The Art of Computer Modeling for Business Analytics: Paradigms and Case Studies

$21.99

Companies today routinely utilize computer models to help make decisions. These models take many forms, from simple spreadsheets to sophisticated computer simulations. The chief underlying reason for constructing a model is to assess the impact of a decision on business performance. Based on that assessment, model users will make recommendations and take actions. The tacit assumption is that the model captures the relevant factors at a sufficient level of detail to make accurate projections. The validity of the model thus depends on a host of judgments that the model builder makes in constructing the model—some transparent, others implicit. These judgments are what make building a computer model more of an art than a science.
This book is about constructing and using computer models to help decision makers in the business world make more informed decisions. It is intended to provide useful case studies for individuals who are interested in building effective decision models—ones that will get used to drive important business decisions. The goal is to demonstrate how to build effective models quickly and inexpensively, using software that is widely available and often free. It is a practical guide, informed by the author’s experience building such models for an array of businesses in diverse industries.

Stop Teaching: Principles and Practices for Responsible Management Education

$21.99

What do we need to change in order to develop a new generation of business leaders who connect profits with purpose, who see in social entrepreneurship and innovation the key opportunity for addressing our planetary challenges? The answer lies in the contents we select to teach, in the values we invite to explore and develop, and in the methods we use. In the era of 24/7 global access to information from our mobile gadgets, many institutions of higher education are still sitting students in rows or amphitheaters, measuring success via tests and evaluations, with instructors lecturing what students should learn. And instructors feel the challenge of competing with sleepy audiences that divide their attention between their cell phones and the speaker.
Stop teaching, the author says, inviting instructors in management schools and higher education to adopt some proven learning principles that can reengage students, unleash their potentials, and foster them to shape the world they want to live in. And have fun doing it.
Through adult learning research, guides, activities, and stories from pioneering learning facilitators in education and corporate training, Rimanoczy brings a long-needed revamp to educational institutions that want to be part of responsible management education.

Applied Regression and Modeling: A Computer Integrated Approach

$21.99

This book creates a balance between the theory, practical applications, and computer implementation behind Regression—one of the most widely used techniques in analyzing and solving real world problems. It begins with a thorough explanation of prerequisite knowledge with a discussion of Simple Regression Analysis including the computer applications. Multiple Regression—a widely used tool to predict a response variable using two or more predictors, follows this. Since the analyses of regression models involve tedious and complex computations, complete computer analysis including the interpretation of multiple regression problems along with the model adequacy tests and residual analysis using widely used computer software are presented. The use of computers relieves the analyst of tedious, repetitive calculations, and allows one to focus on creating and interpreting successful models.
Finally, the book extends the concepts to Regression and Modeling. Different models that provide a good fit to a set of data and provide a good prediction of the response variable are discussed. Computer analysis and interpretation of computer results are presented with real world applications. The statistical concepts for regression, computer instructions for the software—EXCEL and MINITAB—used in the book, and all of the data files used can be downloaded HERE.

MetricsMan: It Doesn’t Count Unless You Can Count It

$21.99

MetricsMan presents opinions, insights, and best practices of public relations and social media research and measurement. It discusses the evolution of measurement, return on investment, the Barcelona Principles, social media measurement models, marketing mix modeling, the battle against advertising value equivalents, and establishing accountability of the public relations profession.
Through this book, public relations professionals will be able to set clear measurement goals and objectives, identify right from wrong in the metrics they use, and understand how to apply valid measurement models and frameworks in their practices. This book also provides valuable information for public relations educators and students to learn about the best practices of research and measurement in the industry.

Communication for Consultants

$21.99

Congratulations to Rita Owens who won the 2018 ABC/APCC Excellence in Communication Consulting for her book, Communication for Consultants. She presented her project at the Association for Business Communication Annual Meeting in Detroit, October 2019.
From the moment of their first client engagement, consultants in all fields face communication opportunities and challenges. No matter what their focus may be, professional services, accounting, technology, operations, human resources, manufacturing or marketing, consultants drive change. That change, from its initial definition through its development and deployment, must be precisely communicated to a variety of audiences and through a variety of mediums.
Most business communication books do a good job leading professional writers and presenters through the basics of audience, organization, formatting, and mechanics. But, few focus on a specific business role, like that of a consultant, and give specific guidance for communicating during all stages of a project. From the pre-engagement process to the actual engagement to the post-engagement follow-up, consultants are challenged by the variety of audiences whose roles continually shift throughout a project.
This book guides a current or would-be consultant through the various phases of a typical engagement and gives practical advice and direction on written and oral communication throughout a typical project. Current and future consultants in all fields will gain specific knowledge about writing and presenting to a variety of audiences including clients, team members, managers and partners. The book also gives advice to new and seasoned consultants about state-of-the-art use of technology in communication and business communication etiquette.

Essentials of Retirement Planning: A Holistic Review of Personal Retirement Planning Issues and Employer-Sponsored Plans, Third Edition

$21.99

This book provides the quintessential information needed to understand the financial side of the retirement planning coin. Readers will begin by learning about the various plan types available to the employers to offer to their employees. The topics related to compliance testing are thoroughly discussed as well as strategies used to legally shift benefits in favor of the highly compensated employees.
However, some employers do not sponsor a plan. In this instance, retirement savers will need to understand the options available in the world of individual retirement accounts. This book is not intended to provide investment advice, but rather to guide how different retirement savings vehicles function and how they can be effectively deployed.
Many financial professionals find that their clients will ask questions about all aspects of their financial life. For this reason, this book also discusses non-investment-related topics, such as housing options, social security planning, Medicare planning, and a few other basic insurance-based issues faced by all retirees.

Designing Ethical Workplaces: The Moldable Model

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Executive leaders need a framework with which to evaluate current and to create new corporate ethical management systems in their organizations. This book offers such a framework, called the Moldable Modelc, a system of consistent components that give leaders a framework and a guide to build an organization-specific corporate ethical management system (CEMS). This book teaches how to design ethical workplaces utilizing the role modeling, context, and accountability components.
In a step-by-step process, the author guides the reader through the research-based components with definitions, theory, explanations, and the practical application of those components through suggested organizational activities. Readers can expect to develop ethical tools and a complete corporate ethical management system for implementation into their specific organizations. In just a few hours, a busy executive can have the knowledge and tools to design an ethical workplace that creates satisfied and committed employees who increase organizational productivity and competitive advantage.

The New Leader: Harnessing the Power of Creativity to Produce Change

$21.99

Leaders in the 21st-century must learn to solve problems and motivate followers with a combination of creativity, leadership, and effective change. In The New Leader: Harnessing the Power of Creativity to Produce Change, readers will develop an understanding of the relationship between creativity, leadership, and change. They will analyze the creative process, learn how to develop a creative culture, and understand effective leadership styles that promote creativity and change. They will explore training to enhance creativity and leadership, and develop practical ways to create an environment that encourages positive growth. The book offers simple techniques to enhance creativity and leadership immediately, while also pointing to long-term changes that will bring even more success. Stories, reflection questions, and theories are intertwined to help the reader develop sound strategies to lead with enhanced creativity.
The book will help an overwhelmed leader learn engaging tools to lead change, while encouraging disengaged leaders to try new methods to revive their leadership and accomplish a motivating vision. In the end, leaders will become more effective, engaging, and transformational by adopting the ideas in the book. They will serve as a model for creativity, create spaces that enhance creative growth, and encourage cultures where employees are free to create positive changes for their organizations.

Matching Services to Markets: The Role of the Human Sensorium in Shaping Service-Intensive Markets

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This book begins an adventure wherein the author outlines for us the particular shape our minds impose on that journey; he takes as his analytic, the human sensorium: the panoply of sensory channels (sight, hearing, touch, etc.) we use to grasp our world. His primary insight is that our sensorium does not, beyond immediate social groups, present smooth, mirror-like vistas of our socially networked world.
Contrariwise, he shows that this uniquely human array of channels presents a mosaic of disparate inputs with subtle fissures and sutures between and among them. That more sophisticated view of our sensory apparatus allows him to describe with great practicality, the fissured, segmented architectures we inject into our enterprises and, above all, our markets.
These insights particularly illuminate the revolution reshaping our understanding of the basic couplet of value exchange driving markets: Buying and selling.
In this revolution a more telling focus on services as catalysts of value exchange is supplanting the traditional terms: goods and product, as the architecture of that very human sensorium broached above modulates value exchange across the chain of institutional need in markets.
Armed with this novel set of insights, we come away with a far better sense of what is happening “overhead,” as we work out our missions and careers amid our socially constructed edifices: enterprises, institutions, and their battlegrounds, our markets.

Performance Leadership ™

$21.99

A fearsome aspect of management is the performance appraisal. It has become a byword for unfairness and irritation among employees. Some management writers are even proposing in doing away with it. We agree that the current method of appraisal is unsustainable and counterproductive. In this book, we discuss Performance Leadership – the idea of leading employee performance, which should be the focus of management. Just doing appraisal or evaluation is not enough. Managers must incorporate the entire model of performance management and use it to lead within their workgroup, department, or organization. We walk managers through the steps of Performance Leadership, discussing the benefits and pitfalls of each step. The idea of making performance management work as a leadership style is new and simple, but it takes dedication to complete the task. This book is valuable for supervisors, managers, human resource staff, and others – anyone who needs to manage performance!