The unique ability of rock and roll to inspire fanatical support from its customers is undeniable; the loyalty showered upon the Rolling Stones, Elton John, Aerosmith, and others who create it, unmatched; and the lessons for corporate America, endless. In the past, business leaders have looked to the successes of other firms to guide their own strategies for increasing market share and capturing more consumer attention, spending, and loyalty. However, in today’s hyper-competitive marketplace, managers are looking for ways to shake, rattle, and roll corporate America’s traditional marketing and branding mindset. In Brands That Rock , Roger Blackwell and Tina Stephan, co-authors of best-selling Customers Rule! and From Mind To Market, take readers behind the music to uncover how businesses can create brands that become adopted by culture and capture a long-term position in the marketplace. Brands That Rock takes a unique, behind-the-music look at how businesses can increase brand awareness, customer loyalty, and profits by implementing some of the same strategies that legendary bands have used to transform customers into fan and create deep, emotional connections with them. Aerosmith and Madonna offer insight into how to evolve a brand to remain relevant in the marketplace without alienating current fans, while the Rolling Stones and KISS prove that successful execution at all levels of the brand experience are key to capturing long-term loyalty. Stephan and Blackwell also examine how businesses, from Victoria’s Secret and Wal-Mart to Cadillac and Kraft, have implemented ‘rock and roll strategies’ to become adopted by culture and secure fans in their own right.  Filled with fun anecdotes and interviews from industry insiders, Brands That Rock will relate to managers who grew up with classic rock, showing them how build iconic brands, and delight fans decade after decade. Roger D. Blackwell (Columbus, OH) is President of Roger Blackwell Associates, a consulting firm that works with Fortune 500 companies in the areas of consumer trends, strategy, e-commerce, and global business. A highly sought-after speaker, he is also Professor of Marketing at the Fisher College of Business at The Ohio State University. Tina Stephan (Columbus, OH and New York, NY) is Vice President of Roger Blackwell Associates. Together, they have collaborated on eight books, including Customers Rule! and From Mind to Market , and numerous articles and research projects.

Price: $18.99 USD

Market innovation has long been dominated by the worldview of engineers and economists: build a better mousetrap and the world will take notice. But there's another important way to build new businesses: with innovative ideologies rather than innovative mousetraps. Consider Coca-Cola, Nike, Jack Daniel's, Marlboro, Starbucks, Corona, Oprah, The Body Shop: all built with innovative ideologies. Further many "better mousetraps" are much more compelling to consumers when bundled withinnovative ideologies; consider BMW, Apple, and Whole Foods. Cultural Strategy provides a step-by-step guide for managers and entrepreneurs to build businesses in this simple but effective way. Holt and Cameron analyse a series of classic cases that relied on these bold, innovative strategies: Nike, Marlboro, Starbucks, Jack Daniels, vitaminwater, and Ben & Jerry's. They then demonstrate how the theory works as an actionable strategy model, drawing upon their consulting work. They show how cultural strategy takes start-up brands into themass market (Fat Tire beer), overcomes "better mousetraps" wars in a technology driven category (ClearBlue pregnancy test), effectively challenges a seemingly insurmountable incumbent (FUSE music channel vs MTV), and develops a social innovation (The Freelancers Union). Holt and Cameron also describe the best organizational model for pursuing this approach, which they term "the cultural studio". The book demonstrates that the top consumer marketing companies are consistently poor at this type of innovation because they rely on an antithetic organization structure, what the authors term "the brand bureaucracy". To succeed at cultural innovation requires not only a very different approach to strategy, but a new way of organizing as well.

Price: $21.95 USD

When they first told you that forecasting sales would be part of your job, did you feel just the tiniest bit of panic? Did you momentarily consider consulting the Yellow Pages for listings of “Psychics” or “Tea Leaf Readers”? Well, fear not. Excel Sales Forecasting For Dummies can help you predict the future without incense or a crystal ball. Excel Sales Forecasting For Dummies shows you how to use the number one workbook program, Microsoft Excel, to predict trends and future sales based on something not quite so ethereal—numbers. You use data about the past to forecast the future. Excel provides all sorts of tools to help you do that, and this book shows you how to use them. From recognizing why forecasting is a good idea to making sense of exponential smoothing, Excel Sales Forecasting For Dummies has you covered. If you have a basic grasp of how to use Excel, you’ll be ready to discover how to Select and use the right forecasting method for your business Choose and arrange data in lists, then manage that data with pivot tables Filter lists and turn them into charts that illustrate what’s going on Find relationships in your data Use Excel’s Analysis Toolpak feature to create forecasts automatically, or venture into advanced forecasts using worksheet functions Gain more control over your forecasting and target specific types of predictions Use moving averages and predict seasonal sales Written by Conrad Carlberg, a nationally recognized expert on Excel who also has experience in sales and marketing, this friendly guide gets you up and running quickly and easily. You’ll soon be setting up a baseline you can chart and label, summarizing data with pivot tables, making forecasts based on regression, understanding correlation, and discovering how smoothing lets us profit from our mistakes. You’ll find your confidence in your ability to make sales predictions has soared right off the chart.

Price: $24.99 USD

A decade ago, manufacturing companies had visions of paperless offices, automated plants, and virtual enterprises. But the euphoria quickly evaporated when these visions failed to materialize. Now, from in-depth interviews in a worldwide survey of seventy manufacturing firms, a research team from the prestigious consulting group McKinsey & Company concludes that, far from being a failure, information technology (IT) can be a vital strategic weapon in the manufacturing sector, just as it has proved to be in service industries. In Do IT Smart, experts Rolf-Dieter Kempis and Jürgen Ringbeck along with the McKinsey team identify four cultures of IT users -- stars, big spenders, cautious spenders, and laggards -- based on how efficiently and effectively the users manage IT. The stars stand out because their strong command of IT means they are better able to manage core processes such as R&D, sales and service, and order processing, which in turn produces tangible payoffs in profitability, growth, and market share. From their study of star performers, the authors formulate seven rules for developing a superior IT organization. First, they argue, managers must make IT a top management issue and, second, a priority in product development. IT must be viewed as a strategic tool so that IT strategy can be aligned with business strategy. Clear objectives must be set, and core business processes redesigned. Warning that IT is reaching saturation in administrative applications, the authors describe how it is far more profitable to integrate IT into marketing, sales, and customer service. Finally, they describe how all these elements must be brought together into a lean, customer-oriented IT network. McKinsey's breakthrough study shows that as organizations are increasingly overwhelmed with data, IT will become more of a dividing line between the winners and the losers. IT stars will make quantum leaps in effectiveness, while poor management of IT results in a cost explosion. Managers and information officers who want their business to keep and gain the competitive edge IT offers need this unprecedented insight into how to Do IT Smart.

Price: $24.99 USD

"If more business books were as useful, concise, and just plain fun to read as THE MCKINSEY WAY, the business world would be a better place." --Julie Bick, best-selling author of ALL I REALLY NEED TO KNOW IN BUSINESS I LEARNED AT MICROSOFT. "Enlivened by witty anecdotes, THE MCKINSEY WAY contains valuable lessons on widely diverse topics such as marketing, interviewing, team-building, and brainstorming." --Paul H. Zipkin, Vice-Dean, The Fuqua School of Business. It's been called "a breeding ground for gurus." McKinsey & Company is the gold-standard consulting firm whose alumni include titans such as "In Search of Excellence" author Tom Peters, Harvey Golub of American Express, and Japan's Kenichi Ohmae. When Fortune 100 corporations are stymied, it's the "McKinsey-ites" whom they call for help. In THE MCKINSEY WAY, former McKinsey associate Ethan Rasiel lifts the veil to show you how the secretive McKinsey works its magic, and helps you emulate the firm's well-honed practices in problem solving, communication, and management. He shows you how McKinsey-ites think about business problems and how they work at solving them, explaining the way McKinsey approaches every aspect of a task:. How McKinsey recruits and molds its elite consultants;. How to "sell without selling";. How to use facts, not fear them;. Techniques to jump-start research and make brainstorming more productive;. How to build and keep a team at the top its game;. Powerful presentation methods, including the famous waterfall chart, rarely seen outside McKinsey;. How to get ultimate "buy-in" to your findings;. Survival tips for working in high-pressure organizations. Both a behind-the-scenes look at one of the most admired and secretive companies in the business world and a toolkit of problem-solving techniques without peer, THE MCKINSEY WAY is fascinating reading that empowers every business decision maker to become a better strategic player in any organization.

Price: $27.95 USD

This is the eBook version of the printed book. “There is no doubt that this is a truly original and groundbreaking work in applying the Theory of Constraints. I run a services company and learned some things about the services business. Anyone involved in large services companies needs to look at what John is proposing. I will definitely quote this material frequently.” Chad Smith, Managing Partner, Constraints Management Group   “The information presented in this book is badly needed by service providers who struggle to balance supply and demand with their resources.” Carol A. Ptak, CFPIM, CIRM   “The techniques that John brings to light in this book are the bridge from the vision of Dr. Goldratt’s work to the successful implementation in a range of services firms.” From the Foreword by Erik Bush, Vice President, IBM Global Services   Discover the powerful Theory of Constraints (TOC), and use it to drive continuous performance improvement in any services organization Identify the hidden constraints that are limiting your organization, and manage or eliminate them Use TOC to improve the way you manage resources, projects, processes, finance, marketing, and sales Determine whether your organization faces an internal or external constraint, manage that constraint accordingly, and anticipate where the next constraint will arise Release latent capacity shrouded by common business practices Simplify processes that have grown unmanageably complex Optimize your enterprise as a whole rather than suboptimizing individual business units Get buy-in to fundamental changes in strategy, tactics, and operations  Managing services is extremely challenging, and traditional “industrial” management techniques are no longer adequate. In Reaching the Goal , Dr. John Arthur Ricketts presents a breakthrough management approach that embraces what makes services different: their diversity, complexity, and unique distribution methods.   Ricketts draws on Eli Goldratt’s Theory of Constraints (TOC), one of this generation’s most successful management methodologies...thoroughly adapting it to the needs of today’s professional, scientific, and technical services businesses. He reveals how to identify the surprising constraints that limit your organization’s performance, execute more effectively within those constraints, and then loosen or even eliminate them.   This book’s relentlessly practical techniques reflect several years of advanced IBM research and consulting with enterprise clients. Step-by-step, Ricketts shows how to apply them throughout your most crucial business functions...from project management to finance, process improvement to sales and marketing.   Whatever your role in improving service delivery, processes, or profitability, this book gives you the tool

Price: $31.99 USD

A Groundbreaking Pricing Model for the New Business Landscape. Why would any customer choose Brand X over Brand Y, regardless of price? In a word: Value. When customers feel they are getting good value from your product or service, they are more than happy to pay more—which is good news for you and your business. Even in today’s global market—with its aggressive competitors, low-cost commodities, savvy consumers, and intangible digital offerings—you can outsell and outperform the rest using Value-Based Pricing. Done correctly, this method of pricing and selling helps you: Understand your customers’ wants and needs; Focus on what makes your company different; Quantify your differences and build a value-based strategy; Communicate your value directly to your customers. Now more than ever, it is essential for you to reexamine the reality of the value you offer customers—and this step-by-step program shows you how. Developed by global consultants Harry Macdivitt and Mike Wilkinson, Value-Based Pricing identifies three basic elements of the Value Triad: revenue gain, cost reduction, and emotional contribution. By delivering these core values to your customers—through marketing, selling, negotiation, and pricing—you can expect an increase in profits, productivity, and consumer goodwill. These are the same value-based strategies used by major companies such as Philips, Alstom, Siemens, and Virgin Mobile. And when it comes to today’s more intangible markets—such as consulting services or digital properties like e-books and music files—these value-based strategies are more important than ever. So forget about your old pricing methods based on costs and competition. Once you know your own value—and how to communicate it to others—everybody profits.

Price: $35.00 USD

Top experts specializing in hospitality management have contributed articles to this new collection which explains recent developments in accounting and finance. The material is drawn from a combination of fieldwork and practical experience. The managerial emphasis means that the content is fully relevant internationally and not constrained by the legal framework of different countries. Accounting and Finance provides an overview of: *analysis and evaluation of performance *planning methods and techniques *financial information and control *financial management. It also shows how operational analysis can be used as a management tool to improve performance. Techniques for predicting the financial success or failure of hotels are suggested. Research into hotel companies in the US and Europe demonstrates key performance indicators used by hotel managers and financial executives. Other contributors explore the interface between accounting and marketing and human resource management and there is thorough coverage of financial strategy formulation. Readers will also find helpful the section on statistics in the analysis and prediction of cost behaviour in hotels. Contributors: Raymond Schmidgall (Michigan State University, USA); Debra J. Adams (Bournemouth University, UK); Professor Elisa S. Moncarz (Florida International University, USA); Richard N. Kron (Kron Hospitality Consulting, USA); Angela Maher (Oxford Brookes University, UK); Peter J. Harris (Oxford Brookes University, UK); Geoff S. Parkinson (BDO Stoy Hayward Chartered Accountants, UK); Paul Fitz-John (Bournemouth University, UK); Paul Collier (University of Exeter, UK); Professor Alan Gregory (University of Glasgow, UK); Tracy A. Jones (Cheltenham and Gloucester College of Higher Education, UK); Jacqueline Brander Brown (The Manchester Metropolitan University, UK); Nina J. Downie (Oxford Brookes University, UK): Catherine L. Burgess (Oxford Brookes University, UK); Ian C. Graham (Holiday Inn Worldwide, Belgium); Howard M. Field (International Hotel and Leisure Associates, UK); Professor Paul Beals (Canisius College, USA); Frank J. Coston (Pannell Kerr Forster Associates, UK). Endorsed by the British Association of Hotel Accountants Articles contributed by the world's top experts in the field of hospitality management Edited by leading academic in accounting and finance for hospitality

Price: $54.95 USD

Wine tourism is a rapidly growing field of industry and academic interest with changes in the consumer markets in recent years, showing an enormous interest in 'experiential' travel. Wine Tourism Around the World is therefore an invaluable text for both students and practitioners alike and provides: * The first comprehensive introduction to wine tourism from a business, social science and policy perspective * An international perspective on wine tourism and includes detailed examples from Australia, Canada, France, Greece, Hungary, New Zealand, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, UK and the USA * Detailed information on the growth and development of wine tourism from both supply, demand, marketing and management perspectives Academic researchers and students in tourism and hospitality fields, as well as anyone connected with the wine industry, will find this book an essential guide to understanding the global impacts of wine tourism and the consequent economic, social and environmental impacts and opportunities. C.Michael Hall is based at the University of Otago in New Zealand and is Visiting Professor in the School of Leisure and Food Management, Sheffield Hallam University. He has written widely on wine, food and rural tourism and has a major interest in cool-climate wine tourism. Liz Sharples is a lecturer in the School of Leisure and Food Management, Sheffield Hallam University. She has extensive practical and academic experience in the hospitality industry and has major research interests in the interrelationships between cuisine, tourism and rural production. Brock Cambourne is the owner/operator of multiple tourism award winning National Capital Wine Tours and principal of Benchmark Tourism Consulting. He has researched and published extensively on wine and culinary tourism and is a member of the Australian National Wine Tourism Working Party. Niki Macionis is a lecturer at the University of Canberra's Cooperative Research Centre for Sustainable Tourism. Her graduate studies focussed on the development of wine tourism and she has researched and published extensively on wine and culinary tourism. the first comprehensive introduction to wine tourism from a business and social science perspective an international perspective on wine tourism including examples from around the world detailed examination of the growth and development of wine tourism from both supply and demand perspectives

Price: $54.95 USD

Managing People and Organizations in Changing Contexts addresses the contemporary problems faced by managers in dealing with people, organizations and managing change in a theoretically-informed and practical way. This textbook is a contemporary and relevant alternative to the standard works that cover material on Organization Behaviour and Human Resource Management because it approaches people management from the perspective of managers and aspiring managers. The book has an international orientation and many of the cases and examples in the book reflect this. It addresses the problems that managers face in managing people in old and new economy organisations and is interdisciplinary in its approach, including contributions from management, organisational behaviour, HRM, strategy, marketing and reputation management, and technology. This text meets the requirements of managers, leaders and students in managing people in contemporary and changing contexts. Managing People and Organizations in Changing Contexts offers: * a contemporary and relevant edge with an original structure * awareness of international and current trends and up-to-the-minute detail. * cases based on original research and consulting experience * new material on the role of management and leadership, technology and reputation management, and covers much of the material for CIPD's core management standards * material that has been tested with managers and students in Europe, the USA and Asia * a website on * Addresses the contemporary problems faced by managers in dealing with people, organisations and managing change in a rigorous and practical way. * The book has a contemporary and relevant edge to it with an original structure and consistent awareness of current trends * Covers the CIPDs core management standards and the author is seeking accreditation/exemption from them.

Price: $54.95 USD