How and to what extent do decisions affect business performance? Despite years of study by academic researchers and industry practitioners, there still remains a need to draw a clear and established connection between decision making and performance. By closely examining consequential business decisions made by key executives, this book offers a better understanding of business performance and recommendations for improved business practices. Through the use of case studies and interviews with business leaders based on 17 theorized measures of performance, this breakthrough study not only clarifies the impact of decisions on business performance, but also defines and distinguishes decisions that lead to successful and unsuccessful performance. Recommendations are made to optimize decision making for businesses of all sizes and projections about the future of decision making and performance are provided. This book can be used both as a reference source for academic researchers and students seeking further research on the subject, and as a practical guide for leaders and business professionals seeking advancement and better decision making within the industry.

In today's competitive market, a manager must be able to look at data, understand it, analyze it, and then interpret it to design a smart business strategy. Big data is also a valuable source of information on how customers interact with firms through various mediums such as social media platforms, online reviews, and many more. The applications and uses of business analytics are numerous and must be further studied to ensure they are utilized appropriately. Data-Driven Approaches for Effective Managerial Decision Making investigates management concepts and applications using data analytics and outlines future research directions. The book also addresses contemporary advancements and innovations in the field of management. Covering key topics such as big data, business intelligence, and artificial intelligence, this reference work is ideal for managers, business owners, industry professionals, researchers, scholars, academicians, practitioners, instructors, and students.

A successful Wall Street trader turned neuroscientist reveals how risk taking and stress transform our body chemistry
Before he became a world-class scientist, John Coates ran a derivatives trading desk in New York City. He used the expression "the hour between dog and wolf" to refer to the moment of Jekyll-and-Hyde transformation traders passed through when under pressure. They became cocky and irrationally risk-seeking when on a winning streak, tentative and risk-averse when cowering from losses. In a series of groundbreaking experiments, Coates identified a feedback loop between testosterone and success--one that can cloud men's judgment in high-pressure decision-making. Coates demonstrates how our bodies produce the fabled gut feelings we so often rely on, how stress in the workplace can impair our judgment and even damage our health, and how sports science can help us toughen our bodies against the ravages of stress. Revealing the biology behind bubbles and crashes, "The Hour Between Dog and Wolf "sheds new and surprising light on issues that affect us all.

Measuring Human Capital addresses a country's most important resource: its own people. Bettering human capital benefits individuals and their country and leads to improved sustainability for the future. For many years economists only used Gross Domestic Product (GDP), now acknowledged to be inadequate without supplemental measures, to gauge a country's overall value. There is now a recognition that many variables contribute to a country's worth, which make accurate measurement difficult. Looking beyond GDP by focusing on human capital, researchers, policymakers, government officials, and students can understand what elements impact human capital and how they might improve it in order to increase economic growth and well-being.

In his book Leaving a Legacy: Navigating Family Businesses Succession author David C. Bentall shares family business insights gleaned from 20 years of working with The Bentall Group and Dominion Construction especially as they relate to the challenges of family business succession. Skillfully marrying his own experience with best practices in the field, he offers solutions to the distinct challenges faced by all families in business. Practical examples are also included from prominent entrepreneurial business families from across North America. Each of the following families share successful strategies for succeeding in family business: Practical examples are also included from the following prominent entrepreneurial business families from across North America: Peter Armstrong of Rocky Mountaineer, Victor Bachechi of Carlo Inc., Keith & Ryan Beedie of Beedie Development Group, Murray Berstein of Nixon Uniform Service and Medical Wear, Jay Bornstein of Bornstein Seafoods, DJ Devries of Newton Omniplex, Ashleigh Everett of Royal Canadian Properties, Karen & Charles Flavelle of Purdy's Chocolates, Ken Finch & Robert Foord of Kal Tire, Paul & Michael Higgins of Mother Parkers Tea and Coffee, Richard Ivey of Ivey Foundation, Greg Kuykendall of Kuykendall Hearing Aid Center, Peter Legge of Canada Wide Media, Stuart McLaughlin of Grouse Mountain Resorts, David McLean of The McLean Group, Jack McMillan of Nordstrom, Paul Melnuk of FTL Capital Partners, Dave Miller of Fix Auto, Larry Rosen of Harry Rosen, Greg Simpson of Simpson Seeds Inc., Jane Tidball of Thunderbird Show Park, Bill Yeargin (Meloon Family) of Correct Craft.

Decision-making is an activity in which everyone is engaged on a more or less daily basis. In this book, Karin Brunsson and Nils Brunsson explore the intricacies of decision-making for individuals and organizations. When, how and why do they make decisions? The authors identify four distinct ways of reasoning that decision-makers use. The consequences of decisions vary: some promote action, others impede it, and some produce more responsibility than others. With in-depth discussions of rationality, justifications and hypocrisy, the authors show how organizational and political decision processes become over-complicated and difficult for both decision makers and external observers to understand. Decisions is a concise and easy-to-read introduction to a highly significant and intriguing topic. Based on research from several fields, it provides useful reading and essential knowledge for scholars and students throughout the social sciences and for everyone who wants to understand their own decisions and those of others.

Economic Effects of Natural Disasters explores how natural disasters affect sources of economic growth and development. Using theoretical econometrics and real-world data, and drawing on advances in climate change economics, the book shows scholars and researchers how to use various research methods and techniques to investigate and respond to natural disasters. No other book presents empirical frameworks for the evaluation of the quality of macroeconomic research practice with a focus on climate change and natural disasters. Because many of these subjects are so large, different regions of the world use different approaches, hence this resource presents tailored economic applications and evidence.