Browse Results

Showing 51 through 75 of 100,000 results

Owning Game-Changing Subcategories: Uncommon Growth in the Digital Age

by David Aaker

Owning Game-Changing Subcategories is about creating organizational growth in the digital age by creating and owning game-changing subcategories fueled by digital.Owning Game-Changing Subcategories outlines the path to finding, managing, and leveraging new subcategories. In the digital age, the path has been made wider, shorter, and more frequently traveled. Throughout Owning Game-Changing Subcategories, David Aaker discusses certain aspects of the digital age that alter this path, such as E-commerce providing fast, inexpensive market access bypassing the cost of gaining distribution into storefront retailers or creating personal sales teams and social media and websites enabling communication on steroids in comparison with traditional use of advertising or events. Growth is not only a success measure but also creates energy and opportunity for customers and employees. And such growth almost never occurs with “my brand is better than your brand” marketing. Owning Game-Changing Subcategories explores the only ways to grow a business (with rare exceptions) which is to:develop new “must haves” that define a game-changing subcategory that provides a new or markedly superior buying or use experience or brand relationship to a core customer base;become the exemplar brand that represents the subcategory and drives its visibility, positioning, and success; and create barriers to competitors that could include “must-have” associations and a basis of relationships that go beyond functional benefits.

Prioritize Brands in the Portfolio: Developing a Brand Portfolio Strategy in a Silo Environment

by David Aaker

Most CMOs looking at their organizations see too many brands with too few priorities and too little leverage-a context that makes it difficult to create strong brands and effective marketing. Silos, particularly product silos, can significantly contribute to brand proliferation and the absence of an effective portfolio strategy. Developing a brand portfolio strategy in a silo environment involves making the decision to add or eliminate brands, assign roles and establish priorities, and determine how to leverage the strategic brands. This chapter introduces three frameworks that can help.

Use Teams and Other Routes to Silo Linking: CMO Strategies for Facilitating Silo Cooperation

by David Aaker

A major challenge of creating business strategy is to develop organizational structures that will help overcome the parochialism and power of silo groups. Organizational structures and processes need to be developed that will create silo linking, whereby people can enhance cross-silo information flow and develop and implement programs across silos. This chapter discusses a variety of devices available for firms to forward silo linking, including teams, informal and formal networks, matrix organizations, and centralized marketing groups.

Brand Portfolio Strategy: Creating Relevance, Differentiation, Energy, Leverage, and Clarity

by David A. Aaker

In this long-awaited book from the world's premier brand expert and author of the seminal work Building Strong Brands, David Aaker shows managers how to construct a brand portfolio strategy that will support a company's business strategy and create relevance, differentiation, energy, leverage, and clarity. Building on case studies of world-class brands such as Dell, Disney, Microsoft, Sony, Dove, Intel, CitiGroup, and PowerBar, Aaker demonstrates how powerful, cohesive brand strategies have enabled managers to revitalize brands, support business growth, and create discipline in confused, bloated portfolios of master brands, subbrands, endorser brands, co-brands, and brand extensions. Aaker offers readers step-by-step advice on what to do when confronting scenarios such as the following: Brands are underleveraged The business strategy is at risk because of inadequate brand platforms The business faces a relevance threat caused by emerging subcategories The firm's brands are tired and bland Strategy is paralyzed by a lack of priority among the brands Brands are cluttered and confusing to both customers and employees The firm needs to move into the super-premium or value arenas to create margin or sales volume Margin pressures require points of differentiation Renowned brand guru Aaker demonstrates that assuring that each brand in the portfolio has a clear role and actively reinforces and supports the other portfolio brands will profoundly affect the firm's profitability. Brand Portfolio Strategy is required reading not only for brand managers but for all managers with bottom-line responsibility to their shareholders.

Brand Relevance

by David A. Aaker

Branding guru Aaker shows how to eliminate the competition and become the lead brand in your marketThis ground-breaking book defines the concept of brand relevance using dozens of case studies-Prius, Whole Foods, Westin, iPad and more-and explains how brand relevance drives market dynamics, which generates opportunities for your brand and threats for the competition. Aaker reveals how these companies have made other brands in their categories irrelevant. Key points: When managing a new category of product, treat it as if it were a brand; By failing to produce what customers want or losing momentum and visibility, your brand becomes irrelevant; and create barriers to competitors by supporting innovation at every level of the organization.Using dozens of case studies, shows how to create or dominate new categories or subcategories, making competitors irrelevantShows how to manage the new category or subcategory as if it were a brand and how to create barriers to competitorsDescribes the threat of becoming irrelevant by failing to make what customer are buying or losing energyDavid Aaker, the author of four brand books, has been called the father of brandingThis book offers insight for creating and/or owning a new business arena. Instead of being the best, the goal is to be the only brand around-making competitors irrelevant.

Building Strong Brands

by David A. Aaker

As industries turn increasingly hostile, it is clear that strong brand-building skills are needed to survive and prosper. In David Aaker's pathbreaking book, Managing Brand Equity, managers discovered the value of a brand as a strategic asset and a company's primary source of competitive advantage. Now, in this compelling new work, Aaker uses real brand-building cases from Saturn, General Electric, Kodak, Healthy Choice, McDonald's, and others to demonstrate how strong brands have been created and managed.A common pitfall of brand strategists is to focus on brand attributes. Aaker shows how to break out of the box by considering emotional and self-expressive benefits and by introducing the brand-as-person, brand-as-organization, and brand-as-symbol perspectives. The twin concepts of brand identity (the brand image that brand strategists aspire to create or maintain) and brand position (that part of the brand identity that is to be actively communicated) play a key role in managing the "out-of-the-box" brand.A second pitfall is to ignore the fact that individual brands are part of a larger system consisting of many intertwined and overlapping brands and subbrands. Aaker shows how to manage the "brand system" to achieve clarity and synergy, to adapt to a changing environment, and to leverage brand assets into new markets and products.Aaker also addresses practical management issues, introducing a set of brand equity measures, termed the brand equity ten, to help those who measure and track brand equity across products and markets. He presents and analyzes brand-nurturing organizational forms that are responsive to the challenges of coordinated brands across markets, products, roles, and contexts. Potentially destructive organizational pressures to change a brand's identity and position are also discussed.As executives in a wide range of industries seek to prevent their products and services from becoming commodities, they are recommitting themselves to brands as a foundation of business strategy. This new work will be essential reading for the battle-ready.

Building Strong Brands: Advertising's Role In Building Strong Brands (Advertising And Consumer Psychology Ser.)

by David A. Aaker

As industries turn increasingly hostile, it is clear that strong brand-building skills are needed to survive and prosper. In David Aaker's pathbreaking book, MANAGING BRAND EQUITY, managers discovered the value of a brand as a strategic asset and a company's primary source of competitive advantage. Now, in this compelling new work, Aaker uses real brand-building cases from Saturn, General Electric, Kodak, Healthy Choice, McDonald's, and others to demonstrate how strong brands have been created and managed. A common pitfall of brand strategists is to focus on brand attributes. Aaker shows how to break out of the box by considering emotional and self-expressive benefits and by introducing the brand-as-person, brand-as-organisation, and brand-as-symbol perspectives. A second pitfall is to ignore the fact that individual brands are part of a larger system consisting of many intertwined and overlapping brands and subbrands. Aaker shows how to manage the "brand system" to achieve clarity and synergy, to adapt to a changing environment, and to leverage brand assets into new markets and products. As executives in a wide range of industries seek to prevent their products and services from becoming commodities, they are recommitting themselves to brands as a foundation of business strategy. This new work will be essential reading for the battle-ready.

Building Strong Brands

by David A. Aaker

As industries turn increasingly hostile, it is clear that strong brand-building skills are needed to survive and prosper. In David Aaker's pathbreaking book, Managing Brand Equity, managers discovered the value of a brand as a strategic asset and a company's primary source of competitive advantage. Now, in this compelling new work, Aaker uses real brand-building cases from Saturn, General Electric, Kodak, Healthy Choice, McDonald's, and others to demonstrate how strong brands have been created and managed. A common pitfall of brand strategists is to focus on brand attributes. Aaker shows how to break out of the box by considering emotional and self-expressive benefits and by introducing the brand-as-person, brand-as-organization, and brand-as-symbol perspectives. The twin concepts of brand identity (the brand image that brand strategists aspire to create or maintain) and brand position (that part of the brand identity that is to be actively communicated) play a key role in managing the "out-of-the-box" brand. A second pitfall is to ignore the fact that individual brands are part of a larger system consisting of many intertwined and overlapping brands and subbrands. Aaker shows how to manage the "brand system" to achieve clarity and synergy, to adapt to a changing environment, and to leverage brand assets into new markets and products. Aaker also addresses practical management issues, introducing a set of brand equity measures, termed the brand equity ten, to help those who measure and track brand equity across products and markets. He presents and analyzes brand-nurturing organizational forms that are responsive to the challenges of coordinated brands across markets, products, roles, and contexts. Potentially destructive organizational pressures to change a brand's identity and position are also discussed. As executives in a wide range of industries seek to prevent their products and services from becoming commodities, they are recommitting themselves to brands as a foundation of business strategy. This new work will be essential reading for the battle-ready.

Managing Brand Equity: Capitalizing on the Value of a Brand Name

by David A. Aaker

The most important assets of any business are intangible: its company name, brands, symbols, and slogans, and their underlying associations, perceived quality, name awareness, customer base, and proprietary resources such as patents, trademarks, and channel relationships. These assets, which comprise brand equity, are a primary source of competitive advantage and future earnings, contends David Aaker, a national authority on branding. Yet, research shows that managers cannot identify with confidence their brand associations, levels of consumer awareness, or degree of customer loyalty. Moreover in the last decade, managers desperate for short-term financial results have often unwittingly damaged their brands through price promotions and unwise brand extensions, causing irreversible deterioration of the value of the brand name. Although several companies, such as Canada Dry and Colgate-Palmolive, have recently created an equity management position to be guardian of the value of brand names, far too few managers, Aaker concludes, really understand the concept of brand equity and how it must be implemented. In a fascinating and insightful examination of the phenomenon of brand equity, Aaker provides a clear and well-defined structure of the relationship between a brand and its symbol and slogan, as well as each of the five underlying assets, which will clarify for managers exactly how brand equity does contribute value. The author opens each chapter with a historical analysis of either the success or failure of a particular company's attempt at building brand equity: the fascinating Ivory soap story; the transformation of Datsun to Nissan; the decline of Schlitz beer; the making of the Ford Taurus; and others. Finally, citing examples from many other companies, Aaker shows how to avoid the temptation to place short-term performance before the health of the brand and, instead, to manage brands strategically by creating, developing, and exploiting each of the five assets in turn

Should You Take Your Brand to Where the Action Is?

by David A. Aaker

When markets turn hostile, it's no surprise that managers are tempted to extend their brands vertically--that is, to take their brands into a seemingly attractive market above or below their current positions. And for companies chasing growth, the urge to move into booming premium or value segments also can be hard to resist. The draw is indeed strong; and in some instances, a vertical move is not merely justified but actually essential to survival--even for top brands, which have the advantages of economies of scale, brand equity, and retail clout. But beware: leveraging a brand to access upscale or downscale markets is more dangerous than it first appears. Before making a move, then, managers should ascertain whether the rewards will be worth the risks. In general, David Aaker recommends that managers avoid vertical extensions whenever possible. There is an inherent contradiction in the very concept because brand equity is built in large part on image and perceived worth, and a vertical move can easily distort those qualities. Still, certain situations demand vertical extensions, and Aaker examines both the winners and the losers in the game.

Spanning Silos

by David A. Aaker

Powerful product, country, and functional silos are jeopardizing companies' marketing efforts. Because of silos, firms misallocate resources, send inconsistent messages to the marketplace, and fail to leverage scale economies and successes--all of which can threaten a company's survival.As David Aaker shows in Spanning Silos, the unfettered decentralization that produces silos is no longer feasible in today's marketplace. It's up to chief marketing officers to break down silo walls to foster cooperation and synergy.This isn't easy: silo teams guard their autonomy vigorously. As proof of their power, consider the fact that the average CMO tenure is just twenty-three months. How to proceed? Drawing on interviews with CMOs, Aaker explains how to:Strength your credibility with silo teams and your CEOUse cross-functional teams and other strategic linking devicesFoster communication across silosSelect the right CMO role-- from facilitator to strategic captainDevelop common planning processesAdapt your brand strategy to silo unitsAllocate marketing dollars strategically across silosDevelop silo-spanning marketing programsIn this age of dynamic markets, new media, and globalization, getting the different parts of your organization to collaborate is more critical--and more difficult--than ever. This book gives you the road map you need to accomplish that feat.

Three Threats to Brand Relevance: Strategies That Work (J-B Short Format Series)

by David A. Aaker

"Threats to brand relevance are always lurking around the corner. Your brand is virtually never immune from the risk of fading instead of being energized or being damaged instead of strengthened."—David Aaker From branding guru David Aaker comes Three Threats to Brand Relevance, a provocative new offering in the Jossey-Bass Short Format series. In Three Threats Aaker reveals that the key to an organization's sustained growth is to learn what it takes to bring "big" innovation to market and create barriers to competitors. Aaker also shows how well-established companies can avoid becoming irrelevant in the face of the continuing parade of marketing dynamics led by others. Building on his full-length book Brand Relevance, Aaker offers a guide for confronting the three threats if they emerge and shows how to put in place the strategies that will keep the threats at bay. Threat #1: A decline in category or subcategory relevance. Customers simply no longer want to buy what you are making, despite the fact you are offering a quality product and some customers love it. Threat #2: The loss of energy relevance. Without energy the brand simply does not come to mind as other more visible brands and a decline in energy can create a perception that it is locked in the past, suitable for an older generation. Threat #3: The emergence of a "reason-not-to-buy." The brand may have a perceived quality problem or be associated with a firm policy that is not acceptable. Whether your brand is just breaking into the marketplace or has a long held place in the hearts of its consumers, any forward-thinking company can implement Aaker's proven methods and strategies as part of their organization's ongoing review of brand strategy with the help of this succinct and to-the-point resource. About the Jossey-Bass Short Format Series Written by thought leaders and experts in their fields, pieces in the Jossey-Bass Short Format Series provide busy, on-the-go professionals, managers and leaders around the world with must-have, just-in-time information in a concise and actionable format.

Brand Equity & Advertising: Advertising's Role in Building Strong Brands (Advertising And Consumer Psychology Ser.)

by David A. Aaker Alexander L. Biel

The tenth annual Advertising and Consumer Psychology Conference held in San Francisco focused on branding -- a subject generating intense interest both in academia and in the "real world." The principle theory behind these conferences is that much can be gained by joining advertising and marketing professionals with academic researchers in advertising. Professionals can gain insight into the new theories, measurement tools and empirical findings that are emerging, while academics are stimulated by the insights and experience that professionals describe and the research questions that they pose. This book consists of papers delivered by experts from academia and industry discussing issues regarding the role of advertising in the establishment and maintenance of brand equity -- making this volume of interest to advertising and marketing specialists, as well as consumer and social psychologists.

Brand Leadership: Building Assets In An Information Economy

by David A. Aaker Erich Joachimsthaler

Recognized by Brandweek as "the dean of the brand-equity movement," David Aaker now prepares managers for the next level of the brand revolution—brand leadership.For the first time, Aaker and coauthor Erich Joachimsthaler describe how the emerging paradigm of strategic brand leadership is replacing the classic, tactically oriented brand management system pioneered by Procter & Gamble. This fundamental shift involves nothing less than a revolution in organizational structure, systems, and culture—as the authors demonstrate with hundreds of case studies from companies such as Polo Ralph Lauren, Virgin Airlines, Adidas, GE, Marriott, IBM, McDonald's, Maggi, and Swatch. This immensely readable book provides the brand management team with the capability to:--Create and elaborate brand identities (what should the brand stand for)--Use the brand relationship spectrum, a powerful tool to harness subbrands and endorsed brands to form brand architectures that create clarity, synergy and leveraged assets--Identify the customer "sweet spot" and the driving idea that will move brand-building efforts beyond advertising to break out of the clutter--Use the Internet and sponsorship to make brands resources work more effectively--Address the four imperatives of global brand managementLike David Aaker's two previous bestselling books, Brand Leadership will be essential reading for line executives and brand managers in market-driven firms worldwide.

Building Brands Without Mass Media

by David A. Aaker Erich Joachimsthaler

Costs, market fragmentation, and new media channels that let customers bypass advertisements seem to be in league against the old ways of marketing. Relying on mass media campaigns to build strong brands may be a thing of the past. Several companies in Europe, making a virtue of necessity, have come up with alternative brand-building approaches and are blazing a trail in the post-mass-media age. In England, Nestle's Buitoni brand grew through programs that taught the English how to cook Italian food. The Body Shop garnered loyalty with its support of environmental and social causes. Cadbury funded a theme park tied to its history in the chocolate business. Haagen-Dazs opened posh ice-cream parlors and got itself featured by name on the menus of fine restaurants. Hugo Boss and Swatch backed athletic or cultural events that became associated with their brands.

Lure of Global Branding

by David A. Aaker Erich Joachimsthaler

As more and more companies begin to see the world as their market, brand builders look with envy upon those businesses that appear to have created global brands--brands whose positioning, advertising strategy, personality, look, and feel are in most respects the same from one country to another. Attracted by such high-profile examples of success, these companies want to globalize their own brands. But that's a risky path to follow, according to David Aaker and Erich Joachimsthaler. Why? Because creating strong global brands takes global brand leadership. It can't be done simply by edict from on high. Specifically, companies must use organizational structures, processes, and cultures to allocate brand-building resources globally, to create global synergies, and to develop a global brand strategy that coordinates and leverages country brand strategies. Aaker and Joachimsthaler offer four prescriptions for companies seeking to achieve global brand leadership. First, companies must stimulate the sharing of insights and best practices across countries--a system in which "it won't work here" attitudes can be overcome. Second, companies should support a common global brand-planning process, one that is consistent across markets and products. Third, they should assign global managerial responsibility for brands in order to create cross-country synergies and to fight local bias. And fourth, they need to execute brilliant brand-building strategies. Before stampeding blindly toward global branding, companies need to think through the systems they have in place. Otherwise, any success they achieve is likely to be random--and that's a fail-safe recipe for mediocrity.

Humor, Seriously: Why Humor Is a Secret Weapon in Business and Life (And how anyone can harness it. Even you.)

by Jennifer Aaker Naomi Bagdonas

Anyone—even you!—can learn how to harness the power of humor in business (and life), based on the popular class at Stanford's Graduate School of Business. &“The ultimate guide to using the magical power of funny as a tool for leadership and a force for good.&”—Daniel H. Pink, #1 New York Times bestselling author of When and DriveThere exists a mistaken belief in today&’s corporate world: that we have to be serious all the time in order to be taken seriously. But the research tells a different story: that humor can be one of the most powerful tools we have for accomplishing serious things. Studies show that humor makes us appear more competent and confident, strengthens relationships, unlocks creativity, and boosts our resilience during difficult times. Plus, it fends off a permanent and unsightly frown known as &“resting boss face.&”Top executives are in on the secret: 98 percent prefer employees with a sense of humor, and 84 percent believe that these employees do better work. But even for those who intuitively understand humor&’s power, few know how to wield it with intention. As a result, humor is vastly underleveraged in most workplaces today, impacting our performance, relationships, and health.That&’s why Jennifer Aaker and Naomi Bagdonas teach the popular course Humor: Serious Business at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, where they help some of the world&’s most hard-driving, blazer-wearing business minds build levity into their organizations and lives. In Humor, Seriously, they draw on findings by behavioral scientists, world-class comedians, and inspiring business leaders to reveal how humor works and—more important—how you can use more of it, better.Aaker and Bagdonas unpack the theory and application of humor: what makes something funny and how to mine your life for material. They show how to use humor to make a strong first impression, deliver difficult feedback, persuade and motivate others, and foster cultures where levity and creativity can thrive—not to mention, how to keep it appropriate and recover if you cross a line.President Dwight David Eisenhower once said, &“A sense of humor is part of the art of leadership, of getting along with people, of getting things done.&” If Dwight David Eisenhower, the second least naturally funny president ever (after Franklin Pierce), thought humor was necessary to win wars, build highways, and warn against the military-industrial complex, then you might consider learning it too.Seriously.

The Dragonfly Effect

by Jennifer Aaker Andy Smith Dan Ariely Chip Heath Carlye Adler

Proven strategies for harnessing the power of social media to drive social changeMany books teach the mechanics of using Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube to compete in business. But no book addresses how to harness the incredible power of social media to make a difference. The Dragonfly Effect shows you how to tap social media and consumer psychological insights to achieve a single, concrete goal. Named for the only insect that is able to move in any direction when its four wings are working in concert, this bookReveals the four "wings" of the Dragonfly Effect-and how they work together to produce colossal resultsFeatures original case studies of global organizations like the Gap, Starbucks, Kiva, Nike, eBay, Facebook; and start-ups like Groupon and COOKPAD, showing how they achieve social good and customer loyaltyLeverage the power of design thinking and psychological research with practical strategiesReveals how everyday people achieve unprecedented results-whether finding an almost impossible bone marrow match for a friend, raising millions for cancer research, or electing the current president of the United StatesThe Dragonfly Effect shows that you don't need money or power to inspire seismic change.

Technology at the Margins

by Jessica Rothenberg Aalami M. Yunus Akhtar Badshah Sailesh Chutani

Remain competitive by offering more accessible, affordable, and relevant information technologies that meet mass-market needsTechnology at the Margins demonstrates that by making IT more accessible, affordable, and relevant, new mass markets can be opened. Based on solid insights generated in key areas of health, education, finance and the environment, the book offers practical recommendations and insights from world leaders, innovators, practitioners and new users of emergent technologies. Offers recommendations on how companies can ensure their own competitiveness by offering more accessible, affordable, and relevant information technologies to support mass market needsSuggests practical recommendations and insights from world leaders, innovators, practitioners and new users of emergent technologiesChallenges businesses to rethink their uses of existing technologiesTechnology at the Margins will be of interest to decision makers in the private, public and nonprofit sectors who are interested in opportunities offered by IT in meeting the needs of those at the base of the worlds economic pyramid.

Photoshop CS2 RAW

by Mikkel Aaland

The RAW file format is the uncompressed data file captured by a digital camera's electronic sensor. When your camera saves an image in RAW format, settings like white balance, sharpening, contrast and saturation are not applied to the image but are saved instead in a separate header. Because RAW files remain virtually untouched by in-camera processing, they are essentially the digital equivalent to exposed but undeveloped film. This makes RAW an increasingly popular format with amateur and professional digital photographers, because it affords greater flexibility and control during the editing process-if you know how to work with RAW files. Most digital camera manufacturers supply their own software for converting RAW data, as do some third party vendors. Increasingly, however, the RAW converter of choice is a plug-in included in the latest version of Adobe Photoshop, the most popular and widely-used digital image editing tool in the world. Adobe Photoshop CS2 is emerging as the best place to edit RAW images, and the best way to master this new format is with Photoshop CS2 RAW. An important book dedicated to working with RAW in Photoshop, this comprehensive guide features a unique design that helps readers grasp the subject through visual instruction and prompts. The entire RAW process is explored, from shooting to using the Adobe plug-in converter and new Bridge navigation software. The primary focus of Photoshop RAW is, as the title suggests, Photoshop editing technique: automating RAW workflow, correcting exposures, extending exposure range, manipulating grayscale and working with the new DNG (Digital Negative) open standard that Adobe supports. Presented by photographer Mikkel Aaland, a pioneer of digital photography and author of eight books, including O'Reilly's Photoshop for the Web and the award-winning Shooting Digital, Photoshop CS2 RAW investigates and instructs in an accessible visual style. Required reading for professionals and dedicated photo hobbyists alike.

Peri-urban futures: Scenarios and models for land use change in Europe

by Carmen Aalbers Kjell Nilsson Simon Bell Stephan Pauleit Thomas A. Sick Nielsen

Presently, peri-urbanisation is one of the most pervasive processes of land use change in Europe with strong impacts on both the environment and quality of life. It is a matter of great urgency to determine strategies and tools in support of sustainable development. The book synthesizes the results of PLUREL, a large European Commission funded research project (2007-2010). Tools and strategies of PLUREL address main challenges of managing land use in peri-urban areas. These results are presented and illustrated by means of 7 case studies which are at the core of the book. This volume presents a novel, future oriented approach to the planning and management of peri-urban areas with a main focus on scenarios and sustainability impact analysis. The research is unique in that it focuses on the future by linking quantitative scenario modeling and sustainability impact analysis with qualitative and in-depth analysis of regional strategies, as well as including a study at European level with case study work also involving a Chinese case study.

The Financialization of Housing: A political economy approach (Routledge Studies in the Modern World Economy)

by Manuel B. Aalbers

Due to the financialization of housing in today’s market, housing risks are increasingly becoming financial risks. Financialization refers to the increasing dominance of financial actors, markets, practices, measurements and narratives. It also refers to the resulting structural transformation of economies, firms, states and households. This book asserts the centrality of housing to the contemporary capitalist political economy and places housing at the centre of the financialization debate. A global wall of money is looking for High-Quality Collateral (HQC) investments, and housing is one of the few asset classes considered HQC. This explains why housing is increasingly becoming financialized, but it does not explain its timing, politics and geography. Presenting a diverse range of case studies from the US, the UK, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy and Spain, the chapters in this book include coverage of the role of the state as the driver of financialization processes, and the part played by local and national histories and institutions. This cutting edge volume will pave the way for future research in the area. Where housing used to be something "local" or "national", the two-way coupling of housing to finance has been one crucial element in the recent crisis. It is time to reconsider the financialization of both homeownership and social housing. This book will be of interest to those who study international economics, economic geography and financialization.

Cultivating Organizational Excellence: A Practitioner’s View (Management for Professionals)

by Albert Ferdinand Aalders

This book offers a comprehensive approach to organizational excellence based on the author’s vast experience in managing excellence at highly innovative and dynamic organizations. It integrates various approaches into a consistent view of achieving excellence in the context of dynamic technological and societal developments. Starting from purpose and mission, it describes stakeholder mapping and analysis, and process and quality management. In turn, it sheds light on how to deal with business dynamics of various types and demonstrates how quantum-mechanical models can help to understand and manage dynamic organizational processes. The book then introduces readers to result measuring and performance management, followed by organizational learning and rewards and recognition. Moreover, it discusses (innovation) ecosystem leverage and organizational culture management as further important capabilities of excellent organizations. Best practices in corporate social responsibility and environmental, social and governance aspects are fully integrated throughout the book, which concludes by explaining how the UN Sustainable Development Goals can be applied to optimize business initiatives. The book is intended as a source of inspiration for managers working under highly dynamic organizational conditions, helping them take their businesses to higher levels. It also provides valuable industrial insights for scholars with an interest in organizational excellence.

Speaking as Women Leaders

by Haleema A’ali Judith Baxter

This book offers new insights on how senior business women in Middle Eastern and Western companies use language for effective leadership in their respective management meetings. The book explores six case studies of women leaders, three in UK companies and three in a Bahraini company. The authors analyse meeting and transcript data to show that, in both cultural contexts, the women negotiate a range of gendered discourses such as 'hierarchy and status' and 'masculinisation' in order to manage their teams with authority and skill. The book challenges received wisdom about the opportunities and constraints each cultural context offers women in public life. While the UK women are constrained by chronic change and uncertainty in performing their roles effectively, the Bahraini women are far better supported by their bosses, yet are constrained by patriarchal assumptions of what constitutes effective leadership. The book demonstrates the use of Feminist Poststructuralist Discourse Analysis (FPDA), which is applied by scholars worldwide yet has relatively few published models of practice.

Medical Coding: What It Is and How It Works (Second Edition)

by Patricia T. Aalseth

In clear and straightforward language, Medical Coding: What It Is and How It Works, Second Edition provides an overview of the evolution of medical coding and all the various coding systems, how they relate, and how they function. Reasoning and consequences of the delayed ICD-10 implementation are explained along with a sound overview of the ICD-10-CM and PCS classification systems. For those contemplating a career in the coding field, this book is ideal as a basic orientation. Other individuals in healthcare management and administration will also benefit from a basic understanding of how coding works. Unlike other publications that focus only on coding, this book integrates coding guidelines and principles into the billing and reimbursement process, giving the student a more practical foundation in the rationale for correct coding. Healthcare fraud and abuse is addressed as well, to assure that readers understand ethical concerns inherent in coding for reimbursement. Instructor Resources: Instructor's Manual, PowerPoint slides, Test Bank

Refine Search

Showing 51 through 75 of 100,000 results