There is an ongoing perception that public accountability inmodern-day governance is in 'crisis', caused by globalization andthe increasing power of private economic interests. This bookresponds to that idea, providing the most comprehensive survey todate of how different organizations hold persons acting in thepublic interest to account, and the various problems they face. Thebook shows how key issues, such as public-mindedness, democracy andresponsibility, and structures, such as bureaucracy, markets andtransparency, adopt radically different and sometimes contradictoryinterpretations when viewed from different experientialperspectives. It also demonstrates how underlying all this are corecommunities of experiences that bind these diverse interpretationsand perspectives into a complex web of mutual interaction andinfluence. The book includes studies not only of Anglo-Americanexperiences, but also of the experiences of foreign andtransnational organizations: NGOs, transnational resistancemovements, th
If all measures of human advancement in the last hundredcenturies were plotted on a graph, they would show an almostperfectly flat line—until the eighteenth century, when theIndustrial Revolution would cause the line to shoot straight up,beginning an almost uninterrupted march of progress. In The Most Powerful Idea in the World , William Rosen tellsthe story of the men responsible for the Industrial Revolution andthe machine that drove it—the steam engine. In the process hetackles the question that has obsessed historians ever since: Whatmade eighteenth-century Britain such fertile soil for inventors?Rosen’s answer focuses on a simple notion that had become enshrinedin British law the century before: that people had the right to ownand profit from their ideas. The result was a period of frantic innovation revolvingparticularly around the promise of steam power. Rosen traces thesteam engine’s history from its early days as a clumsy but sturdymachine, to its coming-of-age driving the wheels of
Exploding growth. Soaring investment. Incoming talent waves.India's top companies are scoring remarkable successes on thesefronts - and more. How? Instead of adopting management practices that dominate Westernbusinesses, they're applying fresh practices of their owninstrategy, leadership, talent, and organizational culture. In The India Way, the Wharton School India Team unveils thesecompanies' secrets. Drawing on interviews with leaders of India'slargest firms - including Mukesh Ambani of Reliance Industries,Narayana Murthy of Infosys Technologies, and Vineet Nayar of HCLTechnologies - the authors identify what Indian managers dodifferently, including: Looking beyond stockholders' interests to public mission andnational purpose Drawing on improvisation, adaptation, and resilience to overcomeendless hurdles Identifying products and services of compelling value tocustomers Investing in talent and building a stirring culture The authors explain how these innovations work within Indiancompanies, identifyi
This book describes the statistical mechanics of classicalspin systems with quenched disorder. The first part of the bookcovers the physics of spin-glass states using results obtainedwithin the framework of the mean field theory of spin glasses. Thetechnique of replica symmetry breaking is explained in detail,along with a discussion of the underlying physics. The second partis devoted to the theory of critical phenomena in the presence ofweak quenched disorder. This includes a systematic derivation ofthe traditional renormalization group theory, which is then used toobtain a new 'random' critical regime in disordered vectorferromagnets and in the two-dimensional Ising model. The third partof the book describes other types of disordered systems, relatingto new results at the frontiers of modern research. The book issuitable for graduate students and researchers in the field ofstatistical mechanics of disordered systems.
Natural Resources and Economic Development, first published in2005, explores a key paradox: why is natural resource exploitationnot yielding greater benefits to the poor economies of Africa, Asiaand Latin America? Part I examines this paradox both through ahistorical review of resource use and development and throughexamining current theories which explain the under-performance oftoday's resource-abundant economies, and proposes a frontierexpansion hypothesis as an alternative explanation. Part IIdevelops models to analyse the key economic factors underlying landexpansion and water use in developing countries. Part III exploresfurther the 'dualism within dualism' structure of resourcedependency, rural poverty and resource degradation withindeveloping countries, and through illustrative countrycase-studies, proposes policy and institutional reforms necessaryfor successful resource-based development.
No major enterprise or financial institution can avoid doing business with China—if not directly, then through myriad hidden connections. Global businesses either use Chinese resources or sell to and in China or compete with companies that do. Because there’s no avoiding China, business leaders need a framework that orders the different (and seemingly contradictory) streams of data that hint at its future. That framework is The China Strategy. In this invaluable book, Edward Tse explains the ever-changing nature of China's business environment, its increasingly complex relationship with the rest of the world, and the global business implications—not just for our current environment but for the next decade. Change, Tse argues, is taking place in non-linearly. Some dimensions (like Chinese entrepreneurship) are expanding exponentially, while others (like the value of China's labor arbitrage) may be reaching a plateau. Eschewing easy explanations, Tse shows how to build and execute a global
In 1997, a groundbreaking McKinsey study exposed the "war fortalent" as a strategic business challenge and a critical driver ofcorporate performance. Then, when the dot-com bubble burst and theeconomy cooled, many assumed the war for talent was over. It'snot. Now the authors of the original study reveal that, because ofenduring economic and social forces, the war for talent willpersist for the next two decades. McKinsey Company consultants Ed Michaels, HelenHandfield-Jones, and Beth Axelrod argue that winning the war forleadership talent is about much more than frenzied recruitingtactics. It's about the timeless principles of attracting,developing, and retaining highly talented managers-applied in boldnew ways. And it's about recognizing the strategic importance ofhuman capital because of the enormous value that better talentcreates. Fortified by five years of in-depth research on how companiesmanage leadership talent-including surveys of 13,000 executives atmore than 120 companies
For over 40 years, satellites have been orbiting the Earthquietly monitoring the state of our planet. Unseen by most of us,they are providing information on the many changes taking place,from movements in the land and volcanic eruptions, to human-causedchanges such as the growth of cities, deforestation and the spreadof pollutants in the atmosphere and oceans. Led by four editorswith support from a production team at NASA Goddard Space FlightCenter, many of the world's top remote sensing scientists showcasesome spectacular and beautiful satellite imagery along withinformed essays on the science behind these images and theimplications of what is shown. This is a stunningly attractive andinformative book for anyone interested in environmental issues andthe beauty of our home planet, providing inspiration for students,teachers, environmentalists and the general public alike.
This study introduces 'time-specific' analysis of economicprocesses. Economic processes are conventionally analysed from onepoint in time to another over a series of time units - days, weeks,or years. By contrast, these time-specific models focus on thetemporal character of events within the unit time - their timing,duration, and sequence - utilizing the information that is lost inthe macroscopic time perspective of standard economic theory. Whattime-specific analysis reveals are economic and technologicalcharacteristics of goods and services - prices and cost behaviourand temporal mobility or immobility within the unit time - thataffect capital productivity and its utilization, optimal schedulesof production, work, and consumption, least-cost methods ofproducing time-shaped outputs, and efficient welfare-maximizingbehavior in time-specific, including peak-load, markets.
This 1992 book examines alternative methods for achievingoptimality without all the apparatus of economic planning (such asinformation retrieval, computation of solutions, and separateimplementation systems), or a vain reliance on sufficiently'perfect' competition. All rely entirely on the self-interest ofeconomic agents and voluntary contract. The author considersmethods involving feedback iterative controls which require theprior selection of a 'criterion function', but no prior calculationof optimal quantities. The target is adjusted as the results foreach step become data for the criterion function. Implementation isbuilt in by the incentive structure, and all controls rely onconsistency with the self-interest of individuals. Theapplicability of all the methods is shown to be independent of theform of ownership of enterprises: examples are given for industrieswhich are wholly privately owned, wholly nationalized, mixed andlabour-managed.
Presenting a thorough analysis of the Dutch participation inthe transatlantic slave trade, this book is based upon extensiveresearch in Dutch archives. The book examines the whole range ofDutch involvement in the Atlantic slave trade from the beginning ofthe 1600s to the nineteenth century.
Unrivaled in its unique combination of analytical rigor and accessibility, Intermediate Microeconomics: A Modern Approach has garnered one of the broadest adoption lists in the market. Now appearing in its Sixth Edition, Professor Varian's hallmark text is better than ever, featuring new treatments of game theory and competitive strategy, and a variety of new illustrative examples. Modern, authoritative, and above all crafted by an outstanding teacher and scholar, Intermediate Microeconomics, Sixth Edition will expand students' analytic powers and strengthen their understanding of microeconomics.
Whenthelandmarkbest-sellerFlawlessConsultingwasfirstpublishedmorethanthreedecadesago,itwasquicklyadoptedasthe"consultant'sbible."Withhislegendarywarmthandpassion,PeterBlockexplainedhowtodealeffectivelywithclients,peers,andothers.Thebookcontinuestospeaktopeopleinasupportfunctioninsideorganizationsaswellastoexternalconsultants.ThisthoroughlyrevisedandupdatedthirdeditionofPeterBlock'sgroundbreakingbookexploresthelatestthinkingonconsultation.Itincludesnewinsightsabouthowwecanorganizeourconsultingarounddiscoveringthestrengths,positiveexamples,andgiftsoftheclientorganizationorcommunity.Thebookremainsapracticalandspecificguideforanyonewhoneedstodevelopacapacityfordeeperrelatednessandpartnership--whichmeansitisforallwhowishtomakearealdifferenceintheworld.Thisneweditioncoverstheconsultingchallengesthathavearisenfromthewayweroutinelycommunicateelectronicallyandliveinthevirtualworld.Blocksuggestswaystoovercomethedistancingandisolatingeffectsinherentinelectronicconnects.Thebookalsoincludespracticalguidanceonhowtoaskbett
In mainstream economic theory money functions as an instrumentfor the circulation of commodities or for keeping a stock of liquidwealth. In neither case is it considered fundamental to theproduction of goods or the distribution of income. Augusto Grazianichallenges traditional theories of monetary production, arguingthat a modern economy based on credit cannot be understood withouta focus on the administration of credit flows. He argues thatmarket asset configuration depends not upon consumer preferencesand available technologies but on how money and credit are managed.A strong exponent of the circulation theory of monetary production,Graziani presents an original and perhaps controversial argumentthat will stimulate debate on the topic.
This unique text uses Microsoft Excel workbooks toinstruct students. In addition to explaining fundamental conceptsin microeconomic theory, readers acquire a great deal ofsophisticated Excel skills and gain the practical mathematicsneeded to succeed in advanced courses. In addition to theinnovative pedagogical approach, the book features explicitlyrepeated use of a single central methodology, the economicapproach. Students learn how economists think and how to think likean economist. With concrete, numerical examples and novel, engagingapplications, interest for readers remains high as live graphs anddata respond to manipulation by the user. Finally, clear writingand active learning are features sure to appeal to modernpractitioners and their students. The website accompanying the textis found at www.depauw.edu/learn/microexcel .
Retailers today are drowning in data but lacking in insight:They have huge volumes of information at their disposal. Butthey're unsure of how to sort through it and use it to make smartdecisions. The result? They're struggling with profit-sappingsupply chain problems including stock-outs, overstock, anddiscounting. It doesn't have to be that way. In The New Science of Retailing,supply chain experts Marshall Fisher and Ananth Raman explain howto use analytics to better manage your inventory for faster turns,fewer discounted offerings, and fatter profit margins. Featuring case studies of retailing exemplars from around theworld, this practical new book shows you how to: · Mine your sales data to identify "homerun" products you'remissing · Reinvent your forecasting and pricing strategies · Build end-to-end agility into your supply chain · Establish incentives that align your supply chain partnersbehind shared objectives · Extract maximum value from technologi