This book covers the key steps in designing, implementing and administering a formal strategic planning process and provides practical guidance on the elements of a business plan and the steps that should be taken to create a business plan that can be used for execution of strategy and...

While the success of any new business is dependent on a number of factors—the specific business model, technological advantages, the skills and talents of the management team, and competitive and other environmental factors—it is now well understood and accepted that companies often rise or...

Product development includes not only the creation and launch of new products but also modification or updates to existing products. Successful product development is essential for launching a company and for ensuring that the company continues to survive and prosper as competitive conditions...

While leaders can be distinguished from managers, leaders nonetheless are responsible for several the same functions typically categorized as “managerial” such as setting goals and designing strategic plans to achieve those goals, communicating directives to other members of the...

Leadership is a universal phenomenon that has preoccupied scholars, politicians and others for centuries. Zagoršek observed: “. . . the simultaneous appearance of social institutions such as government, organized religion, and a significant role for individual leaders argues that there may...

Many have argued that data has become the most important asset for businesses, and it is also clear that technology plays a fundamental role in how companies operate and compete. As such, oversight of the company’s technology-related activities and formulation of an effective technology...

Even though the evidence is strong that the likelihood of success for a new business increase when the members of the management team embrace some sort of formal planning process from the outset, it is still tempting for entrepreneurs to charge bravely into the fray in pursuit of their dreams of...

One of the distinctive characteristics of an emerging company is the significant level of “innovation” associated with its business model, with innovation being thought of as the process of successfully acquiring and implementing new ideas within a business company. Successful innovation...

New and shifting legal, market and financial dynamics have increased the pressure on firms in manufacturing industries to implement processes for developing and marketing sustainable products. The environmental and social impacts of products and services depend on how they interact with the...

Organizational culture includes a large and complex set of elements, many that are difficult to identify, such as values, norms and cultural forms, and these elements can be found embedded across all organizational activities and practices (e.g., direction and control processes, reward systems,...