Technological advances in the last five years have allowed organizations to use Business Analytics to provide insights, increase understanding and it is hoped, gain the elusive 'competitive edge'. The rapid development of Business Analytics is impacting all enterprise competences profoundly and classical business professions are being redefined by a much deeper interplay between business and information systems.As computing capabilities for analysis has moved outside the IT glass-house and into the sphere of individual workers, they are no longer the exclusive domain of IT professionals but rather accessible to all employees. Complex open-source data analytics packages and client-level visualization tools deployed in desktops and laptops equip virtually any end-user with the instruments to carry out significant analytical tasks. All the while, the drive to improve 'customer experience' has heightened the demand for data involving customers, providers and entire ecosystems.In response to the proliferation of Business Analytics, a new Center and Masters of Science Program was introduced at the National University of Singapore (NUS). The Center collaborates with over 40 different external partner organizations in Asia-Pacific with which all MSBA students undertake individual projects. Business Analytics: Progress on Applications in Asia Pacific provides a useful picture of the maturity of the Business Analytics domain in Asia Pacific. For more information about the Business Analytics Center at NUS, visit the website at: msba.nus.edu/

This book provides a practical approach to designing and implementing a Knowledge Management (KM) Strategy. The book explains how to design KM strategy so as to align business goals with KM objectives. The book also presents an approach for implementing KM strategy so as to make it sustainable. It covers all basic KM concepts, components of KM and the steps that are required for designing a KM strategy. As a result, the book can be used by beginners as well as practitioners. Knowledge management is a discipline that promotes an integrated approach to identifying, capturing, evaluating, retrieving, and sharing all of an enterprise's information assets. These assets may include databases, documents, policies, procedures, and previously un-captured expertise and experience in individual workers. Knowledge is considered to be the learning that results from experience and is embedded within individuals. Sometimes the knowledge is gained through critical thinking, watching others, and observing results of others. These observations then form a pattern which is converted in a 'generic form' to knowledge. This implies that knowledge can be formed only after data (which is generated through experience or observation) is grouped into information and then this information pattern is made generic wisdom. However, dissemination and acceptance of this knowledge becomes a key factor in knowledge management. The knowledge pyramid represents the usual concept of knowledge transformations, where data is transformed into information, and information is transformed into knowledge. Many organizations have struggled to manage knowledge and translate it into business benefits. This book is an attempt to show them how it can be done.

This book presents the latest key research into the performance and reliability aspects of dependable fault-tolerant systems and features commentary on the fields studied by Prof. Kishor S. Trivedi during his distinguished career. Analyzing system evaluation as a fundamental tenet in the design of modern systems, this book uses performance and dependability as common measures and covers novel ideas, methods, algorithms, techniques, and tools for the in-depth study of the performance and reliability aspects of dependable fault-tolerant systems. It identifies the current challenges that designers and practitioners must face in order to ensure the reliability, availability, and performance of systems, with special focus on their dynamic behaviors and dependencies, and provides system researchers, performance analysts, and practitioners with the tools to address these challenges in their work. With contributions from Prof. Trivedi's former PhD students and collaborators, many of whom are internationally recognized experts, to honor him on the occasion of his 70th birthday, this book serves as a valuable resource for all engineering disciplines, including electrical, computer, civil, mechanical, and industrial engineering as well as production and manufacturing.

This book addresses a broad range of problems commonly encountered in the fields of financial analysis, logistics and supply chain management, such as the use of big data analytics in the banking sector. Divided into twenty chapters, some of the contemporary topics discussed in the book are co-operative/non-cooperative supply chain models for imperfect quality items with trade-credit financing; a non-dominated sorting water cycle algorithm for the cardinality constrained portfolio problem; and determining initial, basic and feasible solutions for transportation problems by means of the "supply demand reparation method" and "continuous allocation method." In addition, the book delves into a comparison study on exponential smoothing and the Arima model for fuel prices; optimal policy for Weibull distributed deteriorating items varying with ramp type demand rate and shortages; an inventory model with shortages and deterioration for three different demand rates; outlier labeling methods for medical data; a garbage disposal plant as a validated model of a fault-tolerant system; and the design of a "least cost ration formulation application for cattle"; a preservation technology model for deteriorating items with advertisement dependent demand and trade credit; a time series model for stock price forecasting in India; and asset pricing using capital market curves. The book offers a valuable asset for all researchers and industry practitioners working in these areas, giving them a feel for the latest developments and encouraging them to pursue further research in this direction.

* The ELS model of enterprise security is endorsed by the Secretary of the Air Force for Air Force computing systems and is a candidate for DoD systems under the Joint Information Environment Program. * The book is intended for enterprise IT architecture developers, application developers, and IT security professionals. * This is a unique approach to end-to-end security and fills a niche in the market.

This book introduces the main concepts of manufacturing systems and presents several evaluation approaches for these systems' evaluation. The relevant macroergonomics methods are summarized and the theoretical framework for Macroergonomic Compatibility construct is explained. This book presents a Macroergonomic Compatibility Model which proposes an instrument in the form of a Macroergonomic. The authors introduce a methodology to obtain a novel Macroergonomic Compatibility Index that enables manufacturing companies to assess and follow their progress on the implementation of macroergonomics practices.

India is still perceived by some as a developing country that has yet to create world-class products of its own. However, this book shows that in recent years India has emerged as a lead market for frugality-driven innovations that are affordable, robust and successful even outside its geographic boundaries. Many global companies have recognized these changes and are ramping up their local R&D capabilities. At the same time, several Indian firms are venturing out to international shores and gaining access to new markets. Using a top-down approach, the book takes a closer look at systems of innovation at work and presents examples of successful, corporate innovations in multiple industries and their contextual conditions.

Why does management encounter people problems whenever organizations attempt to change? Green and Butkus say this occurs because organizations overlook one of the most critical problems of change: how employees react it emotionally. Change is not about work processes or information systems alone. It is also about what people believe and feel--emotions such as anger, anxiety, confusion, and fear. Yet managers are usually unaware of these things, and those who are aware usually lack skills to manage these emotions effectively. They tend to rely on traditional incentive systems, which usually do not work. What does work? The one approach that has been applied consistently with positive results is Green's belief system of motivation and performance.

Green and Butkus show how the belief system helps to bring negative feelings and convictions to the surface. They provide ways to identify the underlying emotional problems and find effective solutions. The belief system works, say the authors, because it goes directly to the source of the problem--employees themselves--to discover why motivation and performance problems occur and what can be done to solve them. This book describes applications of the belief system in a variety of work situations, including a recent effort at organizational transformation with AT&T's Business Communications Services (BCS) Division. It outlines in detail the process that BCS used to implement the belief system, starting at the highest management levels and cascading down to the organization's front lines. With a clear exposition of the belief systeM's theoretical underpinnings and nuts-and-bolts methods, Green and Butkus provide executive decision makers and planners throughout the organization with critical insights into the pitfalls in the implementation process and workable guidance on how to avoid them.

Power and influence are key processes in organizations, and anyone wanting to learn how to lead or manage organizations effectively must first understand the dynamics associated with such processes. One interesting but not surprising fact about knowledge in this area is that scientific theory and empirical research are not new, having first appeared about 50 years ago. However, the rate of knowledge advancement in this domain has not been rapid, and there is still much to learn about organizational power and influence processes. Thus, this fifth volume in Research in Management is devoted to highlighting new theoretical and empirical perspectives that advance the frontiers of knowledge about power and influence in organizations.The chapters of this volume are all related to power and influence, albeit conceptualized somewhat differently and dealing with different substantive domains. However, that these chapters represent interesting and important contributions to knowledge concerning power and influence in organizations, and that each should spark future research that will further enhance the field.

Fashion Supply Chain Management (FSCM) is an important topic in the modern fashion industry. In addition to the traditional functions of logistics management in fashion companies, which include inventory management, transportation management, and facility control, FSCM places a strong emphasis on collaboration and partnership among channel members along the fashion supply chain. Obviously, FSCM provides a very strong area for establishing a competitive edge for fashion companies. Fashion Supply Chain Management: Industry and Business Analysis focuses on reporting both quantitative research on FSCM and exploratory studies on emerging supply chain management issues in the fashion industry. This reference will help both academicians and practitioners understand more about the latest development and solution schemes in FSCM, as it is a pioneering text which reports many important research results in quantitative FSCM.

This textbook addresses the conceptual and practical aspects of the various phases of the lifecycle of service systems, ranging from service ideation, design, implementation, analysis, improvement and trading associated with service systems engineering. Written by leading experts in the field, this indispensable textbook will enable a new wave of future professionals to think in a service-focused way with the right balance of competencies in computer science, engineering, and management. Fundamentals of Service Systems is a centerpiece for a course syllabus on service systems. Each chapter includes a summary, a list of learning objectives, an opening case, and a review section with questions, a project description, a list of key terms, and a list of further reading bibliography. All these elements enable students to learn at a faster and more comfortable peace. For researchers, teachers, and students who want to learn about this new emerging science, Fundamentals of Service Systems provides an overview of the core disciplines underlying the study of service systems. It is aimed at students of information systems, information technology, and business and economics. It also targets business and IT practitioners, especially those who are looking for better ways of innovating, designing, modeling, analyzing, and optimizing service systems.

Garment making has traditionally been a conservative industry in terms of technical innovation. "Micro-Electronics and Clothing" examines this old industry in relation to a very new family of technologies--micro-electronics. Hoffman and Rush explore the likely effects of micro-electronic innovations on international trade in garments. The ask, will the new technology permit the garment industry in the industrialized countries to meet competition from Thirld World exporters more effectively so that import penetration is stopped and reversed? After examining this question from a variety of angles, the authors suggest that there will be a transitional period between the mid-1980s and the mid-1990s during which the technological transformation of the sector will proceed at a relatively slow pace. They also offer suggestions for Third World clothing exporters who may be technologically advanced enought to take advantage of this transitional period to improve their competitiveness and their position in the market. In addition to research in trade and business sources, this book is based on interviews with clothing manufacturers, capital goods suppliers to the clothing industry, industry consultants, industry associations, and official industry bodies. As a result, the authors have produced a case study in how innovations emerge from ideas and how the structure and organization of an industry influence the spread of new techniques.

The authors examine developments in labor standards in global supply chains over the past thirty years, analyzing factors that create challenges and opportunities for improving working conditions. They illustrate the complex dynamics within and among key groups, including brands, suppliers, governments, workers and consumers. Using extended examples from China, Honduras, Bangladesh and the United States, as well as new quantitative evidence, the authors analyze stakeholders and mechanisms that create or obstruct opportunities for improving labor rights. They evaluate key clusters of actors and their interests in order to comprehensively map the complex interactions and relationships that make up global supply chains. Original data and analyses, including four in-depth case studies, present a systematic evaluation of the points of leverage for changing labor standards in sectors including apparel, footwear, and electronics. This exciting new contribution to a burgeoning field of study will benefit scholars of labor rights and human rights, as well as students with an interest in labor and working conditions. It also presents critical information for political scientists, NGOs, and practitioners looking to effect change in working conditions and learn more about key players in the global economy.

"Fort Rules: A Guide to Getting Along" provides a set of guiding principles for all of life's relationships. A gang of kids built a fort and, in the process, identified a few basic rules necessary to establish order from chaos. The "rules" were discovered in the children's secret Fort Book. Hollen applies these rules to real-life adult scenarios and explains why these simple guiding principles can be difficult to implement.

Ten simple rules guaranteed to ensure the success of your team

""Fort Rules" is a succinct, powerful and warm interpretation of the clarity of vision set down by Richard's children and their friends. This is not just another cute, childish business fable. Hollen instills his incredible experience and creates a practical guide to interpersonal relationships in business and real life that you can put into practice immediately. We could all profit by making the Fort Rules part of our next business plan or HR policy "

-Jim Bouchard, America's Black Belt Powervator; Speaker, Coach & Author of Dynamic Components of Personal POWER Visit him at www.JimBouchard.org

"HolIen hit a home run with his book Fort Rules. Along the same lines as the "One Minute Manager" and "Who Stole My Cheese," this book can be read in a sitting. The author takes ten simple rules created by a group of children, who built a fort, and felt they needed some rules to live by... and immediately saw how to, simply and succinctly, apply these same rules to improve your everyday life and business. What I really like about this book is that it can either be read in one sitting or each of the ten fort rules can be studied, learned and applied for a day or week at a time until they become part of your daily routine. If more people would "buy in" to these rules, the world would be a better place. Great job on this book "

-Robert A. LaBrie, Jr., President, Maximum Potential. Visit him at www.maxpo-nlp.com

This edited volume focuses on innovative solutions to the debate on human thriving in the fast emerging technology-driven cyber-physical work context, also called Industry 4.0. The volume asks the important question: How can people remain relevant and thrive in workplaces that are increasingly virtual, technology-driven, and imbued with artificial intelligence? This volume includes two major streams of discussion: it provides multidisciplinary perspectives on what thriving could mean for individuals, managers and organisations in current and future non-linear and Web-driven workspaces. In this context, it points to the need to rethink the curricula of the psychology of human thriving so that it is applicable to Industry 4.0. Second, it discusses the new platforms of learning opening up in organisations and the ways and means with which people's learning practices can be adapted to changing scenarios. Some of these scenarios are: changing job designs and talent requirements; the demand for creativity; the need for virtual teams and intercultural collaborations; and changing emotional competencies. This topical volume includes contributions by scholars from across the world, and is of interest to scholars, practitioners and postgraduate students of psychology, organizational behaviour and human resource management.

Twenty-eight nationally recognized authorities on various aspects of fair employment laws and practices provide sound, innovative, state-of-the art procedures to select job applicants and predict their success. Written by personnel psychologists, attorneys, and human resource specialists, the book helps executives reduce adverse impacts on minorities, women, and older and disabled workers while providing them with the means to develop, evaluate, and if necessary participate in the litigation of employee selection procedures. It will also provide understanding of the ways that personnel psychologists construct and validate tests and how adverse impact is evaluated and interpreted by the Supreme Court. This is an accessible, hands-on resource for executives in various capacities, students in fields related to employee selection, and attorneys concerned with fair employment litigation.

Dr. Barrett points out that human resource people need to learn more about the selection procedures that fairly and accurately identify the most talented members of the applicant pool. Baffled by the way personnel psychologists do their testing, they need ways to evaluate for themselves what the psychologists are telling them. Those who are already familiar with the tools of testing, such as psychometrics, statistics, and test construction, need understanding for how these tests are related to fair employment. Lawyers involved in fair employment litigation need information on how these tools and tactics can be used in the preparation of cases. Dr. Barrett's book provides this information in chapters devoted to the development of fair employment law, ethical standards relating to fair employment testing, standards for job relatedness of selection procedures and the variety of selection procedures available. The book also covers gender issues, the role of the EEOC and other government agencies, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and of special value to HR professionals and executives in other capacities, a checklist to help evaluate the fairness and validity of tests.

This book discusses action-oriented, concise and easy-to-communicate goals and challenges related to quality, reliability, infocomm technology and business operations. It brings together groundbreaking research in the area of software reliability, e-maintenance and big data analytics, highlighting the importance of maintaining the current growth in information technology (IT) adoption in businesses, while at the same time proposing process innovations to ensure sustainable development in the immediate future. In its thirty-seven chapters, it covers various areas of e-maintenance solutions, software architectures, patching problems in software reliability, preventive maintenance, industrial big data and reliability applications in electric power systems. The book reviews the ways in which countries currently attempt to resolve the conflicts and opportunities related to quality, reliability, IT and business operations, and proposes that internationally coordinated research plans are essential for effective and sustainable development, with research being most effective when it uses evidence-based decision-making frameworks resulting in clear management objectives, and is organized within adaptive management frameworks. Written by leading experts, the book is of interest to researchers, academicians, practitioners and policy makers alike who are working towards the common goal of making business operations more effective and sustainable.

This book introduces the reader to the management consultancy technique of Organizational Role Analysis--a technique with the immensely practical purpose of helping managers to stay "in role and on task." As such, it provides a coherent, superbly illustrated framework for in-depth coaching. The ORA method is grounded in a process of consultation that derives from the conjunction of open systems theory, and psychodynamic understandings of human behavior. It enables the collaborative resolution of the mental and emotional tensions represented in the client's work role as he/she strives to manage the dynamics between the organization-in-the-mind and the organization-in-reality.While the method of Organizational Role Analysis presented in this book has been evolving for three decades, published accounts of the work have been sparse, spasmodic, and relatively obscure. This book brings together the work of experienced practitioners from around the globe who illuminate the guiding concepts with lively, practical examples that illustrate the variety of ways in which managers can receive coaching in-depth. These accounts are complemented by an extensive bibliography for further reading.Contributors: John Bazalgette, Ullrich Beumer, Hanna Biran, Irving Borwick, Jane Chapman, Laurence J. Gould, W. Gordon Lawrence, Susan Long, Rose Redding Mersky, John Newton, Bruce Reed, and Burkard Sievers