Changes in the global economy bring new dynamics, concepts, and implications that require digitalization and adaptation. The new “normal” has changed, and companies must adopt such strategies if they want to survive in the ever-changing business environments. Business Management and Communication Perspectives in Industry 4.0 is a pivotal reference source that provides vital research on the planning, implementing, and evaluating of strategies for the new industry standards. While highlighting topics such as artificial intelligence, digital leadership, and management science, this publication theorizes about tomorrow’s business and communication environments based on the past and present of the concepts. This book is ideally designed for managers, researchers, educators, students, professionals, and policymakers seeking current research on blending managerial and communicational concepts with a multidisciplinary approach.

This book discusses various aspects of Industry 4.0 from the perspective of information system evolution. Industry 4.0 refers to a new phase in the industrial revolution that relies heavily on interconnectivity, automation, machine learning, real-time data, the Internet of Things and blockchain technology. The interdisciplinary book addresses a number of topics related to modern information technologies, and presents innovative concepts, methods, models and tools for the development of information systems to support Industry 4.0. Focusing on artificial intelligence, collective knowledge processing and blockchain technology, it appeals to a wide readership, including researchers, students, business managers and professionals, software developers, as well as IT and management specialists.

Zusammenfassung: This book provides an in-depth analysis of current development concerning ICTs with reference to vocational education and training. It presents the best and innovative ICT-based solutions implemented in education and explores controversial topics such as challenges and opportunities. Information and communication technologies (ICTs) have dramatically changed the way we learn and work. They have created new opportunities along with new challenges, putting profound and urgent implications on vocational education and training (VET). Nowadays, we must think broadly and make the right choices about VET using innovation and digitalization to boost the quality of vocational education and training, enable the upskilling and reskilling of adults, and enhance the employability of learners. The potential and the impact of ICTs in vocational education and training have yet to be fully exploited, leading to an emerging direction of research. This book helps readers to understand the idea of business education and education governance in a digital age. It is of interest to practitioners, administrators, researchers, teachers, teacher educators and students.

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) play a critical role in rejuvenating and sustaining the modern economy, generating substantial employment and serving as important innovation engines for the global economy. Global Perspectives on Small and Medium Enterprises and Strategic Information Systems: International Approaches aims to spread research conducted on SMEs internationally and place it at the disposal of academics, practitioners, consultants, the vendor community, and policymakers. The goal of this book is to highlight the challenges faced by SMEs and how they are coping with the adverse environment through skillful use of IT and technologies such as Web 2.0, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), e-commerce, open source software, Business Process Digitization (BPD), and other emerging technologies.

"Publications Management: Essays for Professional Communicators" is a collection of essays designed for use in academic programs in technical and professional communication and for communication professionals in the workplace. The contributors include publications managers in the workplace and academics who teach in technical and professional communication programs. Their multiple perspectives offer a broad introduction to some of the important issues publications.

Successful relationships with publics are based on how people are treated, so public relations should help foster happiness and joy and by that improve organisational success and the well-being of people. This book explores how public relations contributes to the well-being of its publics and presents findings from current research in the field.

Praise for the award winning First Edition: ′This handbook is organized to help teachers and students to cover the mainstream work in the field of organization studies. This is an excellent reference tool with which to study organizational theory and practice′ - International Review of Administrative Sciences ′The editors have put together an impressive reference work, serious in intent and rigorous in implementation. As a publishing achievement, and a scholarly ′event′ in the field, SAGE is to be congratulated. It is designed as a work of synthesis, to link past and present, general and specific′ - Journal of General Management Praise for the New Edition: ′An excellent collection of papers giving a timely overview of the field′ - Gareth Morgan ′In this substantially updated, revised and extended edition of the widely acclaimed Handbook, the high standard of the contributions is maintained. Close consideration is given to newly emergent, such as networks and complexity, as well as more established topics. Metaphors of conversation and discourse are engagingly invoked to make and explore new distinctions, directions and connections. It is a key reference volume for more advanced students of this rapidly developing field′ - Hugh Willmott , Diageo Professor of Management Studies, Judge Business School, University of Cambridge ′Giving the authors of the Handbook of Organization Studies the opportunity to revise and update their earlier contributions makes this handbook unique. Comparing the revised chapters to their originals offers the reader unparalleled insight into how knowledge develops in our discipline. New frameworks and deeper understandings, grounded in continuing scholarship, abound in this updated classic′ - Mary Jo Hatch, C. Coleman McGehee Eminent Scholars Research Professor of Banking and Commerce McIntire School of Commerce, University of Virginia A decade after it first published to international acclaim, the seminal Handbook of Organization Studies has been updated to capture exciting new developments in the field. Providing a retrospective and prospective overview of organization studies, the Handbook continues to challenge and inspire readers with its synthesis of knowledge and literature. As ever, contributions have been selected to reflect the diversity of the field. New chapters cover areas such as organizational change; knowledge management; and organizational networks. Part One reflects on the relationship between theory, research and practice in organization studies. Part Two address a number of the most significant issues to affect organization studies such as leadership, diversity and globalization. Comprehensive and far-reaching, this important resource will set new standards for the understanding of organizational studies. It will be invaluable to researchers, teachers and advanced students alike.

World-renowned economist Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum, explains that we have an opportunity to shape the fourth industrial revolu­tion, which will fundamentally alter how we live and work. Schwab argues that this revolution is different in scale, scope and complexity from any that have come before. Characterized by a range of new technologies that are fusing the physical, digital and biological worlds, the developments are affecting all disciplines, economies, industries and governments, and even challenging ideas about what it means to be human. Artificial intelligence is already all around us, from supercomputers, drones and virtual assistants to 3D printing, DNA sequencing, smart thermostats, wear­able sensors and microchips smaller than a grain of sand. But this is just the beginning: nanomaterials 200 times stronger than steel and a million times thinner than a strand of hair and the first transplant of a 3D printed liver are already in development. Imagine “smart factories” in which global systems of manu­facturing are coordinated virtually, or implantable mobile phones made of biosynthetic materials. The fourth industrial revolution, says Schwab, is more significant, and its ramifications more profound, than in any prior period of human history. He outlines the key technologies driving this revolution and discusses the major impacts expected on government, business, civil society and individu­als. Schwab also offers bold ideas on how to harness these changes and shape a better future—one in which technology empowers people rather than replaces them; progress serves society rather than disrupts it; and in which innovators respect moral and ethical boundaries rather than cross them. We all have the opportunity to contribute to developing new frame­works that advance progress.

To survive and thrive in the competition, firms have strived to achieve greater supply chain collaboration to leverage the resources and knowledge of suppliers and customers. Internet based technologies, particularly interorganizational systems, further extend the firms’ opportunities to strengthen their supply chain partnerships and share real-time information to optimize their operations. Supply Chain Collaboration: Roles of Interorganizational Systems, Trust, and Collaborative Culture explores the nature and characteristics, antecedents, and consequences of supply chain collaboration from multiple theoretical perspectives. Supply Chain Collaboration: Roles of Interorganizational Systems, Trust, and Collaborative Culture conceptualizes supply chain collaboration as seven interconnecting elements including information sharing, incentive alignment, goal congruence, decision synchronization, resource sharing, as well as communication and joint knowledge creation. These seven components define the occurrence of collaborative efforts and allow us to explain supply chain collaboration more precisely. Collaborative advantages are also divided into five components to capture the joint competitive advantages and benefits among supply chain partners. The definitions and measures developed here examine some central issue surrounding supply chain development but this is also followed up with real-life managerial practicalities. This balance of theory and practical application makes Supply Chain Collaboration: Roles of Interorganizational Systems, Trust, and Collaborative Culture a strong resource for industry practitioners and researchers alike.

This path-breaking Handbook is targeted primarily at marketing academics and graduate students who want a comprehensive overview of the academic state of the business-to-business marketing domain. It will also prove an invaluable resource for forward-thinking business-to-business practitioners who want to be aware of the current state of knowledge in their domains.