Are women really more polite than men? What is the best way to apologise? And when is it OK to swear?

Politeness rules our day-to-day lives, whether it's speaking to colleagues about issues at work, dealing with difficult family members or wondering if you should eat the last piece of pie. For years, Professor Louise Mullany has been examining the prevalence and power of politeness in our everyday speech and actions, and discovering what this says about us.

In Polite, Louise shows how the unseen science of politeness governs everything we do, from what we say to how we act, and reveals how a better understanding of the rules and norms of politeness can help us in all aspects of our work, leisure and home lives.

And, in doing so, she answers the age-old question... are politeness standards really declining?

Gender quotas for company boards are becoming a totemic issue of gender diversity policy in today's labour market. Throughout the Western world many countries are experimenting with compulsory gender diversity measures for board rooms. The European Union as a whole is considering to make such quotas obligatory. This book analyses the EU proposal and brings together the experiences of countries that have, to various degrees, taken the road towards formalising gender balance in the board room. It offers a critical context to these evolutions by testing the presumptions of the quotas drive on two key fronts: their relation to corporate governance and their compatibility with non-discrimination law. As the gender composition of company boards is gaining widespread attention, this book offers a timely analysis and useful perspectives that will inform both proponents and opponents. Blending disciplines as well as countries, this book will appeal to anyone with a professional interest in the topic, in particular lawyers, management consultants, and policy makers.

THE MONEY SYNDROME lucidly describes mechanisms and processes in the circulation sphere of money and in the sphere of financing. It presents an inventory of effects that result from a basic flaw in the world monetary system. Understanding the root cause of quite a number of undesirable effects opens the prospect for solutions. The solution was first proposed almost a hundred years ago but it was not understood.We need this solution for our planet and for the sake of future generations.

A WALL STREET JOURNAL BESTSELLER A FINANCIAL TIMES BUSINESS BOOK OF THE MONTH A FAST COMPANY TOP SUMMER PICK 'Completely changed my life' - Ali Abdaal, YouTuber and Entrepreneur 'Reading this book feels like being let in on a secret. ... an absolute must read' - Ryder Carroll, author of The Bullet Journal Method Discover the full potential of your ideas and make powerful, meaningful improvements in your work and life by Building a Second Brain. For the first time in history, we have instantaneous access to the world's knowledge. There has never been a better time to learn, to create and to improve ourselves. Yet, rather than being empowered by this information, we're often overwhelmed, paralysed by believing we'll never know or remember enough. This eye-opening and accessible guide shows how you can easily create your own personal system for knowledge management, otherwise known as a Second Brain. A trusted and organised digital repository of your most valued ideas, notes and creative work, a Second Brain gives you the confidence to tackle your most important projects and ambitious goals. From identifying good ideas, to organising your thoughts, to retrieving everything swiftly and easily, it puts you back in control of your life and information.

This is the most famous confidence-boosting book ever published; with sales of over 16 million copies worldwide Millions of people around the world have improved their lives based on the teachings of Dale Carnegie.

In How to Win Friends and Influence People , he offers practical advice and techniques, in his exuberant and conversational style, for how to get out of a mental rut and make life more rewarding. His advice has stood the test of time and will teach you how to make friends quickly and easily; increase your popularity; persuade people to follow your way of thinking; enable you to win new clients and customers; become a better speaker; and boost enthusiasm among your colleagues.

This classic book will turn your relationships around and improve your interactions with everyone in your life. Dale Carnegie, known as 'the arch-priest of the art of making friends', pioneered the development of personal business skills, self-confidence and motivational techniques. His books - most notably How to Win Friends and Influence People - have sold tens of millions worldwide and, even in today's changing climate, they remain as popular as ever.

There are three universal truths about traditional performance management. They are widely used, universally despised, and are known to be ineffective. These reasons are cited in the recent spate of announcements from dozens of major corporations who have abandoned their appraisal systems. As a result, many organizations are grappling with what to do instead. They have adopted many interesting and innovative practices, but most are a random collection of activities that are not bound together by a sound theoretical framework. This new approach is built upon a sound theoretical foundation, uses proven management techniques, and offers a novel framework and tool for managers for regulating and enhancing the performance of their staff. Dozens of ready-to-use templates and accompanying tools help make good management practice more accessible, practical, and effective. Just as important, the new approach is both millennial- and remote worker-friendly as it incorporates features that speak to how they work.

Employee sustainability and well-being have been increasingly important discussions in today's business world. Businesses may have difficulty implementing a successful long-term policy due to a lack of knowledge, limited resources, and a short-term focus; however, the effects have shown a potential strategic and growth advantage. Promoting employee sustainability is an important step towards greater competitive advantage, creation of added value to the business, and a greater identity among society and within the organization itself. Developing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Policies for Promoting Employee Sustainability and Well-Being analyzes the current state of employee sustainability policies, systematizes the factors that promote a more sustainable and healthier workplace, explores the implications of diversity and inclusion practices on the well-being of employees, and collects policy options aimed at finding solutions to enhance well-being. Covering topics such as emotional health, organizational behavior, and work satisfaction, this reference work is ideal for academicians, researchers, scholars, practitioners, policymakers, business owners, managers, government officials, instructors, and students.

The Sunday Times bestseller ‘A monumental, gripping book … Outstanding’ Sunday Times Wherever there is human judgement, there is noise. ‘Noise may be the most important book I've read in more than a decade. A genuinely new idea so exceedingly important you will immediately put it into practice. A masterpiece’ Angela Duckworth, author of Grit ‘An absolutely brilliant investigation of a massive societal problem that has been hiding in plain sight’ Steven Levitt, co-author of Freakonomics From the world-leaders in strategic thinking and the multi-million copy bestselling authors of Thinking Fast and Slow and Nudge, the next big book to change the way you think. Imagine that two doctors in the same city give different diagnoses to identical patients – or that two judges in the same court give different sentences to people who have committed matching crimes. Now imagine that the same doctor and the same judge make different decisions depending on whether it is morning or afternoon, or Monday rather than Wednesday, or they haven’t yet had lunch. These are examples of noise: variability in judgements that should be identical. In Noise, Daniel Kahneman, Olivier Sibony and Cass R. Sunstein show how noise produces errors in many fields, including in medicine, law, public health, economic forecasting, forensic science, child protection, creative strategy, performance review and hiring. And although noise can be found wherever people are making judgements and decisions, individuals and organizations alike commonly ignore its impact, at great cost. Packed with new ideas, and drawing on the same kind of sharp analysis and breadth of case study that made Thinking, Fast and Slow and Nudge international bestsellers, Noise explains how and why humans are so susceptible to noise and bias in decision-making. We all make bad judgements more than we think. With a few simple remedies, this groundbreaking book explores what we can do to make better ones.

A master at telling football's greatest ever stories... Breathtaking. Wilson's eye for detail and his elegant writing brings the World Cup to life like no other book on the topic I have ever read' ELIS JAMES

'Epic in scope, awesomely rich in detail, and compulsively entertaining' TOM HOLLAND

The football World Cup is the most watched sporting event on the planet. It has become a global obsession: 211 nations initially entered the 2022 edition. It has been running for almost a century. Yet there is no comprehensive history of the tournament: based on fresh interviews and meticulously researched this book will change that.

By 1930, football had outgrown the Olympic Games. A new competition, run by Fifa, would take international football to the next level. After a shambolic start to the first cup in Uruguay - an incomplete stadium, shoddy refereeing and physios accidentally injuring players - the thrilling final saw Uruguay take on Argentina, beating them 4-2.

From those chaotic beginnings grew the modern World Cup, a cultural phenomenon that draws the world together like nothing else, and that gives it a profound importance. Ask a random person on a random street to name a moment in the history of Senegal and they may well say Pape Bouba Diop's winner against France in the 2002 World Cup, a goal not only against the defending champions but against the former colonial masters.

The World Cup has political significance. West Germany's success in 1954 was a moment of reintegration into global society. Progress to the semi-finals in 1998 gave a huge boost to Croatia's sense of national self. But football is an unpredictable sport. In the so-called Soccer War of 1969 tensions between El Salvador and Honduras were ignited by a World Cup qualifier. More recently, the focus for governments seeking to political gain has been hosting the tournament, with the World Cups in Russia and Qatar clear examples of sportswashing, staging a tournament to project an image of a thriving society.

There has never been a comprehensive history of the World Cup that has considered not only the matches and goals, the players and coaches, the tales of scandal and genius, the haggling and skulduggery of the bidding process, but has also placed the tournaments within a socio-political framework. The story of the World Cup is also the story of the world; this book tells its definitive history.

Africa remains a mystery-enigma-attraction to investors, entrepreneurs and is growing on all fronts; without enough authoritative guides to the dynamics shaping the continent. Out of the top ten fastest growing economies of the world, no less than four are African – and yet the continent remains misunderstood.

There are many megatrends globally that warrant a special adaptation for the African continent, Africa Bounces Back uses case studies to show how these megatrends apply to the last economic growth frontier. The recent disruptions, including COVID-19, the changes in the US political landscape, human migration (including the surge of Africans moving to Europe), the rise of nationalism in developed countries, etc. all warrant attention in the context of what they mean for Africa as a destination of choice for investors, entrepreneurs and multinationals.

Victor Kgomoeswana has experience in two professional services firms (EY and Deloitte) – and at one of these he was instrumental in creating a knowledge resource centre for multinational clients who either had a presence in Africa and wanted to expand or those with no presence but interested in gaining insights before venturing.

He also has worked in the media since 1996 (all media, namely, print, radio, television and online) as anchor, specialist contributor, reporter, columnist, commentator – to date he still does an average of 3 interviews per week about the African continent, especially business and economic matters.

Local government has rapidly become both more important and more complex and the quality of municipal management is becoming more significant every day as local governments deal with a vast array of organizational and community challenges. The Role of Canadian City Managers brings together experienced city managers and municipal chief administrative officers (CAOs) across Canada to analyse the daily issues that they face. Each chapter deals with a particular issue or challenge, such as council/staff relations, collaborative initiatives, and crisis readiness. The book contributes to the literature on local government and public administration by providing insights from the "real time" lived experiences of city managers, spoken in their own words. The book also speculates about the contemporary leadership role of the city manager and the future of the city management profession. The Role of Canadian City Managers is a useful resource for scholars and students of local government and public administration, as well as public servants who work with or aspire to leadership roles within local government.

The company law landscape is constantly changing and evolving. Since the introduction of the Companies Act 2004, some four decades in the making, law and practice continue to change to meet the needs of a rapidly developing arena; evidenced by the introduction of the Companies (Amendment) Acts of 2013 and 2017, the Security Interests in Personal Property Act 2013 and the Insolvency Act 2014. In Corporate Business Principles, Suzanne Ffolkes Goldson breaks down the legislation and provides an accessible guide to Incorporation, Corporate Finance, Corporate Management, Remedies and Winding Up. Buttressed by contemporary local and Commonwealth case law, commercial law practitioners, company directors and officers, and students will find Corporate Business Principles an ideal handbook on company law in Jamaica.

The internet of things (IoT) has already proven its worth in fields such as health, education, and urban transportation. Given the rapid advancement of IoT along with artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning in recent years, it is believed that new age technology will dramatically alter the way we live and work. One of the areas where this paradigm may stand out in the future is the domain of corporate diversity and inclusion. By modelling intelligent behavior, IoT may detect possible bias and prejudice in decision making, possibly eliminating patterns and biases that hamper company capacity to recruit diversely and inclusively. Promoting Inclusivity and Diversity Through Internet of Things in Organizational Settings provides relevant theoretical frameworks and the latest empirical research findings in the area. It examines the empirical evidence on corporations and how IoT is being used to create inclusiveness and diversity through electronic means. Covering topics on occupational stress, digital transformation, and digital diversification, this premier reference source is an essential resource for business executives and leaders, human resource managers, IT managers, social workers, sociologists, researchers, and academicians.

The World Economic Forum recognizes negotiation as one of the ten most important practical life skills. Books explaining negotiation tactics have been best sellers for many years, but most miss the dynamic interplay of tactics during an actual negotiation. Learning Negotiation Through Literature fills that gap in an engaging and entirely unique way, with line-by-line analysis of extracts from classic and contemporary literature. The book also addresses the ethics of negotiation tactics, and whether that changes with culture or topic. Author: David Churchman is Professor Emeritus, California State University, Dominguez Hills, where he originated an MA in conflict management teaching one course in conflict theory and one in negotiation. A three-time Fulbright Scholar (Cyprus, Ukraine, Norway) in conflict management he also was an army officer and National Science Foundation program officer. After an apprenticeship training animals, especially big cats and raptors for movies, he co-founded a nonprofit company, using injured non-releasable exotic animals kept in a licensed facility, for an educational program averaging 100,000 student contacts each year.

By now everyone acknowledges that organizations and institutions have been profoundly affected by COVID-19 and will not be returning to normal. Therefore, they have started looking ahead to the new normal that is now being created. What are the practices, policies, technologies, and interactions that will define this new normal? What is the future of leadership, culture, and technology in a Post COVID world? This publication delves into how virtual technology has evolved to create remote office and remote teaming in health, education, engineering, and other business solutions. The chapters explore culture in business and how individuals may interface, communicate, and collaborate in past, current, and future business models. Technology and leadership have an impact on how the interface occurs and culture as a whole. Leadership is the number one driver of culture through agenda, work models, vision, purpose, and inspiration. The new models of business will force a change in how Leadership continues to impact culture and continuation of the business.