Fiscal Policy within the IS-LM Framework

$21.99

Undoubtedly, what happens to the economy affects the lives of the citizens of a country, and often the lives of people in other countries around the globe. In addition to natural disasters two things affect the economy more than anything else: monetary and fiscal policies. Fiscal policy and monetary policy represent forms of government intervention to influence market performance. Fiscal policy relates to government spending and revenue collection; monetary policy relates to the supply of money, which is controlled by factors such as reserve requirements and interest rates. If there were a universally accepted set of rules that prescribe appropriate actions to bring and sustain prosperity to the economy the study of economics would have been a positive science, as opposed to a collection of normative beliefs. The study of these policies is normative in nature because fiscal and monetary policies do not necessarily impact everyone equally or in the same way. In other words not everybody loses or gains equally as the result of fiscal and monetary policies. Nevertheless, there are non-normative economic theories that explain the expected outcome of specific fiscal or monetary policies. The economists that advocate for fiscal or monetary policies generally agree on the economic consequences produced by each policy when implemented. What differentiates the economists is the degree to which they believe in the effectiveness of the policy, their ability to know the extent of the need that it is intended to address, the proper amount of intervention required in order to effect the desired correction, and the length of the time it would take to see the consequence of the policy. This book covers fiscal policy. It is part of a projected two volume set covering fiscal and monetary policies. The two volumes will be written to be complimentary to but independent of each other.

Metric Dashboards for Operations and Supply Chain Excellence

$21.99

Over the last decade lean and six sigma methods and tools have helped organizations improve to historic productivity levels with the data driven, systematic elimination of waste and improvement of flow. Today many organizations have enjoyed the benefits of Lean and Six sigma initiatives, and are looking more to sustain the gains, and aggressively drive a systematic and on-going approach to improvement and problem solving. The concept of diminishing returns applies here, when in the early stages, organizations were able to find ‘low-hanging fruit’ and to quickly make significant improvements. Now the easy work is done, and organizations need a simple yet systematic approach to continuing their continuous improvement efforts. Operations and supply chain leaders will benefit from this book by developing a clear understanding of why and how metric scorecards and dashboards can be used as a powerful data driven improvement tool. This book illustrates visual management, scorecards, and dashboards for a full range of organizations, and focuses on Operations and Supply Chain Management areas. By covering these tools in these environments in a story book format, organization leaders can begin to understand how these methods and tools can be applied in their organizations.

The Thinking Executive’s Guide to Sustainability

$21.99

We live in an increasingly global economy in which the effects of shrunken economies, broadened communication, and widespread meteorological incidents associated with climate change are leaving virtually no one untouched. As a result, a working knowledge of concepts such as the triple bottom line and sustainability, have become mandatory. Systems -thinking is foundational for grasping these concepts and is based on trans-disciplinary theories deriving in part from biology, physics, economics, philosophy, computer science, engineering, geography, and other sciences. Specifically it is the study of systems, including all life forms, climate phenomena, and even in human learning and organizational processes, that regulate themselves through feedback. The media and the public have become savvy to corporate green-washing, and government regulation, already pervasive in Europe, is imminent in the United States. Business practices are a subsystem of human activity, which is itself a subsystem of the biosphere we all depend upon for services, such as clean air and water, sufficient soils to produce food, and moderate weather. Corporate sustainability practices are in the midst of becoming a required aspect of the social license to conduct business, and the use of a systems framework provides a coherent and eminently sensible way to comprehend the structure and logic that underlies this transition. Green business efforts and stakeholder initiatives undertaken by those without the requisite understanding of sustainability and the trends related to it in the world of commerce risk adverse press, activist pressure, regulatory constraint, added expense, reduced revenue, and lowered valuation. This book offers a practical, relevant, and easily grasped overview of sustainability issues and the systems logic that informs them, supported by empirical research and applied to corporate rationales, decision-making, and business processes. Intended for business professionals seeking concise, reliable, and current knowledge and trends, it will support them in leading their organizations’ corporate sustainability, social responsibility, and citizenship efforts so they can remain competitive and successful.

Business Applications of Operations Research

$21.99

Operations Research is a bouquet of mathematical techniques which have evolved over the last six decades, to improve the process of business decision making. Operations Research offers tools to optimize and find the best solutions to myriad decisions that managers have to take in their day to day operations or while carrying out strategic planning. Today, with the advent of operations research software, these tools can be applied by managers even without any knowledge of the mathematical techniques that underlie the solution procedures. The book starts with a brief introduction to various tools of operations research, such as linear programming, integer programming, multi-objective programming, queuing theory and network theory together with simple examples in each of the areas. Another introductory chapter on handling the operations research software, along with examples is also provided. The book intends to make the readers aware of the power and potential of operations research in addressing decision making in areas of operations, supply chain, financial and marketing management. The approach of this book is to demonstrate the solution to specific problems in these areas using operations research techniques and software. The reader is encouraged to use the accompanying software models to solve these problems, using detailed do-it-yourself instructions. The intended outcome for readers of this book will be gaining familiarity and an intuitive understanding of the various tools of operations research and their applications to various business situations. It is expected that this will give the reader the ability and confidence to devise models for their own business needs.

Persuasive Business Presentations: Using the Problem-Solution Method to Influence Decision Makers to Take Action

$21.99

Business life is about persuasion. Effective managers advance their careers by identifying problems, developing solutions, and persuading decision makers to provide the support and resources necessary to make things happen. This book focuses on a specific presentation context: a problem-solution persuasive presentation to decision makers delivered in a conference room environment. Such presentations occur at every level in an organization. Therefore, team leaders, supervisors, managers, and executives can all benefit from learning how to design and deliver powerful presentations that move decision makers to take action. The author blends his extensive business experience with current research on persuasion to provide a practical, applied approach to using the problem-solution pattern. An integrated case study provides examples for each step in the process. The end result is a useful, actionable guide that will help professionals from every field make a difference in their organization.

The European Financial Crisis: Debt, Growth, and Economic Policy

$21.99

The European debt crisis has posed a challenge for many people to understand, both non-Europeans and Europeans alike. Even economists, finance specialists and market commentators are often uncertain of its causes or in the interpretation of events ongoing, or of past events that have taken place that then shaped the current situation. Typically this lack of understanding results from a lack of understanding of how European institutions work, the structure of European politics and the Eurozone, the economics of the financial system, or the relationship of debt markets to current government policies in the EU. The purpose of this book is to describe the causes and outcomes of the European debt crisis (to the date of publication) within the context of three questions most often asked about the debt crisis: (i) what happened? (ii) why did it happen? and (iii) why has the crisis been so difficult for policy-makers to address? The book attempts to answer these questions in a straightforward, scholarly and thoughtful fashion, thereby developing a wider understanding of the crisis in its entirety for the reader. The book is by no means meant to be an exhaustive treatment on any of the issues it discusses. But the approach taken should be useful for those people who wish to better understand the events of the European financial crisis over the past three years but who do not need to acquire an exhaustive background in European institutions, debt markets, history and economic policy-making. For that reason the proposed book would have appeal to undergraduate students in business, economics, politics or interdisciplinary studies looking for an approachable yet detailed overview of the crisis, for graduate classes seeking similar goals and lay-people or professionals interested generally in the topic and/or with a need to acquire a basic understanding of the topic. Further, the book could serve as an introduction in courses or settings that lead to deeper discussion of the economic, political and financial issues it presents.

A Primer on Sustainability: In the Business Environment

$21.99

This book takes a broad look at the ways in which the concept of sustainability is being applied in the business context. It answers the question, ‘What does Sustainability mean to the way we practice business?’ This book will take a broad look at the ways in which the concept of sustainability is being applied in the business context. It answers the question, ‘What does Sustainability mean to the way we practice business?’ A key characteristic is its concise, readable, comprehensive treatment of the complex issues sustainability raises for the business world. The goal of the book is to provide the reader an introduction to knowledge and skills they need to help organizations understand and act upon the principles of sustainability. The reader will also gain a deeper understanding of the relationships among business, society, and the environment. The approach of this book is to examine a variety of market failures and how different businesses choose to respond to them. It will explore strategies to correct these market failures – with improved product innovation, entrepreneurial activity, and government action. This book will also explore the techniques and tools of sustainability from a practical, business-oriented perspective. As an introduction to sustainability, this book will function to anchor the Business Expert Press sustainability collection, helping the reader appreciate its coherence and depth. This book is written for an advanced undergraduate and graduate-level business school reader, as well as for their professors. It will also find a readership with science, social science and engineering professors and students for courses on sustainability in those disciplines and with the management practitioner striving to build the competitive advantage sustainability can confer.

Achieving Service Excellence: Maximizing Enterprise Performance through Innovation and Technology

$21.99

As the service sectors play an increasingly important role in all economies worldwide, service executives and professionals are well advised to recognize two main pathways to achieving sustainable success in services. The first path requires enhancing the strategic differentiation and operational excellence of their service enterprises; the second requires that these executives and their employees develop the knowledge and skills needed to achieve such success. Specifically, this book discusses actionable methodologies needed to generate creative ideas, including deciding on which ones to pursue; on how to justify projects financially; on how to manage the development projects for innovative services; and on how to reach out to customers and offer them superior service support. The book will illustrate how operational excellence can be achieved by emphasizing the importance of standardizing work processes. It will demonstrate how quality can be enhanced and time-to-market can be reduced through a variety of methods including the application of tools (such as Lean Six Sigma, Value stream mapping, quality assurance, FMEA, web-based enablers and SOA-based emerging productivity tools), the incorporation of emerging technologies into the workflow and, with reference to the Profit Chain Model, the retraining of staff, with a goal of increasing their productivity, by adopting and constantly improving upon known best practices. This book summarizes the key skills and knowledge in a Three Decker framework comprised of engineering management, business management and service leadership, cumulating in an actionable Take Charge model. After having studied this book, service professionals and executives will know how to apply the actionable methodologies outlined herein to maximize their contributions in achieving sustainable success for their service employers.

Belief Systems, Religion, and Behavioral Economics: Marketing in Multicultural Environments

$21.99

Religion is a topic that businesses often ignore, in spite of 70% of the world being religious. Many do not realize (or resist) the idea that religion is a key contributor to a consumer’s core values, which then contributes to consumption decisions, voting practices, reaction to pro social messages and public policy, as well as donating behavior.

The field of behavioral economics discusses how various social and cognitive factors influence economic decisions, which encompass consumer decision making, but doesn’t incorporate religion as an influence on economic decision making.

This book provides one of the first comprehensive investigations into the relationship between religion and behavioral economics. The basic premises of the major religious affiliations are reviewed, and the authors bring to life prior research on religion and behavioral economics with an emphasis on how this research can help practitioners to improve business practices.

Basic Cost Benefit Analysis for Assessing Local Public Projects

$21.99

CBA is an attempt to fully account for all costs associated with a new proposal along with a detailed calculation of specific private and public benefits. Properly employed, CBA is simply a method for assessing a proposal prior to a collective decision by calculating net benefits relative to an alternative project or the default option of doing nothing. Cost benefit analysis (CBA) guidelines exist in the form of highly theoretical, mathematically complex handbooks published by international and national organizations. These reports are generally beyond the scope of local decision makers entrusted with evaluation of small municipal projects. This work is an attempt to fill the gap between national and international manuals, on the one hand, and the need of local officials to perform or interpret CBA studies out-sourced to consultants, on the other. Because standard statistical packages, spreadsheets, and graphical analyses are more accessible than at any previous time, CBA, as a tool, is more accessible for informing decisions made in the public interest. We assume that there is some optimal amount for public good provision that reflects, to the degree possible, resident taxpayers’ willingness to pay. Our goal is four-fold: to discuss the economic underpinnings of cost benefit analysis, to address measurement problems associated with shadow pricing of public goods, to outline potential pitfalls for the non-specialist, and, finally, to present and explain a CBA template in reference to three cases relevant to local government decision making.