Ram Charan has spent more time than anyone else on the ground observing and analyzing the tilt, or the power shift, of the global economy. Here, he gives business leaders the tools to detect trends that cut across not just industries but also countries, rethink the economic and business principles they rely on, and adapt to the speed of innovation and unprecedented needs of the … [More]
Global Dexterity
Being a global worker and a true “citizen of the world” today goes beyond merely acknowledging cultural differences. It means being able to adapt one’s behavior to conform to new cultural contexts without losing one’s authentic self in the process. Not only is this difficult, it’s a frightening prospect for most people and something completely outside their comfort zone. But … [More]
China’s Silent Army
This is the first book to examine the unprecedented growth of China’s economic investment in the developing world, its impact at the local level, and a rare hands-on picture of the role of ordinary Chinese in the juggernaut that is China, Inc. Beijing-based journalists Juan Pablo Cardenal and Heriberto Araújo crisscrossed the globe from 2009 to 2011 to investigate how the … [More]
Entrepreneurial Truths Give Boost to Business
"Doomed from the start." Entrepreneurs and entrepreneur-hopefuls may find it difficult to keep those four words from causing them to second guess their every move as they plan and run their business — especially considering that fewer than 30 percent of businesses last more than 10 years and most failures happen within the first few years of operation. The truth is, many things … [More]
Find That Unique Niche in the Marketplace
It is no secret that competition today has become increasingly intense. In fact, in today’s highly competitive marketplace, the competition is so deadly fierce that the best and the brightest don’t always succeed. Sometimes the best and brightest are annihilated by the competitors in the industry. In situations from starting a business or building a brand to trying to get … [More]
The Customer Rules: The 39 Essential Rules for Delivering Sensational Service
The former EVP of Walt Disney World shares indispensible rules for serving customers with consistency, efficiency, creativity, sincerity and excellence. Lee Cockerell knows that success in business — any business — depends upon winning and keeping customers. In 39 digestible, bite-sized chapters, Cockerell shares everything he has learned in his more than 40-year career in the … [More]
Can’t Buy Me Like
Today’s brands face an apparent choice between two evils: continue betting on their increasingly ineffective advertising or put blind faith in the supposedly mystical power of social media, where “likes” stand in for transactions and a mass audience is maddeningly elusive. But in today’s world, where people have become desensitized — even disillusioned — by ad campaigns and … [More]
Alliance Creates Resource to Fund Business Growth
Expected to help kick-start the flow of capital to businesses for loans they need to grow, At Work for Arizona Business Loan Alliance launched last month with $12 million committed to fund loans of $50,000 to $500,000 to businesses that lack adequate equity investment or sufficient collateral for a conventional loan but are otherwise creditworthy. Forging this groundbreaking … [More]
Conscious Capitalism: Liberating the Heroic Spirit of Business
Whole Foods Market co-founder John Mackey and professor and Conscious Capitalism, Inc. co-founder Rajendra Sisodia argue for the inherent good of both business and capitalism. Looking at some of today’s best-known companies, they illustrate how these two forces can — and do — work most powerfully to create value for all stakeholders in business today: customers, employees, … [More]
The ‘Grow or Die’ Lie
All growth is good. Bigger is better. All businesses must either “grow or die.” These popular business axioms are routinely lauded on Wall Street, at business schools and by some of the most well-respected business consultants of the day. Few question their validity. But actually, these “truths” are anything but. At best, those beliefs are half-truths; at worst, they’re pure … [More]
Think Like a Futurist: Know What Changes, What Doesn’t, and What’s Next
Discover how to short circuit the habits that blind us to future trends, how to break through the walls of resistance to change, and how to find the tools needed to face the future with confidence. This book brings a practical and disciplined approach to creativity and future thinking that can be immediately applied. Futurism isn’t just a profession for an elite few but a way … [More]
The Heart of Change: Real-Life Stories of How People Change Their Organizations
Kotter and co-author Dan S. Cohen delve deeper into the subject of change to get to the heart of how change actually happens. Through real-life stories from people in the trenches, in all kinds of organizations, the authors tackle the fundamental problem that underlies every major transformation: How do you go beyond simply getting your message across to truly changing people’s … [More]
Amplify: How the Rise of the Social Economy Empowers Us All
A leading futurist offers a portrayal of how new technologies are giving individuals so much power to connect and share resources that we are entering a new era in which networks of individuals, not big organizations, will solve a host of problems by reinventing business, education, medicine, banking, government and scientific research into radical new types of organizations … [More]
Google+ for Business: How Google’s Social Network Changes Everything
This conversational, business-savvy guide helps businesspeople identify where Google+ is most likely to offer them value, avoid missteps and wasted energy, and get results fast. This is a business book, not a technology book. Business decision-makers will learn how Google+ is different and why the difference matters, how to define effective Google+ strategy and tactics, how to … [More]
We First: How Brands and Consumers Use Social Media to Build a Better World
Simon Mainwaring offers a visionary new practice in which brands leverage social media to earn consumer goodwill, loyalty and profit, while creating a third pillar of sustainable social change through conscious contributions from customer purchases, with case studies from companies such as Walmart, Starbucks and Patagonia. These innovative private-sector partnerships answer … [More]
Thunderbird’s Student ‘Action Learning’ Serves Free Consulting to Businesses
Teams of students attending the world-renowned Thunderbird School of Global Management have, for years, been solidifying their classroom learning with “action learning” in the real world, working with businesses to consult on actual challenges. A new collaboration with Local First Arizona aims to encourage more local enterprises to get involved in this opportunity to gain … [More]
Today’s Global Society: How Are Arizona Businesses Getting a Piece of It?
Attorney Karen Dickinson recalls the earlier days of her career when she traveled on business from Arizona to other countries. “I spent most of my career with people saying, ‘You’re from where?’” she recalls. Not exactly what anyone would want to hear after a flight to the other side of the world. She even found it challenging to build her credibility simply because she was … [More]
What Manufacturing Means to the Valley Economy
“Thirty years ago, manufacturing accounted for about 15 percent of output in [Arizona’s] overall economy. Now, it’s about 8 to 9 percent. That’s because other parts of the economy have gotten bigger,” says Research Professor Lee McPheters, director of the JPMorgan Chase Economic Outlook Center at the W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University. He sees … [More]
