Project Portfolio Management


Book Description

Project Portfolio Management (PPM) goes beyond the typical project management approach to offer a set of proven business practices that can help executives, program managers, and project managers bring projects into alignment with the strategies, resources, and executive oversight of the overall enterprise. Step by step, this book shows how to take a project from the inception of a vision to the realization of benefits to the organization. Project Portfolio Management draws on project management expert Harvey A. Levine’s years of research and distills the knowledge and best practices from dozens of leaders in the field to show how to select and implement the projects that will garner the best results. Throughout this important resource, Levine tackles the many challenges associated with PPM, including Ranking value and benefits Determining the size of the portfolio pipeline Assessing the impact of uncertainty on projects and portfolios Understanding the benefit and risk relationship Establishing a portfolio governance capability Managing the portfolio to maximize benefits Implementing PPM




The Philosopher's Stone for Sustainability


Book Description

Industrial Product-Service Systems (IPS2), which is defined as “an integrated industrial product and service offering that delivers value in use,” has expanded rapidly over the last decade. IPS2 has allowed us to achieve both high added value and high productivity and has enriched our QOL by improving the performance of products and services. We are now struggling with many awkward issues related to sustainability, but IPS2 is expected to be the “philosopher’s stone” for solving these issues. Following the pattern of conferences held in Cranfield in 2009, Linköping in 2010, and Braunschweig in 2011, the fourth International CIRP Conference on Industrial Product-Service Systems, held on November 8-9, 2012, in Tokyo, will cover various aspects of IPS2. Topics planned for this year’s conference reflect the latest IPS2 information in both the natural sciences and humanities and include case studies from various industries. IPS2 is still a relatively new field, so it is important to keep track of the entire context in order to promote more cross-sectional cooperation between multimodal fields and disciplines. The fourth International CIRP Conference on Industrial Product-Service Systems will serve as a vital platform for such collaborations and the discussion of new scientific ideas.




Technological Change and Industrial Transformation


Book Description

Industrial transformation is a research and teaching field with a focus on the phenomenon and mechanisms of industrial development and renewal. It concerns changes in economic activities caused by innovation, competition and collaboration, and has a rich heritage of evolutionary economics, institutional economics, industrial dynamics, technology history and innovation studies. It borrows concepts and models from the social sciences (sociology, history, political sciences, business/management, economics, behavioural sciences) and also from technology and engineering studies. In this book, the authors present the key theories, frameworks and concepts of industrial transformation and use empirical cases to describe and explain the causes, processes and outcomes of transformation in the context of digitalization and sustainability. They stress that industrial transformation consists both of Darwinian "survival of the fittest" selection, and of intentional pursuits of innovation, and of industrial capabilities creation. The work argues that managing the global trends of transformation is not only about new technology and innovation: existing institutional settings and dynamic interactions between technological change, organizational adaptation and economic activities also have a profound impact on future trajectories. The areas under investigation are of great relevance for strategic management decisions and industrial and technology policies, and understanding the mechanisms underlying transformation and sustainable growth.




Creating a Better World


Book Description







Achieving Excellence Through Customer Service


Book Description

Promotes the theory that superior customer service leads to a superior business organisation




Scaling Impact


Book Description

Scaling Impact introduces a new and practical approach to scaling the positive impacts of research and innovation. Inspired by leading scientific and entrepreneurial innovators from across Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Latin America, and the Middle East, this book presents a synthesis of unrivalled diversity and grounded ingenuity. The result is a different perspective on how to achieve impact that matters, and an important challenge to the predominant more-is-better paradigm of scaling. For organisations and individuals working to change the world for the better, scaling impact is a common goal and a well-founded aim. The world is changing rapidly, and seemingly intractable problems like environmental degradation or accelerating inequality press us to do better for each other and our environment as a global community. Challenges like these appear to demand a significant scale of action, and here the authors argue that a more creative and critical approach to scaling is both possible and essential. To encourage uptake and co-development, the authors present actionable principles that can help organisations and innovators design, manage, and evaluate scaling strategies. Scaling Impact is essential reading for development and innovation practitioners and professionals, but also for researchers, students, evaluators, and policymakers with a desire to spark meaningful change.




The R Book


Book Description

The high-level language of R is recognized as one of the mostpowerful and flexible statistical software environments, and israpidly becoming the standard setting for quantitative analysis,statistics and graphics. R provides free access to unrivalledcoverage and cutting-edge applications, enabling the user to applynumerous statistical methods ranging from simple regression to timeseries or multivariate analysis. Building on the success of the author’s bestsellingStatistics: An Introduction using R, The R Book ispacked with worked examples, providing an all inclusive guide to R,ideal for novice and more accomplished users alike. The bookassumes no background in statistics or computing and introduces theadvantages of the R environment, detailing its applications in awide range of disciplines. Provides the first comprehensive reference manual for the Rlanguage, including practical guidance and full coverage of thegraphics facilities. Introduces all the statistical models covered by R, beginningwith simple classical tests such as chi-square and t-test. Proceeds to examine more advance methods, from regression andanalysis of variance, through to generalized linear models,generalized mixed models, time series, spatial statistics,multivariate statistics and much more. The R Book is aimed at undergraduates, postgraduates andprofessionals in science, engineering and medicine. It is alsoideal for students and professionals in statistics, economics,geography and the social sciences.




Sales Growth


Book Description

The challenges facing today's sales executives and their organizations continue to grow, but so do the expectations that they will find ways to overcome them and drive consistent sales growth. There are no simple solutions to this situation, but in this thoroughly updated Second Edition of Sales Growth, experts from McKinsey & Company build on their practical blueprint for achieving this goal and explore what world-class sales executives are doing right now to find growth and capture it—as well as how they are creating the capabilities to keep growing in the future. Based on discussions with more than 200 of today's most successful global sales leaders from a wide array of organizations and industries, Sales Growth puts the experiences of these professionals in perspective and offers real-life examples of how they've overcome the challenges encountered in the quest for growth. The book, broken down into five overarching strategies for successful sales growth, shares valuable lessons on everything from how to beat the competition by looking forward, to turning deep insights into simple messages for the front line. Page by page, you'll learn how sales executives are digging deeper than ever to find untapped growth, maximizing emerging markets opportunities, and powering growth through digital sales. You'll also discover what it takes to find big growth in big data, develop the right "sales DNA" in your organization, and improve channel performance. Three new chapters look at why presales deserve more attention, how to get the most out of marketing, and how technology and outsourcing could entirely reshape the sales function. Twenty new standalone interviews have been added to those from the first edition, so there are now in-depth insights from sales leaders at Adidas, Alcoa, Allianz, American Express, BMW, Cargill, Caterpillar, Cisco, Coca-Cola Enterprises, Deutsche Bank, EMC, Essent, Google, Grainger, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Intesa Sanpaolo, Itaú Unibanco, Lattice Engines, Mars, Merck, Nissan, P&G, Pioneer Hi-Bred, Salesforce, Samsung, Schneider Electric, Siemens, SWIFT, UPS, VimpelCom, Vodafone, and Würth. Their stories, as well as numerous case studies, touch on some of the most essential elements of sales, from adapting channels to meet changing customer needs to optimizing sales operations and technology, developing sales talent and capabilities, and effectively leading the way to sales growth. Engaging and informative, this timely book details proven approaches to tangible top-line growth and an improved bottom line. Created specifically for sales executives, it will put you in a better position to drive sales growth in today's competitive market.




The Philosophy Book


Book Description

Discover how our big social, political and ethical ideas are formed with The Philosophy Book. Part of the fascinating Big Ideas series, this book tackles tricky topics and themes in a simple and easy to follow format. Learn about Philosophy in this overview guide to the subject, great for beginners looking to learn and experts wishing to refresh their knowledge alike! The Philosophy Book brings a fresh and vibrant take on the topic through eye-catching graphics and diagrams to immerse yourself in. This captivating book will broaden your understanding of Philosophy, with: - Key quotes from more than 100 of the great thinkers of philosophy - Packed with facts, charts, timelines and graphs to help explain core concepts - A visual approach to big subjects with striking illustrations and graphics throughout - Easy to follow text makes topics accessible for people at any level of understanding The Philosophy Book is the perfect introduction to philosophy, aimed at adults with an interest in the subject and students wanting to gain more of an overview. Here you'll discover how key concepts in philosophy have shaped our world, with authoritative articles that explore big ideas. Learn about everyone who's contributed to the flow of world philosophy, from antiquity to the modern age, through superb mind maps explaining the line of thought. Your Philosophical Questions, Simply Explained If you thought it was difficult to learn philosophy and its many concepts, The Philosophy Book presents the key ideas in a clear layout. Find out what philosophers thought about the nature of reality, and the fundamental questions we ask ourselves; What is the meaning of life? What is the Universe made of? And work your way through the different branches of philosophy such as metaphysics and ethics, from ancient and modern thinkers. The Big Ideas Series With millions of copies sold worldwide, The Philosophy Book is part of the award-winning Big Ideas series from DK. The series uses striking graphics along with engaging writing, making big topics easy to understand.