If I risk my heart, can I keep my head in the game? I’m going to win gold in figure skating. I imagine it again and again: Olympic champion Alex Grady. I train harder than my competitors. I’m in the rink morning, noon, and night. The lack of filter between my mouth and brain affects my ability to make friends, but I don’t have time for a social life anyway. As for a boyfriend? Forget it. So what if I’m still completely inexperienced at twenty? The Olympics are only every four years—everything else can wait. But for some inexplicable reason, I can’t stop checking out my boring new training mate Matt Savelli. Calm, collected “Captain Cardboard” is a nice guy, but even if I had time to date, Matt’s so not my type. I don’t even know what my type is! Until I do. Beneath Matt’s wholesome surface, there’s a sexy, tender man who awakens a desire in me I’ve never experienced. This is the worst possible time to be tempted. The worst possible time to let someone get close to me. This is the worst possible time to fall in love. The Next Competitor by Keira Andrews is a gay sports romance featuring grumpy/sunshine opposites attracting, sizzling first times, and of course a happy ending.

In this pathbreaking book, Michael E. Porter unravels the rules that govern competition and turns them into powerful analytical tools to help management interpret market signals and forecast the direction of industry development.

A Fast Company blogger and former McKinsey consultant profiles the next generation business strategists: the "Outthinkers" "Outthinkers" are entrepreneurs and corporate leaders with a new playbook. They see opportunities others ignore, challenge dogma others accept as truth, rally resources others cannot influence, and unleash new strategies that disrupt their markets. Outthink the Competition proves that business competition is undergoing a fundamental paradigm shift and that during such revolutions, outthinkers beat traditionalists. Outthink the Competition presents stories of breakthrough companies like Apple, Google, Vistaprint, and Rosetta Stone whose stunning performances defy traditional explanation and will inspire readers to outthink the competition. Core concepts in the book include: Discover the Eight Dimensions of Disruption Learn to play by the Outthinker Playbook Develop the Five Habits of the Outthinker Implement the Outthinker Process It's time to buck tradition in order to stay ahead. Outthink the competition and uncover opportunities hiding in plain sight.

From best-selling author Jeffrey J. Fox, how the savvy see opportunity -- and capitalize on it Economic downturns separate the winning companies from the struggling. And as best-selling author Jeffrey J. Fox shows, tough times also give solid companies, strong managers, and potential rainmakers the opportunity to seize market share. In this eminently readable, practical resource for business leaders and managers, Fox explains exactly how the savvy few who rise to the top stay focused and alert, get new market share, hire good recently fired talent, increase investments into customer service, speed innovation, train all customer facing people, make acquisitions, get rid of underperformers, build brand names, pay for measurable performance, and lots more. Potential rainmakers, CEOS, marketing superstars, and great bosses have long turned to Jeffrey J. Fox for advice. Now he shows exactly what to do to weather any climate.

Resource for companies to improve strategic planning and ensure they are implementing effective corporate strategy. bull; Presents a comprehensive range of methods to analyse the tools that analyse business, competitive data, and market information. bull; Consistent approach and detailed instructions allow for readers to implement strategy quickly and effectively. bull; Management consultants and strategy departments can use this book to make a case for the most effective method to apply to any problem.

When it comes to competitive strategy, knowing what your competition is doing is good; understanding why they do what they do and predicting what they are going to do next is best. Leading companies invest a lot of resources into competitive intelligence, so why are they still caught off guard by the actions and reactions of their competitors? In Inside the Competitor’s Mindset, John Horn shares proven techniques to help businesses think like the competition and understand why they act the way they do. The keys to unlocking this mindset are cognitive empathy and a strategic approach to competitive insight that focuses on the “why” of a competitor’s move, and not just on “what happened.” Inside the Competitor’s Mindset presents a systematic approach to competitive intelligence that starts with three frameworks to get inside the competitor’s mindset, predict their reactions to your moves, and assess whether the competition is getting ready for a spontaneous move of their own. Horn also demonstrates the importance of collecting forward-looking, predictive data; explains how to use war games, Black Hat exercises, mock negotiations, and premortems to build competitive insight; and makes the case for creating a dedicated competitive insight function within the organization. When every move matters, staying a step ahead of the competition is critical. Inside the Competitor’s Mindset prepares leaders from any industry to be ready when it is time to act (and react) in the competitive market. Reading this book will empower you to • learn where to look for competitive insights, regardless of your industry, whether you (or your competitors) are a public or private company; • anticipate how competitors will react to moves you make, and whether they are about to make a bold first move; • apply lessons from archaeologists, paleontologists, NICU nurses, and homicide detectives to better gather and analyze information when you can’t ask direct questions; • design and operate strategic exercises to gain competitive insight; and • build up a competitive insight function within your organization.

User experience (UX) strategy requires a careful blend of business strategy and UX design, but until now, there hasn’t been an easy-to-apply framework for executing it. This hands-on guide introduces lightweight strategy tools and techniques to help you and your team craft innovative multi-device products that people want to use. Whether you’re an entrepreneur, UX/UI designer, product manager, or part of an intrapreneurial team, this book teaches simple-to-advanced strategies that you can use in your work right away. Along with business cases, historical context, and real-world examples throughout, you’ll also gain different perspectives on the subject through interviews with top strategists. Define and validate your target users through provisional personas and customer discovery techniques Conduct competitive research and analysis to explore a crowded marketplace or an opportunity to create unique value Focus your team on the primary utility and business model of your product by running structured experiments using prototypes Devise UX funnels that increase customer engagement by mapping desired user actions to meaningful metrics

Biographies of notable sportsmen of the past in the fields of horse racing, hunting, yachting, cricket, rugby, and more.