Disruption? It's nothing new. Just look at any of the breakthrough business ideas of the last thirty years—from Federal Express overnight delivery to Saturn's fixed sticker price—and you'll see a perfect example of the principle of disruption in action.

Still, do you really understand what makes these ideas great? On an intuitive level, maybe, but can you articulate it clearly, reproduce it to create your own business breakthroughs, and make it an integral part of how your company operates? Probably not—unless, of course, you're already familiar with the principles and practices spelled out in Disruption, the groundbreaking new book by global advertising and marketing authority Jean-Marie Dru.

To put it simply, disruption is about uncovering the culturally embedded biases and conventions that shape standard approaches to business thinking and get in the way of clear, creative thinking. It's about shattering those biases and conventions and setting creativity free to forge a radical new vision of a product, brand, or service. It's about spearheading change rather than reacting to it.

In Disruption, Dru shows you how to harness the enormous potential of this concept. He introduces innovative strategies for breaking down creative barriers and shows you how to analyze traditional approaches from new perspectives. Next, he provides valuable tools for identifying and cataloging conventions, including "what if," "multicultural analysis," and the "disruption bank." He then demonstrates—with the help of dozens of galvanizing examples from around the world—how to apply this knowledge systematically to create innovative competitive strategies, marketing campaigns, and operations plans that can revitalize your company or department.

Disruption is must reading for all advertising and marketing professionals, as well as business people who understand the value of creativity.

Praise for Disruption

"Dru offers not just a convincing context but a successful methodology for breaking out of creative ruts. There's nothing like stirring up a little turbulence to get new thoughts flying. In this book, Dru tells how to pump new energy into brands, with fresh, even revolutionary thinking." —Aldo Papone Senior Advisor, American Express Company

"Dru's advertising theories in Disruption are nontraditional, which is exactly what you need to regain the interest and trust of today's consumers." —Scott Bedbury Senior Vice President, Marketing, Starbucks Coffee Company

"Disruption is all about risk-taking, trusting your intuition, and rejecting the way things are supposed to be. Disruption goes way beyond advertising, it forces you to think about where you want your brand to go and how to get there." —Richard Branson Founder and Chairman of Virgin Group of Companies.

"I read Disruption with admiration and recognition. The neat marketing premise of disruption, as articulated, is brilliant. The case studies are compelling . . . making this an unusually easy read." —Owen J. Lipstein Editor-in-Chief, Psychology Today, Spy, Mother Earth News.

"I enjoyed reading Jean-Marie Dru's book and found myself nodding my head rather than nodding off. It's a timely and well-argued reminder of the need to be different." —David Abbott Chairman, Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO Ltd.

"Dru offers a truly absorbing compendium of the what, how, and why of creating advertising that takes consumers by surprise—advertising that is different but effective. He offers a distinctive approach to discovering unconventional but sensible ideas for brands and for the advertising that supports them —in print, TV, or the Internet." —Stephen A. Greyser Professor of Marketing/Communications, Harvard Business School.

"Disruption is a catalyst of the imagination, an invaluable guide for rejecting conventionality, ideas which have always been at the heart of MTV." —Bill Roedy CEO, MTV International

Learn how to manage a modern data stack and get the most out of data in your organization! Thanks to the emergence of new technologies and the explosion of data in recent years, we need new practices for managing and getting value out of data. In the modern, data driven competitive landscape the "best guess" approach--reading blog posts here and there and patching together data practices without any real visibility--is no longer going to hack it. The Informed Company provides definitive direction on how best to leverage the modern data stack, including cloud computing, columnar storage, cloud ETL tools, and cloud BI tools. You'll learn how to work with Agile methods and set up processes that's right for your company to use your data as a key weapon for your success . . . You'll discover best practices for every stage, from querying production databases at a small startup all the way to setting up data marts for different business lines of an enterprise. In their work at Chartio, authors Fowler and David have learned that most businesspeople are almost completely self-taught when it comes to data. If they are using resources, those resources are outdated, so they're missing out on the latest cloud technologies and advances in data analytics. This book will firm up your understanding of data and bring you into the present with knowledge around what works and what doesn't. Discover the data stack strategies that are working for today's successful small, medium, and enterprise companies Learn the different Agile stages of data organization, and the right one for your team Learn how to maintain Data Lakes and Data Warehouses for effective, accessible data storage Gain the knowledge you need to architect Data Warehouses and Data Marts Understand your business's level of data sophistication and the steps you can take to get to "level up" your data The Informed Company is the definitive data book for anyone who wants to work faster and more nimbly, armed with actionable decision-making data.

Negotiation Preparation in a Global World guides the reader through a series of issues to consider in building international and intercultural business negotiation skills. It takes the approach of examining failed business negotiations to analyze how improved communication might have led to successful outcomes. Each chapter presents theoretical background related to a communication failure and explores alternative strategies to the situation. This volume is ideal for undergraduate- and graduate-level students studying business, leadership, and organizational development, as well as those new to the global marketplace or interested in learning how to negotiate in the intercultural business arena.

DISTINGUISHED FAVORITE: NYC Big Book Award 2021 - Career Everyone has a personal brand, by design or default. Your reputation is one of the most critical determinants of your career success. Control the Narrative makes your reputation work for you by using the power of personal branding to put you in control of the opportunities you attract. For professionals seeking to grow, change or fix their careers, the book shows you how to capitalize on the reputation assets that are relevant to your goals and shed the ones that no longer serve you. If you have made a career mistake and need help repairing your reputation, you'll discover how to assess the situation, break the crisis down into a series of actionable responses and re-establish career viability. To be effective, a personal brand must be authentic. Through the process of personal branding, Control the Narrative helps you uncover the core values that form the foundation of your strategy for building, pivoting or repairing your reputation. This book also shows you how to measure the success of your brand and provides suggestions for modifying your strategy when results aren't what you expected. Filled with real life examples, Control the Narrative provides you with the strategic advice and tactical assets to consistently and confidently create a positive reputation.

Shortlisted for the Business Book of the Year Awards in the Sales and Marketing category. As jobs become increasingly similar, there are two skills that everyone needs if they're going to thrive. These are the ability to interrogate and make sense of data, and the ability to use insights extracted from data to persuade others to act. Analytics + storytelling = influence. Humans are hardwired to respond to stories and story structure. Stories are how we make sense of and navigate the world. We respond best to stories that are based on evidence. But storytellers need to use data as the foundation of stories, not as the actual stories themselves. To be truly impactful, rational facts need to be presented with a veneer of emotion. The Big Data revolution means more data is available than ever. The trouble is, most people aren't very numerate or good at statistics. Many find it hard to look at data and extract insights. Meanwhile, those for whom numbers hold no fear don't always make the best storytellers. They mistakenly believe they need to prove their point by showing their workings. There are some simple and effective rules of data-driven storytelling that help everyone tell more compelling, evidence-based stories, whoever they need to convince. Narrative by Numbers shows you how.

The advent of globalisation, and the rise of entrepreneurialism and the virtual office, make the ability to communicate independently and effectively increasingly valuable. Against a background of technological innovation, this third edition of The communication handbook sets out the principles underlying effective communication today and then focuses on their application, enabling students in all fields of study to develop and refine their reading, listening, speaking and writing practices.

Crises come in many shapes and sizes, including media blunders, social media activism, extortion, product tampering, security issues, natural disasters, accidents, and negligence - just to name a few. For organizations, crises are pervasive, challenging, and catastrophic, as well as opportunities for organizations to thrive and emerge stronger. Despite the proliferation of research and books related to crisis communication, the voice that is often lost is that of the stakeholder. Yet, as both a public relations and management function, stakeholders are central to the success and failure of organizations responding to and managing crises in a cross-platform and global environment. This core textbook provides a comprehensive and research-driven introduction to crisis communication, critical factors influencing crisis response, and what we know about predicting stakeholder responses to crises. Incorporated into each chapter are global case studies, ethical challenges, and practitioner considerations. Online resources include an extensive set of multimedia materials ranging from podcast mini-lectures to in-class exercises, and simulation-based activities for skills development (https://audralawson.com/resources/crisis-communication-managing-stakeholder-relationships/). Demonstrating the connection between theory, decision-making, and strategy development in a crisis context, this is a vital text for advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students of Communications, Public Relations, Marketing, and Strategic Management.

This accessible, highly interactive book presents a transformative approach to communication in leadership to meet workplace challenges at both local and global levels. Informed by neuroscience, psychology, as well as leadership science, it explains how integrating and properly balancing two key focal points of management-the tasks at hand and the concerns of others and self-can facilitate decision-making, partnering with diverse colleagues, and handling of crises and conflicts. Case examples, a self-test, friendly calls for reflection, and practical exercises provide readers with varied opportunities to assess, support, and evoke their readiness to apply these real-world concepts to their own style and preferences. Together, these chapters demonstrate the best outcomes of collaborative communication: greater effectiveness, deeper empathy with improved emotional fulfillment, and lasting positive change. Included in the coverage: * As a manager, can I be human? Using the two-agenda approach for more effective-and humane-management. * Being and becoming a person-centered leader and manager in a crisis environment. * Methods for transforming communication: dialogue. * Open Case: A new setting for problem-solving in teams. * Integrating the two agendas in agile management. * Tasks and people: what neuroscience reveals about managing both more effectively. * Transforming communication in multicultural contexts for better understanding across cultures. As a skill-building resource, Transforming Communication in Leadership and Teamwork offers particular value: * to diverse business professionals, including managers, leaders, and team members seeking to become more effective * business consultants and coaches working with people in executive positions and/or teams * leaders and members of multi-national teams * executives, decision makers and organizational developers * instructors and students of courses on effective communication, social and professional skills, human resources, communication and digital media, leadership, teamwork, and related subjects.

Understand content marketing best practice from a new perspective with exclusive insight and contributions from leading academics, experts, global thought leaders and influencers in the industry on key topics, to create a truly unique resource - including a foreword by Tom Goodwin and bonus online chapters. Marketers everywhere are talking about content, but not everyone is saying the same thing. Some professionals love content and believe it has revolutionized the practice of marketing. To others, it is mere hype: a new name for what marketers have always done. The Definitive Guide to Strategic Content Marketing brings together all these diverse perspectives, structuring them around useful key topics that provide insight into the multi-faceted nature of content marketing, weaving together different voices to present a balanced view of the subject. Grouping the discussion around relevant subjects such as content monetization, native advertising, visuals vs video, and the challenge of measuring results, this book allows readers to cherry-pick the most useful aspects of each discussion according to their interests and apply it to their own marketing initiatives. With a foreword written by Tom Goodwin (author of Digital Darwinism and EVP, Head of Innovation at Zenith USA) and containing contributions from brands such as GE, General Motors, HSBC, Football Association, Diageo and Pernod Ricard, plus agencies including Oglivy Group UK, Havas, Zenith, Vizeum, Accenture, this book is a truly unique resource. Insight and contributions from A-list industry professionals and influencers, include: Tim Lindsay, Bob Garfield, Bob Hoffman, Faris Yakob, Thomas Kolster, Rebecca Lieb, Tia Castagno, Scott Donaton, Rober Rose, David Berkowitz, Professors Mara Einstein, Mark Ritson and Douglas Rushkoff.

It’s a game you’re already playing, whether you like it or not. You can choose to ignore it and remain at the mercy of what others say about you, or you can take the time to learn how it works. For those who do the potential benefits are unlimited.

Through pioneering research and interviews with a host of major figures ranging from Jay-Z and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman to Bernie Madoff and Man Booker prize-winning Hilary Mantel, Waller and Younger reveal the key mechanisms that make and remake our reputations, providing the essential guide to the most important game in business and in life.

In recent years, the process and outlet for public speaking has grown with digital progressions such as TED talks and Facebook Live. Purposeful Communication in a Digital Age, 2nd Edition, provides a practical, step-by-step approach to developing and delivering effective speeches. Offering supplementary articles, case studies, and interviews with key leaders within the text and online, this is an all-in-one resource for the traditional, online, or hybrid classroom. The new edition devotes focus to presenting in the digital world, addressing both traditional and contemporary forms of presentation, and specifically directs students on seeking out credible sources when conducting research. Its eResource features video speech examples, classroom exercises, an instructor manual, and a quiz bank.

Meet With Impactgives you 40 exciting, engaging and easy visual tools to help make your meetings more productive and useful. Stuck in the same old slide-deck rut? There is a better way, and it’s explained right here.

Like it or hate it we spend too much of our time in meetings, and even though many of these meetings may be deathly they are super important to our organisations. But they don’t have to be so dull.

Instead of reaching for your slide deck when you have an important meeting coming up, you’ll find practical inspiration that will help you plan a powerful meeting that gets stuff done.

With 40 tools that are colour-coded by type or use, you will be able to select a tool quickly and easily plus make notes for next time. Covering face-to-face and virtual meetings, you’ll spend less time in pointless meetings and get a reputation for running the best meetings.

Find out how to make meetings short, productive, and focused! Includes a wealth of practical examples and proven methods to apply immediately in your organization.

We tend to assume that we may divide our activities into talk and action. In so doing we tend to suggest that talk is subordinate to action. Taking issue with these presumptions, Stories for Management Success: The Power of Talk in Organizations argues that talk is central to what managers do. Indeed it argues that, for managers, 'walking the walk' necessarily implies 'talking the talk such that storytelling is now central to managerial work'. Noting that managerial talk is increasingly located within an account of storytelling the book offers a critical review of the academic debates associated with telling tales at work and uses this critical reflection to shape and guide those who would realise the power of talk. Thus, the book concludes with six key questions designed to prompt both introspection and action on storytelling in an organized context. With reflections on the relevant management research, the author provides a scholar's digest to aid management thinking and practice. This book offers an examination of the processes of organizational storytelling and has been designed to allow practitioners of management to recognise and in so doing to unleash the power of talk in organizations.

These proceedings focus on selected aspects of the current and upcoming trends in business communication. In detail the included scientific papers analyse and describe communication processes in the fields of sports, finance, culture, politics, brand management and corporate communications. The variety of the papers delivers added value for both scholars and practitioners. This book is the documentation of the symposium "Trends in Business Communication", which took place at the University of Applied Sciences in Kufstein, Tyrol.

The easy way to communicate best when it matters most

Most people are aware of the importance of handling critical conversations well. However, when it comes down to actually being in a difficult situation that calls for key communication skills, many do not know how to practically apply their own thoughts.

"Critical Conversations For Dummies" is a step-by-step reference for the variety of crucial conversations life presents in the workforce. It's packed with strategies for preparing for high-stakes situations; being persuasive (not abrasive); knowing the value of assertive communication; resolving failed promises and missed deadlines; maintaining morale when firing staff; getting new employees off on the right foot; managing staff relations and strengthening team relationships; understanding audience needs and motivations to get positive results; altering confrontational language to cooperative language during difficult conversations; and building relationships in the face of conflict.Improve communication skills in crucial conversationsAvoid common pitfalls and emotional tendenciesDiscover the benefits of success in crucial conversations

This book is especially relevant to the hundreds of thousands of leaders who are tasked with multiple duties, whether addressing complex problems from stakeholders or achieving exceptional results from staff.

First published by Griffin in 1994, Wilma Davidson's clear, practical guide to business writing has established itself as a steady seller and an excellent primer for anyone who writes on the job. Newly revised to cover e-mail, texts, and the latest word social media technology, the book uses examples, charts, cartoons, and anecdotes to illustrate what makes memos, business letters, reports, selling copy, and other types of business writing work.

Social Media Strategy: Marketing, Advertising and Public Relations in the Consumer Revolution, Third Edition is a blueprint for the practice of marketing communications, advertising and public relations in a digital world where the consumer has taken control. This book contributes to everything we are trying to teach our students, not just the latest in advertising techniques. In fact, the book is exceptionally comprehensive.... By focusing on core social science concepts, Quesenberry solidifies his lessons expertly. Quesenberry wraps up the text with a discussion on integrating social media across organizations and pulling his wide-ranging topics together. This conclusion demonstrates that the academic field is full of us marketing-professionals-turned-professors, and this is a text for us! It presents real-world problems in academic ways perfect for the classroom... [A]fter assigning it in the classroom, I have no doubt that my students will keep this book on their first office bookshelf. (Previous Edition Praise) - Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly Provides a solid foundation for introducing the complexity of social media strategy to students... [and] an outstanding introduction to the types of social media engagement and their representative platforms. ... While choosing a social media textbook often deserves the status of 'It's Complicated', any professor looking for a quality introductory textbook for social media would do well to be 'In a Relationship' with Quesenberry's contribution. (Previous Edition Praise) - Journal of Advertising Education Professor Quesenberry makes an important contribution in helping instructors to engage students in learning social media planning and strategy. Social Media Strategy helped my students present a real-world plan to our clients. The second edition adds important depth to the excellent framework for moving from theory to practice. - Jeremy Lipschultz, Isaacson Professor, University of Nebraska at Omaha After reviewing the second edition, I was impressed by the increased breadth and depth that are covered in this update. The new edition offers a thorough discussion of emerging trends in social media marketing as well as extensive coverage of platforms and topics that were just gaining momentum a few years ago, including live-streaming videos, Snapchat, Messenger, influencer marketing, and online reviews. I highly recommend Keith's book to both educators and practitioners of social media marketing alike. It is a must-have guide for anyone in the field. - Ai Zhang, Stockton University

This study challenges the traditional approach of focusing on English as a foreign language learning in international business settings. The primary objective in such settings is to successfully create a linguistically correct document. Rather than relying on accumulated incomplete individual language knowledge, an alternative approach is to "solve a written language problem" by employing online tools to search for certain unknown technical terms. The author of this study advocates that the use of bilingual text search engines as a more viable problem-solving tool than traditional online dictionaries. Therefore, he examines how well participants are able to select correct verb-object expression using either an online dictionary or a bilingual text search engine.

Writing That Works will help you say what you want to say, with less difficulty and more confidence. Now in its third edition, this completely updated classic has been expanded to included all new advice on e-mail and the e-writing world, plus a fresh point of view on political correctness.

With dozens of examples, many of them new, and useful tips for writing as well as faster on a computer, Writing That Works will show you how to inprove anything you write:

• Presentations that move ideas and action
• Memos and letters that get things done
• Plans and reports that make things happen
• Fund-raising and sales letters that produce results
• Resumes and letters thar lead to interviews
• Speeches that make a point

The fourth edition of Applied Organizational Communication provides a current, in-depth analysis of the theories and practices critical to understanding organizational communication concepts in a global environment. This new edition has been thoroughly updated and revised to reflect the most current organizational communication theory and research, and includes new information on the use of technology, incorporated throughout. Additional features of this text include: Extensive real-life examples that establish links between organizational communication and perceptions, theory, networks, and symbolic behaviour. Theory-based consulting approaches that enhance abilities to link issues with actions. Grounding in transactional communication and advanced systems approaches. Macro and micro analyses of key topics and issues. As an accessible and practical examination of organizational communication, this text is intended for use in organizational communication, leadership, organizational development, and organizational intervention courses at the advanced undergraduate and graduate level.