Contracts form an integral part of strategic sourcing in modern supply chains. They bind people, customers, suppliers and organisations into a coherent working relationship whereby goods and services are exchanged in a mutually agreed framework. Contract management provides an introduction to the basic management principles of planning, organising, directing and control as an approach to managing contracts. Contract management explains the importance of managing the content of the contract as well as the contracting process so that unnecessary problems can be prevented and, as a result, important relationships can be maintained. The chapter on broad-based black economic empowerment has been removed from this edition as this is now well established, and new regulations in terms of the Preferential Procurement Policy Framework Act have been introduced. South African and US case studies are included, which should give learners a broad insight into some practical problems that may occur in contracts. The late Gideon Nieman is was professor emeritus and former head of the Department of Business Management at the University of Pretoria. He worked for more than 20 years in senior positions in trade and industry before joining academia. He also presents presented short courses on contract management and procurement.

This textbook provides a comprehensive overview of the essential issues in effective entrepreneurial management. It first introduces readers to the fundamentals of entrepreneurial management, the nature of entrepreneurial managers and business planning, before exploring the specific topics of creativity and innovation, risk management, entrepreneurial marketing and organization as well as financing. The authors then move to contemporary topics such as entrepreneurial growth strategies, e-commerce challenges, ethical and socially responsible entrepreneurial management, franchising, and managing entrepreneurial family ventures. Each chapter provides a case study and several practice-based examples to help explain the concepts. By providing a truly international approach, this text offers ample theoretical and empirical insights into entrepreneurship and small business management. It is a valuable and up-to-date resource for teachers and students of entrepreneurship.

Companies get into trouble due to ineffective management decisions, but most books on management don't focus on making better choices. Perhaps that's because not many were written by CEOs with effective leadership track records.

Martin Richenhagen, who has successfully led multimillion-dollar companies, presents this guide illustrating how a business leader must approach various situations and challenges. In the fast-paced, change-on-a-dime business world, these kinds of insights are essential.

Whether you're a CEO, a senior manager, or an up-and-comer preparing for the future, Simply Management can help you improve your day-to-day effectiveness and leadership. You can learn how to develop a strategic plan that meets business objectives; organize the company for maximum effectiveness; motivate, empower, and help employees advance; and set up proper governance and controls.

Case studies show how to avoid managerial mistakes and duplicate best practices that lead to the best outcomes. The manager's essential contribution to productivity must always involve focusing on managerial tasks and delegating expert responsibilities, and you can do it right with Simply Management.

Translated around the world, and recommended reading on many coaching programmes this bestselling book is trusted globally as the definitive guide to coaching. This carefully revised edition will guide you through the entire process from first meeting to when coaching ends, with methods, tips and techniques that simply work. Understand and develop the core skills and beliefs of an effective coach Know how to ask insightful questions that deliver valuable answers Gain practical help to plan coaching assignments that accelerate and improve your results Adeptly handle the main barriers to great coaching Feel fully confident in your ability to coach in any situation Whether you're new to coaching or already an experienced coach, you'll find clear guidance and principles to help you coach more effectively and with greater impact. To support you further The Coaching Manual has a range of free to download resources - templates, tools and checklists.

Many companies today are unable to respond fast enough to market shifts because they have concentrated too much on making technology more specialized to their own needs, hoping that this will preserve their competitive edge. Unfortunately, this has actually left many R&D staff short of the cross-functional skills they need to enable large projects to work. This innovative and original book, written by a leading management consultant, addresses these concerns and provides new insights into the theories and practices of innovation management. Ultimately, this book argues, the innovation process is no longer limited to 'know-how' but depends instead on 'know-who'. For companies to remain competitive and respond to market shifts, they must change their focus from internal specialization to learning through relationships. Three in-depth case studies from Canon, Sony and Toyota demonstrate the intracorporate benefits of external collaboration. This book provides concrete examples on how these companies use the principles of open sharing ideas, technologies and human resources; and performance measurement systems that reward cooperation and collective achievements. More importantly, it links the Japanese 'learning through know-who principle' with these practices in order to explain the high R&D performance, reduced development lead-times and improved overall competitiveness of these three firms. This book will be of great interest to business managers, international scholars of R&D and innovation and postgraduate students taking courses in technology and innovation.

Innovation is critically important for countries seeking to maintain or improve their competitive advantage in the global economy. This book addresses the major current policy debates in science, technology and innovation focusing mainly on Europe but also including comparisons with other countries around the world.The R&D policies of five European countries - the UK, The Netherlands, France, Finland and Germany - are examined to understand national innovation systems and public policies, the determination of R&D spending priorities, research responsibilities and the allocation of funds. The authors combine interviews with senior civil servants, analyses of government publications and various government statistics on R&D performance. They consider national debates on science, technology and innovation policies within the wider context of the overarching political and administrative culture, and relate actual innovation and research policies to structural and institutional features of national economies. This book will be warmly welcomed by scholars and all those in decision making positions in government and non-governmental institutions on research, innovation and technology.

The management of design has emerged as central to the operational and strategic options of any successful organization. The Handbook of Design Management presents a state-of-the-art overview of the subject - its methodologies, current debates, history and future. The Handbook covers the breadth of principles, methods and practices that shape design management across the different design disciplines. These theories and practices extend from the operational to the strategic, from the product to the organization. Bringing together leading international scholars, the Handbook provides a guide to the latest research in the field. It also documents the shifts that have been taking place both in management and in design which have highlighted the value of design thinking and design education to organizations. Presenting the first systematic overview of the subject - and offering a wide range of examples, insights and analysis - the Handbook is an invaluable resource for researchers and students in design and management, as well as for design practitioners and professional managers.

The ultimate success or failure of a business in modern society depends on a variety of factors across all levels of the organization. By utilizing dynamic human resource planning techniques, businesses can more efficiently reach their goals. Effective Talent Management Strategies for Organizational Success is a pivotal reference source that provides scholarly perspectives on the latest practices for leveraging human capital in business environments to maintain and increase competitive advantage. Highlighting innovative coverage across relevant topics, such as division of labor, intellectual assets, and value creation systems, this book is ideally designed for managers, professionals, academics, practitioners, and graduate students seeking emerging research on optimizing talent management in modern businesses.

Society's growing dependence on information technology for survival has elevated the importance of controlling and evaluating information systems. A sound plan for auditing information systems and the technology that supports them is a necessity for organizations to improve the IS benefits and allow the organization to manage the risks associated with technology. Auditing Information Systems gives a global vision of auditing and control, exposing the major techniques and methods. It provides guidelines for auditing the crucial areas of IT--databases, security, maintenance, quality, and communications.

In recent years, information and communication technologies (ICTs) have gained significant importance and become vital to the operations of both organizations and individuals. However, there are numerous factors that have affected the adoption of ICTs including access and accessibility barriers, political participation, and social empowerment. This has attracted the attention of researchers who are interested in understanding the socioeconomic influences of ICT adoption and how these technologies impact the infrastructure of modern organizational activities. Recent Developments in Individual and Organizational Adoption of ICTs is a collection of innovative research on the methods of organizational and infrastructural advancement through the application of information and communication technologies. While highlighting topics including internet banking, supply chain management, and e-government services, this book is ideally designed for managers, researchers, policymakers, politicians, business practitioners, educators, decision scientists, strategists, and students seeking current research on the socioeconomic impact of ICT adoption.

The market for retirement financial advice has never been more important and yet more in flux. The long-term shift away from traditional defined benefit pensions toward defined contribution personal accounts requires all of us to be more sophisticated today than ever before. However, the landscape for financial advice is changing all over the world, with new rules and regulations transforming the financial advice profession. This volume explores the market for retirement financial advice, to explain what financial advisors do and how to measure performance and impact. Who are these professionals and what standards must they abide by? How do they make money and what are their incentives? How can one protect clients from bad advice, and what is good advice? Does advice alone effect changes in personal habits? Answering these questions, along with new technology that will decrease the delivery costs of advice, will play a transformative role in helping more households receive the quality financial advice that they need. Accordingly, this volume illuminates the market and regulatory challenges so as to enhance consumer, plan sponsor, and regulator decisions.

How have employment relations evolved over the last decade? And how did workplaces and employees fare in the face of the longest recession in living memory? Employment Relations in the Shadow of Recession examines the state of British employment relations in 2011, how this has changed since 2004, and the role the recession played in shaping employees' experiences of work. It draws on findings from the 2011 Workplace Employment Relations Study, comparing these with the results of the previous study conducted in 2004. These surveys - each collecting responses from around 2,500 workplace managers, 1,000 employee representatives and over 20,000 employees - provide the most comprehensive portrait available of workplace employment relations in Britain. The book provides an in-depth analysis of the changes made to employment practices through the recession and of the impact that the economic downturn had on the shape and character of the employment relationship.

Rapid changes in technological development are forcing businesses to continuously innovate to improve their competitiveness, which is particularly evident in logistics and supply chain management (SCM), where innovation impacts both the strategic and operational levels. Supply Chain Innovation for Competing in Highly Dynamic Markets: Challenges and Solutions investigates the role of innovation in the management of supply chains of today. This book focuses on supply chain integration from both strategic and operational perspectives and the impact of information technology-related innovation in supply chain and logistics service industries. It also analyzes how environmental innovation affects logistical decisions throughout the supply chain and the strategies employed in managing logistics-related environmental impacts. Finally, the book explores theoretical and practical implications of innovation in the management of supply systems.

El presente libro retoma la cuestion de la calidad desde el concepto "la calidad de los productos y servicios de las organizaciones son el resultado de la calidad de las personas que participan en ella," bajo esta premisa desarrolla los elementos que, a la postre, incidiran en los resultados de la misma, los principios en que se fundamenta, las experiencias en la aplicacion y practicas sugeridas al interior de la colectividad que constituye la empresa que permitan identificar las areas de oportunidad y desarrollar acciones orientadas a sostener los estandares de calidad.

The PCP's Bicentennial Edition Remington: The Science and Practice of Pharmacy, Twenty Third Edition, offers a trusted, completely updated source of information for education, training, and development of pharmacists. Published for the first time with Elsevier, this edition includes coverage of biologics and biosimilars as uses of those therapeutics have increased substantially since the previous edition. Also discussed are formulations, drug delivery (including prodrugs, salts, polymorphism. With clear, detailed color illustrations, fundamental information on a range of pharmaceutical science areas, and information on new developments in industry, pharmaceutical industry scientists, especially those involved in drug discovery and development will find this edition of Remington an essential reference. Intellectual property professionals will also find this reference helpful to cite in patents and resulting litigations. Additional graduate and postgraduate students in Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences will refer to this book in courses dealing with medicinal chemistry and pharmaceutics.

One of the most pivotal tasks of a regional government is to find different and innovative ways to develop their economies. Formulating universities, in that respect, potentially holds the key to competitive global economic success. Smart Specialization Strategies and the Role of Entrepreneurial Universities is a crucial reference source that examines a new competitive paradigm where universities can act as a partner institution, policy actor, and producer of knowledge that can affect the potential for economic growth and development of regions. While highlighting topics such as economic development, entrepreneurship ecosystem evolution, and regional competitiveness, this publication explores the varying dynamics that are evolving toward the successful mobilization of university resources on regional economies. This book is ideally designed for policymakers, administrators, researchers, developers, academicians, marketers, and business professionals.

Organizations that utilize data mining techniques can amass valuable information on clients habits and preferences, behavior patterns, purchase patterns, sales patterns, and stock forecasts. Ethical Data Mining Applications for Socio-Economic Development provides an overview of data mining techniques under an ethical lens, investigating developments in research and best practices, while evaluating experimental cases to identify potential ethical dilemmas in the information and communications technology sector. The cases and research in this book will benefit scientists, researchers, and practitioners working in the field of data mining, data warehousing, and database management to ensure that data obtained through web-based investigations is properly handled at all organizational levels. This book is part of the Advances in Data Mining and Database Management series collection.

Written by a team of highly experienced and successful executive leadership consultants, this book offers 10 data-driven insights regarding leadership effectiveness, accompanied by practical and easy-to-implement recommendations that directly serve the development of leadership ability. What makes How Leaders Improve: A Playbook for Leaders Who Want to Get Better Now markedly different from and better than the scores of other books on the topic of leadership? Instead of dedicating their efforts to imparting wisdom on what makes a great leader, the three-person leadership training "dream team" behind this book explain how already-effective leaders can actually get better. How Leaders Improve is a data- and research-driven playbook for how any leader can improve their leadership abilities in a practical, immediate way. Authors Gates, Graddy, and Lindekens-all experienced executive coaches and leadership development consultants-have spent their careers developing leaders, and now they share 10 key insights derived from interviews with leaders who achieved significant improvements in their leadership effectiveness. These data-driven insights are augmented by the authors' knowledge of the science behind human behavior change, as well as their experience in developing leaders. The book serves four audiences: leaders looking to improve themselves; organizational stakeholders with the responsibility of developing leaders; individual coaches or managers who want to boost their effectiveness in developing leaders; and educators in the fields of leadership, communication, organizational behavior, organizational psychology, and related fields. Provides insights based on a sample of leaders who improved significantly over time, supplying findings that are based on actual research, not just opinion or anecdotal "evidence" Offers practical and applicable recommendations for how individual leaders, organizations, and coaches/managers can apply the 10 insights shared in the book Provides a novel framework for determining and assessing who is "ripe" for a leadership development opportunity (the RIPEN model), an effective way for individuals or organizations to determine in which leadership candidates to invest precious development resources Supplies strategies for enhancing one's ripeness for a leadership development opportunity