Technology end-user purchasing behavior has changed from “one-stop shopping” to selecting different outlets for products and implementation services. The indirect channel has responded by fragmenting into an array of firms that cover the full spectrum of business models from fulfillment to implementation. Unfortunately, few manufacturers have adapted to–or are even aware of–the new c…
Despite all the technology available, your ability to reach, engage, and influence decision makers is still limited. While buyer personas, surveys, and search marketing data can get you in the ballpark, we believe social media insights are now a “must-have” for understanding key business professionals in a way that becomes truly actionable
The decision to upgrade or replace an outdated e-commerce platform to gain multichannel capabilities creates the context for a number of other critical decisions. One of the most significant is the basic deployment model for the commerce platform. The three broad deployment model categories available today are: on-demand; hosted; and on-premises. The key advantages of each model are identif…
As a small business owner, you probably wear many different hats and are pulled in multiple directions. And most likely you work many nights and weekends trying to keep up. While technology can sometimes be frustrating when it doesn’t work right, it can also help save valuable time that you can dedicate to other areas of your business. Or even better yet, give you more time off the clock.
A recent SHRM survey asked executives this question: “What do you think will be the biggest investment challenge facing organizations over the next ten years?” For 47 percent of respondents, the answer was, “Obtaining human capital and optimizing human capital investments.” Small businesses cannot afford to make many mistakes when it comes to hiring, firing and generally managing t…
With the effects of the current economic downturn spurring companies to cut expenses on a broad scale, the notion of moving sales efforts to an outsourced model may not be the first instinctual solution. However, especially during times of economic tightening, outsourcing simultaneously addresses both primary fiscal concerns: cutting costs and generating new revenue. Externalizing sales and…
In this paper, we review the economic effects of intellectual property rights and specifically address the economics of the patent system. The production and dissemination of new knowledge is fraught with market failures because knowledge is a public good. Patents provide a second-best solution to the resulting appropriability problem. We review the main benefits and costs of the patent sys…
This chapter introduces you to probability and statistics. First come examples of the kinds of practical problems that this knowledge can solve for us. Next this Introduction discusses the relationship of probabilities to decisions. Then comes a discussion of the two general types of statistics, descriptive and inferential. Following this is a discussion of the limitations of probability …
For more than two decades “quality” and “quality management systems” have been leading buzzwords in the business world. Numerous consultants have built their careers around these topics, and quality issues in business have been responsible for the development of new organizations and even industries, for instance, the American Society for Quality and Six Sigma consulting. The not…
Overall aim of the project was to transfer innovative methods of business performance management and business animation in economic networks as well as contribute to social and economic cohesion. Specific aim was to increase managerial skills of managers and facilitators in clusters and clusters initiatives in Poland and Lithuania through delivering them special training and equipping them…
Strategic management, popularized during the 1980s, is a term that covers enterprise – wide strategy formulation, implementation, and evaluation. The subject of strategic management has become integral to the success or failure of organizations, especially now when the business environment demands rapid monitoring, analysis and accurate interpretation
Going green, green business, and sustainable business are topics on everyone’s mind. But what does all this mean exactly? A Primer on Sustainable Business answers that question and provides an introduction to the basics you need to know
Our goal is to provide students with a textbook that is up to date and comprehensive in its coverage of legal and regulatory issues—and organized to permit instructors to tailor the materials to their particular approach. This book engages students by relating law to everyday events with which they are already familiar (or with which they are familiarizing themselves in other business courses…
This book offers students and instructors the opportunity to analyze businesses whose products and strategies are designed to offer innovative solutions to some of the twenty-first century’s most difficult societal challenges. A new generation of profitable businesses is actively engaged in cleantech, renewable energy, and financially successful product system design and supply chain strategi…
The textbook publishing industry is undergoing staggering change as many traditional business models and practices quickly lose relevance. Peer-to-peer textbook trading networks, online used-book sellers, and a gray market that allows low-priced international editions to displace expensive U.S. texts push publishers to reconsider outmoded ways of delivering content. Likewise, the digital native…
Public speaking is the process of designing and delivering a message to an audience. Effective public speaking involves understanding your audience and speaking goals, choosing elements for the speech that will engage your audience with your topic, and delivering your message skillfully. Good public speakers understand that they must plan, organize, and revise their material in order to develop…
Business English for Success is a creative solution to a common challenge across Business Communication courses: Business English or Business Presentations? Some classes place an equal emphasis on oral and written communication, and if that is the case for you please let me direct you to our free online text Business Communication for Success. If, however, your class places the emphasis squarel…
Principles of Marketing teaches the experience and process of actually doing marketing—not just the vocabulary. It carries five dominant themes throughout in order to expose students to marketing in today’s environment: