In today's knowledge-driven business environment, research and development teams face particular challenges as their purpose is to discover and/or develop new concepts, products, or processes; the pressure to perform is intense. A year-long study of 58 R&D project teams set out to identify the factors that distinguish the successful teams from the under-performers. The resulting book argues that a substantial part of a team's success is not dependent on the type of work (fundamental research vs. product development), the institutional environment (corporate vs. public), or even provision of resources-but leadership. Successful team leaders employ a transformational style that inspires and motivates team members to perform at their best; they set clear goals and tasks; they establish an environment of mutual trust and respect; and they are skilled politicians who liaise with external stakeholders-including customers, senior managers, service providers, and regulators-to gain essential support. Integrating insights from the fields of technology management, social psychology, and organizational behavior, Leon Mann and his colleagues present recommendations to assist organizations and management in developing strong team leaders and building innovative teams.

In many modern economies, creativity, the essential prerequisite for innovation, tends to be assumed or neglected while the catchphrase "innovation" dominates the field of business as the key to national performance and competitiveness. Creativity and Innovation in Business and Beyond illustrates the ways in which creativity spurs innovation and innovation enables creativity - not only in the realms of business and management, where the innovation is regularly acknowledged and discussed, but throughout the social sciences. With contributions from experts in fields as far-flung as policy, history, economics, economic geography, sociology, law, psychology, social psychology and education, in addition to business and management, this volume explores the manifold avenues for creativity and innovation at many levels including nation, region, city, institution, organisation, and team across a multitude of sectors and settings.

In many modern economies, creativity, the essential prerequisite for innovation, tends to be assumed or neglected while the catchphrase "innovation" dominates the field of business as the key to national performance and competitiveness. Creativity and Innovation in Business and Beyond illustrates the ways in which creativity spurs innovation and innovation enables creativity ? not only in the realms of business and management, where the innovation is regularly acknowledged and discussed, but throughout the social sciences. With contributions from experts in fields as far-flung as policy, history, economics, economic geography, sociology, law, psychology, social psychology and education, in addition to business and management, this volume explores the manifold avenues for creativity and innovation at many levels including nation, region, city, institution, organisation, and team across a multitude of sectors and settings.

Every so often a story comes along so captivating, it becomes more than a story---it becomes chillingly entangled in the lives of its reader, an experience to remember and savor forever. "Sweet Dreams Sasha" is such a story. It gives a vivid account of the speed at which an otherwise charmed life can unexpectedly change without warning; transformed into a nightmare. At twenty-nine, Sasha Stephens, a beautiful young woman is back in her home town in West Central Alabama after serving eight years in the U. S. Army, she meets Julien Ayide Philippe, and Carmeletta Jones. They are suspected of committing a series of bizarre murders. Police finally make an arrest that culminates in the most sensational trial ever in the state, and a defense that challenges the bounds of medical history. The story begins in the small southern town of Selma, spreading to Birmingham, to Mountain Brook, spilling over the stateline into Atlanta, Georgia, and finally into Seattle, Washington. The climax will leave the reader shocked.