Experts offer strategies for managing people in technocentric times. In these technocentric times, it is more important than ever to manage people well. Companies-employees and managers-may feel overwhelmed by the never-ending disruptions caused by new technologies. This volume in the Digital Future of Management series shows why we should step back, take stock, and seize just a bit more control over how our world is evolving. In Why Humans Matter More Than Ever, management experts from both industry and academia offer strategies for managing people in our brave new digital world. The contributors explain how new technologies, even the most sophisticated artificial intelligence agents, depend on human collaboration. Companies need to develop rules, principles, and clear ethical guidelines that structure smart object-human interactions. Moreover, in a world filled with technology distractions, we must learn to how to manage our most valuable personal resource: our attention. Leaders need to step up to prepare their organizations for the evolution of work, showing them how to adapt, be more collaborative, and learn new skills. As virtual collaborations take place across professions, locations, and industries, we must adopt the best practices in virtual communication. Finally, going beyond empathy and curiosity, leaders should be self-aware enough to remind themselves of what they may be missing-even the best managers don't know everything. Contributors Lynne Andersson, Robert D. Austin, Catherine Bailey, Kathryn M. Bartol, Daniel Han Ming Chng, Chris DeBrusk, Arati Deo, Kishore Durg, Lauren Eskreis-Winkler, Mallika Fernandes, Ayelet Fishbach, Fritz Fleischmann, Kristen Getchell, Bhaskar Ghosh, Brad Gilbreath, Rob Gleasure, Sergey Gorbatov, Lynda Gratton, N. Sharon Hill, Beth Humberd, Bala Iyer, Tae-Yeol Kim, Frieda Klotz, Angela Lane, Scott Latham, Thomas W. Malone, Daniel McDuff, Alain Pinsonneault, Yasser Rahrovani, Fabrizio Salvador, Amanda Shantz, Antti Tenhiala, Jan vom Brocke, Eoin Whelan

Commercial Contracts for UK Companies: Formation to Exit helps business owners and directors to recognise key legal and compliance issues at an early stage, enriching the level of discourse between the business and its advisers. It provides an authoritative introductory text that charts the pivotal stages of the business lifecycle by reference to contracts frequently encountered in the course of trading. Providing coverage of topics including the choice of business vehicle, marketing the business, manufacturing the product, loan finance, selling the product and e-commerce, Commercial Contracts for UK Companies: Formation to Exit: - Analyses the purpose and operation of commercial contracts that are part and parcel of everyday business, including: o a general description of the function of contracts o guidance on negotiation, drafting, and practical transactional issues o narrative on applicable law, including key areas of legislation and regulation - Includes precedents with clause-by-clause commentary, including a joint venture agreement, a manufacturing agreement, e-commerce website terms and conditions, and a social media influencer agreement - all precedents are available as electronic downloads - Highlights common contractual pitfalls and areas of risk when incorporating and thereafter running a business with guidance on how to avoid them This new title will appeal to commercial and finance directors and owners of small and medium-sized businesses, including entrepreneurs embarking on first-time ventures and their legal advisers. It will also assist accountants and other professionals involved in the operation of businesses in England and Wales.

The first detailed analysis of the internal working and the external relationships of the boards of Britain's leading companies. Responding to calls for greater scrutiny of boards of directors, this book presents an in-depth examination of directors of UK organizations, drawing on the accounts of directors themselves as to their roles, influence, and the potential and limits to their power, finding boards to be important mechanisms in maintaining the strategic framework of the organization.

What happens to the relationship between business and literature when storytelling becomes a privileged form of communication for organizations. Corporations love a good story. Microsoft employs a chief storyteller, who heads a team of twenty-five corporate storytellers. IBM, Coca-Cola, and the World Bank are among other organizations that have worked with storytelling methods. And, of course, Steve Jobs was famous for his storytelling. Today, narrative is a privileged form of communication for organizations. In Portrait of the Manager as a Young Author, Philipp Schoenthaler explains this unlikely alliance between business and storytelling. The contradictions are immediately apparent. If, as the philosopher Hans Blumenberg writes, stories are told to pass the time, managers would seem to have little time to spare. And yet, Schoenthaler reports, stories are useful in handling complexity. When digital information flows too quickly and exceeds the capacity of the human brain, narrative can provide communicative efficiency and effectiveness. Words and numbers both vouch for truth, are both instrumentalized by management, and are inextricably interdependent. What happens, if narrative becomes ubiquitous? Does the commercialization of narratives have an effect on literature? Through the lens of storytelling, Schoenthaler explores the relationship between economics and literature and describes a form of writing that takes place in their shared spheres. Most books on storytelling in the corporate world are written by business writers; this book offers the perspective of an award-winning literary author, who considers both the impact of storytelling on business and the impact of business on literature.