New Releases From Greenwood in Business

Protecting Your Business in a Pandemic

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMT

A pandemic is an epidemic that covers a huge swath of the country or even the world. And it's just as scary as it sounds: For example, it's estimated that up to a third of the U.S. population could fall ill in an Avian flu pandemic, costing the U.S. economy alone up to $675 billion. Worse, pandemics shatter lives and businesses and tend to rock society to its foundations. But humanity has been through pandemics before. As disaster-management and business-continuity expert Geary Sikich shows in this book, there are ways to make the best of a bad situation. These methods improve the chance that businesses will remain resilient, and people healthy, employed, and productive--even in the darkest days of an international disaster.

The Creative Discipline

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Why are some organizations more creative than others? What sets innovative, high-performing organizations apart? Can creativity and innovation be learned and enhanced? The answer to the last question, say creativity experts Nancy Napier and Mikael Nilsson, is a resounding yes. And with general consensus that creativity and innovation drive business growth, fostering creativity couldn't be more important. In The Creative Discipline, Napier and Nilsson illustrate six key factors that power creative, high-achieving organizations, and they provide managers with guidelines for incorporating those factors into their own companies. Business people will learn how innovative organizations get superior results from employees not just through disciplined methods of thinking, but also through free-flowing work spaces and work practices that help supercharge the imagination.

The Business of Sports [Three Volumes]

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMT

The sports industry is large, visible, and growing--and it has a huge impact on society. That's obvious to die-hard fans who not only watch sporting events but buy everything from balls to ties to paperweights with their favorite team's logo. But even sports haters can't escape the onslaught of professional sports: They are asked to chip in as taxpayers to build public stadiums, and their children are, like it or not, exposed to events sponsored by alcohol and tobacco companies, not to mention the juvenile antics of star athletes. Businesses, of course, take a hit in productivity when the Olympics--or World Series or Super Bowl or World Cup--rolls around. Yet most of us love to watch, and play. The Business of Sports takes on this endlessly fascinating behemoth of an industry to make sense of it all.

Building High-Performance People and Organizations [Three Volumes]

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Business success depends on employee innovation, drive, skill, endurance, and dedication. "Engaged employees," studies show, provide tangible advantages to the organization like greater customer satisfaction and improved profitability. In contrast, the Gallup Organization has discovered that disengaged workers cost U.S. business between $250 billion and $350 billion each year. How do you engage employees and, in turn, create the high-performance organization? That's what this set is all about. From the latest theories on motivation to innovations in HR to methods to increase employee retention, it provides the essential insights and tools managers, leaders, and HR people need to find new ways to succeed--while keeping employees happy, productive, and loyal.

Advice from the Presidents

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMT

The same skills and strategies can propel an aspiring executive to the top of any organization, be it the Podunk High School Student Council, the Acme Xylophone Corporation, or the government of the United States of America. The student council president may be an unpaid volunteer, and the Acme CEO may bark out orders in an office that is rectangular, not oval. But the paths that lead to those positions are remarkably similar to the trail that ends so gloriously at the front door of the White House. Author G. Scott Thomas spent two years examining the lives of nearly two hundred presidential candidates--winners and losers, the famous and the obscure--with an eye for the tactics and qualities that served their careers well or damaged them beyond repair. He has distilled their experiences into a comprehensive guide to success, Advice from the Presidents.

Toyota

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Toyota rose from the ashes of World War II to become, just fifty years later, one of the dominant automakers in the world. How did Toyota do it? How did it go from making cars that Westerners pointed to and laughed at to making cars, like the Lexus, that people now lust after? That's what this book is all about. As veteran writer K. Dennis Chambers shows, Toyota, crazy like a fox, had a long-term plan to become a top-tier player in the auto industry. Through patience, persistence, and a willingness to dream of a different future as well as to look back to the past for ideas, Toyota has succeeded step by step.

The Daily Art of Management

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Effective managers matter to an organization. After all, they translate strategy into action and motivate the people they lead. But managers are sometimes less than effective, ending up in positions of authority and responsibility due to technical competence, company growth, or serendipity. Unprepared, they often lack key skills. Or, like so many managers promoted due to stellar job performance, they may have trouble understanding and motivating other people. Managers thrust into roles of authority need grounding in the fundamentals of management. And that's exactly what management experts Peg Thoms and Jim Fairbank deliver: The Daily Art of Management is the mentor at a manager's shoulder, full of excellent advice and encouragement.

Temptations in the Office

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Sex, money, and power. Themes from the latest potboiler? No, these are key temptations in a place we all know well: The office. People work most productively in humane environments with high ethical standards. Management must set the tone by talking about, and embodying, values that promote decent behavior. But how? This book considers key workplace challenges--including sexual harassment, conflicts of interest, greed, and abuse of power--in which gray areas abound ("It may be legal, but . . . "). There is hope. As Stephen Goldman shows in this book, companies can move in the right direction by combining clear thinking about right and wrong and an understanding of the requirements the law imposes on conduct. And his simple guidelines for behavior will stand companies and individuals in good stead when temptations arise.

Understanding and Preventing Campus Violence

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT

The recent shootings at Virginia Tech brought issues surrounding campus violence to the forefront once again. But campuses have always had problems with stalking, sexual harassment, bullying, rape, and robbery, among other things. In fact, the incidence rates of campus violence are quite startling. Between 8 and 15 percent of college women say they have been raped. And battering occurs in up to a third of all couples in dating relationships in the U.S. Fortunately, there are solutions to the problem of campus violence. In Understanding and Preventing Campus Violence, Michele Paludi and a host of experts detail preventive procedures as well as methods to stay safer on campus.