Increasingly, multimedia content from music, movies, games, news, books, and digital art to sharable educational material, e-government services, and e-health services is delivered over broadband networks. With technological advances, cloud computing applications, and social networking approaches, many exciting applications are emerging to deliver this content as Interactive Digital Media (IDM). Understanding the Interactive Digital Media Marketplace: Frameworks, Platforms, Communities and Issues presents the results of a large, industry-oriented, multi-national research program. This research seeks to discover usable business models, technology platforms, market strategies and policy frameworks for the emerging global digital economy, particularly for digital media researchers and industry entrepreneurs who wish to reach users around the world.

This handbook is for practitioners who lead public and private elementary schools, middle schools or high schools. While most school leaders are basically adept at public relations, this book serves as a reminder of the importance of good public relations and provides ready access to tools necessary to hone and refine public relations skills. In addition to important information about public relations, this handbook is replete with examples of good public relations practices.

The changing dynamics of business worldwide have led organizations to look beyond traditional managerial practices while at the same time attempting to retain their core competitive advantages. This development has called upon academicians and practitioners alike to reassess the different aspects of business management such as macroeconomic variables, the nature of the market, the changing features of the workplace, the new work ethos, and/or employer-employee exchanges. In this context, the book provides essential insights on industry innovations, academic advances and policy movements with regard to recovering markets in India and around the globe. The individual papers highlight potential avenues that could allow industry to better understand and respond to the global crisis. The book collects research papers presented at the Global Conference on Managing in Recovering Markets (GCMRM), held in March 2014. Seven international and 120 national business schools and management universities were represented at the conference, the first in a series of 13 planned under the GCMRM agenda for 2014 17. The book includes more than 30 research papers chosen from a pool of 118 presented at the conference, all of which have undergone a rigorous blind review process."

Achieving true change and innovation depends on our ability to re-imagine and re-author the futures we want our organizations to have - and to open new perspectives and new ways of thinking, being and doing in the process. Narrative approaches and storytelling are powerful tools that can help us create a new future for branding and marketing, change, leadership, organizational learning and development. Gathering contributions by scholars and practitioners from various disciplines, this book provides a unique overview of an emerging field of practice in organizations and communities. Rooted in a narrative conceptual framework, the respective papers describe a broad range of trans-disciplinary applications, tools and methods for effectively working with stories.

Chosen for their clear, direct relevance to scholars and practitioners in the volatile field of competitive intelligence, the 24 issues evaluated here represent the cutting edge of CI's most pressing concerns. Current, scholarly, pragmatic, and among the first of its kind, this book presents the heart of the field in a way that even the relatively uninitiated can grasp and quickly apply.

The authors cover the latest technological advances and their relation to the tools most valued by CI professionals. They also show that despite its enormous range of possibilities, CI has limits. Navigating the ever-changing organizational and marketplace environments is difficult. A key debate involves what should and shouldn't be done to maximize the beneficial power of CI. Fleisher, Blenkhorn, and the book's contributors present the crucial points of this debate. This book is perfect for practitioners seeking guidance, but also as a supplemental text for students in such courses as marketing strategy and planning, business-to-business marketing, and competitive intelligence itself.

The field of marketing and management has undergone immense changes over the past decade. These dynamic changes are driving an increasing need for data analysis using quantitative modelling.Problem solving using the quantitative approach and other models has always been a hot topic in the fields of marketing and management. Quantitative modelling seems admirably suited to help managers in their strategic decision making on operations management issues. In social sciences, quantitative research refers to the systematic empirical investigation of social phenomena via statistical, mathematical or computational techniques.This book focuses on the description and applications of many quantitative modelling approaches applied to marketing and management. The structure encompasses statistical, computer and mathematical as well as other models. The topics range from fuzzy logic and logical discriminant models to growth models and k-clique models. It also covers current research being conducted in the field.

This book offers a service science perspective on platform orchestration and on collaborative consumption, providing an overview of research topics related to service dominant logic in multi-sided markets. The chapters give an international and multi-disciplinary overview of the current topics of digital service platforms from many angles. This overview helps in filling the gap between service science and recent research of the platform economy and paves the way for future service platform research. Open standards and distributed databases such as blockchain configurations increase the connectivity of business ecosystems as devices and systems exchange data with each other instead of through intermediaries. This exchange opens up opportunities for new value constellations, makes services globally scalable, and connects local service systems as integrated systems of systems. The book brings together established academics from a number of disciplines. This collaboration makes it possible to provide novel constructs and empirical results that help the reader to understand how value is co-created and orchestrated in the era of digital service platforms. In addition to theory building, practical implications for wider managerial and policy use are highlighted. The topics in this book are related to service platform technologies; organizational capabilities; and strategies and management in the contexts of retail, healthcare, and the public sector. A wide selection of case studies is used to demonstrate the implications of platforms for different service and economic contexts. Combining both theory and practice, this book is highly recommended for readers interested in the service and marketing point of view on the platform economy and for practitioners strategizing for scalable service platforms.Chapters 4 and 10 are available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

My previous work, Practical Selling -- No Seminars in Foxholes, addressed the issues important to salespeople out in the trenches. Together with Practical Sales Management -- Alone in the Field, these two books are calculated departures in approach from all of the Sales Books descended from Dale Carnegie's 1936 How to Win Friends and Influence People. 68 years is long enough to pretend that large complex sales will be won or lost based on whether the prospect likes the salesperson. Hopefully, we are done with pop, self-help psychologists telling salespeople how to sell. Likewise, the two works deviate significantly from the latest themes of 80's-90's sales books: (1) one-size-fits all selling techniques; (2) interchangeable salespersons; (3) rational, fair and honest selling environments; (4) the presumption of competitive products, unlimited resources, competent management, strong companies. Regarding (4), I am amazed by how many individuals, even with sales in their titles, know very little about selling. There are armies of salespeople working for large American companies who, in the final analysis, simply take orders because their companies and their products are so strong.No one has to sell anything until the customer says "no."Meanwhile, the sales manager must lead the right organization to address multiple territories, product lines, channels and strategies. None of that would especially matter if orders simply came in due to the likeability of the salesperson or the strength of the product or company.Unlike the idealized environment described in books and seminars, he must often deal with limited resources and lack of support from his company; a broad range of sales roles required by his company's situation; flesh-and-blood salespeople with their individual capabilities and deficiencies to train and motivate; and huge amounts of effort put into non-revenue-producing, often meaningless, administrative tasks that drain his time and energy. And this is just the shortlist of challenges.In a sense, the sales force manager's dilemma is this: Unlike notions presented in conventional theory, the experienced sales manager knows that what he can achieve is going to depend on what situation he is in. This includes all the key components: what kind of industry, what kind of resources, what kind of company, what kind of salespeople, what kind of product, and what the market and account situation really is. The situational aspects are key In short, Practical Sales Management -- Alone in the Field describes what actually happens in the real world of the sales manager.

Newly expanded and thoroughly revised to reflect and meet the demands of a high-velocity global business environment, the Fourth Edition of this popular book and its companion CD-ROM help small and mid-sized businesses as well as non-profit organizations and public-sector agencies to achieve effective, efficient, and disciplined business development, proposal development, and knowledge management (KM) processes. Among an extensive array of updates and new material, the Fourth Edition discusses storytelling as a proposal art, the value of front-end proposal planning and storyboarding, the importance of honoring the customer mission in proposals, and the latest trends in performance-based acquisition (PBA). CD-ROM Included! Features a searchable directory of government agencies, easy-to-use proposal templates, and an extensive list of acronyms.

This book discusses Asian medicine, which puts enormous emphasis on prevention and preservation of health, and examines how, in recent decades, medical schools in Asia have been increasingly shifting toward a curative approach. It offers an ethnographic investigation of the scenarios in China and India and finds that modern students and graduates in these countries perceive Asian medicine to be as important as Western medicine. There is a growing tendency to integrate Asian medicine with Western medical thought in the academic curriculum that has led to a gradual decline of Asian medical thought and practices. At the same time, there has been a massive rise in patent drugs, health products and cosmetics being sold under the brand names of Asian medicine or herbal medicine. Most of these drugs and health products do not follow the classical formulas found in the Asian medical texts. The book analyses these texts and concludes that contemporary Asian medicine rarely follows the classical texts, and in fact uses Asian medicine brands to sell Western health products and practices.With a particular focus on the formal and professional sector of Chinese herbal medicine and Indian ayurvedic medicine in urban areas, this book appeals to a broad readership, including undergraduate students and academics as well as non-experts. Md. Nazrul Islam is an Associate Professor in the General Education Office, United International College, Beijing Normal University-Hong Kong Baptist University. He was a Visiting Associate Professor in the School of Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia (2015-16) during which time he completed this book manuscript.

To understand international joint ventures (IJV) creation and management one has to know how cross-border firms actually decide to form and operate a new company jointly. One has to "be there," say volume editors Woodside and Pitts. One must understand IJVs in "real life" and particularly the interactions among people, their behaviors and decision-making over time. What are the key success factors? The micro-managerial details? Written by a team of international experts, Creating and Managing International Joint Ventures provides just that perspective, in a blend of theory and application seldom found in the literature. Executives with international development responsibilities and academics researching and teaching international business strategy, management, and marketing will find here a research-based source of information and knowledge that is both thought provoking and immediately applicable.

What do brands like Apple, Diesel, Abercrombie & Fitch, and Virgin have in common and what differentiates them from other brands? These brands are able to maintain a relationship with their clients that goes beyond brand loyalty. This gives a complete analysis of lifestyle brands that inspire, guide, and motivate beyond product benefits alone.

Great leaders embrace a higher purpose to win. The Net Promoter System shines as their guiding star. Few management ideas have spread so far and wide as the Net Promoter System (NPS). Since its conception almost two decades ago by customer loyalty guru Fred Reichheld, thousands of companies around the world have adopted it-from industrial titans such as Mercedes-Benz and Cummins to tech giants like Apple and Amazon to digital innovators such as Warby Parker and Peloton. Now, Reichheld has raised the bar yet again. In Winning on Purpose, he demonstrates that the primary purpose of a business should be to enrich the lives of its customers. Why? Because when customers feel this love, they come back for more and bring their friends-generating good profits. This is NPS 3.0 and it puts a new take on the age-old Golden Rule-treat customers the way you would want a loved one treated-at the heart of enduring business success. As the compelling examples in this book illustrate, companies with superior NPS consistently deliver higher returns to shareholders across a wide array of industries. But winning on purpose isn't easy. Reichheld also explains why many NPS practitioners achieve just a small fraction of the system's full potential, and he presents the newest thinking and best practices for doing NPS right. He unveils the Earned Growth Rate (EGR): the first reliable, complementary accounting measure that can truly leverage the power of NPS. With keen insight and moving personal stories, Reichheld advances the thinking and practice of NPS. Winning on Purpose is your indispensable guide for inspiring customer love within your own teams and using Net Promoter to achieve both personal and business success.

Leisure time today is driven by fandom from sports fans to comic collectors, gamers, and cosplayers. Fandom has developed into a self-identifying social construct researchers are still attempting to understand. While some fandoms such as cosplayers are still developing, other fandoms, for instance the secondary sports fan, have been completely ignored. Fandom is an important facet in today's society with such enthusiasm and support shaping not only the fan but also society at large. Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Media Fandom is a pivotal reference source that provides vital research that reviews some of the most exigent facets of today's fandom and highlights understudied cultures of fandom as well as emerging intricacies of established fandom. While promoting topics such as esports, influencer culture, and marketing trends, this publication explores both qualitative and quantitative approaches as well as the methods of social science and critical perspectives. This book is ideally designed for marketers, media strategists, brand managers, consumer behavior analysts, researchers, academics, and students.

Whether politically, socially, economically, or psychologically, postmodern institutions attempt to influence their environments through the use of rhetoric in their public relations campaigns. As corporations increasingly dominate the public discourse we experience daily, it becomes increasingly important to understand how that discourse operates, and to become more informed creators and consumers of institutional rhetoric.

This volume examines the theoretical bases and practical effects of a variety of public relations campaigns. The contributors demonstrate that rhetorical inquiry is a viable and underrated approach to explaining the influence of public relations campaigns. Cases analyzed in the book range from those of national scope (e.g., Mobil Oil's Observations campaign of the 1970s and 1980s), to studies of targeted influence (e.g., corporate recruitment videos), to cases of internal relations (e.g., issues management during corporate mergers), to studies of local situations (e.g., the anatomy of a local ballot issue campaign). While the various contributors employ a broad range of rhetorical methods and analysis, the discussions remain approachable and understandable for students and professionals alike.

While sales negotiation is traditionally considered a formal process conducted by teams of buyers and sellers, this handy reference recognizes that negotiating strategies and techniques are actually required in many instances in day-to-day selling activities as well, and provides advice geared to the salesperson's specific daily needs. The chapters present material in a factual, step-by-step manner so it is easy to assimilate. The work commences with an overview of the role and importance of skillful negotiation strategy in sales, provides insight into the buyer's perspective, and treats the strategic and psychological aspects of the interaction. It then focuses on the negotiation tactics which are essential for the effective preparation, application, and closing of a sale. While these concepts and skills are recognized as part of the formal negotiation process, Stumm argues that most sales negotiations occur instead in daily informal conversations and presentations, and he shows the reader how to recognize and use these situations for negotiating advantages.

This is the first reference volume devoted solely to the subject as it applies to the publishing industry.

Virtually anyone can make money in a rapidly rising real estate market. As recent events have shown, it's just as easy to lose money when the economy heads south. But the better real estate investors generally know when to buy and when to sell. They know how to maintain control over their properties under adverse circumstances. They know how to work with lenders and how to find and evaluate the highest and best uses for a particular piece of property. These are the people who can make money (and not lose money) in all real estate markets-something real estate expert Robert Lawless shows exactly how to do in this book. Lawless details the primary investment strategies used by many successful real estate investors. Readers will learn how to make profitable investments in residential and smaller commercial buildings whether the market is headed up or down, and whether they invest in Greenwich, Connecticut, or Ames, Iowa. The information this book contains can save novice investors significant time and money, while also leading to greater investing profits. Among other things, Lawless explains: What drives real estate values. How to use leverage-the effective use of debt-to increase returns. How to find the right lender, Realtor, lawyer, and other real estate professionals. Methods to negotiate profitable deals. General strategies for success-buy and hold, renovate and sell quickly, scout foreclosed properties, and more. Best, Lawless includes case studies, for both residential and commercial investments, that highlight strategies and outcomes under different market conditions.

The best customer for any business is a content customer. The happy customer returns again and again, brings his friends and relatives, and their loyalty becomes a marketing platform of its own. But growing a loyal base is challenging, and what works brilliantly for one company might backfire on another. Over the last ten years, however, researchers and psychologists have begun to measure customer happiness in a meaningful way for the first time, and in this revealing look at the power of positive psychology Columbia business professor Bernd Schmitt explores how marketers and brand managers can harness customer experience through a three-pronged approach:*The Feel Good Method: Learn to make customers happy through the experience of pleasure and positive emotions and how those feel-good moments can transform a once-in-a-blue-moon customer to a committed loyalist.*The Meaningful Method: Engage customers through core values, including family, social responsibility, or the environment to attract passionate customers to your business.* The Learning and Growing Method: Help your customers in their own personal growth by making your product an important and indispensable part of their individual development.Schmitt shows marketers and brand managers how to determine which of these best fits their company and how to turn this insight into an authentic and successful campaign that will reach, grow, and sustain a loyal base of customers.

This book is a practical guide to market research methods and practices written for marketing professionals who need to conduct research on a budget. It emphasizes techniques that offer the quickest, least expensive way to get needed information. The author presents material not usually covered by other marketing research texts, including criteria regarding the use of requests for proposal; guidelines for selecting consultants, outside agencies, and statistical software; and practical tips on presenting research findings correctly and persuasively. "Business Information Alert"

Written especially for marketing professionals who need to conduct research on a budget, this book is a practical, efficient guide to market research methods and practices. Based on the author's own experience as a marketing consultant, president of a small manufacturing company, and academic researcher, Cost-Effective Marketing Research emphasizes techniques that offer the quickest, least expensive way to get needed information. In addition, the author presents a wealth of material not found in other marketing research texts, including criteria regarding the use of requests for proposal (RFPs); guidelines for selecting consultants, outside agencies, and statistical software; and practical tips on presenting research findings correctly and persuasively.

Organized into eight highly readable chapters, the book begins by exploring the role of research in the decision-making process. Subsequent chapters address the utility and pitfalls of using secondary data and syndicated research; how to conduct effective surveys, the proper use of depth interviews and focus group techniques; ethnography and quantitative observations of behavior; experimentation; and ways of editing, analyzing, and interpreting data. In the final chapter, Soares describes how to translate research findings into usable input for rational decisions, how to put together a top notch research report, and how to prepare for oral presentation of research findings. Finally, he addresses the critical issues of business competition and marketing research ethics.

INTERNATIONAL MARKETING is an innovative, up-to-date text ideal for anyone seeking success in this fast-paced field. You will discover topics ranging from beginning start-up operations to confronting giant global marketers. This in-depth text will prepare you to conquer the international business world

In today's world of galloping change, adjustment and anticipation have become ever more vital for retail operations. Many retailers have successfully anticipated change, while others have simply become relics of retailing history. Facing intense environmental competition, different types of retail institutions, whether a mass merchandiser or a hotel, find themselves confronting different types of challenges. The stories of a spectrum of retailers highlight the variables necessary for duplicating success and avoiding failure. This timely work provides a starting point for understanding the complexities and interrelationships in retail management.