“Brilliant, ambitious, and often surprising. A remarkable contribution to the current global debate about Empire and a small masterpiece of research and conceptual reimagining.� —William Dalrymple, author of The Anarchy: The East India Company, Corporate Violence, and the Pillage of an Empire An award-winning historian places the corporation—more than the Crown—at the heart of British colonialism, arguing that companies built and governed global empire, raising questions about public and private power that were just as troubling four hundred years ago as they are today. Across four centuries, from Ireland to India, the Americas to Africa and Australia, British colonialism was above all the business of corporations. Corporations conceived, promoted, financed, and governed overseas expansion, making claims over territory and peoples while ensuring that British and colonial society were invested, quite literally, in their ventures. Colonial companies were also relentlessly controversial, frequently in debt, and prone to failure. The corporation was well-suited to overseas expansion not because it was an inevitable juggernaut but because, like empire itself, it was an elusive contradiction: public and private; person and society; subordinate and autonomous; centralized and diffuse; immortal and precarious; national and cosmopolitan—a legal fiction with very real power. Breaking from traditional histories in which corporations take a supporting role by doing the dirty work of sovereign states in exchange for commercial monopolies, Philip Stern argues that corporations took the lead in global expansion and administration. Whether in sixteenth-century Ireland and North America or the Falklands in the early 1980s, corporations were key players. And, as Empire, Incorporated makes clear, venture colonialism did not cease with the end of empire. Its legacies continue to raise questions about corporate power that are just as relevant today as they were 400 years ago. Challenging conventional wisdom about where power is held on a global scale, Stern complicates the supposedly firm distinction between private enterprise and the state, offering a new history of the British Empire, as well as a new history of the corporation.

Like it or not, every business—even one conducted from the kitchen table—is global. No matter the industry, employees now routinely travel to other countries or interact with foreign customers, vendors, or fellow employees. Or they conduct business over the phone, via e-mail, or through video links. As a result, they have to understand international customs and etiquette or risk losing customers or botching business relations. And understanding business customs in other cultures isn't merely playing good defense—it often leads to new products or service enhancements that help an enterprise grow. In Passport to Success, Jeanette Martin and Lillian Chaney apply their expertise in business etiquette, training, and intercultural communications to present a practical guide to conducting business successfully around the world. Each chapter in this book presents in-depth information on the business environment and culture in the top twenty trading partners of the United States: Canada, Mexico, Japan, China, United Kingdom, Germany, South Korea, Netherlands, France, Singapore, Taiwan, Belgium, Australia, Brazil, Hong Kong, Switzerland, Malaysia, Italy, India, and Israel. Chapters contain both practical tips and illustrative examples, and the book concludes with a listing of resources (books, magazines, organizations, and Web sites) for additional information. In addition, Passport to Success contains useful overview material that will help business people plan a trip abroad or a campaign to win customers in another country. Besides trade statistics and information on global trade agreements, readers will find information on using the Internet productively to conduct or seek business, how women can succeed in countries with traditional, male-oriented business cultures, how to build cross-cultural relationships, and ways language can enhance—or obstruct—business dealings. Every businessperson is now a player in the global market for goods and services. This book provides valuable tips that will help people avoid missteps and increase their sales and personal success when dealing with counterparts in other countries.

This book offers the first full-length biography of the man often described as one of the most influential and innovative people in the gaming industry over the past 50 years. King of the Slots: William "Si" Redd relates the fascinating, only-in-America success story of one man's improbable rise from the depths of poverty to the heights of international commerce and dazzling wealth. William Silas "Si" Redd is recognized as one of the most important and influential persons in the gaming industry over the past half century. The company he founded, International Game Technology (IGT), is the world leader in the manufacture of gaming equipment and gaming software features. His video poker is the most popular slot machine since the original debuted in 1899. King of the Slots covers the life (1911-2003) and rags-to-riches story of the man who changed the face of the casino gaming industry. Both a business book and a biography, it introduces readers to the nation's leading gaming centers, Apollo-era technology and how it changed gambling, and the race to perfect the first video poker game. It also gives them a chance to meet the characters with whom Redd rubbed shoulders, including Howard Hughes, Mafia capo Raymond Patriarca, Arizona cowboy and pig farmer Jimmie Hughes, gaming legend Bill Harrah, and casino visionary Jay Sarno.

A human-centric guide to solving complex problems in engineering management, from sizing teams to handling technical debt. There’s a saying that people don’t leave companies, they leave managers. Management is a key part of any organization, yet the discipline is often self-taught and unstructured. Getting to the good solutions for complex management challenges can make the difference between fulfillment and frustration for teams—and, ultimately, between the success and failure of companies. Will Larson’s An Elegant Puzzle focuses on the particular challenges of engineering management—from sizing teams to handling technical debt to performing succession planning—and provides a path to the good solutions. Drawing from his experience at Digg, Uber, and Stripe, Larson has developed a thoughtful approach to engineering management for leaders of all levels at companies of all sizes. An Elegant Puzzle balances structured principles and human-centric thinking to help any leader create more effective and rewarding organizations for engineers to thrive in.

The goal of How a Business Works is to create a framework for understanding business in 12 chapters that you can read, understand, and apply in a relatively short period of time. This framework will serve you in three ways: 1. It will help you to understand the behavior of sellers and employers, so that you can be a more informed businessperson, citizen, consumer, and employee. 2. It will help you to predict the future behavior of sellers and employers, so that you can make better plans and achieve better outcomes as a businessperson, citizen, consumer, and employee. 3. It will give you a basic understanding of business (a framework), so that you can effectively and efficiently learn more about business and organizations from the perspectives of your roles: as a citizen, consumer, employee, and possibly businessperson. All of us have the roles of a citizen and a consumer. Most of us have the role of an employee of an organization. And, some of us may choose the role of a businessperson. How a Business Works seeks to make business understandable to citizens and consumers. The book can help you in your career whether you are an employee of an organization or are self employed. And, finally, the book can assist you in becoming a businessperson.

This volume documents military advances in personnel measurement technology and practices. The military is the unquestionable forerunner of this technology. Until now some of this knowledge has not been easily accessible to the scientific community at large. This book highlights advances in enlisted personnel screening and selection from World War I to the present. It foresees the future era of testing, through the use of Item Response Theory, computerized adaptive testing, and the development of new computerized tests. The contributors study the use of computer systems to address person-job match and vocational guidance. They also describe selection to various officer candidate programs and examine the criteria of enlisted performance during peacetime.

"Military Personnel Measurement" covers the full scope of military personnel technology and includes discussions of current topics including: computerized vocational guidance systems; advances in vocational testing; personnel classification; evaluations of enlisted performance. Students and professionals in the areas of personnel management, business administration, military studies, or anyone interested in the use of new technology in the testing and evaluation of personnel, will find "Military Personnel Measurement "a valuable resource.

Climate change is real. Time to spring into action. Introducing: The Time is Now, a toolkit for serious change. Use this timely card game to challenge, inspire, pitch and get serious results for positive impact. The kit consists of 60 tool cards that trigger questions and inspire possible solutions by fellow players. Questions like: what can you do to stay out of a polluting hospital? What would your holiday look like with zero CO2 emissions? How do you co-travel to the office? With whom would you work together for a healthier living and working environment? Invite your colleagues, friends and family and move to a more sustainable planet one step at a time. In three rounds you'll discover new options, practical solutions, and put these in the simplest plan of approach, you have ever seen. Share your plans, stick them to the wall or on your companies' message board and create real change. With the workshop version the game ends in making a canvas with things you can start doing tomorrow, next week and this year. Use the The Time is Now toolkit to grow ideas and start changing the world around you and inspire to make changes. Make a difference, one step at a time. The Time really is Now! * From the authors of The Startup Game * Challenge, inspire, pitch and get serious results for positive impact. * Translate complex and scientific models and tools into everyday professional and private life. * Inspired by the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDG's). * Generate more effective ideas than any other toolbox in just 45 minutes.

The complexity and dynamism of organizations make them difficult to understand and manage. This book presents the workings and designs of organizations and identifies the types of problems encountered by organizational workers. Allcorn provides an essential focus on dynamic workplace theory, questioning the current and future value of today's bureaucratic, hierarchic organizational structure. Allcorn advocates a shared theoretical perspective that is clear and comprehensive. His theory explains organizational life, encompassing four types of work experience: chaotic, bureaucratic, charismatic, and balanced. He proposes an organizational design that eschews positions of authority and power and eliminates severe, often hindering bureaucracy.

Clear and comprehensible without being simplistic, the book offers insights into how organizations actually function and proposes ways to intervene when organizations grow stale, become self-defeating in their missions, or develop into hostile environments for their employees. The insights and ideas presented here are of considerable and enduring importance to corporate trainers, consultants, group process experts, governmental agencies and entities, executives at all levels, academics, and students of organizational life and its various processes.

An essential handbook of policing leadership behavioural skills for both professional police officers and policing students aspiring to join the force. The behaviours examined are of relevance to all ranks and roles, from a newly appointed police constable to an executive officer. Behavioural soft skills are essential to effective policing practice and professional development, and are particularly significant in leadership and management roles. This handbook examines the key leadership behaviours and focuses on discreet aspects within policing as well as describing a career timeline. In addition it provides a unique opportunity for leaders to articulate the effects the Covid-19 pandemic has had on law enforcement, examining the impact on policing behaviours and what the blockages are. Each chapter is written by a well-established serving police leader or policing scholar, bringing together a wealth of experience and understanding and applying this knowledge in context through key case studies and examples. It bridges the gap between theory and practice so readers can apply what they have learnt to their policing roles and effectively formulate and describe their own leadership philosophy and style. This is a companion book to Behavioural Skills for Effective Policing.              

"An outstanding book about CEOs who excelled at capital allocation." -- Warren Buffett #1 on Warren Buffett's Recommended Reading List, Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholder Letter, 2012 Named one of "19 Books Billionaire Charlie Munger Thinks You Should Read" in Business Insider. "A book that details the extraordinary success of CEOs who took a radically different approach to corporate management." -- Charlie Munger, Vice-Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Corporation "Thorndike explores the importance of thoughtful capital allocation through the stories of eight successful CEOs. A good read for any business leader but especially those willing to chart their own course." -- Michael Dell, chairman of the board of directors and chief executive officer of Dell What makes a successful CEO? Most people call to mind a familiar definition: "a seasoned manager with deep industry expertise." Others might point to the qualities of today's so-called celebrity CEOs--charisma, virtuoso communication skills, and a confident management style. But what really matters when you run an organization? What is the hallmark of exceptional CEO performance? Quite simply, it is the returns for the shareholders of that company over the long term. In this refreshing, counterintuitive book, author Will Thorndike brings to bear the analytical wisdom of a successful career in investing, closely evaluating the performance of companies and their leaders. You will meet eight individualistic CEOs whose firms' average returns outperformed the S&P 500 by a factor of twenty--in other words, an investment of $10,000 with each of these CEOs, on average, would have been worth over $1.5 million twenty-five years later. You may not know all their names, but you will recognize their companies: General Cinema, Ralston Purina, The Washington Post Company, Berkshire Hathaway, General Dynamics, Capital Cities Broadcasting, TCI, and Teledyne. In The Outsiders, you'll learn the traits and methods--striking for their consistency and relentless rationality--that helped these unique leaders achieve such exceptional performance. Humble, unassuming, and often frugal, these "outsiders" shunned Wall Street and the press, and shied away from the hottest new management trends. Instead, they shared specific traits that put them and the companies they led on winning trajectories: a laser-sharp focus on per share value as opposed to earnings or sales growth; an exceptional talent for allocating capital and human resources; and the belief that cash flow, not reported earnings, determines a company's long-term value. Drawing on years of research and experience, Thorndike tells eye-opening stories, extracting lessons and revealing a compelling alternative model for anyone interested in leading a company or investing in one--and reaping extraordinary returns.

The main purpose of this book is intended to show what was and what could have been accomplished in terms of economic benefits, based on the enormous deployment of; mechanization, fixed mechanization and automation after the 1970 Re-organization. Then realizing that the Postal Service will be moving into a future period of limited potential for ongoing meaningful reductions in operating costs from the deployment of automation equipment, I decided to also provide some options for future productivity improvements. However, the various issues raised in this book should also provide the Postal Service other options to deal with current and future needs.

Building public sector image and trust in Africa requires judicious use of appropriate marketing communications tools and platforms. Contributing authors to this second volume of a two-volume work offer insights into how the selection and strategic utilisation of marketing tools will facilitate interactions between the government and the citizens, improve inter-governmental and inter-agency collaboration, and boost a citizen-oriented public sector. Traditional marketing communications tools continue to play a key role in citizen and public sector relationships; however, given mega-trends of demographic change, urbanisation, and digitalisation in Africa, it is important to consider how public institutions, including government agencies, local government, universities, and football associations, respond and adapt to these changes. The digital revolution presents an opportunity for public sector institutions to align their communication plans with new technologies, particularly leveraging social media platforms. Together with the first volume, which focuses on public relations and brand communication perspectives, this collection fills an existing information gap evident in Africa’s public sector literature. The text serves as a decision making, teaching, and learning guide for practitioners, faculty, and students interested in applying marketing principles and practices to the public sector.  

Kurt Behm was a typical, middle class baby-boomer kid growing up in the 1950s. While playing badminton with his Sister in the back yard, he tried to retrieve a shuttlecock (birdie) that got stuck up in one of the pine trees which separated the woods from his backyard. His Mothers aluminum clothespole was his weapon of choice. Again and again he threw it up into the tree with no success, until all at once it looked like the 4th of July. Fire and sparks were everywhere. The aluminum clothes pole had threaded itself between the electrical wires that ran hidden through the trees. It was now acting as a conductor between all three wires, creating an effect his father later compared to Guadalcanal. The ensuing fire burned the woods completely to the ground. A year later and amidst the charred remains, his township had the foresight and the vision to turn that rubble into what every red-blodded boy of that era dreamed of having for himself ............. a Playground. Kurt's life from then on would never be the same

A robust and engaging account of the single greatest threat faced by AI and ML systems In Not With A Bug, But With A Sticker: Attacks on Machine Learning Systems and What To Do About Them, a team of distinguished adversarial machine learning researchers deliver a riveting account of the most significant risk to currently deployed artificial intelligence systems: cybersecurity threats. The authors take you on a sweeping tour – from inside secretive government organizations to academic workshops at ski chalets to Google’s cafeteria – recounting how major AI systems remain vulnerable to the exploits of bad actors of all stripes. Based on hundreds of interviews of academic researchers, policy makers, business leaders and national security experts, the authors compile the complex science of attacking AI systems with color and flourish and provide a front row seat to those who championed this change. Grounded in real world examples of previous attacks, you will learn how adversaries can upend the reliability of otherwise robust AI systems with straightforward exploits. The steeplechase to solve this problem has already begun: Nations and organizations are aware that securing AI systems brings forth an indomitable advantage: the prize is not just to keep AI systems safe but also the ability to disrupt the competition’s AI systems. An essential and eye-opening resource for machine learning and software engineers, policy makers and business leaders involved with artificial intelligence, and academics studying topics including cybersecurity and computer science, Not With A Bug, But With A Sticker is a warning—albeit an entertaining and engaging one—we should all heed. How we secure our AI systems will define the next decade. The stakes have never been higher, and public attention and debate on the issue has never been scarcer. The authors are donating the proceeds from this book to two charities: Black in AI and Bountiful Children’s Foundation.

First published in 2000. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Decades of experience with communications enterprises worldwide are the basis for this compilation of thought-leadership papers by EDS executives who serve the communications industry. The papers address key challenges Communications Service Providers (CSPs) face and recommed initiatives for resolving them. EDS believes CSPs can offer a superior customer experience and build sustained customer loyalty by going to market with products and services more quickly and efficiently. But to do so, CSPs must commit to a transformational journey that will ultimately result in customer satisfaction and revenue growth. This insightful book explains how a CSP can reshape its business model and IT environment to achieve significant business results.

An effective Chief Technology Officer shapes almost every aspect of a modern business. This book shares the experience and advice of veteran CTOs and industry experts for handling IT crises, leading tech teams, and creating an inspiring vision for your company. In   Think Like a CTO  you will learn: Effective interaction and relationship building with other C-level executives Creating long term visions and executing on short term goals Interviewing, hiring, and terminating team members Negotiating salaries and managing promotions Architecting future proofed systems Handling security breaches and ransomware attacks Putting together budgets and working with your CFO Identifying and managing outsourced vendor opportunities Managing and communicating bad news by leading with data, not passion Being the kind of leader that employees want to follow and emulate Becoming a CTO is an incredible accomplishment. It’s also one of the hardest transitions a technologist can make. This high-power and high-pressure role demands skills that are rarely developed as a software engineer.   Think Like a CTO  shines a light on all the areas an aspiring CTO needs to master to succeed. You’ll learn how to build incredible working relationships with the rest of the C-suite, transform a company with private equity, and recruit and manage your development team. With this book as your guide, you’ll quickly become a trusted leader figure with an inspiring vision for your company. about the technology Every modern company is a technology company, and that makes the CTO one of the most important leaders in an organization. The CTO must plan a company’s technology vision, build and lead the team to get it done, and effectively interact with business leaders, clients, and investors. A highly effective CTO is vital for a company’s continued growth and success. This book will show you how to be that CTO. about the reader For technology leaders working in or aspiring towards a CTO role.

This book describes the available options, and the rationale for selecting among them, for observing, measureing or assessing process of communication. This approach contrasts radically to the one taken in many preceding volumes which explain the applicability of general types of quantitative research, for example, content analysis, laboratory experiments, and statistical analysis, to the study of communication. This approach focuses on the methodological problems and solutions unique to the study of communication. It provides the readers with an outline of the problems and/or alternatives that face the researcher.

Learning curves are now recognized throughout the business community as valuable aids to improving productivity in the workplace. This volume is a clear and concise handbook intended to provide both the technical and the non-technical reader with a basic understanding of the underlying theory of learning curves, as well as ready access to commonly used learning curve models, formulas, and tables.

Since the book itself is meant to be a handy reference guide, it is organized to make needed information easily available. After a review of basic learning curve theory and a comparison of the most frequently used models, an extensive list of equations is accompanied by everyday examples that illustrate the correct application of learning curve theory as well as solutions to problems that may arise. Tables, graphs, and charts, easily located in the appendixes, can facilitate computations, and a bibliography lists articles, pamphlets, and books that describe learning curve theory and its various uses over the past fifty years. Learning curve analysis, simplified and presented here in a convenient manual, will enable accounting, financial, and purchasing specialists to improve not only employee proficiency forecasting, but also the efficiency of their own productivity.

Responding to the needs of market researchers, business analysts, CI professionals, and other decision makers who understand online technology, Vibert provides a series of problem-driven, analytical frameworks to help them make better sense--and use--of the vast amounts of information now available and easily accessed on the Internet. Organizational decision makers, forced to understand complex competitive environments, have two important aids; analytical tools and information sources. To be truly effective, these tools must be used in concert. Vibert's book focuses on these tools and their usages. In doing so it provides ways for organizational decision makers to protect their own operations as they seek to gain better knowledge of their competitors.

Analysts, market researchers, corporate trainers, CI professionals, and others in decision-making capacities, in industries enabled by the Internet, will see quickly how well the content of Vibert's book fits what they do day-to-day. Academics and other teachers will find that the book challenges the traditional case method style of teaching by showing how real-time analysis can be brought into the classroom, the corporate training suite, and other places where information and knowledge are transmitted. Vibert maintains that real-time teaching or training depends on the use of library resources--and the world's largest library is the Internet. Unfortunately, the net has grown so large so fast that stakeholders lack ways to organize the vast quantities of information available there. It is these ways, these tools and resources, that Vibert provides in his discussion of question-driven analytical frameworks, the core of his book.

For me, managing awesome teams was both rewarding and exciting. I learned early on that great managers take care of their team members; they do the right things for the right reasons. By helping team members focus on the same vision, they will begin to feel as if they're playing a championship game every day. People like to win and most dream of being on a winning team. The saying Life is a journey not a destination, is so true. Hopefully this book will provide you with some of those right things to do, or Silver Bullets you might say.