How to Talk to Data Scientists: A Guide for Executives

$28.99

Every major company has or will soon have a data science program. Most fail, expensively, imperiling their executive sponsors. Unfortunately, executives have been misled to focus on the latest buzzwords. Although buzzwords change— big data, data science, machine learning, deep learning, and artificial intelligence –the distraction from fundamentals manifests as a predictable trajectory from exuberant program launch, to stagnation, to awkward decommissioning.

After architecting data science programs at over a dozen companies, across sectors and scales, Dr. Elser has formulated a reliable framework for successful data science programs. Surprisingly, software and algorithms are secondary. Rather, the key is understanding how the available data aligns to the problem to be solved. The business executive understands the problem sufficiently to enforce this alignment, while data scientists act on it. But executives tend to underestimate their role and thereby fail to construct the necessary connective tissue with their data scientists.

This book provides business executives with a concrete exercise, populating a “Master Table,” accessible to nontechnical managers and data scientists, which serves as the connective tissue between them. Rather than teach a diluted version of data science, this book describes how to start projects and how to detect and fix problems—the moments when leadership is critical. Insights are provided through real world examples, including a Playbook featuring common projects. The intended audience is executives (C-suite through VP). However, ambitious mid-level managers and data scientists will also benefit.

Multiply Your Business Value Through Brand & AI

$34.99

Brand building is a competitive advantage that organizations can leverage to multiply their value. Artificial intelligence (AI), is a recent phenomenon that enables organizations reduce errors, build efficiencies and increase profitability, thereby freeing their human capital to perform more intellectual tasks. This book presents the case for building brands effectively and optimally using AI, thereby enhancing the overall value of the organization.

This book is ideal for entrepreneurs, investors, CEOs, and brand managers as it provides them with pathways of using AI to build brands and create value. It can be used as a textbook in courses on brand management and as a supplemental text in marketing management courses. It is especially relevant today, where many enterprises are being founded by non-marketing professionals.

Successfully Achieving Strategy Through Effective Portfolio Management

$41.99

Organizations are successful based on their ability to achieve strategic goals.

Why didn’t you achieve your strategy? Too many organizations waste time and money on developing strategy but don’t achieve their goals. What goes wrong? Poor predictions about the future; internal politics that impact the projects selected; biases in the decision-making process, and other stumbling blocks.

This book provides the approach that significantly increases an organization’s ability to achieve its strategy. This is not a book about developing strategy. This is a book that will help you actually achieve the strategy the organization’s leadership has developed.

Strategy is necessary but it is a complete waste of time unless it is effectively turned into real results. If you want to see where an organization will be in 5 years, don’t look at its strategic goals. Look at where management spends the money.

Improv to Improve Healthcare: A System for Creative Problem-Solving

$31.99

“I don’t think the Women’s Health Center ever had so much laughter in one place. You have such an outstanding blend of very professional, warm, and personal presentation, engaging the group”—Valerie Keim, LMFT, John Muir Women’s Health Center, Walnut Creek, CA

“This was so much fun and such good learning!”—Nancy Vierhaus, RNC, CNS, Lucille Packard Medical Center, Palo Alto, CA

Healthcare organizations cry out for a toll to decrease untoward events and bridge the communication gap between professional clinical teams and clients. Discover how to guide your team to creatively problem-solve, build emotional and social intelligence, increase workplace safety and employee retention, and guarantee client satisfaction with the results-don’t-lie Improv to Improve Healthcare system.

Rain Maker Pro: A Manager’s Guide for Training Salespeople

$31.99

Generating leads and landing new business are critical to the growth and long-term success of any type of service business. Rainmakers who are able to consistently gain new business by using their selling skills to convert prospects into new customers are difficult to find. Recruiting rainmaking professionals from other organizations is expensive and for many businesses has been largely ineffective.

Every executive and manager of a service business understands the importance of the ability to generate leads and landing new customers are the critical components to a successful business. This book is written for managers and leaders who want to transform their professionals from doing work to effectively marketing and selling and bringing in new business.

Divided into three comprehensive parts: Charting a new course; The fundamental success models; and Building your business, this book will show you how to:

  • Help professionals overcome fear of selling
  • Acquire the right sales capabilities
  • Market and sell within your comfort zone
  • Setting and achieving big goals
  • Leverage existing customers to acquire new ones
  • Build accountability across the business

Understanding the Indian Economy from the Post-Reforms of 1991, Volume III: Indian Agriculture

$37.99

The agricultural sector is impacted by and impacts the society, economy, and environment. No study of the Indian economy can afford to neglect the agricultural sector. Although its share in the national product has declined, it harbors not merely half of the labor force; it has also vital supply and demand links with the manufacturing sector.

This is the third volume in the series of eight such volumes. Each volume seeks to present an analysis of a specific area or sector of the Indian economy. This volume examines various aspects of India’s agricultural sector.

Three of the basic foundations needed for building a sound agricultural economy are a productive technology package, efficient delivery services, and remunerative and stable market prices for produce. The federal structure of government and policies belong primarily to the realm of political economy. Policy interventions need to focus on ensuring remunerative prices for farmers, credit, supply chain, and marketing and make the farmer market ready.

Though policymaking is difficult, the toolkit of good governance of agriculture becomes more important and regulations need improvement. For better policy planning, there is a need to improve upon the database on agriculture, considering that the existing data is unreliable.

Business Sustainability: Investor, Board, and Management Perspective

$28.99

Business sustainability has become economic and strategic imperative with potential to create opportunities and risks for businesses. There have been considerable efforts by regulators and business organizations to encourage the board of directors and management to pursue profit-with-purpose goals in by focusing on long-term investment and integrating environmental, social and governance (ESG) sustainability into their strategic and investment decisions. The concept of impact investing, of focusing on the importance and relevance of corporate investment strategies in achieving financial economic sustainability performance (ESP) in creating returns on investment and in obtaining non-financial ESG sustainability performance of providing positive social and environment impacts, is gaining acceptance by retail and institutional investors. Positive effects on the environment and society cannot be achieved without allocating scarce resources that could otherwise be used to maximize firms’ financial economic performance. The role of the board of directors is to oversee the managerial function of focusing on the long-term financial ESP and non-financial ESG sustainability performance, effectively communicating sustainability performance information to all stakeholders.

This book examines the crucial role of investors both retail and institutional investors and interment managers, the corporate board of directors and management in collaborating to achieve financial ESP and non-financial ESG sustainability performance in creating shared value for all stakeholders. This book also highlights how people, business and resources collaborate in achieving sustainability performance of creating shared value for all stakeholders. Anyone who is involved with business sustainability and corporate governance will be interested in this book.

Managing For Accountability: A Business Leader’s Toolbox

$31.99

Veteran management consultant and HR expert Dr. Lynne Curry provides business owners, leaders, and managers a complete roadmap for creating accountability in the workplace.

Managing for Accountability: A Business Leader’s Toolbox contains everything business owners and managers need to hire, inspire, manage, and retain accountable, high performing, engaged employees who invest one hundred percent in their jobs.

This practical guide offers field-tested tools, strategies, and proven tactics for locating, developing and managing motivated, engaged, committed employees focused on performance, productivity, and results. Curry details pragmatic strategies that succeed despite the pandemic and that work effectively with all employees, whether they’re top talent, those who occasionally falter, or come from diverse backgrounds and generations. If you want to create a culture of accountability in your workplace and develop high-performing teams that lead your business to unparalleled levels of success, you will want this invaluable resource close at hand. This is must read for every leader, owner, or manager.

Ask the Right Questions; Get the Right Job: Navigating the Job Interview to Take Control of Your Career

$31.99

Too often people go to interviews prepared only to answer questions. They study the tough questions for days hoping to give the right responses on D-Day. These same people treat the interview as a cross examination; they see themselves on trial, under the spotlight, deer in the headlights. People who are being interviewed need another attitude, an attitude that says, “I’m here to interview you, to see if I want to bring my talents and experiences to your organization.” Most people don’t know how to do this. However, if armed with a few questions, they can even the playing field and engage in a useful conversation with their hosts.

This book provides a set of questions that are appropriate for any job candidate to ask and allows candidates to participate in a dialogue, a conversation. Experience suggests that only a handful of questions are necessary in most interviews. Review all of the questions. Choose the ones that you believe provide you with the information you need. Learn to interview the interviewer!