Kirjahaku

Organizations and those who work within them are under attack from the increasingly pervasive impacts of commoditization. With little to distinguish one company's products and services from another or one person's skills and capabilities from the next, organizations and workers alike are finding themselves trapped in the me-too hell of commoditization. For many this means the survival of the cheapest, as price becomes the principal basis for decision making. For others it requires them to think creatively to avoid the trap of commoditization, even though this may only provide a temporary respite. In this groundbreaking book, Andrew Holmes sets out why commoditization represents such a clear and present danger to every corporation and all white-collar workers. Starting with the nature of the commodities we are familiar with such as coal and cotton, Holmes moves on to describe how commoditization is affecting entire industries and is increasingly touching the work of the professional classes. The evidence is both fascinating and compelling and it is clear that the impacts of commoditization are far reaching. The author also outlines the impact of commoditization on an organization's strategy towards brand, supply chain, value chain, innovation, pricing and competition. He explores the implications for skills, attitudes and behaviours in the workplace before describing a series of strategies for avoiding the risk and exploiting the opportunities offered by a new commoditized world, such as outsourcing, innovation, offshoring, mergers and acquisitions, divestments and first mover advantage. Holmes offers organizations and white-collar workers a range of strategic responses which can be used to combat its worst impacts. And as commoditization continues to make inroads into the corporate and working worlds, this book will be an invaluable companion to addressing the challenges which it presents.

Whilst there are many books which deal with decision making in a general, process or mathematical sense, there are very few books which address the nature of poor decision making and particularly how to avoid decisions with unintended consequences and surprises. There are plenty of sources of influence on any significant decisions within business; the politics or culture of the organization (or of the environment in which it operates); the passage of time following the decision; the availability of information; the behaviour of customers, stakeholders or activitists and the impact of fear, greed or panic on their view of the situation. Andrew Holmes provides readers with the means to understand the nature of this influence; how to model the potential for blowback on any decisions that you may be planning, along with a series of tools and techniques for mitigating or avoiding blowback. Every week all sorts of organizations find their reputation, their share price or even their very business, under pressure because of the consequences or blowback from poor or hasty decisions. Andrew Holmes book provides you with an understanding of the phenomenon as well as a very practical guide to more resilient decision making. This book will provide the reader with a clear understanding of the nature of blowback, how to assess it and how to avoid it.

Fast cars. Dark secrets. One woman racing against more than just time. Ellie Harrier is making history as the first full-time female Formula 1 driver in thirty years. But as engines roar and cameras flash, she's not just battling for pole position - she's chasing the truth behind a fatal crash that rocked the racing world. Her predecessor, Alastair Adams, died in a fiery wreck just moments from winning the championship. Some call it a tragic accident. Ellie calls it a warning. Whispers of a buried exposé, a corrupt billionaire, and a cover-up at the highest levels of the sport haunt every turn of the track. With rivals on her tail, secrets in her team, and a target on her back, Ellie must risk everything to expose a conspiracy - and survive the season. In the cutthroat world of Formula 1, victory is everything. But this time, losing could cost her life. Perfect for fans of Drive to Survive, this turbo-charged thriller will leave you breathless.

This title was first published in 2002. How do you add value to your clients? Is it the process you use, or the technical skills you deploy? Or perhaps it's your ability to adjust the way you sell and deliver your services based upon your tacit understanding of your client's culture - the way we do things round here. Such chameleon-like behaviour is fundamental to successful consulting, and yet it is neither widely understood nor practised within the profession. Until now. This book describes a powerful way to improve the consultancy process, from selling the service to delivering the engagement, through a concept called cultural intelligence - the missing dimension of effective consultancy. By revisiting the consultancy process using a simple model of organizational culture, this text creates a potent technique for tailoring the principal consultancy processes of selling, relationship management, account management and engagement management. Such tailoring that ensures the consultant and consultancy firm can blend into their clients' organizations more effectively and as a result add immediate and lasting value.

This title was first published in 2002. How do you add value to your clients? Is it the process you use, or the technical skills you deploy? Or perhaps it's your ability to adjust the way you sell and deliver your services based upon your tacit understanding of your client's culture - the way we do things round here. Such chameleon-like behaviour is fundamental to successful consulting, and yet it is neither widely understood nor practised within the profession. Until now. This book describes a powerful way to improve the consultancy process, from selling the service to delivering the engagement, through a concept called cultural intelligence - the missing dimension of effective consultancy. By revisiting the consultancy process using a simple model of organizational culture, this text creates a potent technique for tailoring the principal consultancy processes of selling, relationship management, account management and engagement management. Such tailoring that ensures the consultant and consultancy firm can blend into their clients' organizations more effectively and as a result add immediate and lasting value.

This title was first published in 2001. Based on research and practical experience, this text highlights the contributory factors leading to project failure. The buisiness-IT culture gap, information politics, escalating commitment, the problem of high investment and low return, and accountability for failure are all covered.

This title was first published in 2001. Based on research and practical experience, this text highlights the contributory factors leading to project failure. The buisiness-IT culture gap, information politics, escalating commitment, the problem of high investment and low return, and accountability for failure are all covered.

ExpressExec is a unique business resource of one hundred books. These books present the best current thinking and span the entire range of contemporary business practice. each book gives you the key concepts behind the subject and the techniques to implement the ideas effectively, together with lessons from benchmark companies and ideas from the world's smartest thinkers. ExpressExec is organised into ten core subject areas making it easy to find the information you need: 01 Innovation 02 Enterprise 03 Strategy 04 Marketing 05 Finance 06 Operations and technology 07 Organizations 08 Leading 09 People 10 Life and Work ExpressExec is a perfect learning solution for people who need to master the latest business thinking and practice quickly.

ExpressExec is a unique business resource of one hundred books. These books present the best current thinking and span the entire range of contemporary business practice. Each book gives you the key concepts behind the subject and the techniques to implement the ideas effectively, together with lessons from benchmark companies and ideas from the world's smartest thinkers. ExpressExec is organised into ten core subject areas making it easy to find the information you need: 01 Innovation 02 Enterprise 03 Strategy 04 Marketing 05 Finance 06 Operations and Technology 07 Organizations 08 Leading 09 People 10 Life and Work ExpressExec is a perfect learning solution for people who need to master the latest business thinking and practice quickly.

A revolutionary series that offers a completely new learning experience for time-poor business people.

We all know that the future is uncertain, but rather than make any attempt to actively manage our futures in a consistent way, we tend to make broadbrush assumptions based on common-sense and intuition alone. Successfully managing risk is a primary ingredient for success in a fast-paced environment where we are bombarded by the need to make critical decisions, often with little or no solid facts available and little insight into the likely outcomes. Smart Things to Know About Risk Management, in a step-by-step approach, shows the reader what is risk management and why it matters, the categories of risk, how to achieve the right balance of risk, knowing your risk appetite, how to actively manage your risks and develop a risk culture and techniques, tools and models for managing risk. Case studies are also included. * Perfect for the SMART treatment - this book starts from basics, assumes no prior knowledge and gives a step-by-step approach. * Step-by-step approach. Covers the background to risk and risk management as well as practical application and techniques, tools and models for managing risk. * Written by a highly experienced practitioner with a formidable working knowledge in this area.

Welcome to Broken Britain! MPs are blaming 'The System' for their thieving behaviour. Bankers have burnt through more cash than President Mugabe and still been bailed out. Britain is Broke. Only one thing's going to sort this mess out - some good old-fashioned finger pointing. It's time to take revenge... Painspotting style. Let the Painspotting commence! This book is more effective than Prozac and cheaper than therapy. You may be angry, you may be mad, you may even be institutionalised, but put the baseball bat away, hang up your lynching rope, and let the Painspotting commence! 50 of the best Love them, hate them, blame them, rate them: The Painspotter's Guide to Broken Britain introduces the 50 most frightful characters you'll meet in a financial crisis, so prepare to laugh out loud at the Frightened Fat Cat, the Miserable Middle Class, the Self-help Saddo and many more.

Andrew Holmes is renowned for his hyper-real coloured pencil drawings. His subject matter is the fixed and mobile service infrastructure that sustains the city of Los Angeles. The gleaming trucks, automobiles, and motorcycles that traverse the highways, and the industrial armature of storage tanks, service stations and truck stops to be found beyond the city’s edge are, for Holmes, the greatest artefacts of a society based on oil. Over the past 50 years, he has captured scenes from this uniquely American landscape in painstaking detail. Together they evoke a lost civilisation. Gas Tank City presents 100 of Holmes’s Los Angeles drawings, along with commentaries by art historian, Thomas E Crow, architects Mark Fisher and Cedric Price, and Holmes himself.

Mark Fisher was the creator and designer of a new art form: the travelling rock show. His exuberant stage sets framed artists from The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, U2, Madonna, Lady Gaga and Jean-Michel Jarre to Elton John and Tina Turner. There were thousands of concerts and hundreds of bravura settings, from the 2000 London Millennium show to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, as well as permanent structures, such as the 2,000-seater theatre and stage machinery for KÀ by Cirque du Soleil, in Las Vegas, and the Dai Show Theatre, in China. Each of these projects first found expression in Fisher’s sketchbooks and on his drawing board. This book spans his entire career, with details of every major project and more than 100 drawings – some of which are virtually performances in their own right. "In 1977, I went on the road with the Floyd, and that was really the moment I ran away and joined the circus." – Mark Fisher

With Road Work, Andrew Holmes continues his pilgrimage through the seductive litter of modern life. Cities are conventionally viewed as static objects, but a third of Los Angeles is on the move; it is a kaleidoscope trapped in a grid, where what you see is what you drive past. Road Work presents 500 of Andrew Holmes’ Los Angeles Polaroids, capturing the machines that deliver people and goods to different parts of the city each day. These vehicles are seen at the airport, at a truck stop, always in a parking bay, set classically against azure skies, frozen like statues in a Renaissance garden. Everything has equal status. Nothing transgresses the grid. The work is even, chrome and rust are its soul. Along with commentaries by David Greene and Holmes himself, Road Work includes lyrics by Chuck Berry and others, and extracts from a variety of road novelists and writers.