“Shows how humans have brought us to the brink and how humanity can find solutions. I urge people to read with humility and the daring to act.” —Harpal Singh, former Chair, Save the Children, India, and former Vice Chair, Save the Children International In conversations with people all over the world, from government officials and business leaders to taxi drivers and schoolteachers, Blair Sheppard, global leader for strategy and leadership at PwC, discovered they all had surprisingly similar concerns. In this prescient and pragmatic book, he and his team sum up these concerns in what they call the ADAPT framework: Asymmetry of wealth; Disruption wrought by the unexpected and often problematic consequences of technology; Age disparities--stresses caused by very young or very old populations in developed and emerging countries; Polarization as a symptom of the breakdown in global and national consensus; and loss of Trust in the institutions that underpin and stabilize society. These concerns are in turn precipitating four crises: a crisis of prosperity, a crisis of technology, a crisis of institutional legitimacy, and a crisis of leadership. Sheppard and his team analyze the complex roots of these crises--but they also offer solutions, albeit often seemingly counterintuitive ones. For example, in an era of globalization, we need to place a much greater emphasis on developing self-sustaining local economies. And as technology permeates our lives, we need computer scientists and engineers conversant with sociology and psychology and poets who can code. The authors argue persuasively that we have only a decade to make headway on these problems. But if we tackle them now, thoughtfully, imaginatively, creatively, and energetically, in ten years we could be looking at a dawn instead of darkness.

The success of any organization depends on high-quality customer service. But for companies that strategically align customer service with their overall corporate strategy, it can transcend typical good business to become a profitable word-of-mouth machine that will transform the bottom line. Drawing on over thirty years of research for companies such as 3M, American Express, Chik-Fil-A, USAA, Coca-Cola, FedEx, GE, Cisco Systems, Neiman Marcus, and Toyota, author Goodman uses formal research, case studies, and patented practices to show readers how they can: • calculate the financial impact of good and bad customer service • make the financial case for customer service improvements • systematically identify the causes of problems • align customer service with their brand • harness customer service strategy into their organization's culture and behavior Filled with proven strategies and eye-opening case studies, this book challenges many aspects of conventional wisdom—using hard data—and reveals how any organization can earn more loyalty, win more customers...and improve their financial bottom line.

The international tourism industry has seen increased growth in the past few years as millions of individuals continue to travel worldwide. As one of the world’s largest economic sectors, creating jobs, driving exports, and generating prosperity worldwide, hospitality and tourism management needs to continually be explored in order to update best business models and practice. Strategic Business Models to Support Demand, Supply, and Destination Management in the Tourism and Hospitality Industry is an essential reference source that emphasizes emergent and innovative aspects and new challenges and issues within the industry with a particular focus on demand, supply, and destination management. Featuring research on topics such as circular economy, consumer behavior, and social networking, this book is ideally designed for business professionals, executives, hotel managers, event coordinators, restaurateurs, travel agents, tour directors, policymakers, government officials, industry professionals, researchers, students, and academicians.

Presenting core theories alongside practical applications, this publication will help students understand how to effectively move an organization toward strategic goals. Author Gary Cokins uses his deep knowledge of the subject matter to deliver an easy-to-follow road map to effective and strategic management through: Establishing the integral links between planning and performance Demonstrating how risk management and performance assessment impact planning Applying business analytics and Big Data in the finance and accounting functions as well as marketing, sales, operations and other functions Evaluating the effectiveness of a strategy map and the balanced scorecard as a management tool Tying budgeting to strategy and measuring the effectiveness of both via ongoing performance Written in a plain, straight-forward fashion that will allow students to draw immediate value from its content, this book pulls together several topics in an elegant yet sophisticated approach. It uses detailed graphics and diagrams to provide students with a clear understanding of the dynamic intersection between key management and organization leadership topics that management accountants need to master in order to fill a strategic leadership role within their organizations.

A practical approach to business transformation Fit for Growth* is a unique approach to business transformation that explicitly connects growth strategy with cost management and organization restructuring. Drawing on 70-plus years of strategy consulting experience and in-depth research, the experts at PwC’s Strategy& lay out a winning framework that helps CEOs and senior executives transform their organizations for sustainable, profitable growth. This approach gives structure to strategy while promoting lasting change. Examples from Strategy&’s hundreds of clients illustrate successful transformation on the ground, and illuminate how senior and middle managers are able to take ownership and even thrive during difficult periods of transition. Throughout the Fit for Growth process, the focus is on maintaining consistent high-value performance while enabling fundamental change. Strategy& has helped major clients around the globe achieve significant and sustained results with its research-backed approach to restructuring and cost reduction. This book provides practical guidance for leveraging that expertise to make the choices that allow companies to: Achieve growth while reducing costs Manage transformation and transition productively Create lasting competitive advantage Deliver reliable, high-value performance Sustainable success is founded on efficiency and high performance. Companies are always looking to do more with less, but their efforts often work against them in the long run. Total business transformation requires total buy-in, and it entails a series of decisions that must not be made lightly. The Fit for Growth approach provides a clear strategy and practical framework for growth-oriented change, with expert guidance on getting it right. *Fit for Growth is a registered service mark of PwC Strategy& Inc. in the United States

How to close the gap between strategy and execution Two-thirds of executives say their organizations don’t have the capabilities to support their strategy. In Strategy That Works, Paul Leinwand and Cesare Mainardi explain why. They identify conventional business practices that unintentionally create a gap between strategy and execution. And they show how some of the best companies in the world consistently leap ahead of their competitors. Based on new research, the authors reveal five practices for connecting strategy and execution used by highly successful enterprises such as IKEA, Natura, Danaher, Haier, and Lego. These companies: • Commit to what they do best instead of chasing multiple opportunities • Build their own unique winning capabilities instead of copying others • Put their culture to work instead of struggling to change it • Invest where it matters instead of going lean across the board • Shape the future instead of reacting to it Packed with tools you can use for building these five practices into your organization and supported by in-depth profiles of companies that are known for making their strategy work, this is your guide for reconnecting strategy to execution.

Strategic Business Transformation The seven deadly sins to overcome What can Gandhi, Mother Teresa and Nelson Mandela teach us about running businesses that face transformation in their markets. This book courageously offers that businesses that transform markets or respond to transformation know that they must transform themselves before they transform others. Great companies find a cause greater than themselves, organizes this cause into executable momentum and conquers the imagination of the market. Transforming your business requires a recipe powered by a cause not missions. Read and see how and why.

"Troy Waugh—'the rainmakers' rainmaker'—has provided a well-designed blueprint for selling professional services that skillfully draws upon his more than thirty years in the field. This practical, highly focused guide to the selling process can help our firms achieve sales successes measured not only by effort but also by bottom-line results." —Howard B. Allenberg, vice chairman and CIO, BDO Seidman, LLP Finally, peerless focus on how to break into all aspects of the selling process and the currents of relationship and buyer development. Learn how to build your personal and firm business more successfully. Covers the process of relationship and buyer development. Provides proven strategies from hundreds of the world's successful firms. Order your copy today!

Customer satisfaction is a critical factor to the potential success or failure of a business. By implementing the latest marketing strategies, organizations can better withstand the competitive market. Strategic Marketing Management and Tactics in the Service Industry is an essential reference publication that features the latest scholarly research on service strategies for competitive advantage across industries. Covering a broad range of topics and perspectives such as customer satisfaction, healthcare service, and microfinance, this book is ideally designed for students, academics, practitioners, and professionals seeking current research on best practices to build rapport with customers.

This unique desk reference offers the information, models and guidance needed to plan and deliver complete, end-to-end business analysis services. Its step-by-step approach enables maximum utility of the business analysis (BA) role, development of more complete solutions for meeting the strategic goals of a business, and dramatic and sustainable improvements in project success rates. Managing Business Analysis Services: A Framework for Sustainable Projects and Corporate Strategy Success provides chief information officers, business analysis managers and consultants the information required to maximize the efficiency and productivity of technology projects, obtain higher returns on investment from BA services, reduce operating costs, and increase alignment of products to better serve the company or the client organization.