There a few events in life more important than a wedding. It is a day when everything must go according to plan. In the United States alone, more than four million people tie the knot annually, with over $85 billion spent on services and products. Not surprisingly, many couples are hiring wedding planners to help coordinate their special day, and business opportunities for such consultants abound. Even if you know how to make a wedding happen with elegance and style, and with stellar organization, making the leap to offering your services professionally requires a specialized skill set, one that can be learned in this book. With" How to Start a Home-Based Wedding Planning Business" in hand, you can gain the know-how and perspective to become the wedding planner everyone wants to hire. Uniquely, this book covers not only general weddings but religious ceremonies, destination weddings, multicultural weddings, vendor services specific to weddings, wedding-planning timetables, wedding styles, outdoor/tented weddings, and the emotional nuances of the wedding client. It will channel your creativity and show you how to get your business off the ground. You'll be the one couples turn to--and make money doing so!

Winner of the 2009 Regional Studies Association Best Book Award

Since the early 1980s, the region has been central to thinking about the emerging character of the global economy. In fields as diverse as business management, industrial relations, economic geography, sociology, and planning, the regional scale has emerged as an organizing concept for interpretations of economic change.

This book is both a critique of the "new regionalism" and a return to the "regional question," including all of its concerns with equity and uneven development. It will challenge researchers and students to consider the region as a central scale of action in the global economy, and at the core of the book are case studies of two industries that rely on skilled, innovative, and flexible workers - the optics and imaging industry and the film and television industry. Combined with this is a discussion of the regions that constitute their production centers. The authors' intensive research on photonics and entertainment media firms, both large and small, leads them to question some basic assumptions behind the new regionalism and to develop an alternative framework for understanding regional economic development policy. Finally, there is a re-examination of what the regional question means for the concept of the learning region.

This book draws on the rich contemporary literature on the region but also addresses theoretical questions that preceded "the new regionalism." It will contribute to teaching and research in a range of social science disciplines and this new paperback edition will also make the book more accessible to students and researchers in those disciplines, those individuals who will influence the re-structuring economies of the 21st century.

Forming part of the Understanding Organizational Change series, Managing Organizational Change in Public Services focuses on the organizational dimension of change management in public services. Combining aspects of change management theory with ?real life? practice in the form of organizational cases from different regions and sectors, this edited collection identifies and analyzes significant issues regarding the development, implementation and evaluation of public service change initiatives. Featuring contributions from leading authors in the field, this text provides an overview of organizational change management with a focus on leadership, management, and strategies for change.

Looking at cases from Europe and North America, Managing Organizational Change in Public Services offers both a global, as well as a cross-sector analysis of this complex and challenging process. Different sectors that are examined include:

• Transport
• Health
• Education

This book offers an excellent introduction to change management and how it works within the public service organizations internationally. It will be vital reading for all those engaged with the study or practice of this dynamic subject.

This collection brings together international experts from different continents to examine creativity and innovation in the cultural economy. In doing so, the collection provides a unique contemporary resource for researchers and advanced students. As a whole, the collection addresses creativity and innovation in a broad organizational field of knowledge relationships and transactions. In considering key issues and debates from across this developing arena of the global knowledge economy, the collection pursues an interdisciplinary approach that encompasses Management, Geography, Economics, Sociology and Cultural Studies.

This insightful collection conveniently presents the most influential and frequently cited family business research articles. 'Must quote' papers on a broad range of topics, as well as a variety of methods are included and serve as a model for forthcoming work and a foundation for future theory. Complemented by the authors' comprehensive introduction, this volume is an essential reference tool for seasoned researchers, new students and those who work with family businesses.

SME's are acknowledged as effective sources of jobs and incomes, gaining an important position in the development agenda, subsequently 'cluster' policies were conceived as a framework to augment the effects of SMEs and to optimize resources used to support them. Based on case studies from Brazil, Vietnam, Indonesia and India, this volume examines SME clusters and argues that unless they counteract common problems such as very low wages, poor working conditions, poor quality products and lack or environmental regulation, they will be pushed out of the market and so become unsustainable. This book suggests that the SME clusters currently being stretched should react by 'socially upgrading' in order to improve their innovation capacity, as well as social, environmental and labour standards. It puts forward conceptual frameworks which explain the way firms can upgrade: through markets, interaction among cluster members, through Corporate Social Responsibility and other such public policy, and through the better enforcement of regulation.

The Progressive Era was among the most volatile times for the economy and labor in American History. Daniel E. Saros explores the institutional and economic conditions of this time, revealing new insight into the regulated nature of industry and the conditions of labor. Using the steel industry as a case study, Saros demonstrates how the United States Steel Corporation enhanced the performance of the steel industry by initiating a price and wage stabilization program. In an effort to combat potential threats from the federal government, the American public, and organized labor to the market stabilization program and mechanization drive, the steel companies introduced a paternalistic welfare program, company unions, and limited hours reform. Saros also contrasts this time with free market periods, examining the impacts on rates of profit, output growth, and capital accumulation.

In this timely volume on newly emerging financial markets and investment strategies, Arvin Ghosh explores the intriguing topic of initial public offerings (IPOs) of securities. Before the 2000-2001 market turndown, hardly a week went by when more than a few companies did not become public, either in the organized stock exchange or in the Over the Counter (OTC) market. In the technology-heavy Nasdaq market, IPOs were crucial for that market's new growth, as Internet stocks supplied key momentum to the market. In the so-called "New Economy" of the 1990s, it was the ubiquitous IPO that ushered in the world's information technology revolution.

Ghosh sets out to examine the pricing and financial performance of IPOs in the United States during the period of 1990-2001. He discusses the rise and fall of IPOs in the preceding decade and explores the IPO process from the start of the prospectus to the end of the "quiet period" and aftermarket stabilization. Ghosh analyzes the deceptive underpricing, or "flipping," of Internet IPOs, the long-run performance of IPOs both in the New York Stock Exchange and in the Nasdaq markets, and the role of underwriters as market makers. Finally, Ghosh discusses the accuracy of analysts' earnings forecasts.

This project summarizes the recent revival of the IPO market and its place in capital formation, as well as the latest developments in the realm of United States IPOs. This work brings forth the true nature and consequences of the recent IPO phenomenon. It is a fascinating financial read and must-have for anyone involved in finance.

""Pricing and Performance of Initial Public Offerings" in the United States is a timely discussion of newly emerging financial markets and investment strategies ...] it is primarily a scholarly text and financial historiography, not a how-to investment guide, yet the lessons and conclusions it draws from past IPOs surely point the way to insight concerning their future." --"The Wisconsin Bookwatch"

"Arvin Ghosh" is a professor in the Department of Economics, Finance, and Global Business at William Paterson University in Wayne, New Jersey. He is author of "Capital Structure and Firm Performance" (Transaction).

Economics and Business Environment is targeted at students preparing for a career in a managerial position in business or public service. With its accessible style and convenient structure, this textbook offers an insight into: 1 current economic developments that are important to (European) businesses and governments; 2 the influence of the business environmenton company profit and turnover. Students are offered an insight into the economic risks faced by all companies. This fifth edition of Economics and Business Environment has been fully updated; including the measurements taken to reinforce supervision of the banking industry.

'Goold and Campbell, leading thinkers on corporate-level strategy, have turned their attention to corporate-level organization design. They bring a rigor to this topic that will help managers wrestling with multiple reporting dimensions, decentralization and cross-unit co-ordination.' Professor Gary Hamel, London Business School. Author of Competing for the Future and Leading the Revolution.

'Campbell and Goold are renowned for discovering entirely new and useful dimensions to seemingly familiar business issues. This book is another shining example. It allows executives to replace politics and personality as the rationales for an organizational design with clear, effective logic and experience.' Thomas H. Davenport, Director, Accenture Institute for Strategic Change. Author of Process Innovation and Working Knowledge.

'A "must read" for managers and consultants. Redesigning the organization is the most powerful and fastest means for aligning decisions and behavior with strategic objectives. Goold and Campbell provide the best and most comprehensive framework for developing and testing the validity of an organizational structure I have seen in recent years. Based on years of research and experience they offer clear principles and a process to guide managers in the many design decisions and trade-offs involved in developing a more effective organization.' Professor Michael Beer, Harvard Business School. Author of The Critical Path to Corporate Renewal.

'Books on organization design tend to fall into one of two categories: those that provide interesting concepts but not help on how to implement them and those that are full of check lists on implementation, based on sterile and over-simplified ideas. Michael Goold and Andrew Campbell have written perhaps the finest example of an exception I have ever seen - a very practical book, with detailed guidelines on implementation, yet based on a rich and sophisticated understanding of the real challenges of organization design. It will be of immense use to all careful readers.' Professor Sumantra Ghoshal, London Business School. Author of The Individualized Corporation and Managing Across Borders.

'As companies search for all sources of competitive advantage, many are discovering that the ability to organize and execute complex strategies is an important one. Campbell and Goold have again provided us with a good process through which leaders can give organizing its deserved focus.' Professor Jay Galbraith, author of Designing the Global Corporation.

'Campbell and Goold bring much needed clarity and precision to the language of organizational design and show how this can help managers avoid the misunderstandings and differing interpretations that frequently undermine new organization structures.' Paul Coombes, Director, Organization Practice Area, McKinsey & Company.

'Organization change is close to the top of many companies' agendas. Goold and Campbell's book equips you with ideas and frameworks to take on the journey. The real-world examples help make it both pragmatic and readable.' Steve Russell, Chief Executive, The Boots Company plc.

'An impressive work. The taxonomy of organizational units and organigram symbols will be especially useful to managers working on structures.' Philip Sadler, Patron, The Centre for Tomorrow's Company. Author of The Seamless Organization.

'Incredibly relevant in helping to pull together a complicated structure based around the dimensions of channels, products, customers and geography - immensely clear and valuable.' David Roberts, Chief Executive, Personal Financial Services, Barclays plc.

'A welcome breakthrough in designing more effective corporate organization structures. The nine design tests of Goold and Campbell are a valuable addition to an otherwise sparse toolkit.' Jim Haymaker, Vice President, Strategy & Business Development, Cargill Inc.

'Gould and Campbell have written an insightful, informed, and practical book that can help senior executives pragmatically grapple with both the content and process issues in designing their organizations for competitive advantage. The book has both state of the art ideas as well as detailed examples of their methods in practice.' Michael Tushman, Professor, Harvard Business School. Author of Competing by Design and Winning Through Innovation.

Microenterprises - very small businesses consisting of a single self-employed person, a family, or at the most a few employees - are the main source of livelihood of up to half of the population of most developing countries. In the past this vital sector, often referred to also as the informal sector, has received inadequate attention, but increasingly multilateral and bilateral agencies and non-governmental organizations are searching for ways to help improve the effectiveness of these microenterprise operations and to enable them to make a greater contribution to the development of the third world and to the general efforts to enhance incomes and raise living standards. This collection of sixteen papers by experts with considerable experience in the field emanates from the International Conference on Microenterprises held in Washington DC, USA, sponsored by the Committee of Donor Agencies for Small Enterprise Development on 6-9 June 1988. It is organized according to the major issues relating to the subject: the structure of the microenterprise sector, government policies towards microenterprises, informal credit markets, financial and technical services, institutional aspects and a review of the experience of assistance projects. This publication should be of great interest and value to all concerned in increasing assistance to the development of microenterprises in developing countries.

This is a story about stories and specifically about some of the stories that Americans have told themselves about corporate economic power. In this book, Anne Mayhew focuses on the stories surrounding the creation of Standard Oil and Wal-Mart and their founders, John D. Rockefeller and Sam Walton, combining the accounts of economists with the somewhat darker pictures painted by writers of fiction to tease out the overarching narratives associated with American big business.

Mayhew argues that the diverse views about big business and its effects of welfare can be reconciled and better policies derived from a somewhat unlikely combination of ideas from the business world and from those who have dissented from the most widely accepted story told by economists. This book draws on the work of Chandler, Coase and Williamson, as well as Marx and Veblen's discussion of supply chains to address some of the major social and economics problems of the twenty-first century.

Following the restructuring process which swept away the traditional manufacturing economy of the inner city 25 years ago, new industries are transforming these former post-industrial landscapes. These creative, technology-intensive industries include Internet services, computer graphics and imaging, and video game production. The development dynamics of these new sectors are volatile in comparison with those of the classic 'Industrial City'. But these new industries highlight the unique role of the inner city in facilitating creative processes, innovation and social change. Further, they reflect the intensity of interaction between the 'global' and the 'local' in the metropolis, and represent key agencies of urban place-making and re-imaging. This book addresses the critical intersections between process and place which underpin the formation of creative enterprises in the emergent industrial districts of the 'new inner city'. It contains intensive case studies of industrial restructuring within exemplary sites in prominent world cities such as London, Singapore, San Francisco and Vancouver. The studies demonstrate the global reach of development and innovation across these cities and sites, marked by clustering, rapid firm turnover, and interdependency between production and consumption activity. The evocative case studies, brought to life by interviews, sequential mapping exercises, media narratives, and photography, also disclose the importance of local factors (including urban scale, built form, property markets and policy) which shape both the specific industrial structures and socio-economic impacts. The New Economy of the Inner City places inner city new industry formation within the development history of the city, and underscores its role in larger processes of urban transformation. The findings inform a critique and synthesis of urban theory which frame the evolving conditions of the 21st century metropolis. This book would be useful to researchers and students of Geography, Urban Studies, Economics and Planning.

This book provides a new evolutionary perspective on outsourcing. The traditional prioritization of continuous outsourcing has resulted in increased hidden costs that have sabotaged business profits. As a result of undisciplined outsourcing, businesses have lost a defining characteristic of their success: decision control. In contrast, the ability to combine outsourcing with backsourcing is a winning strategy for business leaders across a broad range of industries. In this book, the author traces the essence of the outsourcing industry as it has evolved over the past two centuries. With compelling case studies from the pharmaceutical, aviation, insurance, and cookware industries, this book moves beyond theorizing. It highlights key insights from some of the leading outsourcing pioneers who helped to define the industry. The case studies demonstrate the evolution of outsourcing, from a past marked by a costly outsourcing approach to a future fueled by the diversification of sourcing for optimal business success. Through the provision of decision models and best practices, this book provides academics and practitioners with tangible steps to implement successful outsourcing and backsourcing strategies.

"Between Citizen and State" is an intrepid and readable introduction to, and insightful commentary on, the role of the corporation in the modern world. Corporate actors have typical motivations, opportunities, temptations they are characters, and their interactions follow familiar plotlines. Part I, Background, introduces the characters and their context. Part II, Internal Struggles, explains common conflicts in terms of well-known court cases. Part III, External Relations, examines relationships between the corporation, individuals, and the state.

The last Asian financial crisis, coupled with the western series of corporate scandals, has caused investors and citizens to doubt mangersa (TM) ability to guarantee credible financial information about organizations. Consequently, legislators all over the world have come to realise the necessity of legislating in the area of corporate governance.

This book explores several national corporate governance reform experiences from around the world (including Canada, China, the United States, and the European Union) and offers an explanatory theory with regard to national systems of corporate governance. It also underlines corporate governance as a management tool and principle. The author argues that each country should be encouraged to build its own system of corporate governance which should be harmonized with its history, culture and the level of its economic development.

This book rigorously explores the critical, initial stage of cluster emergence in which the seeds for further growth are sown. Whether economic growth actually occurs, however, ultimately depends on various regional conditions and the processes in place.The contributors offer a broad spectrum of conceptual perspectives and empirical case studies on the regional factors and policies required for economic growth. They discuss the link between new clusters and established regional paths, the generation of institutions and endogenous dynamics, and the patterns of emergence and growth of successful clusters. A number of important questions are addressed, including: ? How do opportunities and crises influence cluster emergence? ? Is cluster emergence purely random or can it be planned? ? How can emerging clusters be identified and their growth patterns measured? ? How can regional policies support cluster emergence? Filling a gap in the literature on the actual genesis of clusters, this path-breaking book will prove a fascinating read for academics focusing on economics, geography, entrepreneurship, technological change and innovation, and regional studies.

Information technologies (IT) shape economic space, but we have no clear map of the cyber economy since the "digital revolution" began in the early 1970s.

The Digital Economy offers an up-to-date, critical synthesis that links the various aspects of the digital or cyber economy from the perspective of real firms. A geographic approach emphasizes how IT has made businesses less dependent on locational constraints, and the tangible effects on places and regions are placed at the core of the analysis. Case studies of companies, including Amazon, Dell, Li & Fung, and Volvo, demonstrate that the geography of digitally-driven production is the outcome of both dispersion and agglomeration dynamics. Global corporations are shown to have footprints that ignore to some degree distance and time, yet creative and coordinating activities remain anchored in urban innovative ecosystems such as Silicon Valley and Bangalore. These trends have been made possible by the development of a worldwide and integrated telecommunications network, whose unequal presence dictates the capabilities of places and communities to be connected to the global economy. However, the threat of the digital divide must not be overstated. In cities, rural areas, and emerging countries, local development is wrapped up in human capital, rather than technology.

This engaging and accessible text describes and explains the patterns and dynamics of today s digital economic space. The effects on places and regions and the people in them are at the core of the authors analysis, illustrated by many real examples. This book will be useful to anyone studying business and management, geography and information and communication studies.

Construction Cost Estimating equips a new generation of students and early-career professionals with the skills they need to bid successfully on projects. From developing bid strategies to submitting a completed bid, this innovative textbook introduces the fundamentals of construction estimating through a real-life case study that unfolds across its 24 chapters. Exercises at the end of each chapter offer hands-on practice with core concepts such as quantity take-offs, pricing, and estimating for subcontractor work. Online resources provide instant access to examples of authentic construction documents, including complete, detailed direct work estimates, subcontractor work estimates, general conditions estimates, markups, and summary schedules. Through its unique mix of real-world examples and classroom-tested insights, Construction Cost Estimating ensures that readers are familiar with the entire estimating process even before setting foot on the jobsite.

Corporate governance, namely the relationship between the ownership and control of firms, takes on new dimensions in the case of international joint ventures operating in the special context of China. The present study contributes a new examination of this relationship, firstly through its conceptual refinement, and secondly through original empirical research. It develops the concept of ownership as suited to joint ventures, in which account is taken of non-capital resourcing by foreign and Chinese partners.

The two-volume book studies the economic and industrial development of Japan and China in modern times and draws distinctions between the different paths of industrialization and economic modernization taken in the two countries, based on statistical materials, quantitative analysis and multivariate statistical analysis. The first volume analyses the relationship between technological innovation and economic development in Japan before World War II and sheds light on technological innovation in the Japanese context with particular emphasis on the importance of the patent system. The second volume studies the basic conditions and overall economic development of industrial development, chiefly during the period of the Republic of China (1912-1949), taking a comparative perspective and bringing the case of modern Japan into the discussion. The book will appeal to academics and general readers interested in economic development and the modern economic history of East Asia, development economics, as well as industrial and technological history.

Written by eminent scholars who are well known within their fields across Europe, this book explores changes in the international economic environment, their impacts on the strategy of firms and the spatial consequences of these changes in strategy. The economic environment in which major companies operate is subject to rapid and important changes. Such changes have their impact on the strategy of major and even smaller companies and changes in these firm's strategies often have important implications for the location choice of their activities, be it production, outsourcing, R&D or administrative activities. Addressing these issues in a clear yet rigorous manner, this book is an excellent resource for students and researchers working and studying in the areas of international business, corporations, business strategy, economic geography and business geography.

This book is a wide-ranging exploration of PR and communication in the construction industry, with a strong emphasis on communications theory, strategy and technique. The editors begin with an introduction to the UK construction industry and its supply chains, as well as various elements of PR in relation to the construction process. Subsequent chapters provide a strategic overview, practical examples, success stories, case studies and personal perspectives on PR for different parts of the built environment and reputational issues in construction. Chapters include expert advice on communications for architecture, planning, building consultancy, building products and manufacturers, general and specialist contractors, construction technology, infrastructure and communicating sustainability in the built environment. The conclusion looks at the current and upcoming reputational priorities for communicators in construction, as well as the top ten priorities for implementing PR as a strategic management discipline in the industry. This book is essential reading for all construction PR teams, students studying both for built environment and PR/marketing degrees and CPD courses, and anyone working in the built environment sector who needs to consider PR and marketing as part of their role.

"An affirmative post-structural philosophy of organization inspired by Arnold Gehlen's philosophical anthropology, Michel Foucault's history of medicine and Gille Deleuze's early philosophical works. This book offers a deep and detailed analysis of the problems faced and their solutions"--

Research on the topic of clusters and industrial districts is very extensive. However, most of it has focused more on understanding the past than on trying to map out the future. The aim of this book is to fill this gap by identifying and discussing the main research topics that populate the current scientific debate and highlight the emergent lines of research that will constitute the future research agenda. It does so by drawing on the debate started with the "rethinking clusters" workshops, which in a short time have become a rich place for discussion among cluster scholars around the world. Rethinking Clusters: Towards a New Research Agenda for Cluster Research collects contributions from authoritative colleagues, who cover a number of relevant and timely issues, such as the territorial roots of radical innovation processes, new ways of understanding and measuring the role of place in economic development, path renewal, internationalization and entrepreneurship. The final section is devoted to the critical analysis of policies that support smart specialization. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of the journal European Planning Studies.