Thousands of small, retail stores open every year, but 70 to 80 percent of them close within five years. Many are done in by the "big box" and Internet retailers who crush competition with low prices and convenience. But smaller retail stores and service providers have distinct competitive advantages: They are local. They can connect on a personal level with customers in a way the big guys can't. And they can add immense value to the customer experience. To capitalize on these advantages, marketing experts Steve O'Leary and Kim Sheehan offer dozens of inexpensive "Word of Mouth" marketing methods small businesses can use right away. Done well, these efforts will help smaller merchants do more than survive--they'll prosper. For independent retailers to succeed, it is no longer enough to create a loyal customer base. Local store marketers need to put their loyal customers to work, encouraging them to talk about the store to their friends, family members, and others in their social networks. When they do, the result is Word of Mouth (or Buzz) marketing, a powerful tool that creates an army of advocates who become even more loyal and help attract new customers. Besides learning how to leverage the power of word of mouth marketing, readers will learn: -How to understand their customers better. -How to increase customer loyalty to their store. -How to communicate with customers to maintain loyalty. -How to encourage loyal customers to talk to others about their store. -How to create a customer community, both in the store and on line. -How to measure results. The book also includes numerous examples from current businesses, as well as thought-provoking ideas and templates to help readersgenerate their own successful buzz marketing plans. Most resources available today on buzz marketing focus on techniques for large companies and online retailers. This book offers something priceless for the little guy by showing ways to increase loyalty and gain new customers.

In the modern globalized business world, entrepreneurial success can be more difficult to achieve. Innovativeness, effective decision-making, and a drive for success are just a few factors influencing entrepreneurial behavior. Entrepreneurship and Business Innovation in the Middle East is a comprehensive reference source for the latest scholarly material on the analysis of entrepreneurial activities in the framework of cultural diversity. Highlighting crucial perspectives and topics in business contexts, such as job satisfaction, intrapreneurship, and corporate governance, this book is ideally designed for academics, professionals, practitioners, and students interested in business enterprises in the Arab culture.

An instant classic. --Arianna Huffington Will inspire people from across the political spectrum. --Jonathan Haidt Longlisted for the Porchlight Business Book of the Year Award, an essential shortlist of leadership ideas for everyone who wants to do good in this world, from Jacqueline Novogratz, author of the New York Times bestseller The Blue Sweater and founder and CEO of Acumen. In 2001, when Jacqueline Novogratz founded Acumen, a global community of socially and environmentally responsible partners dedicated to changing the way the world tackles poverty, few had heard of impact investing--Acumen's practice of "doing well by doing good." Nineteen years later, there's been a seismic shift in how corporate boards and other stakeholders evaluate businesses: impact investment is not only morally defensible but now also economically advantageous, even necessary. Still, it isn't easy to reach a success that includes profits as well as mutually favorable relationships with workers and the communities in which they live. So how can today's leaders, who often kick off their enterprises with high hopes and short timetables, navigate the challenges of poverty and war, of egos and impatience, which have stymied generations of investors who came before? Drawing on inspiring stories from change-makers around the world and on memories of her own most difficult experiences, Jacqueline divulges the most common leadership mistakes and the mind-sets needed to rise above them. The culmination of thirty years of work developing sustainable solutions for the problems of the poor, Manifesto for a Moral Revolution offers the perspectives necessary for all those--whether ascending the corporate ladder or bringing solar light to rural villages--who seek to leave this world better off than they found it.

Why do so many smart professional people make bad investments? Why do they often fail to accumulate significant wealth and sometimes make truly disastrous financial decisions? This book offers some answers to these questions. It then provides specific recommendations to help doctors, lawyers, scientists, teachers, and many other intelligent people avoid serious financial errors and achieve superior investment results. Sensible self-directed investing with long-term compounding of returns and avoidance of all unnecessary fees can produce remarkable accumulations of capital with limited risk. You can choose to be successful as a largely passive investor or as one more seriously involved in making individual investment decisions. This book tells you how to do it. Buying this short volume and then putting its advice into practice may become the most important financial decisions you have ever made. About the author - Joseph D. Schulman is an internationally known physician, medical research scientist, and biomedical entrepreneur. He is also a successful investor. Dr. Schulman is a graduate of Harvard Medical School and of the Executive M.B.A. (OPM) program at Harvard Business School. He lives with his wife, Dixie, in Oxford, MD and Palm Springs, CA.

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.

World Statistics on Mining and Utilities 2020 provides a unique biennial overview of the role of mining and utility activities in the world economy. This extensive resource from UNIDO provides detailed time series data on the level, structure and growth of international mining and utility activities by country and sector. Country level data is clearly presented on the number of establishments, employment and output of activities such as coal, iron ore and crude petroleum mining as well as the production and supply of electricity, natural gas and water.This unique and comprehensive source of information meets the growing demand of data users who require detailed and reliable statistical information on the primary industry and energy producing sectors. The publication provides internationally comparable data for economic researchers, development strategists and business communities who influence the policy of industrial development and its environmental sustainability.

This is the second book celebrating Brian Loasby's contribution to economics by an internationally renowned group of authors including Mark Casson, G.B. Richardson, Nicolai Foss, Keith Pavitt, Martin Fransman and Richard Day. It extends Brian Loasby's work in the area of the theory of the firm and related methodological issues. This book is mainly concerned with the theory of the firm, a subject central to much of Brian Loasby's work. The authors begin by considering the existence and nature of firms and their internal and external relations, paying special attention to the themes of coordination and communication costs in a world of surprise and change. The discussion then moves on to the way in which firms use and create knowledge and capabilities, referring to questions of organization, with some detailed empirical investigation of high technology industries. The final part focuses on methodological issues including rationality, knowledge, incommensurability and equilibrium, in the context of different traditions. This book will be welcomed by microeconomists especially those interested in the theory of the firm and methodology.

Entrepreneurship these days is evident, even showcased, in so many places that it is harder for anyone interested in the field to really know about all of its many facets. That diversity is what makes the Concise Guide so essential. The Guide's ability to provide an expert's take in just a couple of pages on key topics in entrepreneurship is a boon to anyone interested in entrepreneurship. This is not a volume for your bookcase. You will want it at-hand as your explore the world of entrepreneurship.' - Jerome Katz, Saint Louis University, USThe Concise Guide to Entrepreneurship, Technology and Innovation brings together internationally recognized scholars to summarize the state of knowledge about fundamental topics in entrepreneurship, technology, and innovation. Written by the top international scholars in their field, this book has an encyclopaedic range; from academic entrepreneurship to valuing an entrepreneurial enterprise. Each chapter provides an informed overview of the topic and references in each chapter guide the reader to the more advanced literature. This landmark book will be the first port of call for any student or scholar seeking a brief introduction to each of the fundamental topics in entrepreneurship, technology, and innovation. Contributors: D.B. Audretsch, C. Boardman, B. Bozeman, S.R. Bradley, A. Burke, U. Cantner, M. Casson, S. Cazzago, J.A. Cunningham, P. Davidsson, A. De Massis, M. Deloof, D. Dunlap, W. Geoghegan, V. Ghosal, J. Hanssens, C.S. Hayter, M. Herzig, A. Kao, M. Kenney, D.F. Kuratko, H. Landstroem, E.E. Lehmann, D.P. Leyden, X. Liu, A.N. Link, S. Manigart, G.D. Markman, H. Meier, M.H. Morris, A.J. Nelson, C. O'Kane, D. Organ, S. Parker, G.T. Payne, M. Perkmann, L.S. Peters, P.H. Phan, E.A. Prasetio, J.H. Rooksby, G.E. Shockley, T. Standaert, A. Talrico, R. Thurik, T. Vanacker, S. Vismara, N.S. Vonortas, J. West, P. Westhead, K. Wirsching, M. Wright

Not surprisingly, the companies and leaders that are successful globalizers engage in similar practices - key practices that other companies regardless of size can emulate. In my two decades of operating and consulting to over 200 major corporations on outsourcing and globalization, I've seen similar trends and patterns among firms that have succeeded in services globalization and have come to recognize that there are seven best practices. This book is about sharing those practices, these seven secrets. The seven secrets also includes sage advice and wisdom from executives at organizations that are successful globalizers, including Applied Materials, Lenovo, Cisco, Fedex, Virgin and Plantronics. The end result is a book designed for executives at organizations positioned at all levels of global maturity.

Small is beautiful--but how small is small, and what practical steps can we take to achieve its beauty? By the 21st century we may have found the answer: the creative compartment, a group of a few hundred people who work together in a totally open way. The intense communication within a compartment generates enormous adaptability and a creative problem-solving capability seldom found in today's organizations. In Creative Compartments, Gerard Fairtlough draws on his wide experience and on a profound analysis of the operation and interaction of small organizations. He sets out a clear agenda for organizational design, and his novel proposals will benefit anyone in any organization--large or small, business or nonprofit--that strives for continuing success into the 21st century.

In an effort to safeguard the environment, consumers have begun pressuring global businesses to create environmentally-friendly products and sustainable business practices that promote the preservation and protection of communities and nature. To create and maintain positive consumer relationships, new and existing businesses must enact policies that allow them to make an effective and smooth transition toward sustainability to contribute to economic growth by creating offerings with environmental and social value. Recent Advancements in Sustainable Entrepreneurship and Corporate Social Responsibility provides emerging research that examines entrepreneurial strategies and business practices that can be implemented to provide eco-friendly services to the community and that offer solutions to various social and environmental problems. Featuring coverage on a broad range of topics such as green marketing, corporate identity, and business ethics, this book is ideally designed for CSR managers, human resources professionals, entrepreneurs, managers, executives, corporate leaders, business professionals, academicians, researchers, and students seeking current research on the expanding area of sustainable business practices.