To achieve a full understanding of the role of marketing from plan to profit requires a knowledge of the basic building blocks. This textbook introduces the key concepts in the art or science of marketing to practising managers. Understanding your customers and consumers, the 4 Ps (Product,...

It is generally recognised and accepted that the fundamental role of a manager is “to get things done”. At times the manager has to make quick decisions about what has to be done and how. What is more, the decisions often have to be taken before all the relevant information is to hand. This...

Expert systems are frequently mentioned in business circles these days. They have the potential to assist greatly in the dissemination of scarce or complex expertise. But although they can be immensely valuable if properly understood, developed and used, they can also be a waste of resources....

Fast‐growth companies illustrate, over a short space of time, the opportunities, threats, problems and pitfalls of business growth. After carrying out a general survey of fast‐growing companies in Britain, the authors carried out an in‐depth study of 30 of them. Organic growth and growth...

The novel The Ugly American published in the late 1950s depicts the blunderings which can take place when decision makers are overly ethnocentric. Happily, in interpersonal dealings, executives are becoming more accepting of the ways of other people. Anthropologists such as Edward T. Hall have...

This light‐hearted piece suggests some new titles which might be found on tomorrow′s bookstalls.