This compilation of original essays by an international cast of top scholars addresses some of the major issues now facing postal and delivery services throughout the world. The European Commission and member states wrestle with the problem of how to implement the scheduled liberalization of these sectors and maintain the universal service obligation while the United States Postal Service is coming to terms with the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act. In addition, the book addresses the impact of electronic competition as well as other problems facing the field. The contributors analyze pressing issues such as access to infrastructure and service elements, changes in the national regulations of EU countries, forecasting mail volumes and the evolving market environment, issues surrounding universal service and others.Undergraduate and postgraduate students and researchers in regulation and public sector economics along with industry professionals will find this volume informative and useful.

Globalisation has had a major impact on manufacturing competitiveness and industrial development in transitional and developing economies. This up-to-date book critically examines the experience of a wide range of countries, focusing on the policy challenges they face in the new global economy. The rising demand for manufactured goods is causing increased pressure on developing and transitional countries to introduce policies aimed at enhancing productivity, mobilising resources, building capabilities and changing internal structures. Yet policymakers face difficult trade-offs between allocative efficiency and sustainable development. This book begins by looking at key policy issues in manufacturing including international best practices, policy convergence and policy benchmarking. The discussion then moves on to discuss the measurement of manufacturing competitiveness and the policies necessary for companies to compete successfully in the new global economy. The policy recommendations are underpinned through a wide range of case studies from different regions and countries. The book offers policymakers, scholars and researchers a unique perspective, and serves as a comprehensive guide for formulating policies vital for national industrial development and integration into the world economy. It will help those concerned with policy formulation in developing and transitional countries take informed decisions and better cope with the challenges and opportunities of the global economy.

Discover the secrets of some of the world’s biggest and leading shops and online retailers and get a competitive edge. Covering everything from creating the ultimate retail experience to understanding the customer and the importance of motivated shop floor workers, this is the book that will guide you, your managers, team-workers, and anybody working in or learning about retail to success and profits.

•Fully updated to reflect the fast-moving and ever-changing world of retail
•Includes five essential new chapters featuring the very latest thinking, new case studies and the most cutting edge tactical thinking and strategic planning.
•Examines and coaches on traditional retail models alongside the rise in multi-channel, multiplatform retail and the exponential rise in the use of technology.
•Practical, inspiring, comprehensive and authoritative, it’s easy to follow and quick to put into practice
•Delivers outcomes that retailers want: how to grow their sales, boost their profits, develop loyalty and deliver an exceptional, memorable and envied customer experience.
•A wide appeal including retail entrepreneurs, existing managers of all levels, shop-floor staff and anybody interested in what retail is, how it works and what it means in the 21st Century.

THE CLASSIC, HIGHLY REGARDED AND DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO RETAIL SUCCESS.

Leveque recounts twenty revealing tales of real-life rivalry between firms across diverse industries, including wine, skiing, opera, video games and cruise liners. These entertaining and insightful narratives are informed by recent advances in economics, factoring in the many forces driving competition, including globalization and innovation. Divided into four sections, the book covers competition and the market; competition and variety; competition through innovation; and competition and equality. Read together, these stories also serve as building blocks to address the issue of whether competition between firms has entered a new era of increased intensity. This book will appeal to anyone, from company executives to consumers, who are interested in the economics of contemporary industry and want to incorporate a grasp of competition into their everyday decision-making. This book can also be used as a supplementary text in courses in microeconomics, business economics and industrial organisation.

This timely research review explores the main issues surrounding competition and regulation in electricity markets. The industry is experiencing irresistible forces for change driven by energy policy objectives; a reassessment of market regulation in the face of high energy prices and the response to consumer pressure to agree on what constitutes a fair price for energy. This research review identifies the key articles that underpin the debate across the industries supply chain (generation, supply and networks) and from a regulatory perspective (including market power and incentive regulation) followed by a consideration of the overall impact of liberalisation and future developments.

Most of us know there is a payoff to looking good, and in the quest for beauty we spend countless hours and billions of dollars on personal grooming, cosmetics, and plastic surgery. But how much better off are the better looking? Based on the evidence, quite a lot. The first book to seriously measure the advantages of beauty, "Beauty Pays" demonstrates how society favors the beautiful and how better-looking people experience startling but undeniable benefits in all aspects of life. Noted economist Daniel Hamermesh shows that the attractive are more likely to be employed, work more productively and profitably, receive more substantial pay, obtain loan approvals, negotiate loans with better terms, and have more handsome and highly educated spouses. Hamermesh explains why this happens and what it means for the beautiful--and the not-so-beautiful--among us.

Exploring whether a universal standard of beauty exists, Hamermesh illustrates how attractive workers make more money, how these amounts differ by gender, and how looks are valued differently based on profession. He considers whether extra pay for good-looking people represents discrimination, and, if so, who is discriminating. Hamermesh investigates the commodification of beauty in dating and how this influences the search for intelligent or high-earning mates, and even examines whether government programs should aid the ugly. He also discusses whether the economic benefits of beauty will persist into the foreseeable future and what the "looks-challenged" can do to overcome their disadvantage.

Reflecting on a sensitive issue that touches everyone, "Beauty Pays" proves that beauty's rewards are anything but superficial.

Now in its second edition, and in collaboration with their contributing authors, world renowned academics Peter J. Buckley FBA OBE, Peter Enderwick, and Hinrich Voss draw on their wealth of experience and expertise to present a truly global text on international business. The Global Factory framework, developed by Peter J. Buckley, forms an overarching, coherent and accessible model for understanding how businesses operate globally. Synthesising perspectives from economics, social anthropology, political economy, and management, International Business also provides a multitude of examples, case studies and insights from across the globe that link theory to management practices - all to equip you for the challenges faced in the business world today. Engaging examples include internationally-recognised companies such as Nike, Ben & Jerry's, TikTok and Maersk, as well as organizations from emerging markets such as Saudi Arabia, Brazil and Turkey. Opening cases discuss real challenges faced by international businesses, inviting you to discuss and devise your own solutions, while closing cases and 'IB Insights' offer opportunities to further reflect on international business practices at real, global companies. Stretch your critical thinking skills by engaging with the 'Topics for Debate', and build strong academic understanding by looking at the 'Research Insights', which introduce key scholarship and provide commentary on seminal international business research. This fully revised and more concise edition is your ideal guide to international business. An exciting development for this new edition, the enhanced e-book offers an even more flexible and seamless way to learn: www.oxfordtextbooks.co.uk/ebooks This book is accompanied by the following online resources: For students: Links to seminal articles as highlighted in the Research Insights feature Online activities to develop skills in research, data collection, and analysis Web links to sources of data, each accompanied by critical commentary Multiple-choice questions with instant feedback IB decision-aids to explore real, decision-making tools used by managers For lecturers: A case study bank Additional shorter and longer case studies with exemplar answers Links to video clips, accompanied by short paragraphs of critical commentary Comprehensive, customisable PowerPoint slides Test bank Tutorial activities Suggested assignment questions Instructor's manual including a guide to teaching the Global Factory framework, and guidance from the authors on the case study questions, IB challenges, and Topics for Debate features

In the current turbulent business environment, there is a premium on trust. It has become a much desired resource in business organizations, but at the same time it has remained a very elusive idea. How to build and preserve trust, how to cope with opportunism and distrust, and how they affect organizational performance are crucial problems. This original book is the first to offer a wide-ranging study of trust within and between organizations from the perspective of several social and management sciences. The specially commissioned contributionsmany from well-known expertscombine theoretical analysis of problems around trust with empirical study in a range of different organizations in contexts such as China, Japan, India, the US, as well as several European countries. The many issues covered by the book include the relationship between trust and power, trust and law, how to build trust where there was previously none, the impact of trust on performance, and the fragility of trust in different societal contexts. The wide theoretical scope, together with the range of organizational settings and the rich empirical detail of behaviour around trust and opportunism, make this an important and instructive volume.

Strong forces of change are reshaping the management landscape. TodayAEs business environment is fraught with uncertainty, diverse global players, rapid technological change, widespread price wars, and seemingly endless reorganization. The editors and contributors of Managing in Times of Disorder demonstrate that a far-reaching shift has occurred in the venture of competition that has resulted in a new organizational paradigmuhypercompetition. The innovative chapters in this groundbreaking volume form a complex fabric of new theoretical frameworks, models, strategies, organizational forms, and interdisciplinary methods that address hypercompetitive environments in a radically new way. The authorsAE findings reveal new patterns of language, metaphor, structure, and strategy that are necessary for business survival in chaotic times. Managing in Times of Disorder will be of interest to students and professionals in organization studies and management.

This book, first published in 1983, is primarily concerned with the economic policies of the European Economic Community and the European Coal and Steel Community. It explains in detail how the common market was established and how it was maintained. Free competition cannot be created merely by removing customs duties and quotas: it is also necessary to attack the many non-tariff barriers which would otherwise impede free movement. Moreover, the Community sought to develop an industrial policy, notably in relation to the ECSC, to provide a stance towards declining industries suffering from Developing World competition.

Entrepreneurship has been the focus of considerable interest in the policy and business circles in the past two decades. Against a backdrop of the recent global recession, downsizing by large firms and problems of inequality and unemployment in many countries in Europe and Africa, it is realized that vigorous entrepreneurship is critical for sustainable job creation, and for boosting tax revenue and economic growth in a society. This book provides current research on entrepreneurship and firm performance. The first chapter examines the nature of entrepreneurship by selectively drawing from the economic, management and psychological schools, and then presents an integrated electric view of entrepreneurship based on the different schools of thought. Chapter two theoretically examines the influence of international non-governmental organizations (INGOs), on local and international entrepreneurial activity stemming from emerging markets in light of globalisation and the aftermath of the global economic crisis. Chapter three examines the moderating effect of prior functional and prior founding experiences of the founders on the relationship between ecosystem and new venture growth. Chapter four justifies both theoretically and scientifically the emotional and social aspects of gender, and offers a new arena for sketching the figures of a man and a woman entrepreneur. Chapter five discusses topics of entrepreneurship in Brazil, focusing on psychosocial elements which impact entrepreneur's agency and considering cultural, social and psychological aspects which singularize such practice, potentially distinguishing it from other countries' experiences. Chapter six analyzes the situation of social entrepreneurship in Lithuania, emphasizing its policy and practice in the European Union (EU) context, striving for youth involvement in becoming social entrepreneurs. Chapter seven conducts an initial insight on the link between entrepreneurial motivations and performance in microfinance institutions (MFIs). The last chapter proposes a multidimensional approach to the study of entrepreneurship.

Global Strategy: Competing in the Connected Economy details how firms enter, compete and grow in foreign markets. Jain moves away from the traditional focus on developed countries and their multinational enterprises, instead focusing on both developed and emerging economies, as well as their interaction in an increasingly connected world. As the current global business environment is increasingly shaped-and connected-by faster technological developments, geopolitical forces, emerging economies, and new multinationals from those economies, this highly charged dynamic provides rich opportunity to revisit mainstream paradigms in globalization, innovation, and global strategy. The book rises to the challenge, exploring new competitive phenomena, new business models, and new strategies. Rich illustrations, real-world examples, and case data, provide students and executives with the insights necessary to connect, compete, and grow in a globalized business environment. This bold book succinctly covers strategy models and implementation for a range of global players, providing students of strategy and international business with a rich understanding of the contemporary business environment. For access to additional materials, including Powerpoint slides, a list of suggested cases, and sample syllabus, please contact Vinod Jain ([email protected]).

401(k) plan sponsors have increasingly offered participants managed accountsservices under which providers manage participants' 401(k) savings over time by making investment and portfolio decisions for them. These services differ from investment options offered within 401(k) plans. This book examines how providers structure managed accounts; their advantages and disadvantages for participants; and challenges sponsors face in selecting and overseeing providers.

In 2008, the U.S. economy collided with two historic forces. The first force was the Great Recession, the most severe economic crisis in a generation. While the economy has recovered considerably over the last five years, there is little doubt that more work remains to address some of the challenges left in the wake of the Great Recession. This book analyses the evolution of the labour force participation rate since late 2007 and attempts to quantify the effects of these various forces.

The Pacific Alliance treaty has created one of the most competitive and fastest growing economies in the world. In this multi-disciplinary study, authors Monica Blanco-Jimenez and Jesus Cruz Alvarez investigate top industries and the cultural, political and entrepreneurship practices that impact the economic and competitive development of its members. Divided into six parts, the contributors to this volume show the global strategies and synergies that are part of one of the world's most competitive trade zones. Part I explores how this regional integration was build, while Part II presents comparative studies about competitiveness in the automotive industry and Part III offers two studies on Mexico's exports. Part IV, V and VI focus on Peru, Colombia and Chile respectively, looking across social entrepreneurship, corporate social responsibility and social development. Containing the most recent research in international business and relations, this book will help researchers, students and entrepreneurs get to the roots of competitiveness and sustainable growth.

Today's manufacturing organisations in Mexico are increasingly confronting new markets, new competition, and greater customer expectations. Being immersed in this highly competitive environment is considered relevant for manufacturing SMEs to achieve optimal organisational performance, through efficient work processes, and leading the company to accomplish the competitiveness that the market demands. With this process, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Mexico face manifold difficulties in reference to the operational efficiency required to stay in the market. While globalisation poses challenges and opportunities for the development of enterprises, SMEs have not found a way to exploit this conjuncture, and they may not be sufficiently competitive with new market requirements. This book, with the incorporation of the theoretical review of the concepts involved, and the empirical study, which shows the relationship between organisational performance and competitiveness from the perspective of resource-based theory, provides greater understanding of this theoretical connection through non-experimental research; of trans-sectional type; and with a correlational/causal approach.

The seminal work of Michael Porter in the 1980s provided a conceptual basis to competitor analysis which has stood the test of time. The emphasis of his work, and of many books by other authors which followed it, has been on the why and what of competitor analysis. David Hussey and Per Jenster's book moves beyond this to the problems faced by organizations in applying the concepts at a practical level. It shows how real companies can use competitor intelligence and analysis in real situations.
Three major strands are drawn out by this book, which shows how to:

• obtain competitor information in a legitimate way
• analyse information so that competitors can be better understood, and strategic options explored
• develop ways of achieving competitive advantage which may move the organization ahead of others in the industry

You may not know it, but you are sitting on a goldmine. Your knowledge, passions, and skills can be transformed into a lucrative income stream that requires no college degree, zero employees, and less than $50 to get started. Whether it takes shape as a full-fledged business, a side hustle, or automated earnings is up to you! Before you can monetize what you know, you'll need to learn the dynamics of the knowledge economy. There's no one better to teach you than Graham Cochrane-business coach, YouTuber, and founder of The Recording Revolution, a once no-name blog about music turned 7-figure business that requires fewer than 5 hours per week of work. With How to Get Paid for What You Know, he provides a proven 6-step system for turning your ideas, skills, and passions into an income stream that puts money in your bank account day and night, whether you're working or not. In this book, you'll learn how to: Discover your idea and ensure it will be profitable, Build an audience, Package your knowledge into a highly desirable digital product, Sell online in an authentic and ethical way, Leverage simple online tools to market your product, and Automate the entire process so that income flows to you even when you're not working. Follow these steps and you'll be well on your way to creating better stability in your income and finding more fulfillment in your work and, ultimately, your life. How to Get Paid for What You Know is your essential guide to a new and better way to make a living.

According to conventional economic wisdom, it is believed that the beneficial functioning of competition is not secured spontaneously but must be supported by state action, ie: specific antitrust laws and agencies. Hence, competition is regarded as an instance in which the visible hand of the state is believed to be needed in order to enable the invisible hand of the market to function more effectively. Topics discussed in this book include the competition and antitrust policy in the Austrian economic perspective; competition in the pharmaceutical market in Austria; a study of the greed factor in capitalism; consumption behaviours in a vertical differentiation model; the effects of mergers in the retail sector; and market competition with irrational agents.

This is the first book to describe the history of the innovation of the bank card, from development to commercialisation. It describes the strategies employed by innovators in order to achieve competitive advantage, and the use of technology to manage implementation. Interviews and questionnaire surveys are conducted with all the major player in the bank card industry -- Barclays, Citibank, American Express, Diners Club, Visa International, Mondex International and Europay. The result is a clear and penetrating insight into all aspects of the bank card market.

One of the most vexing problems for governments is building controversial facilities that serve the needs of all citizens but have adverse consequences for host communities. Policymakers must decide not only where to locate often unwanted projects but also what methods to use when interacting with opposition groups. In Site Fights, Daniel P. Aldrich gathers quantitative evidence from close to five hundred municipalities across Japan to show that planners deliberately seek out acquiescent and unorganized communities for such facilities in order to minimize conflict.

When protests arise over nuclear power plants, dams, and airports, agencies regularly rely on the coercive powers of the modern state, such as land expropriation and police repression. Only under pressure from civil society do policymakers move toward financial incentives and public relations campaigns. Through fieldwork and interviews with bureaucrats and activists, Aldrich illustrates these dynamics with case studies from Japan, France, and the United States. The incidents highlighted in Site Fights stress the importance of developing engaged civil society even in the absence of crisis, thereby making communities both less attractive to planners of controversial projects and more effective at resisting future threats.

The promotion of competition in Europes network industries has been in the foreground of economic policy in recent years. Network industries have undergone dramatic changes, involving privatization, liberalization and deregulation as well as reregulation. But there are still many unresolved problems in both economic policy as well as economic research. Hence, a vivid exchange between academics and policy makers has emerged to find the optimal framework for these industries. This volume contributes to this discussion, containing several papers on various network industries.

Work has changed forever. How can HR and leaders adapt? How can they deal with the wellbeing and productivity crisis, address the skills gap and build better organizations? This book has the answer. Written by a leading voice in the people profession, The New World of Work takes an evidence-based approach to provide practical advice on how the business and employees can succeed. It covers how to combat stalling productivity, poor wellbeing and the increase in mental health issues in the workplace as well as the need for agile learning, ways to close the skills gap and a refreshingly realistic look at the impact of technology. There is also essential discussion of job design, flexible working, diversity and inclusion (D&I) and how to engage both an ageing workforce and new Gen Z recruits. This book also includes guidance on how to build a business which is responsible, trustworthy and transparent, is based on the principles of 'good work' and is one that employees are proud to work for. With global examples and case studies from private and public sector organizations, The New World of Work is the book that HR and business professionals need to seize the opportunity and allow both the business and its people to succeed.

How can business leaders and organization development professionals enable their companies to succeed in a digital age? Use the second edition of Agile Transformation to improve business performance. Packed full of practical advice, this new edition features updates on data-driven decision-making and the importance of putting it at the centre of mindset change and transformation to empower teams to make decisions. As well as updates to case studies, there is extended material on agile structures, including team alignment, developing agile culture and leadership. Agile Transformation covers all aspects of business transformation needing to be considered: why new operating models are needed, how to apply agile principles at scale, leveraging digital-native processes and why change managers need to think big but start small. It also looks at how to build and engage high-performing teams for change, how to tackle employee mindsets that can hinder agile adoption and why developing an agile business is not a reason to fail to plan. Featuring case studies from organizations including Amazon, Netflix and Vodafone, this is crucial reading for businesses wanting to effectively compete in the new world of work.

This selection of papers from "Long Range Planning - The International Journal of Strategic Management" examines the evolution of competitive advantage over the past decade, setting out areas of major change and areas which have been less subject to change. It begins by examining how strategic management has been influenced by the transformation of industries and the changes in the rules for success, and the dramatic rise in the strategic importance of information technology. In many industries, the established rules of the game no longer apply, and their continued use will most likely lead to failure, even for firms which appear to have unassailable positions of strength. It is not that strategic planning has failed, but rather that in a previous era of greater certainty and clearer boundaries, the unquestioning application of established strategic rules often worked. In the new era of competitive uncertainty and uncertain boundaries, many of the rules of strategy still apply, but they can only have utility when applied in an appropriate context. The book concludes that when clarity exists about business definition, industry definition and competitor definition and how strategic techniques or measures should be applied, then the strategic fundamentals which have obtained for many years are likely to continue to do so.