The concept of innovation is not new. It relates closely to the concept of change. Both are inevitable in today's and tomorrow's business environments. Standing still and hoping for the best is no longer a viable option. Innovation, by itself, is not a panacea for positive accomplishments. Of paramount importance to any business is how successful any innovation has actually been. This book brings together the knowledge, learning and experience from the author's practical applications of a newly developed and implemented Innovation Scorecard methodology to close exactly this shortfall. Their 'one stop shop' methodology is a complete end to end approach on how to measure the success of any innovation, irrespective of whether this relates to projects or business as usual work environments. This landmark methodology will provide the reader with an applied proof of concept across a range of business applications and a complete end to end process how to measure success including templates and worked examples. The book offers a starter-pack with suggested performance metrics to get the reader on the road to measuring the success of innovation and to encourage readers to develop how they view and feel about measuring the success of innovation. Furthermore, the book provides the reader with everything they need to know, ranging from a simple to follow user-friendly process to the application of suggested performance metrics and how to apply these in any business work environment, which is a requisite for creating a working environment within the reader's organisation where innovation and forward-thinking are both encouraged and supported.

Research Paper from the year 2013 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Linguistics, grade: N/A, Universidad de Oriente in Santiago de Cuba (Faculty of Humanities), course: English Language, language: English, abstract: The ability to teach foreign languages effectively has become an increasingly important skill to develop and improve the language proficiency of students. Teachers need to develop and apply proactive and positive attitudes to foster new levels of foreign language learning within their students. Teaching, on its own, is not a panacea for success. This paper investigates how teachers at the Universidad de Oriente (UO) in Santiago de Cuba search for and apply innovative ways of teaching foreign languages to their students within current boundaries. The results from this research show that there is a positive relationship between the level of proficiency in a foreign language and the methods and approaches teachers apply to keep students motivated and interested in the subject matter. The literature review from this study provided supportive evidence which was strengthened with insights from face to face interviews and a focus group meeting. The outcomes confirmed that students, who are exposed regularly to practical and diverse teaching methods, are more likely to exceed the expected foreign language proficiency levels set by the University's quality standards.

Research Paper from the year 2013 in the subject Business economics - Business Management, Corporate Governance, grade: -, Universidad de Oriente in Santiago de Cuba, language: English, comment: Research into the practical application of influenicng and persuasion skills in today's business environments., abstract: The ability to influence and persuade others at work has become an increasingly important managerial skill to achieve work goals and objectives to drive businesses forward in today's demanding and competitive work environments.This paper investigates and provides a deeper understanding of what positive effects knowledge and application of the concepts of influencing amd persuasion can have on managers, the people they manage and the organisations they work for. The results show that the performance of managers is positively influenced by how they influence and persuade people at work. The outcome of a literature review suggests that there is no conclusive evidence of what makes an effective manager at work that is good at influencing and persuading others. Outputs from face to face and a focus group meeting with final year social psychology students from the Universidad de Oriene in Santiago de Cuba closed this gap by suggesting an effective influencing and persuasion skills set that, when applied appropriately, could guide managers how to influence and persuade others successfully.The outcome of this research is applicable and relevant to managers in any working environment such as Telecommuncations, Utilities, Banking or Automotive. The proposed skills set of what makes an effective influencing and persuading manager at work can be applied globally although the prevailing cultural diversities in different countries should be considered. Keywords: Influencing, persuading, attitudes, work performance, managing people Authors: 1,2Eddie Fisher and Yorkys Santana Gonzalez1 1Faculty of Social Sciences, Universidad de Oriente, Santiago de Cuba, Cuba 2Un

Presentation (Handout) from the year 2012 in the subject Sociology - Culture, Technology, Peoples / Nations, grade: -, - (ACSA, Brno, Czech Republic), course: Managing People in Project Environments, language: English, comment: I prepared this detailed handout in association with a presentation to students of the University of Technology and Business People from across the Czech Republic., abstract: Many companies already operate in a number of foreign countries. More are following each year. The concept of 'global working' has become an accepted modus operandi for more and more companies both in the United Kingdom and other countries. As a result, people at all levels within their organisations have opportunities to work with people from other countries. This is not an easy task and brings with it some cultural difficulties. These need to be managed carefully and with due consideration to everyone involved. Working with people whose values and beliefs are different from your own, can often lead to costly misunderstandings and even business failures. However, when successfully managed, differences in culture can lead to innovative business practices and faster and better learning within the organisation. People will get on better with their colleagues from other countries once they have learned more about cultural differences. They will learn that their own views are not the only ones, and that the variety of views coming from the different cultures can actually lead to better business solutions that are good for the benefit of everyone.

Presentation (Handout) from the year 2007 in the subject Sociology - Work, Profession, Education, Organisation, course: Project Management Seminar, Ramzova, Czech Republic, September 2007, 4 entries in the bibliography, language: English, abstract: Many companies already operate in a number of foreign countries. More are following each year. The concept of 'global working' has become an accepted modus operandi for more and more companies both in the United Kingdom and other countries. As a result, people at all levels within their organisations have opportunities to work with people from other countries. This is not an easy task and brings with it some cultural difficulties. These need to be managed carefully and with due consideration to everyone involved. Working with people whose values and beliefs are different from your own, can often lead to costly misunderstandings and even business failures. However, when successfully managed, differences in culture can lead to innovative business practices and faster and better learning within the organisation. People will get on better with their colleagues from other countries once they have learned more about cultural differences. They will learn that their own views are not the only ones, and that the variety of views coming from the different cultures can actually lead to better business solutions that are good for the benefit of everyone.

Thesis (M.A.) from the year 1999 in the subject Sociology - Work, Profession, Education, Organisation, grade: Pass, Lancaster University, language: English, abstract: This dissertation discusses the importance of strategic people project management in critical cultural change projects. Appropriate people management in projects is as important as the application of tools and techniques. People make things happen. Their input into the delivery of goals and objectives is essential. These can be achieved by sharing knowledge, good communications and working as one team. I argue that nobody is perfect but a team can be. People in projects really matter. Tools and techniques assist project managers to manage their projects better but they are not a panacea to successful project management. They are simply there to be used as means to assist the project manager to manage his projects better. My approach to strategic people project management proved highly effective to bring together the people elements of this project. Project Managers should familiarise themselves with and adopt the learning outcomes of this dissertation and consider applying these in their projects in future.

Doctoral Thesis / Dissertation from the year 2006 in the subject Business economics - Business Management, Corporate Governance, The Open University (Open University, Milton Keynes, United Kingdom), 235 entries in the bibliography, language: English, comment: Diese Dissertation hat eine internationale Auszeichnung bekommen fur die Forschung im Bereich der Projektleitung, vergeben von der Association for Project Management (APM), abstract: The growing penetration of projects as a way of organising work in many organisations has created a shortcoming between what companies expect in terms of project delivery and the way in which their project managers execute projects. The constantly changing demands have created a need for project managers to manage the people in their projects more effectively to meet these expectations. A review of the general and project management literature has revealed that a shortcoming exists and the nature of this shortcoming. What used to be appropriate skills in working with people are no longer adequate now that working practices are changing in response to increases in pressures to achieve better results. This thesis has developed a competence and behaviour model for skills in working with people for project managers that provides the means to fill the shortcoming. The exploration to develop this model has taken place mainly through interviews with project managers from the community of practice in United Kingdom organisations, supplemented by the participatory research observations of the researcher as a practising project management professional. The research focus was on the impact humans make in the activities of project management, within a socially constructed world. The research considered competences and behaviours of skills in working with people for project managers and, therefore, had to deal with the meaning that people put on their observations. As a consequence, their descriptions have been collected, analysed and interp

The concept of innovation is not new. It relates closely to the concept of change. Both are inevitable in today's and tomorrow's business environments. Standing still and hoping for the best is no longer a viable option. Innovation, by itself, is not a panacea for positive accomplishments. Of paramount importance to any business is how successful any innovation has actually been. This book brings together the knowledge, learning and experience from the author's practical applications of a newly developed and implemented Innovation Scorecard methodology to close exactly this shortfall. Their 'one stop shop' methodology is a complete end to end approach on how to measure the success of any innovation, irrespective of whether this relates to projects or business as usual work environments. This landmark methodology will provide the reader with an applied proof of concept across a range of business applications and a complete end to end process how to measure success including templates and worked examples. The book offers a starter-pack with suggested performance metrics to get the reader on the road to measuring the success of innovation and to encourage readers to develop how they view and feel about measuring the success of innovation. Furthermore, the book provides the reader with everything they need to know, ranging from a simple to follow user-friendly process to the application of suggested performance metrics and how to apply these in any business work environment, which is a requisite for creating a working environment within the reader's organisation where innovation and forward-thinking are both encouraged and supported.