Feasibility Analysis for Sustainable Technologies: An Engineering-Economic Perspective

$21.99

Feasibility Analysis for Sustainable Technologies will lead you into a professional feasibility analysis for a renewable energy or energy efficiency project. The analysis begins with an understanding of the basic engineering description of technology in terms of capacity, efficiency, constraints, and dependability.Sustainability is a hot topic now, attracting students to courses offered across a variety of academic departments, including business, environmental science, engineering, and city planning. A key aspect of implementing sustainability in organizations is the design and financial evaluation of systems for renewable energy, energy efficiency, and waste management. Most sustainability programs at the masters level have some expectation that the graduate will be able to do a feasibility study for such systems. However, no textbook exists to train the student to do a feasibility study–until now.
When my university decided in 2010 to make Sustainable Business the flagship specialization of our MBA program, I realized that we needed to have a course called ‘Sustainable Technologies,’ which would prepare students to conduct feasibility analyses. This course would take an ‘engineering-economic’ approach to the subject, teaching basic engineering concepts as appropriate for business students and using low-intermediate concepts in economics and finance that would still be accessible to students (both undergraduate and graduate) who do not have a background in science or economics. Teaching the course over the past few years, I also saw that this engineering-economic knowledge of sustainable technology also has value for students who want to manage sustainability initiatives or participate informatively in policy discussions on sustainable technology. Thus, the book should be able to sell into any masters-level program that emphasizes sustainability, and it will be a valuable resource for sustainability professionals who need to teach themselves how to do a feasibility study.
There is a Students’ Study Guide containing chapter summaries, homework problems, and cases, and there is a Teacher’s Solution Manual for instructors once this title has been adopted.

International Operations: How Multiple International Environments Impact Productivity and Location Decisions

$21.99

The ideal scenario for a company that wishes to expand its reach internationally is to design its operations and supply chain so that they need not vary, regardless of the venue in which they are implemented. But companies that wish to ‘go global’ cannot do so without the approval and cooperation of the governments of the countries in which they hope to expand. Consequently, companies are often forced to depart from a single system approach and make adjustments according to the regulations of each country in which they do business. This book examines the complexity of international operations: the opportunities as well as pitfalls companies face when attempting to implement their operations on a multi-national scale. The book focuses on and provides coverage from the shop floor level, but the concepts discussed and examined are done so with regular reference to a broader company perspective. Various theories and examples are introduced to describe forms of internationalization processes; and the influence of both national and local environments on operations is strongly emphasized. Readers of this book representing companies considering ‘going global’ will learn about the obstacles to success they need to avoid; readers representing governments will learn what they can do and avoid doing in order attract foreign companies and investment.

Responsible Management Accounting and Controlling: A Practical Handbook for Sustainability, Responsibility, and Ethics

$21.99

Currently accounting and controlling are little involved in responsible business. This book offers a responsible controlling framework and a 12-step roadmap how management accounting and controlling can be adapted to become a change agent towards responsible business. The main issue of this book is to be seen in the fact that controlling and management accounting departments are hardly involved in sustainability, responsibility and ethics (SRE) topics and thus do not contribute to responsible business. The book deals with the conviction that responsible controlling is indispensable to make an entire organization more responsible. The main content of this book is the conceptual development of a Responsible Controlling Framework towards decision-making based on an ethically sound fundamental in order to make a company a responsible business. The conceptual approach helps to ensure the book will appeal practitioners in organizations of all size and nature as well as for (MBA) students. This book recommends a thoroughly examined course of action regarding Responsible Controlling for practitioners based on a profound theoretical background. The book shows the current state of controlling in an organizational context and in which areas controllers are active.

Hispanic-Latino Entrepreneurship: Viewpoints of Practitioners

$21.99

Academy of Global Business Advancement 2015 book award winner.

The Hispanic–Latino community is large, expanding, and an important contributor to the U.S. economy. Numbering over 50 million, Hispanic–Latinos currently represent about 16% of the population. Hispanic– Latinos engage in a diversity of jobs that help keep the American economic engine running. The practice of entrepreneurship has been on the rise with over 2.3 million businesses in the United States categorized as Hispanic owned, generating over $345 billion in sales. This book examines the entrepreneurial mindset of Hispanic– Latinos in the United States. With limited literature on the subject, the authors created a pioneering book that captures the viewpoints of real-life Hispanic–Latino entrepreneurs. Using a 15-item questionnaire, the authors obtained information on entrepreneurial intent, goals, and business strategies utilized. This book highlights real world business experiences, including challenges relating to entrepreneurial pursuits, and the importance of hardwork, discipline, and a positive mindset in the success of an enterprise.

Strategic Management of Healthcare Organizations: A Stakeholder Management Approach

$21.99

Perhaps no industry today faces greater challenges than healthcare, and industry professionals are seeking novel solutions to the problems they encounter every day. Unfortunately, much of the conventional wisdom in business is based on theories developed in manufacturing organizations; however, running a healthcare organization like a factory can lead to dissatisfaction of some of the firm’s most important stakeholders, including patients, managers, and employees, and it may even lead to inefficiency! Stakeholder theory offers an alternative approach that directly addresses these and other problems in healthcare organizations. It is based on developing trusting and productive relationships with stakeholders that lead to high levels of value creation, as indicated by stakeholder satisfaction, innovation, efficiency, and growth. This practical book includes state-of-the art thinking on stakeholder theory and strategic management to encourage a broader and more enlightened view of management. It outlines a process that is applicable to all levels of a healthcare organization, including evaluation of trends in the external environment that need to be addressed, analysis of internal resources, generation and selection of innovative solutions to the problems a firm is facing, and development of an action plan and control system to ensure that solutions are implemented and successfully address the most pressing issues.

Improving Sales and Marketing Collaboration: A Step-by-Step Guide

$21.99

Sales and marketing are two primary business functions that focus on creating satisfied customers. Due to their complementary orientations and objectives, these two functions are ideally positioned for a fruitful, synergetic collaboration. Unfortunately, the practical reality in many companies is far removed from this utopia. Sales and marketing personnel fail to communicate effectively, resulting in misunderstandings, frustration, and sometimes sabotage. Instead of supporting each other in creating superior value for customers, sales and marketing personnel often fight tiresome internal battles that are a drain on profits, efficiency, and customer satisfaction.

Improving Sales and Marketing Collaboration offers the first comprehensive perspective on the functioning of sales-marketing interfaces in business to business (B2B) companies. Inside, the authors explore their complementary roles in creating superior value for customers, problems that occur, the underlying causes of these problems, and potential solutions. These solutions are accompanied by a series of tools that managers can use to diagnose their sales-marketing interface and develop appropriate approaches to improve this relationship. Additionally, the book discusses a number of challenges that companies encounter and the impacts on their sales-marketing interfaces. The discussions and tools presented in this book provide managers with a deep understanding of this critical interface, allowing them to apply these insights to improve their sales-marketing interface, which helps them create superior value for customers.

Developing Successful Business Strategies: Gaining the Competitive Advantage

$21.99

This book presents effective planning business strategies and related budgeting concepts and those activities necessary for the successful growth of the organization. The planning process is shown to be an integral function of developing management strategies for future growth and the gaining of competitive advantage in these fast moving times. Budgeting is presented as a logical outgrowth and an essential part of the planning process rather than an independent internal activity. The book emphasizes the principal factors that should be considered in planning and budgeting for the company, what management and operations personnel must know to better understand effective planning for the business, and what can be done to enhance the overall strategic and financial planning for the organization. The intent of the book is to introduce and explain the relationship between effective planning methods (long-term and short-term) and the budgeting and control processes. The program concentrates on practical approaches to organizational planning and integration with budgeting as well as enhancing familiarity with related concepts and methodology. The book is designed for those who desire to increase their knowledge and practical use of planning and budgeting techniques as a means of achieving improved organizational effectiveness. In addition, the book intends to show the interaction and interdependence of the strategic planning (long and short term), detail planning, budgeting and monitoring processes and to demonstrate how planning is an essential first step in the preparation of an effective budget for the organization.

The Search For Best Practices: Doing the Right Thing the Right Way

$21.99

The book is geared to those interested in doing the right thing the right way, often in the face of organizational roadblocks. The book is a ‘how to’ book to assist management and operations personnel to analyze their operations in a program of continuous improvements. It proposes an on-going search for best practices so that each entity operates most economically, efficiently, and effectively–consistent with why the entity is in existence in the first place. Best practice techniques assist the company in identifying its critical problem areas and treating the cause and not the symptom. With sensible business principles as the hallmark for the company’s quest for best practices, the company can be clear as to the direction for movement and avoid merely improving poor practices or matching competitors less than desirable practices. Clear business principles that make sense to all levels of the organization allow the company to identify and develop the proper best practices. In this manner, everyone in the organization is moving in the same desired direction–and singing from the same songbook. The viruses that corrupt a business organization can be widespread and quite contagious. Nouveau quick fixes may be okay in the short term, but over the long haul the company needs to know what they are doing. If the company doesn’t, some other company will. The main audience for this book is anyone currently or desirous of working in business–including management/supervision/employees and anyone interested in the world of business and how businesses operate. As many businesses are struggling to be competitive, or merely to survive, this book becomes a primer or ‘how to’ for identifying and maintaining excellence in their operations using best practices in developing a learning organization. The book can be used by individuals, groups or departments–management and operations personnel–in business as a learning, coaching, and mentoring tool in their quest to make their operations the best possible. Another audience is undergraduate and graduate business programs where the book could be used as a course text or supplemental readings for an existing course. Courses could include any course related to business operations, management courses, or its own specific course.

Followership: What It Takes to Lead

$21.99

Followers dominate all organizations, but a preoccupation with leaders hinders the consideration of the importance of followers and the relationship between followers and leaders.

Followership: What It Takes to Lead will teach you how to become a better leader by becoming a better follower. The book includes chapters on the topics of: leadership theory, followership theory, preparation for the job, understanding what is required for the job, communication, initiative, positive attitude, responsibility, problem solving, and teamwork. It also provides suggestions for becoming an exemplary follower, which will demonstrate and manifest the skills associated with leadership as well as bridge the gap between leadership training and followership.

Experimental Design: Unified Concepts, Practical Applications, and Computer Implementation

$21.99

This book is a concise and innovative book that gives a complete presentation of the design and analysis of experiments in approximately one-half the space of competing books. With only the modest prerequisite of a basic (non-calculus) statistics course, this text is appropriate for the widest possible audience, including college juniors, seniors, and first-year graduate students in business, the sciences, and statistics, as well as professionals in business and industry. This book is a concise and innovative book that gives a complete presentation of the design and analysis of experiments in approximately one-half the space of competing books. With only the modest prerequisite of a basic (non-calculus) statistics course, this text is appropriate for the widest possible audience including college juniors, seniors, and first-year graduate students in business and statistics, as well as professionals in business and industry. The book is able to accommodate this wide audience because of the unique, integrative approach that it takes to the teaching of experimental design. This text organizes and presents the two procedures for analyzing experimental design data – analysis of variance (ANOVA) and regression analysis – in a way that allows the student to move through the material more quickly and efficiently than usual, making the true advantages of both ANOVA and regression analysis more apparent. The book devotes most of its first three chapters to showing how to use ANOVA to analyze the type of experimental design data that it can appropriately be used to analyze: balanced (equal sample sized) data or unbalanced (unequal sample sized) data from one factor studies; balanced data from two factor studies (two-way factorials and randomized block designs); and balanced data from three or more factor studies. Chapter 3 includes a general ANOVA procedure for analyzing balanced data experiments. Regression analysis can be used to analyze almost any balanced or unbalanced data experiment but is less intuitive than ANOVA. Therefore, this book waits to discuss regression analysis until it is needed to analyze data that cannot be analyzed by ANOVA. This is in Section 2.4 where regression is explained from first principles and then used to analyze unbalanced data from two-way factorials and data from incomplete block designs. Regression is used again in Chapter 4 to analyze data resulting from two-level fractional factorial and block confounding experiments.