In an age when large corporations dominate the economic and political landscape, it is tempting to think that their power goes largely unchecked. Originally published in 2007, Contesting the Corporation counters this view by showing that today's corporations are driven by political struggle, power plays and attempts to resist control. Building on a wide range of theoretical sources, Fleming and Spicer present an analysis of the different ways in which power operates within the modern workplace. They begin by building a theoretical perspective that synthesizes previous investigations of power and resistance, identifying struggle as a key concept. Each chapter illustrates a different dimension of workplace struggle through an array of original empirical studies relating to sexuality, cynicism, new social movements and new-wave trade unionism. The book concludes by demonstrating that social justice claims underlie even the most innocuous forms of resistance, helping to transform some of the largest modern corporations.

Many managers are frustrated by a bewildering array of advice about what works in the workplace. This volume contributes to a growing consensus about effective workplace practices. The collection combines detailed studies of single industries (automobile assembly, apparel, and machine tools) with cross-industry studies of financial performance. Compared to most past investigations, the research here has better measures of both workplace practices and organizational performance. The contributors find that systems of innovative human resource management practices can have large effects on business performance. Success does not come from any single innovation, but from a coherent system encompassing pay, training, and employee involvement. Although a majority of contemporary US businesses now have adopted some innovative work practices, only a small percentage of businesses have adopted a coherent new system. A concluding chapter outlines barriers to diffusion and discusses public policies to remove barriers and enhance dissemination of effective management.

Twenty-four-year-old Megan may have her whole life ahead of her, but it already feels like a dead end, thanks to her dreadful job as a gastroenterologist's receptionist and her heart-clogging resentment of the success and happiness of everyone around her. But no one stokes Megan's bitterness quite like her coworker, Jillian, a grotesquely optimistic, thirty-five-year-old single mother whose chirpy positivity obscures her mounting struggles. Megan and Jillian's lives become increasingly precarious as their faulty coping mechanisms--denial, self-help books, alcohol, religion, prescription painkillers, obsessive criticism, alienated boyfriends, and, in Jillian's case, the misguided purchase of a dog--send them spiraling toward their downfalls. Wickedly authentic and brutally funny, Jillian is a subversive portrait of two women trapped in cycles of self-delusion and self-destruction, each more like the other than they would care to admit.

In an age when large corporations dominate the economic and political landscape, it is tempting to think that their power goes largely unchecked. Originally published in 2007, Contesting the Corporation counters this view by showing that today's corporations are driven by political struggle, power plays and attempts to resist control. Building on a wide range of theoretical sources, Fleming and Spicer present an analysis of the different ways in which power operates within the modern workplace. They begin by building a theoretical perspective that synthesizes previous investigations of power and resistance, identifying struggle as a key concept. Each chapter illustrates a different dimension of workplace struggle through an array of original empirical studies relating to sexuality, cynicism, new social movements and new-wave trade unionism. The book concludes by demonstrating that social justice claims underlie even the most innocuous forms of resistance, helping to transform some of the largest modern corporations.

Communication is no longer considered an optional soft" skill for climbing the corporate ladder. More and more businesses are placing emphasis on being able to communicate effectively. Communicating Effectively For Dummies gives you the tools and insight you need to manage conflict, build teams and communicate persuasively at work."

Are you an authentic leader? Too many companies are managed not by leaders but by mere role players and faceless bureaucrats. What would it take to replace these empty suits with real leaders--men and women who are confident in who they are and what they stand for and who truly inspire people to achieve extraordinary results? Rob Goffee and Gareth Jones argue that leaders don't become great by aspiring to a list of universal character traits. Rather, effective leaders are authentic: they deploy individual strengths to engage followers' hearts, minds, and souls. Authentic leaders are skillful at consistently being themselves, even as they alter their behavior to respond effectively to changing contexts. In short, the authors present a powerful case: that it takes "being yourself, in context, with skill" to be a successful, authentic leader--and they show you how to do exactly that. In this lively and practical book, Goffee and Jones draw from extensive research to reveal how to hone and deploy your unique leadership assets while managing the inherent tensions at the heart of successful leadership: when to show emotion and when to withhold it, how to get close to followers while maintaining an appropriate role distance, and maintaining your individuality while "conforming enough" to gain traction and lead change. Underscoring the inherently social nature of leadership, the book also explores how leaders can stay attuned to the needs and expectations of followers. Why Should Anyone Be Led by You? will forever change how we view, develop, and practice the art of leadership, wherever we live and work.

Here is an inspiring book about awakening to the wholeness of who you are, and fulfilling that wholeness in how you earn your living. "Wisdom at Work" offers practical methods for integrating inner spiritual aspiration and the outer work of earning money, face to face with the realities of today's demanding jobs. They all creatively apply principles and techniques of the Perennial Philosophy to the workplace and corporate life. As a spiritual seeker, leadership coach, and historian, Davidson has explored the workaday world as a place of spiritual growth, service, and awakening to the non-dual. Since 1980, he has led hundreds of seminars on empowerment, stress and change management, and personal/spiritual development.

Why is it that many women believe that working with other women is harder than working with men? A clue: it's not because women actually are harder to work with. After decades of working to help women to succeed at work, Andie Kramer and Al Harris noticed the same thing over and over again: Women's relationships with other women are causing conflict in the workplace and this is hindering careers across the board. Their research demonstrates that at the root of these clashes lie stereotypes, toxic assumptions and societal expectations about how women should behave. Through extensive research and hundreds of interviews, Andie and Al have identified the most fraught scenarios of women working for, working with, supervising, and collaborating with other women. It's Not You, It's the Workplace provides practical, immediately usable techniques that will allow women to develop strong networks that will foster their career success and organizations to structure their policies and practices - unlocking the potential of women in team situations. The companies that succeed in the future will be those where bias no longer blocks women's career satisfaction or advancement to leadership.

"Read this book, apply its concepts, and see how your business transforms." - Marshall Goldsmith, Thinkers 50 #1 Executive Coach and #1 Leadership Thinker Outstanding leaders make business indispensable. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines "Indispensable" as being absolutely necessary and not subject to being set aside or neglected. INDISPENSABLE: Build and Lead A Company Customers Can't Live Without provides a framework that you can follow to transform your business and features dozens of examples from industry including those drawn from Amazon, Uber, Facebook and more. Each business example illustrates how the concepts offered in the book are already being used to make businesses indispensable in the marketplace. Keep in mind, though, only your customers can decide if your business is indispensable. We don't get a vote on that. However, there are steps that we can take to improve our chances. A Leader's pursuit of greatness for his or her company is important, but, it's not enough, and a business does not become indispensable by accident. Outstanding leadership is essential to bring a company from greatness to indispensability. This is an important distinction because anything less than outstanding leadership will not suffice. Why? Outstanding leaders lead by example. They demonstrate desired qualities and behaviors to their followers through their actions and conduct. By doing so, these leaders put forth a sense that they and their teams share the same goals and aspirations, and, that together, they are going to go about achieving these ambitions as one. Indispensable businesses share a common purpose so they need leaders that can set the example. As you read the book, you will come to recognize how vital TRUE leadership is to helping your business become indispensable. Regardless of your rank or position, you must study, learn, exemplify and LIVE these essential behaviors to be able to provide the people you work with and serve: A Captivating Vision: Outstanding leaders can articulate a vision for the future that every staff member can understand and buy-in to. This vision becomes the stuff of rallying cries and establishes the common goal that leader and team will share. Outstanding leadership is required to articulate the vision of being indispensable and to work to drive it deep into the enterprise. If the troops don't "get" it, they won't follow. Active Direction-Setting: Next, a game plan for execution must be built in support of that vision. But, building a plan without engaged direction-setting will not suffice. Outstanding leaders at every level will be fully involved, monitoring progress and charting the course for execution throughout their firm's journey to indispensability. Enlightened Coaching: Outstanding leaders support their team and understand how to provide the "right" touch at the "right" time - directive when the path to success is unclear and supportive when it's time to empower - just like any world-class coach does when building a champion. A Collaborative Environment: Outstanding leaders know how to establish a collaborative tenor within their area of responsibility. Selfish and egocentric behavior is stomped out; teamwork is recognized and rewarded. There are many great companies - only a few are indispensable. This book was written to help you build an indispensable business - one that your customers can't live without.

Increasingly, people working in teams face complex issues that need resolving in an efficient, participatory manner that honors the group's diverse perspectives and individual creativity. "The Workshop Book "outlines the best practices of the workshop method, based on the Institute for Cultural Affair's Technology of Participation, (TM) and its use in consensus formation, planning, problem solving, and research. It also discusses workshop preparation and design, leadership styles, dealing with difficult behaviors, and special applications such as its use in large groups and for planning purposes.

R. Brian Stanfield is the Director of Publications at the Canadian Institute of Cultural Affairs and author of the companion volume, "The Art of Focused Conversation," and "The Courage to Lead "(New Society Publishers).

This practical, politically neutral book offers concrete skills for holding meaningful conversations that cut across today's intense political divide, showing readers how to connect to the people in their lives. Chapters show readers how to develop and use the scientifically-proven skills that are the foundation of constructive conversation, including strategies for effective listening, managing emotions, and understanding someone else's perspective, as well as finding common ground, avoiding self-righteousness, and telling your own story. Throughout, conversation prompts, practical exercises, case examples, and self-quizzes help readers visualize and practice starting, sustaining, and ending challenging conversations.

Get ahead in the workplace by influencing others Influence is a timeless topic for business leaders and others in positions of power, but the world has evolved to the point where everyone needs these skills. No matter your job, role, rank, or function, if you want to get things done you need to know how to influence up, down, across, and outside the organization. Increasing Your Influence at Work All-in-One For Dummies shows you how to contribute more fully to important decisions, resolve conflicts more easily, lead and manage more effectively, and much more. Plus, you'll discover how to develop the most important attributes necessary for influence--trustworthiness, reliability, and assertiveness--and find out how to move beyond. Includes easy-to-apply information for influencing managers, peers, and subordinates Shows you how to build trust with your co-workers and cultivate reliability through consistency and being personal Illustrates how influencing others in the office helps you enjoy a greater measure of control over your work life Helps you advance your career more rapidly than others No matter who you are, where you work, or what your professional goals are, achieving more influence in the workplace is critical for success.

This book examines the various environmental factors which affect the workplace atmosphere in businesses, with a particular focus on indoor air quality. Topics discussed include antimicrobial treatments of indoor mould and bacteria; an assessment of the carbon footprint and how that will affect long-term pollution emission reduction; indoor air quality, health and productivity; antigenic/allergenic rubber proteins and environmental regulations and environmental investing practices in Europe.

"Larry Moseley" is something of a detective...an Excel detective. In a 35-year corporate financial career that has spanned the range from startups to megacorps, Larry has often had to analyze and make decisions based on Excel spreadsheets created by colleagues. And he has been constantly amazed at how frequently he finds errors in such Excel projects, errors of omission and of commission, sometimes glaring but frequently quite subtle. The danger, as Larry rightly points out, is that critical corporate decisions are made based on the results of spreadsheets. A company will often determine its strategy or chart a course of action based on the outcome of an Excel project, and a faulty spreadsheet can lead a company down a faulty or suboptimal route.

Which is exactly why Larry has written "#EXPERT EXCEL PROJECTS tweet Book01," dedicated to helping corporate executives and individual contributors develop expertise in planning and implementing Excel projects. Planning your Excel project well in advance speeds up development and eliminates any later "oh-no's." Larry debunks the myth that spreadsheets are intrinsically unreliable. In truth, they are the reverse, but inadequate or unclear thinking applied to their set-up can lead to erroneous results. Conversely, proper planning and implementing of any Excel projects invariably leads to better and more complete decision making.

Much of "#EXPERT EXCEL PROJECTS tweet Book01" is devoted to getting it right the first time, but the book also shows you how to review, analyze and apply an eagle eye to other people's spreadsheets. This is particularly useful for senior decision makers, since they typically make decisions based on spreadsheets created by colleagues, vendors or consultants. Larry takes his readers from start to finish on planning their next Excel project, sharing his domain expertise at every step. Everything from 'storyboarding' the project to final confirmation--checking logic and doing a sanity check to make sure the project results accurately reflect the data. For any middle or senior executive, the knowledge gained from this book will directly enhance business analysis, financial analysis and forecasting models. Unforgettable experience and actionable guidance, all written in the ever popular tweet format, will find this succinct collection a place on every executive's bookshelf.

"#EXPERT EXCEL PROJECTS tweet Book01" is part of the THiNKaha series whose 112-page books contain 140 well-thought-out quotes (tweets/ahas).

Choosing the right people to carry out a project is essential to its success, and when multiple projects are combined into a complex program, the human aspect becomes even more important. Project and Program Management: A Competency-Based Approach, Fifth Edition balances a complete account of the technical aspects of project and program management with a practical approach to understanding and developing the core competencies required to accomplish desired goals. On the technical side, this book is a complete introduction to predicting costs, setting schedules, and assessing risks. On the human side, it sheds new light on how to mold different personality types into a team, how to motivate the team's members, and how to produce extraordinary results. The author details the blocking and tackling of the program management approach, describing the best way to define, organize, and schedule the work to be done, while identifying risks and controlling costs throughout the process.This fifth edition has been significantly revised, with every chapter updated. The volume considers the magnitude of recent social, political, and technological changes. Included are insights from numerous students who bring to the forefront their current real-world practices from their individual businesses, industries, and disciplines.

Sewing Hope offers the first account of a bold challenge to apparel-industry sweatshops. The Alta Gracia factory in the Dominican Republic is the anti-sweatshop. It boasts a living wage three times the legal minimum, high health and safety standards, and a legitimate union-all verified by an independent monitor. It is the only apparel factory in the global south to meet these criteria. The Alta Gracia business model represents an alternative to the industry's "race to the bottom" with its inherent poverty wages and unsafe factory conditions. Workers' stories reveal how adding $0.90 to a sweatshirt's production price can change lives: from getting a life-saving operation to reuniting families; from obtaining first-ever bank loans to getting running water; from purchasing children's school uniforms to taking night classes. Sewing Hope invites readers into the apparel industry's sweatshops and the Alta Gracia factory. Learn how the anti-sweatshop started, how it overcame challenges, and how the impact of its business model could transform the global industry.

At times when you say to yourself, I thought I have seen and heard it all but, as reality comes into play you haven't seen and heard it all. As you read from the first to the last page of this book at times I know you will stop and ask yourself, I've never given it a lot of thought but what he is saying is true. Also a number of questions not only while you are reading but even once you finish will more than likely be popping up in your head. When you go to work and talk to your co-workers, get on the phone and talk to your family and or friends, or just when you invite or people come over to your house I'm pretty sure that this book will be a big topic of discussion. I know that there are a lot of other topics that can be talked about and a continuation of some of the one's that are already mentioned, and I'm pretty sure that you can come up with even more. Right now don't pass up something educational, noteworthy, and topics that can be argued, debated and if enough people get together as spokesman and voters can change and do something about it.

How do highly-successful people like Elon Musk and Bill Gates get so much done? The answer is time blocking; a time-management method that Cal Newport, productivity expert and bestselling author of Digital Minimalism, has been using for fifteen years. For the first time, this game-changing system has been captured in a daily planner that makes it easy for you to prioritise tasks and focus on the things that really matter. Using the time-block method you'll no longer be distracted by your inbox, social media and other peoples' demands for your time. The Time-Block Planner will help you push aside distractions and focus on the work that will make the difference to you.