The rise of the corporate supercitizen and the consequences for society Only about thirty countries possess the powers usually associated with sovereign nations. The rest can’t actually defend their borders, govern their finances independently, or meet the basic needs of their people. In this provocative and persuasive new book, David Rothkopf calls these others semistates and argues that they’re much less powerful than hundreds of corporate supercitizens. A multitude of facts demonstrates the reach of the modern corporation. Walmart has revenues greater than the GDP of all but twenty-five nations. The world’s largest asset manager, BlackRock, controls $3.3 trillion, almost as much as the currency reserves held by China and Japan combined. Corporations in Third World countries routinely hire mercenary armies to enforce their will, and in some cases (such as Shell in Nigeria), they control the politicians as well. Striking a balance between public and private power has become the defining challenge for all societies. In Power, Inc., Rothkopf argues that the decline of the state is irreversible. The way forward is to harness corporate resources in the service of individual nations to forge a radically new relationship between the individual and the institutions that govern our lives.

Conversation-powered leadership How can leaders make their big or growing companies feel small again? How can they recapture the “magic”—the tight strategic alignment, the high level of employee engagement—that drove and animated their organization when it was a start-up? As more and more executives have discovered in recent years, the answer to this conundrum lies in the power of conversation. In Talk, Inc., Boris Groysberg and Michael Slind show how trusted and effective leaders are adapting the principles of face-to-face conversation in order to pursue a new form of organizational conversation. They explore the promise of conversation-powered leadership—from the time-tested practice of talking straight (and listening well) to the thoughtful adoption of social media technology. And they offer guidance on how to balance the benefits of open-ended talk with the realities of strategic execution. Drawing on the experience of leaders at diverse companies from around the world, Talk, Inc., offers provocative insights and user-friendly tips on how to make organizational culture more intimate, more interactive, more inclusive, and more intentional—in short, more conversational.

Black Power Inc. explores the emergence of a new black elite that sees business and economics as the true base of American power, rather than politics. Instead of mobilizing voters, they are storming boardrooms across the country and establishing themselves in positions of real influence. Now, Fortune magazine writer Cora Daniels, one of the primary chroniclers of this new shift in attitudes, reveals both the professionals who drive it and their motivations for doing so.

The university, as a core institution of democratic society, is increasingly threatened by the intrusion of big business. Campus, Inc. not only describes the threat of corporatization, but provides real-life strategies, campaigns, and solutions to the problem. A new era of student activism has rolled back the sale of sweatshop-produced items in campus stores; the re-emergence of unions has helped faculty organize to prevent "hostile takeovers" of our publicly funded institutions; and effective strategies to redemocratize the university are increasingly available.

Collects 381 entries that discuss political science, international relations, and sociology.

No other individual has had as broad an impact on the auto industry during the past fifty years as Dave Power. Dave’s persistence in getting auto executives to listen to customer concerns was key to the across-the-board rise in car quality, and the influence of his J.D. Power and Associates rankings has permanently raised the bar on customer satisfaction. Enhanced with anecdotal quotes from Dave as well as dozens of industry insiders, POWER is a compelling study of an intelligent, polite, market-research wonk who unblinkingly spoke truth to power, and ended up making customer satisfaction a watchword not just in automotive but in all manufacturing and service industries. Foreword by CNBC's Bill Griffeth

Australian mystery adventure series.

Be inspired to transform your business to change the world. Do you ever wonder how successful businesses can be used as a force for good? Do you sometimes feel conflicted by the principles of capitalism? Do you wish to change the world around you whilst doing what you love? In this book, Gaurav Sinha, world-class businessman and entrepreneur, founder of Insignia in 2003, outlines the economics of empathy for life and for business. He offers actionable solutions to maintaining a successful trade in a changing global landscape where conscience, ethics, and authenticity are high on the agenda. The world is changing, perceptions are shifting, consumers are evolving, and this book will ensure your business keeps up.

Managing Your Scarcest Resources Business leaders know that the key to competitive success is smart management of scarce resources. That's why companies allocate their financial capital so carefully. But capital today is cheap and abundant, no longer a source of advantage. The truly scarce resources now are the time, the talent, and the energy of the people in your organization--resources that are too often squandered. There's plenty of advice about how to manage them, but most of it focuses on individual actions. What's really needed are organizational solutions that can unleash a company's full productive power and enable it to outpace competitors. Building off of the popular Harvard Business Review article "Your Scarcest Resource," Michael Mankins and Eric Garton, Bain & Company experts in organizational design and effectiveness, present new research into how you can liberate people's time, talent, and energy and unleash your organization's productive power. They identify the specific causes of organizational drag--the collection of institutional factors that slow things down, decrease output, and drain people's energy--and then offer a pragmatic framework for how managers can overcome it. With practical advice for using the framework and in-depth examples of how the best companies manage their people's time, talent, and energy with as much discipline as they do their financial capital, this book shows managers how to create a virtuous circle of high performance.