Sourcing to Support the Green Initiative

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The ‘green’ or environmental sustainability movement has taken hold throughout the world. Its staying power is confirmed by that fact that environmental emphasis in organizations did not decrease during the recent global recession, but rather increased. However, since most organizations rely heavily on their supply base for providing components, materials, and services that become part of their final products, organizations must revisit their sourcing processes and choices to have a real impact on the environment. This book begins with an introduction to the idea of sustainability and to the concept of what it means to source to support an organization’s green initiatives, and why this is important from a holistic, lifecycle perspective. The initial chapters will also provide a point of view of how green sourcing fits into the organization’s entire portfolio of sustainability initiatives. Examples of industries and associations that lead the way in green sourcing will be presented. In addition, best practices in green sourcing will be discussed. The book also provides a perspective on how organizations can encourage and support their suppliers in pursuing green initiatives, and what types of initiatives provide a good starting point.

The Fundamentals of Money and Financial Systems

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It is impossible to comprehend what policies the government should undertake to face the economic reality of the country. Every day we are exposed to a barrage of recommendations and mandates from the left and the right concerning what would be the appropriate course of action (or lack thereof) in order to nullify economic ills or to bring prosperity to the country. But what you and everyone needs is a fundamental basic knowledge of money. This book provides just that. It provides the necessary understanding of money and many of its functions, roles, and uses in economic theories. These theories are essential for the formulation of fiscal and monetary policies. And it is important to understand the meaning of money and be able to differentiate between basic concepts such as consumption, savings, capital, and investment. Would it make any difference, to the overall function of the economy, earnings, employment, etc., if a given sum of money is spent by an individual, a small business, a corporation, or the government? Is it good for the country if people spend money or is it better if they save it? Would it make a difference if spending originates from printing money or citizens’ savings? The answer to these and many other economic questions are at the heart of the fiscal and monetary policy that every government grapples with every day. After reading this book you will be ready to understand fiscal and monetary policies, tools, and their effectiveness.

Crisis Management in the Age of Social Media

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Social media has fundamentally changed the contract between institutions and the public. Today, people expect a conversation, not a one-way diatribe. That, combined with the speed of the Internet, changes the game for many companies in anticipating, managing, and ultimately avoiding an ‘instant crisis’–an instant crisis example is when Verizon added a $2 charge for all their customers; one hour later 100,000 signatures appeared on a Twitter petition, and soon Verizon was in the middle of a huge public relations crisis. Inside this book, you’ll learn just how to manage this type of situation and meet the challenges of social media. Each chapter includes a description of a crisis, the timeliness of a good response, the effectiveness of this response, and an assessment of what works and what doesn’t. Some examples of social media crises include Apple Computer, Netflix, JetBlue, Bank of America, Fed Ex, and public figures such as Anthony Weiner, Ashton Kutcher, and Jon Bon Jovi.

Managing Expatriates: A Return on Investment Approach

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Expatriation is a big topic, and is getting bigger. Over 200 million people worldwide now live and work in a country other than their country of origin. Tens of billions of dollars are spent annually by organizations that move expatriates around the world. Yet, despite the substantial costs involved, expatriation frequently results in an unsatisfactory return on investment (ROI), with little or no knowledge as to how to improve it. Why is this so? Drawing on more than a decade of expertise, research, and publications in top journals, the authors provide you real solutions to achieve more than a satisfactory ROI from expatriates–with rule number one being: Understand expatriates themselves. This book provides a practical ‘insider’s’ guide that reveals why expatriates seek and accept international assignments; how they feel impacted by new forms of remuneration and other working conditions; how international assignments fit in with their longer-term career aspirations; and what complications arise in terms of their families. Whether you’re a manager or consultant, inside you’ll learn what modern-day global mobility is like (based on the authors’ decade-long study with nearly four hundred expatriates and their managers, as well as over a hundred who were interviewed personally), how it is changing, and why now, more than ever, a hard-nosed ROI approach is necessary.

Fostering Spirituality in the Workplace: A Leader’s Guide to Sustainability

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Today, there are deep and rapid changes on companies, employees, and the global economy that should not be underestimated, and future world leaders must be prepared to lead in a manner that is socially responsible, ethical, and pro_ table. A corporation with a business model that polarizes or operates solely in the interest of its shareholders is unsustainable and current benchmarks can be unrealistic tools for businesses to rely upon as measures of future success. This book explores historical data, analyzes current events from the world stage, and delivers a worldview that challenges some existing paradigms in business. As we are living business history, the book draws from the epic economic, environmental, and cultural shifts in our collective consciousness. It begins a vital conversation by introducing some thought paradigms that will challenge current business practices, create a vision for the future, and provide a road map to navigate this uncharted territory. In the end, the author outlines specific action that you must take now to end the economic and moral decline in this first part of the 21st century.

Value Creation in Management Accounting: Using Information to Capture Customer Value

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Value creation is at the heart of an economic enterprise, defining its capability to serve customers and generate profits and growth. This fact has led to an ever-increasing set of tools and techniques that start with customers, focusing on serving their preferences from the very inception of a product until its disposal. To date, most of these techniques have been only partially adopted in management accounting. This is unfortunate, because much of the data required to adequately implement a value creation approach has its roots in the Management Accounting System (MAS). The resulting model is called the Value Creation Model (VCM). This book is principally designed for managers who want to take the lessons learned in product development, process management, and marketing and extend it to their MAS. It seeks to make this transformation of the MAS both logical and easy to implement, with a focus on the new types of information that can be garnered when the MAS is modified to fit the value creation approach. After reading this book, a manager or executive will be equipped with the tools and techniques to both implement and use the VCM. The resulting information will allow the company to align its efforts by creating a common language which uses the transformed accounting language to compare, evaluate, and choose the best strategic and tactical options available. After making these choices, the VCM also allows managers to subsequently track how closely actual results come to the projected outcomes. The results and recommendations in this book are based on action field research, where the authors have personally supported the analysis and subsequent use of the data generated. The authors of the book will provide, upon request, a simplified automated data collection template that will ease the implementation process. In total, then, this book provides a unique perspective on the organization and creates an actionable common language that allows the unification of the continuous improvement efforts of managers across an organization.

Production Line Efficiency: A Comprehensive Guide for Managers, Second Edition

$21.99

In today’s production world, many of the lines seem unpaced and unbalanced. Inside this book, you will learn new designs for these lines that can lead to more efficiency by taking advantage of inherent imbalance–for example, operators who work at different speeds–a concept that has traditionally been seen as an obstacle to efficient production. The authors have included a series of experiments that illustrate the issues involved in improving performance through production line imbalance, as well as some surprisingly easy ways to improve performance with low or zero costs. Emphasis is placed on reducing the amount of time production lines lie idle, and on reducing work in process. This is a timely contribution to the field when managers are casting around for new ways to cut waste and reduce their use of natural resources.

Recovering from the Global Financial Crisis: Achieving Financial Stability in Times of Uncertainty

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Why are some global financial crises more dif_ cult to recover from and overcome than others? What steps are necessary in ensuring that financial stability and recovery is facilitated? And what kind of environment has the previous financial environment evolved to and what kind of financial products have contributed to greater vulnerability in the triggering of systemic risks? These are among some of the questions that this book addresses. In highlighting the role and importance of various actors in post-crises reforms as well as the huge impact of certain factors and products that are contributing in exacerbating the magnitude and speed of transmission of financial contagion, this book provides an insight into why global financial crises have become more complicated to address than was previously the case. Within this book, the author doesn’t merely identify and highlight the general root causes of global financial crises and the current issues, but gives each chapter recommendations and measures that contribute to the magnitude and severity of global financial crises.

Project Strategy and Strategic Portfolio Management: A Primer

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The success of a project depends on how well it is implemented; and the success of its implementation depends on how well the project is planned. Few would dispute these truisms because they are the basic tenets of successful project management. Managing a project is an operation and these are the basic operational aspects of project management. They represent the traditional wisdom about projects and the methods used in managing them. Projects have become the de facto method of implementing business strategy and operations. As such, understanding how projects relate to business strategy and managing projects strategically is increasingly important to effective and efficient business management This book is designed as a short and concise treatise on how to go about doing that. The authors start by figuring out how the project relates to the rest of the business and environment and what separates it from other projects and functions. They go on to discuss how you can use principles of strategic management to better organize and manage the various projects you may be dealing with on a daily basis so that they are strategic in nature. In essence, this book details how to approach answering the important strategic questions in project management like–‘Why is the project being implemented? How does the project relate to the major strategic goals of the organization? How do we accomplish the performance goals for the project so that they help achieve the major strategic goals of the organization?’

Effective Interviewing and Information Gathering: Proven Tactics to Improve Your Questioning Skills

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This book is an invaluable, instructional field manual for any professional who needs to obtain and interpret information gathered directly by and from people, without recourse to a technological intermediary, such as online search. In the role of interviewer, interrogator, or evaluator, there are many opportunities to get it wrong. Good information can go bad . . . bad information can go good, but for the wrong reasons. Either way, without an understanding of process and context, free standing information runs the risk of sending one in the wrong direction.
This book is an invaluable, instructional field manual for you or any professional who needs to obtain and interpret information gathered directly by and from people, without recourse to a technological intermediary, such as online search. In the role of interviewer, interrogator, or evaluator, there are many opportunities to get it wrong. As advanced as our information-gathering technology may be, it is still impossible to get inside the head of an interviewee by conducting a Google search; so hit them with the tactics spelled out in this book instead in order to protect yourself from being sent in the wrong direction. Inside, you’ll learn practical information regarding all aspects of obtaining and evaluating information. This book serves as a tool-kit that helps build the skills necessary for conducting good interviews and extracting information that is critical for the enterprise in which the interviewer is engaged. As you progress through the book, you will acquire an understanding of research-based behavioral techniques that bolster the success rate of interviews. In addition, the legal factors you need to be aware of prior to conducting an interview for hiring purposes are spelled out. Finally, you’ll acquire the skills necessary to help you evaluate interview information so that decisions made are based on evidence.