The rate of failure of IT projects has remained little changed in survey after survey over the past 15-20 years-over 40-50%. This has happened in spite of new technology, innovative methods and tools, and different management methods. Why does this happen? Why can't the situation be better? One reason is that many think of each IT effort as unique. In reality many IT projects are very similar at a high, strategic level. Where they differ is in the people and exact events-the detail. If you read the literature or have been in information systems or IT for some time, you have seen the same reasons for failure and the same problems and issues recur again and again. In this book IT Management experts Ben Lientz and Lee Larssen show you how to identify and track the recurring issues leading to failure in IT projects and provide a proven, modern method for addressing them. By following the recommendations in this books readers can significantly reduce the risk of IT failures and increase the rate of success. Benefits of using this approach: * Issues are identified earlier-giving more time for solution and action. * Issues are resolved more consistently since the approach tracks on their repetition. * You get an early warning of problems in IT work-before the budget or schedule fall apart. * Management tends to have more realistic expectations with an awareness of issues. * Users and managers have greater confidence in IT due to the improved handling of issues. * Since the number of issues tends to stabilize in an organization, the IT organization and management get better at detecting, preventing, and dealing with issues over time-cumulative improvement. * Giving attention to issues make users more realistic in their requests and acts to deter requirement changes and scope creep.

Were you looking for the book with access to MyLab Math Global? This product is the book alone and does NOT come with access to MyLab Math Global. Students, if MyLab Math Global is a recommended/mandatory component of the course, please ask your instructor for the correct ISBN and course ID. MyLab Math Global should only be purchased when required by an instructor. Instructors, contact your Pearson representative for more information. There's no doubt that a manager's job is getting tougher. Do it better, do it faster, do it cheaper are the pressures every manager faces. And at the heart of every manager's job is decision-making: deciding what to do and how to do it. This well-respected text looks at how quantitative analysis techniques can be used effectively to support such decision making. As a manager, developing a good understanding of the quantitative analysis techniques at your disposal is crucial. Knowing how, and when, to use them and what their results really mean can be the difference between making a good or bad decision and, ultimately, between business success and failure. Appealing both to students on introductory-level courses and to MBA and postgraduate students, this internationally successful text provides an accessible introduction to a subject area that students often find difficult. Quantitative Analysis for Decision Makers (formerly known as Quantitative Methods for Decision Makers) helps students to understand the relevance of quantitative methods of analysis to management decision-making by relating techniques directly to real-life business decisions in public and private sector organisations and focuses on developing appropriate skills and understanding of how the techniques fit into the wider management process. Key features: The use of real data sets to show how analytical techniques are used in practice "QADM in Action" case studies illustrating how organisations benefit from the use of analytical techniques Articles from the Financial Times illustrating the use of such techniques in a variety of business settings Fully worked examples and exercises supported by Excel data sets Student Progress Check activities in each chapter with solutions A 300+ page Tutors Solutions Manual

Valuable software, realistic examples, clear writing, and fascinating topics help you master key spreadsheet and business analytics skills with SPREADSHEET MODELING AND DECISION ANALYSIS, 8E. You'll find everything you need to become proficient in today's most widely used business analytics techniques using Microsoft (R) Office Excel (R) 2016. Author Cliff Ragsdale -- respected innovator in business analytics -- guides you through the skills you need, using the latest Excel (R) for Windows. You gain the confidence to apply what you learn to real business situations with step-by-step instructions and annotated screen images that make examples easy to follow. The World of Management Science sections further demonstrates how each topic applies to a real company. Each new edition includes extended trial licenses for Analytic Solver Platform and XLMiner with powerful simulation and optimization tools for descriptive and prescriptive analytics and a full suite of tools for data mining in Excel.

This established and popular text is regarded as one of the clearest and most comprehensive in its field. David Eadson has joined Jon Curwin and Roger Slater in the author team, and together they have sought to offer a more compact book with all the qualities of the previous six editions, whilst strengthening the links to online support materials. The new edition has been enhanced to reflect the latest learning plans and techniques, providing students with all the tools they need to pass the typical Quantitative Methods course. Each chapter focuses on a selection of statistical techniques, illustrated with examples from across business, marketing, economics, finance, and public administration, to appeal to students across the business spectrum. Whilst all core material is covered in the book itself, the online offering has been bolstered to include Parts 6-8 covering 'Modelling', 'Mathematical Topics' and 'Student Guides' respectively, in addition to a wide range of other resources including datasets and extra learning tools. Visual signposts throughout the text guide the student to the online platform to provide a seamless interaction between the two this providing a multi-faceted learning experience. The wide-ranging coverage provided makes this the ideal text for the teaching of quantitative methods across all business disciplines at undergraduate, MBA, and post-experience levels.

Today's economy is rapidly shifting and extremely complex. As we enter this new commercial age, a global restructuring of the business world is underway. Executives must respond to this change by re-imagining their organizations' structures, enhancing product and service offerings, and leveraging emerging technological capabilities in order to keep their organizations vital for years to come.
Written for executives and those aspiring to become one, this book serves as a primer for how to set direction and manage change within the 21stcentury enterprise. Organized into easily accessible checklists, each chapter demystifies a key aspect of today's leadership challenge and outlines the steps necessary to revitalize today's businesses. The 'See It In Action' sidebars provide real world examples of how these concepts are already being implemented in businesses today, featuring companies such as CIGNA HealthCare, Forbes Insights, Virgin Records, DreamWorks Animation, Google, Molex, and Marriott International. Together, these chapter checklists encompass a guide that can be used to institute an overarching, enterprise-wide transformation program and make today's ultra-complex business world a little easier to manage.

The next crisis might be here now, or it might be around the corner. In The Prepared Leader: Emerge from Any Crisis More Resilient Than Before, two history-making experts in crisis leadership-James, dean of The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and Wooten, president of Simmons University-forcefully argue that the time to prepare is always. In no other time in recent history have leaders in every industry and on every continent grappled with so many changes that have independently and simultaneously undermined their ability to lead. The Prepared Leader encapsulates more than two decades of the authors' research to convey how it has positioned them to navigate through the distinct challenges of today and tomorrow. Their insights have implications for every leader in every industry and every worker at every level. In their fast-reading and actionable book, James and Wooten provide tools and frameworks for addressing and learning from crises, and they provide insight into what you need to know to become a Prepared Leader, including: The five phases of crisis management and the skills you need for each phase. They examine how the National Basketball Association and its commissioner, Adam Silver, responded to the COVID-19 pandemic. Making the right decisions under pressure and how to avoid common mistakes. They reveal how Burger King CEO Jose Cil began planning for the aftermath of a crisis right in the middle of one. Building a crisis leadership team and how to lead one that you've inherited. They detail how Wonya Lucas, CEO and President of the Crown Media Family Networks, aligned and mobilized an executive team during a time of crisis. James and Wooten argue that-in addition to people, profit, and the planet-prepared leadership should be the fourth "P" in a company's bottom line. They bring decades of world-renowned research on crisis leadership, diversity and inclusion, management strategy, and positive leadership to the table to help leaders better prepare themselves to lead through crises-and for whatever lies around the corner.

Getting what you want - even if you are the boss - isn't always easy. Almost every organization, big or small, works among a network of competing interests. Whether it's governments pushing through policies, companies trying to increase profits, or even families deciding where to move house, rarely can decisions be made in isolation from competing interests both within the organization and outside it. In this accessible and straightforward account, Hans de Bruijn and Ernst ten Heuvelhof cast light on multi-stakeholder decision-making. Using plain language, they reveal the nuts and bolts of decision-making within the numerous dilemmas and tensions at work. Drawing on a diverse range of illustrative examples throughout, their perceptive analysis examines how different interests can either support or block change, and the strategies available for managing a variety of stakeholders. The second edition of Management in Networks incorporates a wider spread of international cases, a new chapter giving an overview of different network types, and a new chapter looking at digital governance and the impact of big data on networks. This insightful text is invaluable reading for students of management and organizational studies, plus practitioners - or actors - operating in a range of contexts.

'Brilliant and highly entertaining, this book is essential reading for every leader, regardless of age or experience.' - Admiral William McRaven, author of Make Your Bed -------- What if you could learn how to expect the unexpected? In business, like in life, foresight is crucial for avoiding pitfalls and disaster - and yet it's something we spend nearly no time developing. Retired four-star general Stan McChrystal has lived a life associated with the deadly risks of combat; he has been forced to analyse and prepare for situations he didn't even know were possible. As a business consultant, he has seen how hundreds of individuals and organizations - too often and to great cost - fail to mitigate risk. Why? Because they focus on the probability of something happening instead of the interface through which any and all risks can be managed. In Risk: A User's Guide, McChrystal presents a new system of responding to risk. He lays out ten dimensions of control which we can adjust at any given time, no matter the context: narrative, bias, action, timing, adaptability, communication, technology, diversity, structure and leadership. Drawing on compelling examples ranging from military history to the business world, and offering infinitely practical exercises to improve preparedness, McChrystal illustrates how these ten factors are almost always in effect - and how, by considering them constantly, individuals and organizations can exert mastery over every conceivable sort of risk that they might face. We may not be able to see into the future, but Risk gives us a framework for improving our resistance and building a strong defense against what we know -- and what we don't. -------- 'A brilliant user's guide that demonstrates how managing risk is about how we lead, rather than getting mathematical equations right.' - Annie Duke, bestselling author of Thinking In Bets and How To Decide 'Measured, meticulous, and filled with practical, pragmatic wisdom from both war and peace, McChrystal's clear-eyed, unsentimental guidance cuts to the heart of our precarious existence. A must-read leadership bible.' - James Kerr, bestselling author of Legacy 'An essential playbook on mastering all dimensions of risk. For soldiers, educators, CEOs, entrepreneurs, government leaders, and everyone in between.' - Keith Krach, former Undersecretary of State and CEO of DocuSign

While executives are keen to harness organizational knowledge and improve business performance, the topic of how academics can produce rigorous and relevant theory in working relationships with practitioners is a much contested topic. Many aspects of this knowledge co-creation can create tensions, and the ways in which research is conducted and published can affect practitioner acceptance, as well as its consequent uptake and use in different contexts. Expertly compiled by Jean Bartunek and Jane McKenzie, with contributions from global thinkers in the field, this book offers a concise and up-to-date review of the essential analysis and action underlying scholarly engagement with the world of business. It discusses the sorts of capabilities academics need to collaborate effectively with practitioners and illustrates good practice through international case studies drawn from acknowledged centres of excellence. These show how to negotiate different constituencies with different priorities, values, and practices to work together to produce research of rigor and relevance. It will be a key reference and resource for all researchers who are engaged with practitioners, and an invaluable tool for training academics to develop research with impact.

Gain a strong understanding of the role of management science in the decision-making process while mastering the latest advantages of Microsoft (R) Office Excel (R) 365 with Camm/Cochran/Fry/Ohlmann/Anderson/Sweeney/Williams' AN INTRODUCTION TO MANAGEMENT SCIENCE: QUANTITATIVE APPROACHES TO DECISION MAKING, 16E. This market-leading edition uses a proven problem-scenario approach in a new full-color design as the authors introduce each quantitative technique within an application setting. You learn to apply the management science model to generate solutions and make recommendations for management. Updates clarify concept explanations while new vignettes and problems demonstrate concepts at work. All data sets, applications and screen visuals reflect the details of Excel (R) 365 to prepare you to work with the latest spreadsheet tools. In addition, WebAssign courseware demonstrates techniques with instant feedback, problem walk-throughs and step-by-step tutorials.

Sharpen your instincts in a world full of uncertainty and risk. The training to become a fighter pilot is among the most competitive and difficult in the world with fewer than one-in-a-thousand succeeding. Pushing a cutting-edge jet to its limits at over 1,000 mph means that every split-second decision can have catastrophic consequences. Throughout his high-pressure career in the cockpit of the world's most advanced and expensive weapons systems, Hasard Lee learned to master skills at the apex of decision-making theory and practice. Now he shares gripping firsthand accounts from his time as a fighter pilot, and distills what he's learned into a powerful ACE Helix framework that can be used in business and in life, revealing how to: • LEARN BETTER AND FASTER • CULTIVATE MENTAL TOUGHNESS • DEVELOP THE SKILLS TO QUICKLY ASSESS, CHOOSE, AND EXECUTE • AND MUCH, MUCH MORE These combat-tested techniques have already benefitted CEO's, astronauts, CIA agents and many others, and now The Art of Clear Thinking will enable anyone to perform at their peak.

In a category saturated with breezy, self-help volumes, Russell Korobkin's long-awaited The Five Tool Negotiator stands apart as a revelatory guide for anyone eager to improve their bargaining skills. The nationally renowned author, who has spent three decades studying successful negotiations, now shares five distinct "tools" that we can all readily utilise: Bargaining Zone Analysis, Persuasion, Deal Design, Power and Fairness Norms. Drawing on his academic research, Korobkin incorporates lively anecdotes that bring to life concepts from the disparate fields of psychology, economics and game theory, along with fascinating social science experiments. These invaluable tools can be applied to everyday negotiations and transactions-from consumers hoping to obtain the best price for a used car to executives trying to close a multimillion-dollar deal. Intuitively accessible and reassuringly persuasive, this is a vital guide to mastering the critical skills of negotiation at the social, cultural and human level.

This book provides administrators in public and non-profit organizations with direction and a framework from which to lead their organizations effectively. Taking a global approach to the issues administrators need to examine when managing a group of employees at any level (including budgeting and expenditures, forecasting, policy creation and execution, communication and reporting), this book explores the driving forces in organizational decision making. Author Nick Valcik takes a holistic view on organizational management, beginning with the core aspects of public organizations and the leadership competencies necessary to manage an organization successfully. Designed to be used on undergraduate and graduate courses in public administration and in public affairs programs, the book discusses the basics of organizational structure, delves into risk management issues, and offers a set of tools that can be used by administrators to make informed decisions based on actual data or documented processes. Throughout the book, real world case studies provide students and practitioners with a clear understanding of how exactly the right decision tool may be applied when facing a particular decision in any organization.

'Highly instructive . . . provides thoughtful analysis' Financial Times 'Exactly what any prospective-or sitting-board member needs' Arianna Huffington 'A must read . . . highly engaging . . . an indispensable guide to how boards function, malfunction, and, most importantly, should operate better' Mohamed A. El-Erian Corporate boards have never been under greater pressure. They face hostility from every quarter: society, investors, and regulators. A Harvard study found that 51 percent of 18-29 year olds do not support market capitalism; in 2018, the Founder-CEO of Blackrock, the world's largest investor, warned CEOs of public companies that they "must not only deliver financial performance but also show how it makes a positive contribution to society;" On the 2020 campaign trail, U.S. Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren applauded such talk but warned that they expected action. HOW BOARDS WORK is, at its core, about the need for corporate boards to fundamentally change. Not least of which is the need for the boards and the corporations that they lead to adapt to the rapid changes in business, geopolitics, technology and societal norms currently afoot. Most people, including business executives and employees, even shareholders and many legislators, understand little about what boards actually do. HOW BOARDS WORK will fill that vacuum by bringing readers into boardrooms for an insider's view of the tensions and shortcomings of boards, the conflicting priorities and trade-offs they face, and why some fail and others succeed.

For decades business management teams have learned lessons and absorbed wisdom from an array of disciplines - psychology, sociology, biology and more - but philosophy, and the wisdom it embodies, has long been overlooked. World-renowned business philosopher Anders Indset wants to correct this oversight through his mission to introduce practical philosophy into every organisation. Intended as a source of inspiration, Philosophy@Work explores the integration of philosophical tenets into the business landscape, and how they can be applied to personal development, the art of leadership and coping with the forces of change. Within its pages are reflections from twenty-seven of the world's leading business thinkers, including Dorie Clark, Erica Dhawan, Mark Esposito, Stew Friedman, Marshall Goldsmith, Anil K. Gupta, Gianpiero Petriglieri, Haiyan Wang and many more. Through articles, interviews, and essays, they share their insights into the profound impact philosophy can have on business. This is a starting point to a world of practical applied philosophy, a first glimpse into the beginning of a new era.

Bring your company into the digital era without compromising your core business In The Digital Transformer's Dilemma: How to Energize Your Core Business While Building Disruptive Products and Services, the authors show companies how to go digital while also advancing their core business. The book emphasizes how to strike a difficult balance between establishing a new (digital) business and re-vitalizing - and digitizing - the legacy business. The core of the book is focused on the actual implementation of the digital transformation across both businesses, providing concrete tips, tricks, tools and action plans across six key dimensions: Crafting a flexible organization Using technology as a driver Designing the necessary processes Building transformational leaders "Right-skilling" the workforce of the future Galvanizing cultural change The Digital Transformer's Dilemma is a very visual book, filled with dozens of engaging illustrations that bring the contained concepts to life on the page. Based on 100+ interviews with senior executives at leading companies (such as Nestle, Novartis, Volkswagen, BNP Paribas, BASF and Michelin) and smaller hidden champions, numerous illuminating case studies, and the authors' own experience from working in international management consulting and years of academic experience, the book highlights the fundamental principles required for executives and businesspeople to transform legacy organizations into digitally empowered companies.

It's not what we know, but how we learn. This is the key that Learning to Read the Signs uses in order to evaluate and apply ideas and facts to one's organization life. The book asks the reader to go back to and reclaim pragmatism: an activity of thought involving four parts: Investigation, Hypothesis, Action, and Testing. Pragmatism is a method of interpretation or inquiry which offers to the thoughtful business practitioner a way to better understand the reality in which we operate, to think critically and creatively, and for business people to think together to make the best use of all our perspectives and talents. Questions raised in this book include: What are the signs telling us? Where are we headed and why? Why are things going the way they are? What is our purpose?

With the right mindset and insight, anyone can become a millionaire. Are you tired of just paying bills until you die? Are you wasting your life at a job that doesn't make you fulfilled or financially secure? Then Future Proofing You: Twelve Truths for Creating Opportunity, Maximizing Wealth, and Controlling Your Destiny in an Uncertain World is for you. In this life-changing book, celebrated author and entrepreneur Jay Samit, who's worked with such visionaries as Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Reid Hoffman, and hundreds of successful entrepreneurs, shares the key understandings and step-by-step process for becoming rich and never needing another job again. To prove the power of his 12 Truths, Samit also details the journey of how he mentored a broke millennial with these principles and empowered him to go from being on welfare to becoming a self-made millionaire in one year. Building upon the principles in his internationally acclaimed book Disrupt You, Samit explains: How to identify an idea and market to start your business How to build a virtual company with little or no capital The latest free software tools for managing your business Ways to get a piece of a trillion-dollar opportunity bigger than mobile How to harness the three primary fears of others to generate more sales Strategies for finding the right mentors to accelerate your success Techniques to structure any deal for creating recurring revenue and lasting wealth This book is perfect for anyone who is tired of jobs with no security, hopes to truly realize their professional and personal potential, and is looking for a way to build a better life for them and their family. Future Proofing You also belongs on the bookshelves of entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs everywhere who hope to inspire their teams to become something greater than what they already are.

"This is one of the most important Agile books since The Phoenix Project." -Charles Betz, Principle Analyst, Forrester Research Winner of the Bronze Medal in Leadership from the Axiom Business Book Awards. It's no secret that we are living in the Digital Age. Technology companies make up seven of the world's ten largest firms by market capitalization. And the key to their success is the key to all modern organizations. Jonathan Smart, business agility practitioner, thought leader, and coach, reveals the patterns and antipatterns that will help organizations from every industry deliver better value sooner, safer, and happier through high levels of engagement, inclusion, and empowerment. Through his decades of experience in the technology world, Smart provides business leaders with a blueprint for creating a world-class organization of the future. Through Agile and Lean ways of working, business leaders can empower teams to improve production, grow together, and create better services for their customers. These better ways of working have overflowed from the IT department to every corner of successful organizations, taking root in every industry from aerospace to accounting, insurance to shipping. This book is not about software development. It is not a book about the computer industry. This book is about applying agility across the entire organization. It's a book that will put you at the front of change and ahead of the competition. "A true business-wide perspective on Digital Transformation and the need for whole business agility." -Adam Banks, Non Executive Director and Former CTIO of AP Moller Maersk **Note from the Authors: Purchases will result in the planting of trees and empowerment of women, in countries with the lowest scores on the IUCN's gender and environment index. It's not just carbon neutral, purchases in any format will result in, on average, 10x greater carbon offset.