities to Supply: Consumer Cities Under Pressure to Change.- The Importance of the Food Retail Industry for Cities After COVID-19.- The Future of Urban Logistics.- Ten Key Messages for Resilient Cities and Real Estate: Final Remarks: Ten Key Messages.

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Book SynopsisThis book introduces readers to benchmarking techniques in the stochastic environment, primarily stochastic data envelopment analysis (DEA), and provides stochastic models in DEA for the possibility of variations in inputs and outputs. It focuses on the application of theories and interpretations of the mathematical programs, which are combined with economic and organizational thinking. The book’s main purpose is to shed light on the advantages of the different methods in deterministic and stochastic environments and thoroughly prepare readers to properly use these methods in various cases. Simple examples, along with graphical illustrations and real-world applications in industry, are provided for a better understanding. The models introduced here can be easily used in both theoretical and real-world evaluations. This book is intended for graduate and PhD students, advanced consultants, and practitioners with an interest in quantitative performance evaluation.Table of Contents1. Benchmarking.- 2. An Introduction to Data Envelopment Analysis.- 3. Probability Theory.- 4. Stochastic Data Envelopment Analysis.- 5. Stochastic Network Data Envelopment Analysis.- 6. Stochastic Scale Elasticity.

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Book SynopsisThis book provides an integrated perspective of the automotive market for the next decade. It shows how customers and producers are shaping the market simultaneously and contends that the first steps of the mobility revolution have already been taken. It compels automotive companies to strike new paths to participate in this journey.The authors provide a comprehensive analysis of the automotive industry, including prevailing business models of OEMs and 'tier-n' automotive suppliers, the competitive environment they are embedded in as well as socio-economic changes affecting future market conditions. Subsequently, elements of the automotive disruption are presented; these enable the provision of novel urban mobility concepts and offer a new source for additional services accompanying the user. A comprehensive insight into consumer behavior, potential automotive business models which can be sustained by 2030, smart city models, transformation strategies, and diverse market penetration scenarios are also provided in the book. It also outlines the challenges and key actions that shape the automotive sector even beyond 2030 as well as knock-on effects across different industries arising from the technological and economic changes in the automotive market are projected.Table of Contents1. Introduction to Automotive Disruption and the Urban Mobility Revolution.- 2. Characterization of the Automotive Industry.- 3. Elements of the Automotive Disruption.- 4. Urban Mobility Revolution: A Quantitative Analysis.- 5. Business Model 2030: A Metamorphosis of the AutomotiveLandscape.- 6. Conclusion to Automotive Disruption and the Urban Mobility Revolution.- 7. Prospects: A Look Beyond.

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Book SynopsisThe social, political, and economic environment is ripe with opportunity to engage women and their philanthropy. Professionals working in the field of philanthropy want ideas, practical information, research, and guidance about how to work with women donors, how to build women’s philanthropy initiatives, and how to integrate this subset of donors into their current fund development departments. This book offers insight into the three historical waves of women’s philanthropy and provides a summary of current research and inspiring stories collected from interviews with more than 70 women philanthropists and leaders. Each chapter begins with current research, followed by interviews and examples, and ends with suggestions for fundraisers on how to implement the information into a women’s philanthropy initiative using a six-step process: Awareness, Assessment, Alignment, Action, Acknowledgement and Achievement. The last several chapters focus on lessons learned from successful programs in traditional organizational settings—healthcare, higher education, and environment—and what we have yet to learn from the new and emerging philanthropic models led by Laurene Powell Jobs, Priscilla Chan, Melinda Gates, Nancy Roob, and MacKenzie Scott. Throughout the book, themes of equity, diversity, and inclusion are evident and featured in stories and programs led by women of color and younger donors. Additionally, COVID has impacted how fundraisers work, requiring the philanthropy community to adapt and create new ways to reach women donors. The final chapter is a call to action to all women, to give bigger and bolder as the fourth wave of women’s philanthropy rises.Table of ContentsChapter One: Awareness-The New Faces of Philanthropy.- Chapter Two: Awareness Built a Social Movements.- Chapter Three: Awareness: How Women Give.- Chapter Four: Assessing your Donors.- Chapter Five: Assessment: Is Your Organization Ready for Women’s Philanthropy?.- Chapter Six: Alignment- Helping Donors Find Their Passion.- Chapter Seven: Action: Making It Happen.- Chapter Eight: Action: The ASK.- Chapter Nine: Acknowledgment: Mystery, Myths and Magic.- Chapter Ten: Achievements: Healthcare, Higher Education, Environment.- Chapter 11: Achievements: Women Investing in Business and Leadership.- Chapter 12: New Trends.- Chapter 13: Diversity and Philanthropy: Engaging Women of Color and the Next Generation.- Chapter 14: A Call to Action.

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Book SynopsisThis book has been written for experienced managers and students in postgraduate programs, such as MBA or specialized master’s programs. In a systematic yet concise manner, it addresses all major issues companies face when conducting business across national and cultural boundaries, including assessing and selecting the most promising overseas markets, evaluating market entry alternatives, and examining the forces that drive adaptation versus standardization of the marketing mix. It looks at the various global marketing challenges from a strategic perspective and also addresses topics not usually found in international marketing texts, such as aligning marketing strategies with global organizational structures and managing the relationship between national subsidiaries, regional headquarters, and global headquarters, as well as corporate social responsibility challenges and pertinent future trends that are likely to affect global business.A guide to suitable video resources giving additional background to this book can be downloaded by all readers by contacting the author. Instructors can also obtain additional support material for teaching. Please email Bodo Schlegelmilch at WU Vienna, using your institutional email and stating your university affiliation: - More than 400 PowerPoint slides covering the material in each chapter- Open Ended Questions - A comprehensive multiple choice test bank with solutionsTable of Contents1. Marketing Strategy: A Global Discipline.- 2. The Global Marketing Environment.- 3. Selecting and Entering Global Markets.- 4. Balancing Global Synergies and Local Responsiveness.- 5. Steps in Developing Global Marketing Strategies.- 6. Segmenting Targeting and Positioning in Global Markets.- 7. Creating Global Product and Service Offerings.- 8. Extracting Value from Global Operations.- 9. Global Supply Chains.- 10. Global Branding and Communication.- 11. Global Digital Marketing Strategy.- 12. Organizational Design for Global Marketing Strategy.- 13. Global Business Responsibility.- 14. The Future of Global Marketing Strategy.

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Book SynopsisThis book describes Python3 programming resources for implementing decision aiding algorithms in the context of a bipolar-valued outranking approach. These computing resources, made available under the name Digraph3, are useful in the field of Algorithmic Decision Theory and more specifically in outranking-based Multiple-Criteria Decision Aiding (MCDA). The first part of the book presents a set of tutorials introducing the Digraph3 collection of Python3 modules and its main objects, such as bipolar-valued digraphs and outranking digraphs. In eight methodological chapters, the second part illustrates multiple-criteria evaluation models and decision algorithms. These chapters are largely problem-oriented and demonstrate how to edit a new multiple-criteria performance tableau, how to build a best choice recommendation, how to compute the winner of an election and how to make rankings or ratings using incommensurable criteria. The book’s third part presents three real-world decision case studies, while the fourth part addresses more advanced topics, such as computing ordinal correlations between bipolar-valued outranking digraphs, computing kernels in bipolar-valued digraphs, testing for confidence or stability of outranking statements when facing uncertain or solely ordinal criteria significance weights, and tempering plurality tyranny effects in social choice problems. The fifth and last part is more specifically focused on working with undirected graphs, tree graphs and forests. The closing chapter explores comparability, split, interval and permutation graphs. The book is primarily intended for graduate students in management sciences, computational statistics and operations research. The chapters presenting algorithms for ranking multicriteria performance records will be of computational interest for designers of web recommender systems. Similarly, the relative and absolute quantile-rating algorithms, discussed and illustrated in several chapters, will be of practical interest to public and private performance auditors. Trade Review“The book … guides reader through each topic through sub-chapters and using links, even leading to the python.org interface for related content. From the moment reader download the Diagraph3 software, it helps reader understand with copyable code snippets and separate warning Note content. It guides reader through the operation of the algorithm through concrete, solved example.” (Rózsa Horváth–Bokor, zbMATH 1497.91004, 2022)Table of ContentsPart I: Introduction to the DIGRAPH3 Python Resources.- 1. Working with the DIGRAPH3 Python Resources.- 2. Working with Bipolar-Valued Digraphs.- 3. Working with Outranking Digraphs.- Part II: Evaluation Models and Decision Algorithms.- 4. Building a Best Choice Recommendation.- 5. How to Create a New Multiple-Criteria Performance Tableau.- 6. Generating Random Performance Tableaux.- 7. Who Wins the Election?.- 8. Ranking with Multiple Incommensurable Criteria.- 9. Rating by Sorting into Relative Performance Quantiles.- 10. Rating-by-Ranking with Learned Performance Quantile Norms.- 11. HPC Ranking of Big Performance Tableaux.- Part III: Evaluation and Decision Case Studies.- 12. Alice’s Best Choice: A Selection Case Study.- 13. The Best Academic Computer Science Depts: A Ranking Case Study.- 14. The Best Students, Where Do They Study? A Rating Case Study.- 15. Exercises.- Part IV: Advanced Topics.- 16. On Measuring the Fitness of a Multiple-Criteria Ranking.- 17. On Computing Digraph Kernels.- 18. On Confident Outrankings with Uncertain Criteria Significance Weights.- 19. Robustness Analysis of Outranking Digraphs.- 20. Tempering Plurality Tyranny Effects in Social Choice.- Part V: Working with Undirected Graphs.- 21. Bipolar-Valued Undirected Graphs.- 22. On Tree Graphs and Graph Forests.- 23. About Split, Comparability, Interval, and Permutation Graphs.

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Book SynopsisInnovation is one of the avenues in which companies can move up the value chain, and has become a popular demand from stock markets and governments. Many of its proponents though lack insight as to what it takes to be an innovator, and instead hype and impel innovation based on a romanticized view that with enough willpower and support from a board, investors, or government every company can pursue innovation. This book offers a theoretical framework, the License Giver Business concept, that clarifies the core characteristics of a truly innovating company, and differentiates it from three other company archetypes with differing core business identities. It describes key aspects and pitfalls in the practical application of the License Giver Business concept and provides cases from the marine industry and computer industry.Table of ContentsChapter 1: Introduction.- Chapter 2: The License Giver Business Concept.- Chapter 3: The Intrinsic-Motivated Crowd.- Chapter 4: The Fear of Innovation.- Chapter 5: The Not-Invented-Here Syndrome.- Chapter 6: The Rise and Decline of Innovative Capability.- Chapter 7: The License Giver Business Concept in the Evolution of Industries.- Chapter 8: Governmental Interference.- Chapter 9: Excellence Through Competence.- Appendix.- Bibliography.- Index.

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Book SynopsisInfrastructure is the foundation of modern economies. A robust, efficient, and well-maintained infrastructure system is critical to support the nation’s economy, improve quality of life, and strengthen global competitiveness. The serious infrastructure deficit in the U.S. is well-known. State and local governments are struggling to finance the needed expansion, upgrades, and repairs. Meeting the infrastructure financing challenge has emerged as one of the most urgent issues facing the country. Despite the growing number of innovations in state and local infrastructure financing, current information on innovative infrastructure financing is scattered and time-consuming to find. Until now, there was no detailed, comprehensive assessment of current knowledge and practice in innovative infrastructure financing. This book fills that gap and offers policy suggestions for state and local government managers who are considering the adoption and implementation of innovative infrastructure financing. It provides detailed case studies and rich examples that describe innovative approaches to fund state and local infrastructure development. These experiences and lessons in applying these innovations will be particularly useful for state and local government practitioners, professors, applied policy analysts, and students in public administration, policy, and public finance.Trade Review“Chen and Bartle’s Innovative Infrastructure Finance provides a foundation for addressing these challenges and maximizing the ‘once in a generation’ funding opportunity for local government managers interested in exploring new ways of implementation and governance, as well as students looking for a primer on infrastructure finance and its practical applications.” (Martin Mayer and Lauren Wargo, Public Works Management & Policy, Vol. 28 (2), April, 2023)Table of ContentsChapter 1: The Challenges and Opportunities of Financing Infrastructure 1.1 Introduction 1.2 Definition and Scope of Infrastructure 1.3 Public Goods and Benefits-Based Revenues 1.4 Trends in State and Local Infrastructure Financing 1.5 Challenges 1.6 Opportunities Chapter 2: Capital Planning and Budgeting for Infrastructure 2.1 What is a Capital Improvement Plan? 2.2 Why Have a Capital Plan and Budget? 2.3 How to Develop a Capital Plan and Budget 2.4 The Process of Capital Planning and Budgeting 2.5 Citizen Involvement in Capital Budgeting 2.6 Emerging Challenges in Capital Planning and Budgeting Chapter 3: Traditional Methods of Financing Infrastructure 3.1 Fundamentals of Infrastructure Finance 3.2 State and Local Infrastructure Financing: Pay-Go versus Pay-Use 3.3 Traditional Infrastructure Financing Methods and Funding Sources Chapter 4: Innovative Mechanisms of Financing Infrastructure 4.1 The Need for Innovative Infrastructure Finance 4.2 An Overview of Innovative Infrastructure Finance 4.3 New Funding Sources 4.4 New Financing Mechanisms 4.5 New Financial Arrangements Chapter 5: Case Studies in Innovative Infrastructure Financing 5.1 Value Capture 5.2 State Infrastructure Banks 5.3 Green, Social and Sustainable Bonds 5.4 Public-Private Partnerships 5.5 Privatization 5.6 Crowdfunding Chapter 6: Conclusion: Putting Innovation into Practice 6.1 Finding 6.2 The Challenge of Innovation 6.3 Conclusion Index

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Book SynopsisWhy when companies come crashing down, do we hear of boards who have failed in their fiduciary duties? Or that they have been ignorant, complacent or downright complicit in these scandals and downfalls? Of course, corporate scandals are nothing new, nor are they limited to any one geography. They are a damning indictment of our systems of corporate governance around the world. And yet, despite this frequency, little or nothing changes. We shrug and move on, accepting they are an unavoidable part of the system that produces incredible wealth for economies and societies. But it should not be that way. Disaster in the Boardroom shows how boards can be better. Looking at why these scandals happen, authors Peterson and Brown present in-depth case studies of major global corporations – including recent contemporary scandals associated with companies such as BP, Facebook and Uber – using the optic of their unique, original and compelling ‘six dysfunctions of the board’ analysis to reveal their particularities but also how they can be overcome. In this book, Brown and Peterson explore common attributes of scandals such as lack of independence from management, missing key voices, cultural amplification, diffusion of responsibility, rule-bound cultures and groupthink. They also identify ways to strengthen boards, improve their culture and competence, and give directors and others the power to take action and ultimately prevent disasters from happening. Disaster in the Boardroom is essential reading for every executive in every boardroom, those aspiring to board positions as well as anyone interested in why boards fail. It has never been more important to pre-identify and eradicate these boardroom dysfunctions – not least so that their impacts upon society can better seen, understood, mitigated, and avoided.Trade Review“I judge a book by the number of notes I make as I read and also by how often I find myself reading excerpts to anyone who’ll listen. Disasters in the Boardroom scores highly on both counts.” (Sue Magee, The Book Bag, thebookbag.co.uk, June 07, 2022)Table of ContentsPart 1.- Chapter 1: Where was the board?.- Chapter 2: The Faces of Disaster.- Chapter 3: Dealing with the consequences.- Chapter 4: Causes of dysfunctional culture.- {art 4.- Chapter 5: The subordinated board: Facebook.- Chapter 6: The imbalanced board: Google.- Chapter 7.- The distended board: Uber.- Chapter 8: The bystander board: BP and Deepwater Horizon.- Chapter 9: The bureaucratic board: The Big Four.- Chapter 10: The conforming board: Royal Bank of Scotland.- Part 3.- Chapter 11: Changing board culture.- Chapter 12: Stakeholder engagement.- Chapter 13: Improving board effectiveness: practical steps.

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Book SynopsisThis book presents a strategic decision-making process (i.e., scenario planning) to help managers build supply chain infrastructures that can adapt to uncertain shifts in the business environment. The authors detail the process for developing and applying scenarios for strategic planning in organizations playing three different roles in supply chains. Using three cases in which the process was applied in association with the MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics, this primer also explains how companies can monitor their business environments to decide when to take the necessary steps to adapt their supply chain strategies and assets. The lessons learned are applicable globally: in first-world free-market economies, emerging countries and poorer nations, as well as the states where the government plays a strong role in the economic activity. For companies looking to assess the numerous drivers shaping their supply chains and use that information to make living strategic plans, this book will teach you how to build adaptable and agile supply chains. It will explain how to approach long-term investments in your organization.Table of ContentsChapter 1: Introduction.- Chapter 2: Managing Supply Chains: Three Organizational Roles.- Chapter 3: Scenario Planning: A Tool for Organizational Learning and Foresight.- Chapter 4: Designing Scenarios to Aid Strategic Planning in Supply Chains.- Chapter 5: Scenario Creation in Supply Chain Contexts.- Chapter 6: Scenario Application: General Steps.- Chapter 7: Scenario Application in Supply Chain Contexts.- Chapter 8: Learning from Scenario Applications.- Chapter 9: Appendix.

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