The Hilton brand is arguably one of the most successful and iconic brands in the hospitality industry in all time. The Story of Hilton Hotels: 'Little Americas' provides both an informative historical analysis of the development of the company, as well an engaging narrative about Conrad Hilton himself, illustrating how he fulfilled the typical American dream of rising from rags to riches and constructing a multinational hotel empire. The Story of Hilton Hotels: 'Little Americas' also engages with the wider historical contexts of politics and culture. It analyses some of the key shifts in the area of hotel management including standardisation, asset-light models and delivering the customer experience. Using original data and the first hand academic research the author can use this iconic hotel brand as a lens through which to analyse some of the key theoretical concepts and practices that are used in the industry today. A vital resource for all students (both postgraduate and undergraduate) on hospitality, marketing, business history and business management courses as well as executive courses delivered to hospitality professionals.

'Just read it.' Elon Musk The dramatic inside story of the first four historic flights that launched SpaceX-and Elon Musk-from a shaky startup into the world's leading edge rocket company. SpaceX has enjoyed a miraculous decade. Less than 20 years after its founding, it boasts the largest constellation of commercial satellites in orbit, has pioneered reusable rockets, and in 2020 became the first private company to launch human beings into orbit. Half a century after the space race SpaceX is pushing forward into the cosmos, laying the foundation for our exploration of other worlds. But before it became one of the most powerful players in the aerospace industry, SpaceX was a fledgling startup, scrambling to develop a single workable rocket before the money ran dry. The engineering challenge was immense; numerous other private companies had failed similar attempts. And even if SpaceX succeeded, they would then have to compete for government contracts with titans such as Lockheed Martin and Boeing, who had tens of thousands of employees and tens of billions of dollars in annual revenue. SpaceX had fewer than 200 employees and the relative pittance of $100 million in the bank. In Liftoff, Eric Berger takes readers inside the wild early days that made SpaceX. Focusing on the company's first four launches of the Falcon 1 rocket, he charts the bumpy journey from scrappy underdog to aerospace pioneer. drawing upon exclusive interviews with dozens of former and current engineers, designers, mechanics, and executives, including Elon Musk. The enigmatic Musk, who founded the company with the dream of one day settling Mars, is the fuel that propels the book, with his daring vision for the future of space.

Founded in 1987 by a former engineer in China's People's Liberation Army (Ren Zhengfei), Huawei Technologies is the world's largest telecoms equipment manufacturer and second only to Apple in smartphones. Its emergence into a multinational with over 175,000 employees all around the world is nothing short of extraordinary. This book delves into the financial workings and systems within Huawei - and the individuals whose craftsmanship and excellence enabled Huawei to expand globally in such impressive terms. Their personal stories tell us about the extraordinary vision, dedication, and perseverance required for companies to establish a robust financial system that supports the growth of a world-class company. Huawei's goal is not just to have profitable income and healthy cash flow. More important is that operating results are sustainable.

Much needed in these times when confidence in corporations has eroded, A Business Tale offers you the inspiration to make ethical choices even when it isn't easy or immediately rewarding. Wouldn't it be nice if all executives had a magical rabbit?like the one in the movie Harvey -- following them around reminding them to be ethical? In this charming fable, Aristotle (Ari, for short) is a pooka -- a mythical, invisible creature with a penchant for advising against dishonesty. Our hero, Edgar P. Benchley, has been able to see and hear Ari since childhood, and as he journeys through his professional life, constantly faced with challenging questions of good conduct, Ari helps remind him that nice guys can succeed...even in the world of business. Following the story, inside this book you'll find: real-life examples of ethical situations a 10-step action plan for ethical behavior in the workplace story formatting to impart basics of ethics in the business world A Business Tale is an easy-to-read, unforgettable "spoonful of sugar" to help companies and individuals digest the sometimes tart lessons of practical morality in the workplace.

Since its invention in Italy in the fourteenth century, marine insurance has provided merchants with capital protection in times of crisis, thus oiling the gears of trade and commerce. With a focus on customs, laws, and organisational structures, this book reveals the Italian origins of marine insurance, and tracks the spread of underwriting practices and institutions in Europe and America through the early modern era. With contributions from eleven leading researchers from seven countries, the book examines key institutional developments in the history of marine insurance. The authors discuss its invention in Italy, and its evolution from private to corporate structures, assessing the causes and impacts of various state interventions. Amsterdam and Antwerp are analysed as one-time key centres of underwriting, as is the emergence and maturity of marine insurance in London. The book evaluates an experiment in corporate underwriting in Cadiz, and the development of insurance institutions in the United States, before applying the metrics of underwriting to discuss commerce raiding in the Atlantic up to the nineteenth century.

A colourful history of advertising. The process of producing goods and services is relatively easy to recognize as socially beneficial. But television ads? Telemarketers? Jingles? Junk mail? It is popular to view these commercial activities as inherently wasteful or manipulative, marginally informative or entertaining, at best. The most vociferous critics marshal economic and sociological data to argue that advertising dilutes culture and moral values, encourages conspicuous consumption, defrauds the public, and promotes dangerous products and behaviours. In Selling the Dream, John Hood takes the provocative stand that advertising images and sales pitches are actually part of the goods and services themselves, delivering an essential component of the consumer's experience. As such, they are inextricably linked to the basic tenets of the free-market system, and, in the boldest of terms, Hood argues that commercial communication is morally consistent with the principles of a democratic society, including freedom of choice, competition, and innovation. Tracing the history of advertising from Ancient Roman times to the present, through the first American newspaper ad in 1704, P.T. the modern consumer society, Hood offers a colourful account of advertising in its cultural context. Moreover, he addresses such controversial issues as the promotion of harmful and immoral products (such as tobacco and alcohol), marketing to children, the role of advertising in service industries such as health care and education, and the impact of the Internet and other new media on the conduct of commerce. In the process, he offers a compelling perspective on advertising and its essential role in business, communication, and popular culture. Advertising is a ubiquitous part of our consumer culture. It draws from business, economics, politics, and history to present a colourful picture of advertising in context and argues that advertising is an essential ingredient of competition, innovation, and free-market economic growth. Deals with controversial issues, such as advertising immoral products and advertising to children.

"New York Times" Bestseller,

With a New Afterword
"Schlosser has a flair for dazzling scene-setting and an arsenal of startling facts . . . "Fast Food Nation" points the way but, to resurrect an old fast food slogan, the choice is yours."--"Los Angeles Times"
In 2001, "Fast Food Nation" was published to critical acclaim and became an international bestseller. Eric Schlosser's expose revealed how the fast food industry has altered the landscape of America, widened the gap between rich and poor, fueled an epidemic of obesity, and transformed food production throughout the world. The book changed the way millions of people think about what they eat and helped to launch today's food movement.
In a new afterword for this edition, Schlosser discusses the growing interest in local and organic food, the continued exploitation of poor workers by the food industry, and the need to ensure that every American has access to good, healthy, affordable food. "Fast Food Nation" is as relevant today as it was a decade ago. The book inspires readers to look beneath the surface of our food system, consider its impact on society and, most of all, think for themselves.
"As disturbing as it is irresistible . . . Exhaustively researched, frighteningly convincing . . . channeling the spirits of Upton Sinclair and Rachel Carson."--"San Francisco Chronicle"
"Schlosser shows how the fast food industry conquered both appetite and landscape."--"The New Yorker"
Eric Schlosser is a contributing editor for the "Atlantic "and the author of "Fast Food Nation," "Reefer Madness," and "Chew on This" (with Charles Wilson).

This volume is the result of a symposium in which 15 distinguished scholars, business leaders, lawyers, social scientists, philosophers, and theologians considered management and corporations in 1985.

Take a critical view of the institutions that affect our everyday lives with this extended essay. The most important of these is the modern-day corporation, which continues to resist social control despite an ability to adapt to the environment like no other entity in human history.

Corporations continue to explode with power, and religious, educational, and governmental organizations are looking to them as examples. An increasing number of entities are learning how to conduct themselves by looking at their corporate counterparts, and, as a result, they're no longer fulfilling their true purposes.

Author Francis X. Healy Jr. examines the implications of these disturbing developments. Discover why institutions continue to miss expectations, why society suffers as a result of corporate models, and how money and power interact in problematic ways.

The pursuit of money and power is stifling the true purposes of institutions with honorable objectives. Many groups that once carried at least a facade of being above it all are now stuck in the moneypower continuum; if something doesn't change soon, the consequences will be devastating.

Learning From Upheaval The best seat in the house to understand a centuryOf challenge and transformation.Ideas distilled from substantial investments in human Performance improvement.The story has the all-encompassing sweep of the full twentieth century. Distance learning pioneer Jamison Handy and then Bill Sandy were interacting with America's legendary industrial giants on the topic most relevant to survival and success---the performance of human beings. There is no better vantage point to capture the drama of change. Throughout the turmoil, Sandy's specialty of performance improvement kept him focused not just on what was happening but why, and most important, what could be done about it. Sophisticated concepts of personal and organizational growth are served up as stories. Bill Sandy's success depended on his ability to understand issues, conceptualize solutions, and convey those concepts in a way that others could easily grasp. The author, who has lived through all the fads, extracts major principles from the turbulence and offers wisdom a man can do when he reflects on a lifetime spent riding the waves of change. One core principle is to maintain a sense of humor. Irreverence gives spice to this saga of personal and organizational transformation. www.LearningFromUpheaval.com

First published in 1981, this edited collection reviews the operations of state-owned enterprises, examining the actual performance of such organisations in the advanced industrialised countries. The authors consider the regularities and characteristics of state-owned enterprises, in particular the persistent efforts of managers to increase their autonomy and escape from the oversight of government agencies and the public. Chapters consider principles of finance and decision-making in these organisations and provide a truly international perspective with case studies in Italy, France and Britain. This is a timely reissue in context of the current economic climate, which will be of great value to students and academics with an interest in the nationalisation of companies, international business and the relationship between governments and managers.

THE ILLUSTRATED STORY OF SUN RECORDS AND THE 70 RECORDINGS THAT CHANGED THE WORLD Sun Records: the company that launched Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, and Carl Perkins. This is where Rock 'n Roll was born. Written by two of the most acclaimed music writers of our time, The Birth of Rock n' Roll: 70 Years of Sun Records looks at this history of this legendary label through the lens of 70 of its most iconic recordings. Accompanying the recordings is the label's origin story and a look at the mission of the label today, as well as fascinating dives into subjects such as the legendary Million Dollar Quartet, and how the song "Harper Valley, PTA" funded the purchase of the label. Featuring hundreds of rare images from the Sun archives as well as a foreword by music legend Jerry Lee Lewis, this is a one-of-a-kind book for anyone who wants to know where it all started.