The book is about the history of Natuzzi, Italy's largest furniture house. Founded back in 1959 by Pasquale Natuzzi - current Chairman and Chief Executive Officer - in a small village in the South of Italy, Natuzzi is today among the largest players in its sector, with seven manufacturing plants, twelve commercial offices and more than 1200 points of sale worldwide. This book tracks the history of the company, using stories and anecdotes collected through interviews and reading the house organ magazine and the press releases since 1990. The beauty of the company's history lies in putting its social ethical mission at its heart since the beginning while still adopting industrial techniques.

Founded in 1987 by a former engineer in China's People's Liberation Army (Ren Zhengfei), Huawei Technologies is today the world's largest telecoms equipment manufacturer and second behind Apple in smartphones. Its emergence into a multinational with over 175,000 employees all around the world is nothing short of extraordinary. This book gets to the heart of the pioneers within Huawei - the individuals who blazed a trail through unexplored and undeveloped territories, that enabled Huawei to expand globally in such impressive terms. Their personal stories tell us about the extraordinary commitment, determination, and ability required for companies to establish new ground in some of the most difficult parts of the world. This unconventional form of heroism remains a central part of Huawei's culture and makes it stand out in today's business world.

First appearing in 1972, National Express coaches have become a familiar site on the UK's roads, and are very much a part of popular culture, celebrated in songs and on television. With many former National Express vehicles finding their way to preservation, this book explores the history of this very British brand and celebrates the history and heritage of a British institution. The book covers the operations of the business, the evolution of the National Express brand and the development of the fleet up to the latest Caetano Levante, a vehicle designed to meet the operator's very specific requirements for accessibility. Featuring driver stories and passenger memories, together with detailed images, photographs and designs, this book celebrates 50 years of coaching history.

A corporate history of the innovative Benetton Holding Company, Edizione follows the early days of the family-owned brand, through governance and structure changes, mass distribution, infrastructure and network growth, to wider views for the future. In the late 1980s, as a world-class, multi-national and family-run business, the Benetton brand was considered a symbol of Italian entrepreneurial creativity. While at the height of its success, the Benetton family set in motion a process of diversifying its core business, developing its interests in large-scale distribution, infrastructure and the real estate sector. This strategy was made possible by the creation of an independent family-management system: Edizione Srl, today one of Europe's major holding companies. Edizione Srl has investments in many sectors, ranging from motorway and airport catering, infrastructure and mobility, to real estate and agricultural services. 'A shining example of solid, innovative business.' - Ferruccio de Bortoli

The new questionTen years after the worldwide bestseller Good to Great, Jim Collins returns with another groundbreaking work, this time to ask: Why do some companies thrive in uncertainty, even chaos, and others do not? Based on nine years of research, buttressed by rigorous analysis and infused with engaging stories, Collins and his colleague, Morten Hansen, enumerate the principles for building a truly great enterprise in unpredictable, tumultuous, and fast-moving times.

The new studyGreat by Choice distinguishes itself from Collins's prior work by its focus not just on performance, but also on the type of unstable environments faced by leaders today.

With a team of more than twenty researchers, Collins and Hansen studied companies that rose to greatness--beating their industry indexes by a minimum of ten times over fifteen years--in environments characterized by big forces and rapid shifts that leaders could not predict or control. The research team then contrasted these "10X companies" to a carefully selected set of comparison companies that failed to achieve greatness in similarly extreme environments.

The new findingsThe study results were full of provocative surprises. Such as: The best leaders were not more risk taking, more visionary, and more creative than the comparisons; they were more disciplined, more empirical, and more paranoid.Innovation by itself turns out not to be the trump card in a chaotic and uncertain world; more important is the ability to scale innovation, to blend creativity with discipline.Following the belief that leading in a "fast world" always requires "fast decisions" and "fast action" is a good way to get killed.The great companies changed less in reaction to a radically changing world than the comparison companies.

The authors challenge conventional wisdom with thought-provoking, sticky, and supremely practical concepts. They include: 10Xers; the 20 Mile March; Fire Bullets, Then Cannonballs; Leading above the Death Line; Zoom Out, Then Zoom In; and the SMaC Recipe.

Finally, in the last chapter, Collins and Hansen present their most provocative and original analysis: defining, quantifying, and studying the role of luck. The great companies and the leaders who built them were not luckier than the comparisons, but they did get a higher Return on Luck.

This book is classic Collins: contrarian, data-driven, and uplifting. He and Hansen show convincingly that, even in a chaotic and uncertain world, greatness happens by choice, not chance.

Mit Beginn der Wirtschafts- und Bankenkrise im Jahre 2007 wurde die Organ- und Managerhaftung zu einem zentralen aktienrechtlichen Thema. Seit der Krise ist das Rechtsinstitut des besonderen Vertreters gemass 147 AktG von zentraler Bedeutung. Der besondere Vertreter kann unter den Voraussetzungen des 147 AktG von den Aktionaren eingesetzt werden und kann Ersatzanspruche der Gesellschaft anstelle von Vorstand und Aufsichtsrat geltend machen. Auch kann er diese Forderungen gegenuber Vorstand und Aufsichtrat geltend machen. Das Buch untersucht und bewertet die Entwicklung des besonderen Vertreters, definiert seine Rechte und Pflichten sowie seine rechtliche Stellung im Lichte der wichtigsten Rechtsprechung. Auch werden Verbesserungs- und Reformvorschlage im Zusammenhang mit dem Rechtsinstitut vorgestellt.

Tenacious patterns of ethnic and economic inequality persist in the rural, largely minority regions of China's north- and southwest. Such inequality is commonly attributed to geography, access to resources, and recent political developments. In Corporate Conquests, C. Patterson Giersch provides a desperately-needed challenge to these conventional understandings by tracing the disempowerment of minority communities to the very beginnings of China's modern development. Focusing on the emergence of private and state corporations in Yunnan Province during the late 1800s and early 1900s, the book reveals how entrepreneurs centralized corporate power even as they expanded their businesses throughout the Southwest and into Tibet, Southeast Asia, and eastern China. Bringing wealth and cosmopolitan lifestyles to their hometowns, the merchant-owners also gained greater access to commodities at the expense of the Southwest's many indigenous minority communities. Meanwhile, new concepts of development shaped the creation of state-run corporations, which further concentrated resources in the hands of outsiders. The book reveals how important new ideas and structures of power, now central to the Communist Party's repertoire of rule and oppression, were forged, not along China's east coast, but along the nation's internal borderlands. It is a must-read for anyone wishing to learn about China's unique state capitalism and its contribution to inequality.

Bei einer moeglichen Umstellung der Fertigungstechnologie auf "Additive Manufacturing", im Allgemeinen oft als 3D-Druck bezeichnet, mussen auch logistische Strukturen hinterfragt werden. Bisherige Untersuchungen dazu beschranken sich meist auf eine qualitative Analyse. Auf Basis eines Standortplanungsproblems aus dem "Operations Research" entwickelt und untersucht der Autor einen neuartigen Ansatz zur Quantifizierung der Auswirkungen von AM auf zweistufige Supply-Chain-Strukturen. Hierfur werden detailliert logistische Implikationen von AM diskutiert und in ein modifiziertes "Two-Stage Capacitated Facility Location Problem" uberfuhrt. Anhand von 1.225 Instanzen werden optimale Netzwerkstrukturen fur etablierte und additive Fertigungsverfahren bestimmt und mittels sechs logistischer Kennzahlen verglichen.

In 1998, and following 17 years in the army, Jianlin Wang formed a property company in the north-eastern Chinese city of Dalian using a loan of $80,000. Today, Dalian Wanda is China's largest private property developer, generating revenues of $40 billion globally, and owning some 9-million square metres of investment property. In 2012, Wanda became the world's largest theatre owner when it acquired AMC Theatres, with a view to becoming a global entertainment colossus. Wang himself has become Asia's richest man. This book, by its founder and Chairman, provides unprecedented insight into the ethos and activities that have created the extraordinary business success that is the Wanda empire. Wang describes his managerial philosophy and the essence of his business ideas to "make Wanda a brand like Walmart or IBM or Google - a brand known by everyone in the world", and that led The Economist to call him "a man of Napoleonic ambition". As China's influence in the world economy grows led by companies such as Wanda, this book is both timely and relevant.

Gentlemen Bankers investigates the social and economic circles of one of America's most renowned and influential financiers to uncover how the Morgan family's power and prestige stemmed from its unique position within a network of local and international relationships. At the turn of the twentieth century, private banking was a personal enterprise in which business relationships were a statement of identity and reputation. In an era when ethnic and religious differences were pronounced and anti-Semitism was prevalent, Anglo-American and German-Jewish elite bankers lived in their respective cordoned communities, seldom interacting with one another outside the business realm. Ironically, the tacit agreement to maintain separate social spheres made it easier to cooperate in purely financial matters on Wall Street. But as Susie Pak demonstrates, the Morgans' exceptional relationship with the German-Jewish investment bank Kuhn, Loeb & Co., their strongest competitor and also an important collaborator, was entangled in ways that went far beyond the pursuit of mutual profitability. Delving into the archives of many Morgan partners and legacies, Gentlemen Bankers draws on never-before published letters and testimony to tell a closely focused story of how economic and political interests intersected with personal rivalries and friendships among the Wall Street aristocracy during the first half of the twentieth century.

A brilliantly researched and gripping history of the BBC, from its origins to the present day. 'The book could scarcely be better or better timed. It is elegantly written, closely argued, balanced, pulls no punches.' MELVYN BRAGG, GUARDIAN Charlotte Higgins, the Guardian's chief culture writer, steps behind the polished doors of Broadcasting House and investigates the BBC. Based on her hugely popular essay series, this personal journey answers the questions that rage around this vulnerable, maddening and uniquely British institution. Questions such as: what does the BBC mean to us now? What are the threats to its continued existence? Is it worth fighting for? Higgins traces its origins, celebrating the early pioneering spirit and unearthing forgotten characters whose imprint can still be seen on the BBC today. She explores how it forged ideas of Britishness both at home and abroad. She shows how controversy is in its DNA and brings us right up to date through interviews with grandees and loyalists, embattled press officers and high profile dissenters, and she sheds new light on recent feuds and scandals. This is a deeply researched, lyrically written, intriguing portrait of an institution at the heart of Britain. 'Engrossing.' EVENING STANDARD 'Beautifully written'. THE SPECTATOR 'Exactly observed and beautifully written.' MAIL ON SUNDAY 'A loving portrait . . . never creaks with excess.' FINANCIAL TIMES 'A pleasingly intricate jigsaw of biography, politics, and opinion.' INDEPENDENT 'Excellent and enthralling . . . informative, educational and entertaining.' GUARDIAN

This book focuses on the business story of Walt Disney and the company he built. Combining a unique blend of entrepreneurship, creativity, innovation, and a relentless drive to bring out the best in his teams, Walt Disney created one of the most successful ventures in business history. Outlining the specific processes of the company, Goldsby and Mathews provide the reader with the tools they need to embrace their own entrepreneurial leadership style, to lead effectively, to be more innovative, and to build a successful organization. Through the lens of Disney, the reader learns the fundamentals of entrepreneurship, innovation, and leadership. Beginning with a general introduction to the concepts relevant to the entrepreneurial organization today, the book examines how Disney built his empire and how the company remains an industry leader. The book also provides the opportunity to take the Entrepreneurial Leadership Instrument, which measures one's style in leading entrepreneurial ventures. The book is divided into two parts: * Part I provides an overview of Disney's entrepreneurial journey, including the topics of vision, risk-taking, financing, and human resource management; * Part II examines the company's transition from a family business into a global operation, including topics such as succession planning and strategy. Part II also explores Disney Parks and Resorts, the part of the company that interacts directly with customers, including topics such as culture, employee engagement, customer service, and customer experience. Entrepreneurship the Disney Way brings entrepreneurship, innovation, and leadership to life through the compelling story of one of the most recognizable businessmen and companies of our time. The authors' interviews with high-level executives provides the reader with a rare inside look into the way his company functions. Disney fans, executives, and students of entrepreneurship, innovation, and leadership will find it a delightful and informing read.

'An explosive new book' Daily Mail '[A] careful, comprehensive interrogation of every major Facebook scandal. An Ugly Truth provides the kind of satisfaction you might get if you hired a private investigator to track a cheating spouse: it confirms your worst suspicions and then gives you all the dates and details you need to cut through the company's spin' New York Times __________________________________________ Award-winning New York Times reporters Sheera Frenkel and Cecilia Kang unveil the tech story of our times in this riveting, behind-the-scenes expose that offers the definitive account of Facebook's fall from grace. Once one of Silicon Valley's greatest success stories, for the past five years Facebook has been under constant fire, roiled by controversies and crises. It turns out that while the tech giant was connecting the world, they were also mishandling users' data, allowing the spread of fake news, and the amplification of dangerous, polarising hate speech. In a period of great upheaval, growth has remained the one constant under the leadership of Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg. Each has stood by as their technology is co-opted by hate-mongers, criminals and corrupt political regimes across the globe, with devastating consequences. In An Ugly Truth, they are at last held accountable. __________________________________________ 'Better sourced than all of its predecessors in the genre . . . makes for gripping as well as depressing reading. One of the book's striking revelations is that there is more anxiety inside the company than we realised. Many Facebook employees have been anguished, frustrated or angry about what their employer has been doing in its relentless quest for growth. Some have tried to alert their superiors to their concerns. But time and again the bad news hasn't persuaded those bosses because they didn't sync with the overriding imperative of endless corporate growth . . . The problem of Facebook is Zuckerberg. And the question posed by this splendid book is: what are we going to do about him?' Observer, Book of the Week 'What marks this book out is how it gets under the corporate bonnet . . . to build a picture of astounding corporate arrogance and irresponsibility' Sunday Times 'A detailed dismantling of what happened at the highest levels of the company as it pursued a policy of deny, deflect and obfuscate' New Statesman

Der Band untersucht die Auswirkungen des Bilanzrechtsmodernisierungsgesetzes (BilMoG) auf den gesellschaftsrechtlichen Kapital- und Glaubigerschutz. Das BilMoG verfolgt das Ziel, den Informationswert von Jahresabschlussen unter Beibehaltung des Glaubigerschutzniveaus zu steigern. Der Gesetzgeber fuhrte eine ausserbilanzielle Ausschuttungssperre ein, die unsichere Vermoegensgegenstande bei der Ermittlung des ausschuttungsfahigen Vermoegens eliminiert. Trotz dieser minimal-invasiv wirkenden Massnahme wurde ein Paradigmenwechsel eingelautet: Der ausschuttungsfahige Gewinn ist fortan nicht mehr aus der Bilanz ersichtlich, sondern nur noch in Zusammenschau mit Angaben im Anhang ermittelbar. Das Vorsichtsprinzip hat zulasten der Informationsfunktion eine Schwachung erfahren.

Nach der Einfuhrung der 2015er-Novellierung der DIN EN ISO 9001 mussten Bildungsanbieter prufen, ob diese Norm fur ihre Tatigkeit relevant ware. Fraglich ist dabei, ob die demokratisch nicht legitimierten Dokumente privater Normungsorganisationen zur Grundlage von Gesetzen oder Verordnungen werden sollten. Der Autor betrachtet kritisch die DIN EN ISO 9001:2015 auf Grundlage einer Dokumentenanalyse. Die Bezugnahme auf die Norm in der Vertragsgestaltung birgt die Gefahr, dass es weniger um die Qualitat der Bildungsmassnahmen als um den organisatorischen Rahmen geht. Dieser wird mit der Realisierung von Lerneffekten gleichgesetzt, um Vertrauen in den Bildungsanbieter zu ermoeglichen. Damit wird die Problematik der Vertrauenswurdigkeit des Bildungsanbieters auf die Vertrauenswurdigkeit des Bewertungssystems verlagert.

Das Berufsbildungsinstitut Arbeit und Technik - kurz biat - wurde 1997 an der Flensburger Universitat gegrundet. Es hat sich in relativ kurzer Zeit zu einer namhaften Einrichtung fur die Ausbildung von Lehrkraften an berufsbildenden Schulen in den beruflichen Fachrichtungen Elektrotechnik, Fahrzeugtechnik, Informationstechnik und Metalltechnik entwickelt. Daruber hinaus ist das biat eine renommierte Statte der Berufsbildungsforschung geworden. Nach 20 Jahren des Bestehens blicken die Herausgeber zuruck, beschreiben die gegenwartige Situation, und wagen einen Ausblick auf die Zukunft. So versteht sich das biat auch heute noch als starker Fursprecher der beruflichen Bildung: verortet in Flensburg, ausstrahlend regional, national und international.

Eine Ausbildung zum Beruf ist meist die Grundvoraussetzung fur eine erfolgreiche Berufsbiografie. Fur Jugendliche werden jedoch auch oft Ausbildungsangebote geschaffen, die sich zwar an Berufskriterien orientieren, jedoch nicht immer zu gesellschaftlich anerkannten Berufsabschlussen fuhren. Unter anderem werden zeitlich verkurzte Formen der Berufsausbildung entwickelt, um bestimmten Zielgruppen den Berufseinstieg zu erleichtern oder Beschaftigungsfelder mit geringeren Qualifikationsanforderungen zu erschliessen. Der Band stellt empirische Untersuchungen und theoretische Diskussionen aus Deutschland, OEsterreich und der Schweiz zu verkurzten Berufsausbildungen vor, um Wirkungen und Effekte der Konzeptionen zu erschliessen und zu bewerten. Die Buchbeitrage gehen insbesondere der Frage nach, welche Formen der Berufsausbildung als Ausbildung zum Beruf angesehen werden koennen.

Der Autor untersucht mittels eines kontrolltheoretischen Simulationsmodells das strategische Verhalten neu gegrundeter Unternehmen (Innovatoren), die einen Branchenwettbewerb mit etablierten Unternehmen (Imitatoren) erwarten. Als Steuerungsvariablen dienen dem Innovator der Absatzpreis der Produktinnovation und die Werbeausgaben je Periode. Beide Groessen fungieren als Signal fur die angebotene Produktqualitat und reduzieren in Verbindung mit der interpersonellen Kommunikation die Unsicherheit der potentiellen Konsumenten. Die Untersuchung berucksichtigt verschiedene Marktkonstellationen. Der Imitator kann aus Sicht der potentiellen Konsumenten bekannt oder unbekannt sein. Im Ergebnis werden fur den Innovator optimale Preis- und Werbestrategien ermittelt und Handlungsempfehlungen abgeleitet.

How America's biggest company began taking better care of its workers--and why such efforts will never be enough.Fifteen years ago, Walmart was the most controversial company in America. By offering incredibly low prices, it had come to dominate the retail landscape. But with this dominance came a suite of ethical concerns. Walmart was accused of wiping out of mom-and-pop businesses across the country; ruthlessly pressuring suppliers to cut costs, even if it meant closing up U.S. factories and moving production overseas; and, above all, not taking adequate care of its own employees, who were paid so little that many wound up on public assistance. Today, while Walmart remains America's largest employer, the picture is very different. It has become an environmental leader among businesses, and has taken many other steps to use its immense scale to have a positive social impact. Most notably, its starting wage has risen from $7.25 to $12, and employee benefits have improved. With internal and external threats to its business looming, the company began to change directions in 2005-a transformation that accelerated in 2014, with the arrival of CEO Doug McMillon. By undertaking such large-scale change without a legal mandate to do so, Walmart has joined a number of major corporations that say they are dedicated to practicing a new, socially conscious form of capitalism.In Still Broke, award-winning author Rick Wartzman goes inside the company's transformation, showing in novelistic detail how the company has gotten to where it is. Yet he also asks a critical question: is it enough? With a still-simmering public debate around the minimum wage and widespread movements by workers demanding better treatment, how far will $12 an hour go in today's economy? Or even $15? Or Walmart's average wage, which now hovers above $16-but, even so, doesn't pencil out to so much as $35,000 a year for a fulltime worker? In the richest nation on earth, how did the bar get set so low? How did America find itself relying on an army of low-wage workers without ever acknowledging their most basic needs? And if Walmart's brand of change is the best we have, how can we ever expect to build a healthy society?With unparalleled access to the key executives and change-makers at Walmart, Still Broke does more than document a remarkable business makeover. It interrogates the role of business in American life, and asks what the future of our economy and country can be-and whose job it is to make it.

Die Schienenfahrzeugindustrie steht vor der Herausforderung, die kunftige Entwicklung ihres Personals zu gestalten. Eine Massnahme, um Mitarbeiter zu qualifizieren, ist eine betriebliche Weiterbildung. Die Autorin untersucht Einflussfaktoren auf die betriebliche Weiterbildungsbereitschaft des Projektkernteams. Als Grundlage fur die empirische Studie eines Schienenfahrzeugherstellers dienen verschiedene theoretische Ansatze. Die Studie zeigt auf, dass externe Kontextfaktoren und institutionelle Rahmenbedingungen im Umfeld der Schienenfahrzeugindustrie permanenten Veranderungen unterliegen. Diese werden beispielsweise durch die steigende technische Komplexitat der Fahrzeuge hervorgerufen. Die betriebliche Weiterbildungsbereitschaft der Mitarbeiter steht in Abhangigkeit zu dem Verhalten des Vorgesetzten, beispielsweise im Umgang mit auftretenden Schwierigkeiten.

Diese Studie verknupft die Kapitalanlageentscheidungen privater Haushalte im internationalen Rahmen mit der Konvergenz von Rechnungslegungssystemen. Hierzu betrachtet der Autor zunachst die Investitionsentscheidungen privater Investoren aus einer mikrooekonomischen Perspektive, um darauf aufbauend die Rechnungslegungskonvergenz und ihre positiven Effekte auf internationale Investitionen oekonometrisch mittels des Gravitationsmodells zu untersuchen. Hierbei senken sowohl eine Konvergenz im Bereich des Disclosures als auch des Enforcements die landerubergreifenden Informationskosten und foerdern so internationale Investitionen. Die Untersuchung macht deutlich, dass Disclosure und Enforcement in einer interdependenten Beziehung stehen: So ist die Wirkung der Disclosure-Konvergenz umso starker, je mehr das Enforcement konvergiert.