Every manager of a professional firm realizes that generating leads and landing new clients are critical components of any successful business venture. But transforming accountants, architects, attorneys, consultants, engineers, and other professionals into client-generators is not always easy to do.
Divided into two comprehensive parts-The Rainmaker Model and The Elements of Rainmaking-Creating Rainmakers outlines all the steps you should take to turn your professional staff into a powerful team of sales winners.
Filled with in-depth insight and practical advice, this book will show you how to:
* Generate leads
* Build a strong network of contacts
* Master a variety of sales techniques
* Develop capable successors to current rainmakers
* And much more
Based on more than 100 interviews with the principals of professional firms, including many of today's preeminent rainmakers, this valuable guide has the information you need to help your company succeed.

"If you want to learn how to bring the best performances out of the people who surround you, then this straightforward guidebook on human resource development provides you with the tools you need to cause positive change.People new to the field as well as industry veterans will find practical information and guidance, including how to: facilitate dynamic adult learning experiences; help people develop confidence, vigor, and zeal to meet challenges; write the best performance criteria; establish an atmosphere where learning is always promoted.All supervisors must take responsibility in helping their employees meet expectations and become successful professionals. This also applies to ministers, rabbis, imams, and other leaders who encourage people to lead more productive and satisfying lives.Regardless of whether you are a human resource professional, it's imperative that you rise to the challenge and take the necessary steps to help others rise to their potential. Learn how to do it step by step with A Mini Course in Training Design. It provides guidance on how you can become a motivational force. Through human resource development tools, you can develop qualities such as expertise, empathy, and enthusiasm that will help you to develop training methods specialized to your purpose and to your people."

This book provides both a broad overview of the forecasting process, covering technological and human aspects alike, and deep insights into algorithms and platform functionalities in the IBP toolbox required to maximize forecast accuracy. Rich in technical and business explanations, it addresses short-, medium- and long-term forecasting processes using functionalities available in demand planning and demand sensing. There are also several theoretical concepts underpinning the algorithms discussed; these are explained with numerical examples to help demystify the IBP forecasting toolbox. Beyond standard procedures, the book also discusses custom approaches (e.g. new segmentation criteria, new outlier detection and correction methods) and new methods (e.g. the use of Markov chains for forecasting sporadic demands), etc. It subsequently benchmarks common practices using these innovative approaches and discusses the results. As measurement is an important precondition for improvement, an entire chapter is devoted to discussing process improvement and value using the Six Sigma methodology. In closing, the book provides several useful tips and tricks that should come in handy during project implementation.

This book examines the environmental footprints of recycled polyesters, highlighting the benefits and impact of recycling polyester waste and preparing it to replace virgin polyester in the raw material stage. It also discusses the importance of recycled polyester as a sustainable raw material in textile production.

Education and training are important in nation building and development. Properly articulated, implemented, and operated, educational and training programs can help develop the necessary human qualities and skills required for economic development. Although many African countries have paid a great deal of attention to and invested significant resources in these programs, they have been unsuccessful in developing the caliber of people needed. This failure is due to the fact that the programs pursued have focussed primarily on human capital acquisitions. Yet with human factor, human capital alone is not sufficient to make development happen. This work is an exploration of the reasons for the failure, and it discusses how African countries can develop the type of labor force needed to initiate and manage the development process.

Shows how using quantitative measurements techniques to gauge financial and non-financial company goals can help guide R&D management performance and improve company success. The text aims to enable readers to choose financial R&D projects, create a customer satisfaction and effectiveness index, measure every component of "idea-to-customer" time, and create a "balanced scorecard" that is focused on innovation rather than implementation. Each chapter concludes with a "lessons learned" section that highlights how to put the information provided to use in R&D management practice.

This book exposes the reader to a comprehensive overview of instructional design using the Instructional Systems Design (ISD or ADDIE) model and project management techniques based on the framework and standards of the Project Management Institute and the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) Guide best practices. Throughout the book, ADDIE and project management are united in a "four-step combo." Readers are taught to groove two disciplines to one beat.

Project Management Skills for Instructional Designers is intended to captivate the interest of the following audience: instructional designers, training managers and directors, training consultants, human resources managers, performance consultants, and project managers. This practical guide uses the creative approach of storytelling to present the content in a way that is realistic and sequential to the way an instructional designer may work. A case scenario where an instructional designer is given a mandate by the boss to design, develop, and deliver automated sales management training is the story line around which the two disciplines are applied in the "four-step combo."

How can we engage in a market relationship when the quality of the goods we want to acquire is unknown, invisible, or uncertain? For market exchange to be possible, purchasers and suppliers of goods must be able to assess the quality of a product in relation to other products. Only by recognizing qualities and perceiving quality differences can purchasers make non-random choices, and price differences between goods be justified. "Quality" is not a natural given, but the outcome of a social process in which products become seen as possessing certain traits, and occupying a specific position in relation to other products in the product space. While we normally take the quality of goods for granted, quality at a closer look is the outcome of a highly complex process of construction involving producers, consumers, and market intermediaries engaged in judgment, evaluation, categorization, and measurement. The authors in this volume investigate the processes through which the quality of goods is established. They also investigate how product qualities are contested and how they change over time. The empirical cases discussed cover a broad range of markets in which quality is especially difficult to assess. The cases include: halal food, funeral markets, wine, labor, school choice, financial products, antiques, and counterfeit goods. The book contributes to the sociology of markets. At the same time it connects to the larger issue of the constitution of social order through cognitive processes of classification.

Arogyaswamy and Simmons combine the technique of value analysis and the concept of the value chain to build a perspective on value that is at once comprehensive and practical. They provide a methodology for formulating value-based strategy as well as a system for managing the value-directed organization. The management system proposed is based upon the high value Just-in-Time (JIT) and Total Quality Control (TQC) principles successfully deployed by numerous Japanese (and more recently American) firms. In a sense, this book brings together the American and Japanese streams of value creation.

Essentially, the authors argue that accepting, and indeed increasing, interdependencies within activities (design, operations, marketing) is imperative in order not only to create value but also to build the value-creating organization. Effective integration among activities is the second key ingredient, while involvement by deemphasizing power-based relationships--by providing knowledge and information, as well as the opportunity and the desire to use both--is the third requirement, and one that makes the process of value creation self-sustaining. The authors discuss the cultural traits most conducive to value enhancement and specifically tackle the ingraining process. The measurement of improvements both in value-as received and in the process of value delivery itself is extensively discussed. Numerous practical value indicators to assess progress in value creation are proposed. Being a judicious how-to, why-to amalgam, the book will appeal equally to executives and managers seeking to install value as a guide to action, as well as to graduate and advance undergraduate students seeking the rationale underlying value management.

The Performance Advantage provides managers at every level with the ability to understand how to take the right action, at the right time, to increase performance and create a motivational work environment. For years, the myth of traditional thinking was that creating high morale resulted in high performance. Think again Arthors Rick Tate and Dr. Julie White destroy this myth and provide managers practical, applied methods, skills, and concepts that come directly from over 30 years of research in organizational effectiveness, not from some new management avor of the month. With a concise, easy to remember model, managers will be energized to lead more effectively, with fewer resources and within tighter budgets. Imagine what it will be like to take action...the right action, at the right time to get bottom line results impact: - Employee Motivation - Performance Expectations - Employee Ability - Employee Attitude - Confidence - Desire and Motivation - Organizational Issues - Personal Issues - Meaningful Participation - Leadership Action: When the leader's action is aligned with the follower's performance results and attitude (rather than the leader's comfort zone), then performance, retention, and relationships all improve.

This book brings out the innovations in textile wet or chemical processing to alleviate the environmental impacts arising from this sector. The major challenge in the textiles and fashion sector is that it requires a massive sustainable innovation to mitigate the huge environmental impacts arising from chemical or wet processing. This book also discusses innovations in eco-friendly methods for textile wet processes and applications of enzymes in textiles.

Take an innovative approach to a climate of change within your workplace or organization with this guidebook on diversity and inclusion.

Author Maura G. Robinson, an authority on diversity and inclusion, has been helping companies create systemic process of change for more than twenty years. In "the Inclusion Revolution Is Now," she explores as you can

create an environment of inclusion where all employees are accountable for their behaviors, and able to work together to accomplish the organizational goals.

recognize that civil diversity impedes systemic processes of change to occur. So diversity is viewed as an initiative or a program with no sustainability at the organizational level.

ensure employees willingly practice inclusion regardless of personal beliefs.

While there is still racism, prejudice, sexism, and other exclusionist attitudes among people in the workplace, organizational leaders have the power and responsibility to mandate a climate of inclusion. Supporting diversity and inclusion is also a prerequisite for capitalizing on the ideas that diverse people can bring to your organization.

Most diversity practices used by organizations do not actually promote inclusion, and exclusion continues to exist. There's a better way to achieve inclusion, and it starts with "the Inclusion Revolution is Now."

First ever, all-in-one, practical resource for evacuating people of all ages and health conditions from all kinds of workplaces, including small offices, skyscrapers, business and college campuses, industrial plants, stores, hospitals, and schools. Based on the Business Continuity Institute's proven 6-Phase Business Continuity Lifecycle Model that encompasses development, delivery, and maintenance of organization-wide plans -- to ensure that your methodology aligns with best practices, relevant regulations, sound governance, and corporate responsibility. Comprehensive package of 600+ pages of book and downloads containing tools, templates, case studies, sample plans, forms, checklists, articles, and practical tips. Authored by an internationally acclaimed consultant in Business Continuity Management, with 35+ years' experience in 24 countries and recipient of the Business Continuity Institute's Lifetime Achievement Award. Thought-provoking discussion questions requiring application of principles to solve problems, numerous real-life case studies and examples, comprehensive index and detailed glossary facilitate both college and professional instruction. This comprehensive package of 600+ pages of book and downloads offers the first ever, all-in-one resource -- packed with globally researched, innovative, and field-tested plans, tips, and tools for workplace evacuation, including: - Comprehensive approach covering all kinds of personal conditions and facilities. Provides full details on how to deliver an effective evacuation solution for people of varying ages, health conditions, and special needs, including how to develop Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans (PEEPs) for employees who need them. Shows how to develop plans for evacuating a variety of facilities ranging from small offices, skyscrapers, business campuses and industrial plants to stores, hospitals, schools and colleges. - Practical and compassionate insights for dealing with emotional reactions and physical difficulties, both pre- and post-event. Includes planning for and managing both the immediate reactions and, very importantly, any long term care for employees that may be required in the wake of major trauma. - Tools, templates, case studies, sample plans, forms, checklists, articles, and practical tips that will spare you pitfalls and costly mistakes in designing your own evacuation plan. Burtles has literally "been there, done that" over many years, so take advantage of his hard-won expertise and field-tested tools to enhance the plan you have or create one from scratch. You are responsible for your people's safety. Put emergency evacuation on the top of your priority list. Use Burtles as a guide to practice (and practice and practice and practice) realistic evacuation drills and procedures, create strong policies, and get management buy-in with clearly understood and agreed-upon methods to increase the chance of survival for those at risk. With this book and accompanying EEP Toolkit, you now have the tools to develop and implement a comprehensive Emergency Evacuation Plan. "You MUST have a plan. You MUST practice it, "says Burtles. "But most importantly, at that critical moment, your people MUST be able to get out "

This book offers fresh insights into innovation management and its prerequisites. Based on these insights, the authors present a new and proven innovation system, which is being used in practice and has the potential to significantly increase the ability of enterprises to innovate. Starting with the innovation dilemma that enterprises face, the book analyses the concept of innovation as it is (mis)understood in practice, and identifies the missing element in current innovation theories - the innovation gap. Further, it asks whether today's enterprises are well suited for innovation and then describes a solution to the problems identified. The book also introduces a new and important element of the revised innovation process called "Exploration". From leadership issues to building a strong innovation model, it offers state-of-the-art knowledge, which can significantly boost the chances of innovation succeeding in enterprises.

Not only are performance and human resources management (HRM) bound tightly together, but Sims even goes so far as to say that the way people are managed in coming decades will be the most important determinant of organizational success. He shows how success is determined by a firM's skill in attracting, developing, and retaining its human capital; how a firM's people are what give it a measurable advantage over the competition; and how an organization's commitment to developing its people's abilities and skills is an obligation at all levels. Sims focuses on practical, real-world human resources problems and activities emphasize the need for managers to prove themselves excellent people managers as well, and covers the traditional HRM tasks and responsibilities in ways that will give them new meaning and urgency. By focusing on current challenges, emerging issues, and HRM innovations now on the horizon, Sims' book is essential for managers and executives throughout the organization, and indeed throughout all sectors of the economy.

Sims provides a firsthand understanding of the importance of HRM and lays out the tools to help managers do it well. He emphasizes repeatedly how important it is for organizations to understand that their success depends on their ability to attract and keep talented employees. With its persuasive discussion of the trends and emerging issues in the development of proactive human resources policies and practices, the book shows how to anticipate and work towards the development and retention of the right people. It emphasizes the importance of taking a strategic approach to all of the various human resources activities, and proves throughout that for an organization to prosper and earn a profit, goals must be set and initiatives taken in all areas of HRM and by all people, whatever their levels of responsibility may be.

This book focuses on the applications of optimal control theory to operations strategy and supply chain management. It emphasizes the importance of optimal control theory as a tool to analyze and understand fundamental issues in the respective fields. Delving deeper, the book also elaborates on how optimal control theory provides managerial and economic insights, enabling readers to comprehend the dynamic activities and interactions in operations. Given that optimal control theory is not a dominant approach to studying operations management in the current literature, this book fills that gap by showing its effectiveness as a tool to supplement other methodologies in operations.

This volume presents current research on gender studies in the specific context of the knowledge economy. Featuring contributions from the 2017 Annual Ipazia, the Scientific Observatory for Gender Studies Workshop on Gender, this book investigates gender issues and female entrepreneurship from social, economic, corporate, organizational, and management perspectives, with particular emphasis on advancing the understanding of gender in business and economic research. The post-industrial knowledge economy is characterized by an emphasis on human capital as the real engine of sustainable growth and development. With women comprising an increasing share of the global workforce, gender studies play a central role in exploring and understanding the attitudes and skills of women in business and their impact on economic and social development. Gender inequality in public and private contexts is decreasing due to an increase of women in leadership roles in business, the expansion and diversity of females in education, and a larger presence of women in policymaking roles. Ipazia, the Scientific Observatory for Gender Studies, aims to define an updated framework of research, service and projects on women and gender relations to highlight the evolution of gender in business and economics. This volume features contributions on female-owned family business, gender diversity in organizations, gender capital, and immigration from the 2017 Ipazia workshop.

This book presents a study of cooperatives as a two-layer entrepreneurial model, and analyzes cooperative enterprises. Above all, it explores how inducements (from the firm) and contributions (from its members, in their respective roles) are aligned, and seeks to answer the question of what this means for managing each cooperative as a firm as well as a group. The book is divided into three parts, the first of which begins with an analysis of specific aspects of cooperative enterprises, with a focus on the added value of cooperation, the weighing of interests, and a behavioral perspective on the imminent communities and their goals. In a structured approach, the book examines the various facets of relationships in cooperatives on a transactional, financial and control level. Further, a case study on the Dutch cooperative Rabobank illustrates what happens when members fail. In turn, part two concentrates on integrating the lessons learned with the existing economic literature on cooperatives, so as to contribute to a theory of cooperative management. Finally, the book links the theoretical approach to practice: in the third part, it reports on the outcomes of using a computerized simulation game to show members of cooperatives how to manage their business and the cooperative business at the same time, enabling them to understand and actively practice two-level entrepreneurship.

Increasingly, academics are finding that engaging with external stakeholders can be both fruitful in undertaking research and an effective way to impact policy. With insightful and practical advice from a diverse range of contributors, including academics, policy makers, civil servants and knowledge exchange professionals, this accessible book explores How to Engage Policy Makers with Your Research. With a practical focus, this book combines an array of real-life experiences and insights from the perspectives of both academics and policy makers who are experienced in informing and impacting policy. The book comprehensively illustrates how academics can more effectively engage with policy makers through a range of interdisciplinary insights and case studies. The book explores the value of research for policy, as well as modes of engagement with policy for researchers across the various stages of their career. Providing practical insights to seize the opportunity of engaging policy makers in research, this innovative book will be an excellent resource for social science academics as well as policy makers looking to benefit from academic research insights. The book provides a better understanding of how the worlds of academics and policy makers can come together to realise greater policy impact from research expertise.