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The Customer Trap
by Andrew R. Thomas Timothy J. WilkinsonAmerican business is dysfunctional. Companies of all sizes follow the mistaken belief that their products and services are best sold through mega-customers with pervasive market reach, such as Amazon and Walmart. Far too many business leaders fail to realize--until it is too late--that the relentless pursuit of volume at all cost is not the key to long-term profits and success. The Customer Trap: How to Avoid the Biggest Mistake in Business is Thomas and Wilkinson''s sequel to The Distribution Trap: Keeping Your Innovations from Becoming Commodities, which won the Berry-American Marketing Association Prize for the best marketing book of 2010. The Distribution Trap contended that cracking the big-box channel is not necessarily the Holy Grail that many marketers assume it is. The Customer Trap takes this thesis to the next level by arguing that all companies, regardless of the industry there are in, should maintain control over their sales and distribution channels. Volume forgone by avoiding the mass market is more than offset by higher margins and stronger brand equity. The Customer Trap shows that giving power to a customer who violates "the ten percent rule" sets a company up for ruin. Yet, when presented with the opportunity to push more sales through large customers, most decision-makers jump at the chance. As a result, marketing has come to resemble a relentless quest for efficiency and scale. Demands from mega-customers in the form of discounts, deals, and incentives erode the integrity of the brand and what it originally stood for. Lower margins become the norm and cost-saving compromises on quality take over. In time, the brand suffers and, in some cases, fails outright. Stark examples from Oreck Vacuum Cleaners, Rubbermaid, Goodyear, Levi''s, and others illustrate the perils of falling into the "customer trap. " This book demonstrates in vivid detail how to thrive by controlling your sales and distribution. The authors show how many firms, such as STIHL Inc. , etailz, Apple, Red Ant Pants, and Columbia Paints & Coatings, have prospered by avoiding the "customer trap"--and how your company can have similar success. What you''ll learn Why making a deal with a mega-retailer is often a bad idea How innovators allow mega-customers to dilute the value of their products and services, while letting them impose costs and force changes in strategic direction and operational control How to take back control of your sales and distribution, using the newest direct marketing techniques and the most innovative electronic platforms How innovators can avoid the distribution trap, build a sustainable business, and maintain the brand equity and margins of the products and services they worked so hard to create Who this book is for Leaders of businesses of all sizes. Table of Contents Chapter 1. The Biggest Business Mistake Chapter 2. The Customer Trap and Brand Destruction Chapter 3. Turning Your Innovations into Commodities Chapter 4. When Sales Channels Get Hijacked Chapter 5. Living the Outsourcing CompulsionChapter 6. The STIHL Story Chapter 7. Innovation''s Second Step Chapter 8. Getting the Data and Doing Marketing Right Chapter 9. Going Global and Keeping the Faith Chapter 10. Staying Local and Independent
The Customer of Tomorrow: Strategies for Keeping Pace with Rapidly Changing Behaviors, Technologies, and Expectations (Knowledge@Wharton Essentials)
by Barbara E. Kahn Knowledge WhartonWith consumer decisions being made at increasing speed, and the time it takes to win wallet-share rapidly shrinking, how can you prepare?Today's customer has more access to information and influencers, at a click or swipe, than ever before. The speed at which consumer decisions are made keeps increasing, and the time it takes for battles over wallet-share to be won or lost is shrinking rapidly. Every fundamental assumption about customers is now being challenged: how they shop, where they shop, and why they shop. In this rapidly evolving environment, understanding consumers' behaviors is more critical than ever.The Customer of Tomorrow examines many of the changing behaviors, technologies, and expectations that companies must understand in order to build valuable and lasting relationships in the years to come. Drawn from the best of Knowledge@Wharton's reporting, this volume in the Knowledge@Wharton Essentials series features stories addressing:Customer loyalty in the age of big dataWhen more data doesn't mean better customer serviceHow to build loyal customers in the information ageWhy customer service is often the ignored side of social mediaWhen does it make sense to have a bricks & mortar location for customersHow to bring in new customersThis quick read features Knowledge@Wharton's reporting on the research and thought leadership of David Bell, Peter Fader, Barbara Kahn, among others. The Customer of Tomorrow will help you continue to win wallet-share with customers.About Knowledge@Wharton BooksInsights and inspiration business leaders can use today-from The Wharton School's online journal of business analysisKnowledge@Wharton Books offer you the signature reporting that Knowledge@Wharton readers have come to expect, including in-depth coverage and analysis of important business trends, accessible explanations of the latest business research, and inspiring conversations with today's thought leaders.Published exclusively as ebooks by Wharton Digital Press, this practical line of books includes two series:Knowledge@Wharton Originals: All-new, in-depth coverage of a timely important and business matter or trend, featuring key takeaways that business leaders and professionals can leverage immediatelyKnowledge@Wharton Essentials: Collects the best of Knowledge@Wharton's reporting on a single topic of significant business concern, laying out the challenges and offering solutionsEach Knowledge@Wharton ebook offers you what you need to address a business challenge or opportunity head on-today.
The Customer of the Future: 10 Guiding Principles for Winning Tomorrow's Business
by Blake MorganTomorrow’s customers need to be targeted today!With emerging technology transforming customer expectations, it’s more important than ever to keep a laser focus on the experience companies provide their customers.In The Customer of the Future, customer experience futurist Blake Morgan outlines ten easy-to-follow customer experience guidelines that integrate emerging technologies with effective strategies to combat disconnected processes, silo mentalities, and a lack of buyer perspective.Tomorrow’s customers will insist on experiences that make their lives significantly easier and better. Companies will win their business not by just proclaiming that customer experience is a priority but by embedding a customer focus into every aspect of their operations. They’ll understand how emerging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), automation, and analytics are changing the game and craft a strategy to integrate them into their products and processes.The Customer of the Future explains how today’s customers are already demanding frictionless, personalized, on-demand experiences from their products and services, and companies that don’t adapt to these new expectations won’t last. This book prepares your organization for these increasing demands by helping you do the following:Learn the ten defining strategies for a customer experience–focused company.Implement new techniques to shift the entire company from being product-focused to being customer-focused.Gain insights through case studies and examples on how the world’s most innovative companies are offering new and compelling customer experiences.Craft a leadership development and culture plan to create lasting change at your organization.
The Customer-Base Audit: The First Step on the Journey to Customer Centricity
by Peter Fader Michael Ross Bruce G.S. HardieAs a leader in your organization, you will be very familiar with your organization’s key financial statements and monthly management reports. You may have spent countless hours discussing budgets and expenditures.But how much time have you spent reflecting on the fact that these revenues are generated by actual customers—the people who pull out their wallets and pay for your products and services? In The Customer-Base Audit: The First Step on the Journey to Customer Centricity, experts Peter Fader, Bruce Hardie, and Michael Ross start you on the path toward really getting to understand your customers’ buying behavior as well as the health of your overall customer base.A customer-base audit is a systematic review of the buying behavior of a firm’s customers using data captured by its transaction systems. It will help you answer questions such as:-- How healthy is your customer base? How realistic are your growth objectives?-- How do your customers differ in terms of their behavior and value?-- How has the quality of your customers changed over time?-- What changes in customer behavior lie behind period-to-period changes in firm performance?-- What is important to your high-value customers? Which products help you acquire and retain your best customers?Fader, Hardie, and Ross present five “lenses” through which an executive can address questions like those above. The answers are often lurking in various parts of the organization, but it is rare to find all the relevant analyses in one place, let alone performed on a regular basis (as an audit should be). Yet without such a basic, systematic understanding of the foundations of the firm’s primary source of cash flow, how can executives make informed decisions?Fader, a Wharton professor, is the author of Customer Centricity and coauthor of The Customer Centricity Playbook, both of which have helped businesses radically rethink how they relate to customers. In this first step of the journey, Fader, Hardie, and Ross assist leaders in gaining a fundamental understanding of their customers’ buying behavior—and thus their company as a whole.
The Customer-Driven Culture: Six Proven Strategies to Hack Your Culture and Develop a Learning-Focused Organization
by Travis Lowdermilk Monty HammontreeIf you’re striving to make products and services that your customers will love, then you’ll need a customer-driven organization. As companies transform their businesses to meet the demands of the digital age, they find themselves grappling with uniquely human challenges. Organizational knowledge becomes siloed, employees move to safeguard their expertise, and customer data creates polarization and infighting between teams. All of these challenges widen the distance between the people who make your products and the customers who use them.To meet today’s challenges, companies need to do more than build processes for customer-driven products. They need to create a customer-driven culture.With the help of his friend and mentor Monty Hammontree, Travis Lowdermilk takes readers through the cultural transformation of the Developer Division at Microsoft. This book shows readers how to "hack" their culture and reduce the distance between them and their customers’ needs. It’s a uniquely personal story that’s told amidst a cultural revolution at one of the largest software companies in the world.This story acts as your guide. You’ll learn how to:Establish a Common Language: Help employees change their thinking and actionsBuild Bridges, Not Walls: Treat product building as a team sportEncourage Learning Versus Knowing: Help your team understand their customersBuild Leaders That Build Your Culture: Showcase star employees to inspire othersMeet Teams Where They Are: Make it easy for teams to to adopt vital behavior changesMake Data Relatable: Move beyond numbers and focus on empathizing with customers
The Customer-Driven Organization: Employing the Kano Model
by Lance B. Coleman Sr.Does your organization provide customer satisfaction or does it inspire customer loyalty? Which is more important? See how lessons learned from the service sector were applied to manufacturing and other diverse settings, including the nonprofit sector and even on one‘s own home front.Exploring the Kano Model, The Customer-Driven Organization: Emplo
The Customer-Driven Playbook: Converting Customer Feedback into Successful Products
by Travis Lowdermilk Jessica RichDespite the wide acceptance of Lean approaches and customer-development strategies, many product teams still have difficulty putting these principles into meaningful action. That’s where The Customer-Driven Playbook comes in. This practical guide provides a complete end-to-end process that will help you understand customers, identify their problems, conceptualize new ideas, and create fantastic products they’ll love.To build successful products, you need to continually test your assumptions about your customers and the products you build. This book shows team leads, researchers, designers, and managers how to use the Hypothesis Progression Framework (HPF) to formulate, experiment with, and make sense of critical customer and product assumptions at every stage. With helpful tips, real-world examples, and complete guides, you’ll quickly learn how to turn Lean theory into action.Collect and formulate your assumptions into hypotheses that can be tested to unlock meaningful insightsConduct experiments to create a continual cadence of learningDerive patterns and meaning from the feedback you’ve collected from customersImprove your confidence when making strategic business and product decisionsTrack the progression of your assumptions, hypotheses, early ideas, concepts, and product features with step-by-step playbooksImprove customer satisfaction by creating a consistent feedback loop
The Customer-Funded Business: Start, Finance, or Grow Your Company with Your Customers' Cash
by John MullinsWho needs investors? More than two generations ago, the venture capital community – VCs, business angels, incubators and others – convinced the entrepreneurial world that writing business plans and raising venture capital constituted the twin centerpieces of entrepreneurial endeavor. They did so for good reasons: the sometimes astonishing returns they've delivered to their investors and the astonishingly large companies that their ecosystem has created. But the vast majority of fast-growing companies never take any venture capital. So where does the money come from to start and grow their companies? From a much more agreeable and hospitable source, their customers. That's exactly what Michael Dell, Bill Gates and Banana Republic's Mel and Patricia Ziegler did to get their companies up and running and turn them into iconic brands. In The Customer Funded Business, best-selling author John Mullins uncovers five novel approaches that scrappy and innovative 21st century entrepreneurs working in companies large and small have ingeniously adapted from their predecessors like Dell, Gates, and the Zieglers: Matchmaker models (Airbnb) Pay-in-advance models (Threadless) Subscription models (TutorVista) Scarcity models (Vente Privee) Service-to-product models (GoViral) Through the captivating stories of these and other inspiring companies from around the world, Mullins brings to life the five models and identifies the questions that angel or other investors will – and should! – ask of entrepreneurs or corporate innovators seeking to apply them. Drawing on in-depth interviews with entrepreneurs and investors who have actually put these models to use, Mullins goes on to address the key implementation issues that characterize each of the models: when to apply them, how best to apply them, and the pitfalls to watch out for. Whether you're an aspiring entrepreneur lacking the start-up capital you need, an early-stage entrepreneur trying to get your cash-starved venture into take-off mode, an intrapreneur seeking funding within an established company, or an angel investor or mentor who supports high-potential ventures, this book offers the most sure-footed path to starting, financing, or growing your venture. John Mullins is the author of The New Business Road Test and, with Randy Komisar, the widely acclaimed Getting to Plan B.
The Customering Method: From CX Dogma to Customer Science
by Aarron SpinleyDespite the promise of enhanced customer engagement through new technology, consumer trust has suffered widespread collapse and annual corporate losses are in the trillions. This book exposes the faulty foundation of the populist Customer Experience (CX) movement, upturns long-held beliefs in its effectiveness, and details an alternative – industrial – approach to the customer asset base.Aarron Spinley is recognized as a foremost mind in the realm of customer science and strategy. His work helps us to understand – and extract – customer value based on evidence, and in so doing, influences our relationship with technology for better results. The Customering Method marries the sciences and managerial precedent with contemporary capability: optimizing the intersection with marketing, mitigating risk and attrition rates, increasing sales propensity, and restoring profitability. Throughout, Spinley provides practical examples that are relatable, actionable, and defensible.These concepts have already influenced senior leaders, CEOs, chief marketing officers, and directors of customer experience across many organizations. Now in published form, this is perhaps the most important book in the field for decades.
The Cutter Incident: How America's First Polio Vaccine Led to the Growing Vaccine Crisis
by Paul A. OffitA history and analysis of the tragic 1955 American pharmaceutical disaster involving one company’s polio vaccine.Vaccines have saved more lives than any other single medical advance. Yet today only four companies make vaccines, and there is a growing crisis in vaccine availability. Why has this happened? This remarkable book recounts for the first time a devastating episode in 1955 at Cutter Laboratories in Berkeley, California, that has led many pharmaceutical companies to abandon vaccine manufacture.Drawing on interviews with public health officials, pharmaceutical company executives, attorneys, Cutter employees, and victims of the vaccine, as well as on previously unavailable archives, Dr. Paul Offit offers a full account of the Cutter disaster. He describes the nation’s relief when the polio vaccine was developed by Jonas Salk in 1955, the production of the vaccine at industrial facilities such as the one operated by Cutter, and the tragedy that occurred when 200,000 people were inadvertently injected with live virulent polio virus: 70,000 became ill, 200 were permanently paralyzed, and 10 died. Dr. Offit also explores how, because of the tragedy, one jury’s verdict set in motion events that eventually suppressed the production of vaccines already licensed and deterred the development of new vaccines that hold the promise of preventing other fatal diseases.Praise for The Cutter Incident“Offit . . . has written a fascinating and highly readable account of the development of the polio vaccine. He also offers a compelling plea for a strengthened law to provide relief to companies that produce vaccines so that our nation may be afforded the most cost-effective and long-lasting form of prevention against many infectious diseases—an effective vaccine.” —Stanley Goldfarb, New York Post“The best account you will ever read about the interplay between big drug companies and bigger government.” —Peter Huber, Forbes“The book is very well written and reads almost like a detective story, with a nice balance between personal anecdotes and new materials not discussed in other accounts of the Cutter incident. It draws on meticulous archival documentation and on interviews with public health officers, pharmaceutical company executives, Cutter employees, and victims of the partially inactivated vaccine. . . . An important and valuable contribution.” —Nadav Davidovitch, Isis“Well written and easily understood, yet balanced with enough technical detail for medical professionals to read informatively cover to cover.” —Journal of the American Medical Association
The Cyber Economy: Opportunities and Challenges for Artificial Intelligence in the Digital Workplace (Contributions to Economics)
by Elena G. Popkova Vladimir M. Filippov Alexander A. Chursin Julia V. RagulinaThe transition to Industry 4.0, and the subsequent ubiquitous digitalization and integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into the economic system, has set the stage for a fundamental change - one towards forming a cyber economy: a type of economy in which humans are economic subjects who interact with or are confronted with AI. This book examines these interactions and specifically analyzes the overall effects of digitalization on the workplace, and on the economic system of the future. Scholars from a diverse range of fields address both the challenges and opportunities of using AI in business sectors, as well as the role of people dealing with digital channels. In closing, the book discusses the need to, and options for, training and educating the labor force in the digital age.
The Cyber Patient: Navigating Virtual Informatics (HIMSS Book Series)
by Rebecca Mendoza Saltiel BuschWith the use of electronic health records (EHR) transforming the healthcare industry, the use of information technology in the maintenance of personal health records poses a range of issues and opportunities for every medical organization, The Cyber Patient expertly walks readers through the elements required for an efficient, well-run healthcare record management system, while reflecting the U.S. government’s goal of achieving widespread adoption of interoperable electronic health records to improve the quality and efficiency of healthcare while maintaining the levels of security and privacy that consumers expect. The author also provides an update as to where the industry stands in their push of interoperability and the increased use of data as an analytic tools. Providing an application readers can adopt as a model, this important book examines the infrastructure of electronic health records and how government criteria have impacted and will continue to impact both private and public marketplaces. This valuable resource also addresses how auditors, controllers, and healthcare providers can keep up with the market’s continued move towards an interoperable e-health world, without neglecting clinical and financial accountability in the delivery of healthcare. As e-health continues to develop and transform, The Cyber Patient thoughtfully prepares professionals to plan and implement an effective EHR as wel as internal controls system within any clinical setting.
The Cyber Risk Handbook: Creating and Measuring Effective Cybersecurity Capabilities (Wiley Finance)
by Domenic AntonucciActionable guidance and expert perspective for real-world cybersecurity The Cyber Risk Handbook is the practitioner's guide to implementing, measuring and improving the counter-cyber capabilities of the modern enterprise. The first resource of its kind, this book provides authoritative guidance for real-world situations, and cross-functional solutions for enterprise-wide improvement. Beginning with an overview of counter-cyber evolution, the discussion quickly turns practical with design and implementation guidance for the range of capabilities expected of a robust cyber risk management system that is integrated with the enterprise risk management (ERM) system. Expert contributors from around the globe weigh in on specialized topics with tools and techniques to help any type or size of organization create a robust system tailored to its needs. Chapter summaries of required capabilities are aggregated to provide a new cyber risk maturity model used to benchmark capabilities and to road-map gap-improvement. Cyber risk is a fast-growing enterprise risk, not just an IT risk. Yet seldom is guidance provided as to what this means. This book is the first to tackle in detail those enterprise-wide capabilities expected by Board, CEO and Internal Audit, of the diverse executive management functions that need to team up with the Information Security function in order to provide integrated solutions. Learn how cyber risk management can be integrated to better protect your enterprise Design and benchmark new and improved practical counter-cyber capabilities Examine planning and implementation approaches, models, methods, and more Adopt a new cyber risk maturity model tailored to your enterprise needs The need to manage cyber risk across the enterprise—inclusive of the IT operations—is a growing concern as massive data breaches make the news on an alarmingly frequent basis. With a cyber risk management system now a business-necessary requirement, practitioners need to assess the effectiveness of their current system, and measure its gap-improvement over time in response to a dynamic and fast-moving threat landscape. The Cyber Risk Handbook brings the world's best thinking to bear on aligning that system to the enterprise and vice-a-versa. Every functional head of any organization must have a copy at-hand to understand their role in achieving that alignment.
The Cybersecurity Playbook: How Every Leader and Employee Can Contribute to a Culture of Security
by Allison CerraThe real-world guide to defeating hackers and keeping your business secure Many books discuss the technical underpinnings and complex configurations necessary for cybersecurity—but they fail to address the everyday steps that boards, managers, and employees can take to prevent attacks. The Cybersecurity Playbook is the step-by-step guide to protecting your organization from unknown threats and integrating good security habits into everyday business situations. This book provides clear guidance on how to identify weaknesses, assess possible threats, and implement effective policies. Recognizing that an organization’s security is only as strong as its weakest link, this book offers specific strategies for employees at every level. Drawing from her experience as CMO of one of the world’s largest cybersecurity companies, author Allison Cerra incorporates straightforward assessments, adaptable action plans, and many current examples to provide practical recommendations for cybersecurity policies. By demystifying cybersecurity and applying the central concepts to real-world business scenarios, this book will help you: Deploy cybersecurity measures using easy-to-follow methods and proven techniques Develop a practical security plan tailor-made for your specific needs Incorporate vital security practices into your everyday workflow quickly and efficiently The ever-increasing connectivity of modern organizations, and their heavy use of cloud-based solutions present unique challenges: data breaches, malicious software infections, and cyberattacks have become commonplace and costly to organizations worldwide. The Cybersecurity Playbook is the invaluable guide to identifying security gaps, getting buy-in from the top, promoting effective daily security routines, and safeguarding vital resources. Strong cybersecurity is no longer the sole responsibility of IT departments, but that of every executive, manager, and employee.
The Cyberunion Handbook: Transforming Labor Through Computer Technology
by Arthur B ShostakIn his original CyberUnion, the author presented a bold plan for unions to develop a more significant role in the 21st century by adopting four strategic aids - futuristics, innovations, services, and traditions (F-I-S-T) - knit together by cutting-edge Info Tech resources. CyberUnions in Action expands on the F-I-S-T model and looks at gains and setbacks in pioneering efforts to create "CyberUnions". It highlights relevant websites, and features interviews with key CyberUnion advocates (and some critics). Shostak reviews overseas union efforts for transferable lessons, and pays special attention to the AFL-CIO campaign to ensure Labor's advances in the use of computer networks, the Internet, wireless devices, and more.
The Cycle of Coalition: How Parties and Voters Interact under Coalition Governance
by David FortunatoHow does coalition governance shape voters' perceptions of government parties and how does this, in turn, influence party behaviors? Analyzing cross-national panel surveys, election results, experiments, legislative amendments, media reports, and parliamentary speeches, Fortunato finds that coalition compromise can damage parties' reputations for competence as well as their policy brands in the eyes of voters. This incentivizes cabinet partners to take stands against one another throughout the legislative process in order to protect themselves from potential electoral losses. The Cycle of Coalition has broad implications for our understanding of electoral outcomes, partisan choices in campaigns, government formation, and the policy-making process, voters' behaviors at the ballot box, and the overall effectiveness of governance.
The Cycle of Excellence: A Summary of the Five Steps to Peak Performance-And Helpful Hints for Putting Them into Practice
by Edward M. HallowellIn practical terms, the pressure of managing your employees and your own work on a daily basis doesn't allow you to examine what's happening step by step. You manage within a process-traditionally called work-and you are often juggling many tasks and priorities at once. In this chapter, bestselling author and practicing psychiatrist Edward Hallowell encapsulates the five steps that comprise what he calls the Cycle of Excellence: Select, Connect, Play, Grapple and Grow, and Shine. It is the synthesis of these five steps-all the elements working together-that leads to excellence and sustained peak performance on the part of those who work for you. In eight concise pages filled with practical tips and advice, this chapter serves as a quick-reference guide to help you meet the challenge all managers face: to help people overcome obstacles, both internal and external, and enter the self-sustaining Cycle of Excellence. This chapter was originally published as Chapter 7 of "Shine: Using Brain Science to Get the Best from Your People."
The Cycle of Leadership
by Noel M. TichyIn The Leadership Engine, Noel Tichy showed how great companies strive to create leaders at all levels of the organization, and how those leaders actively develop future generations of leaders. In this new book, he takes the theme further, showing how great companies and their leaders develop their business knowledge into achable points of view, pend a great portion of their time giving their learnings to others, sharing best practices, and how they in turn learn and receive business ideas/knowledge from the employees they are teaching. Calling this exchange a virtuous teaching cycle, Professor Tichy shows how business builders from Jack Welch at GE to Joe Liemandt at Trilogy create organizations that foster this knowledge exchange and how their efforts result in smarter, more agile companies, and winning results. Some of these ideas were showcased in Tichy's recent Harvard Business Review article entitled, Ordinary Boot Camp." Using examples from GE, Ford, Dell, Southwest Airlines and many others, Tichy presents and analyzes these principles in action and shows how managers can begin to transform their own businesses into teaching organizations and, consequently, better-performing companies
The Cycle of the Gift
by James E. Hughes Susan E. Massenzio Keith WhitakerA comprehensive guide to giving well to family members Giving is at the core of family life--and with current law allowing up to $5,120,000 in tax-free gifts, at least through December 2012, the ultra-affluent are faced with the task of giving at perhaps largest scale in history. Beyond the tax saving and wealth management implications, giving to family members opens up a slew of thorny questions, the biggest of which is, "How do I prepare recipients of such large gifts?" With that question and others in mind, Hughes, Massenzio, and Whitaker have written The Cycle of the Gift in three main parts: "The Who of Giving," "The How of Giving," and "The What and Why of Giving. " The first part focuses on the people most deeply involved in family giving, especially the recipients and givers (parents, grandparents, spouses, trustees). The second part, "The How of Giving," addresses the delicate balance of givers who want to maintain some level of control and recipients who want some level of freedom in accepting and growing their gifts. The final part, "The What and Why of Giving" describes various types of gifts, from money to business interests to values and rituals. The authors also introduce their "family bank" concept as a model that combines loans, trusts, and outright gifts. It embodies a framework and set of practices for long-term family growth. Even families without great wealth--or those who have already made large gifts to their children and grandchilren--can benefit from the human wisdom and practical advice found in The Cycle of the Gift.
The Cycle: Confronting the Pain of Periods and PMDD
by Shalene GuptaA groundbreaking exploration of a debilitating disorder that’s underdiagnosed and misunderstood.Most days, Shalene Gupta was the person she’d always aspired to be. She was hardworking, excelled at work, and had a long-term boyfriend who she desperately loved.Then, every month like clockwork, it all came crashing down in fits of rage and inconsolable sorrow. Work became meaningless, and she struggled to get through the day. The lows were subterranean.After years of struggling to get an answer from doctors, Shalene learned she was one of millions who live with premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD), a severe form of PMS. The physical and mental effects of this disorder are undeniable, but for decades some doctors didn’t even consider PMDD a real condition. How could so many people be suffering at the hands of a chronic condition that doesn’t even exist?The Cycle uncovers a hidden epidemic, delivering the definitive portrait of a widespread chronic illness most people haven’t even heard of. From a historical overview of feminist debates, to on-the-ground interviews and a searing critique of menstrual stigma, Shalene Gupta lays out how disregard for this disorder has left too many people scrambling for appropriate healthcare. Deeply researched, movingly intimate, and refreshingly hopeful, this book is essential reading for any curious reader, especially those navigating a world ill-equipped to support their health.
The Czechoslovak Economy 1918-1980 (Routledge Revivals)
by Alice TeichovaOriginally published in 1988, this book assesses social and economic change against the background of the international economy and the dramatic political events of the twentieth century - the break up of the Habsburg Monarchy, the Peace Treaty of Versailles, the Munich Agreement of 1938 and the dismemberment of Czechoslovakia, the occupation by Nazi Germany, the attempt to reconstruct a democratic Republic, the period of Stalinism and the 'Prague Spring' of 1968. Thus the book produces a balanced historical outline of the economy of Czechoslovakia between 1918 and 1980.
The C² Factor for Leadership: How the Alchemy of Curiosity and Courage Helps Leaders Become Champions and Lead Meaningful Lives
by Joanne Irving, Ph.D.Packed with nuggets of wisdom from the experiences of champion-level leaders across industries, Dr. Irving demonstrates how champion leaders engage their curiosity and courage to learn from the past, enhance the present and anticipate the future. —Marshall Goldsmith, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Triggers, Mojo, and What Got You Here Won’t Get You There and Thinkers 50 #1 Executive Coach Curiosity and courage are unstoppable forces. In this insightful book, Joanne Irving deftly shows how to enlist them to become a leader fit for the future. —Daniel H. Pink, #1 New York Times bestselling author of WHEN and DRIVE The cover graphic is a trailer for this profound book. The magical power of leadership is the effective blend of the courage of a lion with the curiosity of a cat. This myth-busting book will alter your leadership perspectives and practices by providing cutting edge substance, compelling examples, and insightful tools. —Chip R. Bell, author of Inside Your Customer’s Imagination All we know with absolute certainty is that we live in complex, uncertain, and rapidly changing times. Despite our best attempts to predict the future, we are often caught off-guard and surprised when it arrives. Whether a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic, global economic shifts, political upheaval, or technological evolution, as senior leaders we must navigate these tumultuous times and make tough decisions to guide our organizations to success. Champion leaders want to be truly exceptional regardless of the maelstrom of change they are experiencing. Not only do they want their organizations to succeed, but they also want to live fulfilling lives. They want the same for those in their organizations and personal lives as well. How do we effectively lead in times of constant, often dramatic change? And, equally important, how do we simultaneously create a satisfying, meaningful life? The C² Factor – the synergistic application of curiosity and courage – offers a path to both. This book reveals that when leaders manifest both traits, they embrace the professional and personal opportunities the future brings. When the landscape is shifting beneath our feet the C² Factor enables us to lead more effectively and helps us cultivate more fulfilling personal lives. While other books have looked at curiosity and courage separately, The C² Factor for Leadership examines how, when combined, profound curiosity and relentless courage lead to remarkable outcomes. One enhances the other in a powerful alchemy that improves our outcomes, how we show up as leaders in our organizations and as human beings in our personal lives. Beginning with ourselves and expanding to our relationships, our teams, our organizations, and to the world, this book demonstrates how the C² Factor can be applied for superior results.To be a truly exceptional leader, to live a satisfying life, we must have profound curiosity and relentless courage. We must exercise the C² Factor. Without it, we run the risk of being leaders who are robotic, academic, or reckless. With the C² Factor, we can be champions.
The DIY Wedding: Celebrate Your Day Your Way
by Kelly BarePractical, inspiring ideas for making your wedding more meaningful—and less money-draining.Goodbye, caterers. So long, wedding coordinators. Here is the bride’s guide to thinking outside the wedding-industry box. In this, the only comprehensive do-it-yourself wedding book, you’ll find everything you need to pull off a personalized celebration. No cookie-cutter weddings here! With how-to info on flowers, invites, food, the ceremony, and more, The DIY Wedding makes it easy to spend less and create an event that is entirely original. Inspiring ideas, countless resources, budgeting tips, contract templates, plus start-to-finish projects ease the planning pressure. Say “I do”—do-it-yourself style!
The DNA of Disruptive Innovators: The Five Discovery Skills That Enable Innovative Leaders to "Think Different"
by Clayton M. Christensen Jeffrey H. Dyer Hal B. GregersenHow do you become an innovator? Fortunately, innovators are not born-they're made. In this chapter, authors Jeff Dyer and Hal Gregersen team up with Clayton Christensen, author of the bestselling "The Innovator's Dilemma," to explore the common traits shared by all innovators and demonstrate that these are learned behaviors, not cognitive capabilities. They reveal that today's top thinkers-such as Apple's Steve Jobs-achieve success by actively engaging with the world around them and pursuing exciting and different opportunities to accomplish something unique. In fact, there are five discovery skills that disruptive innovators must acquire: associating, questioning, observing, networking, and experimenting. While many business leaders tend to focus on honing their delivery skills, entrepreneurs and innovators must instead build the courage to start taking risks and cultivating their talent for discovery. The chapter concludes with a self-assessment that will help you evaluate your own discovery-delivery skills profile. This chapter was originally published as Chapter 1 of "The Innovator's DNA: Mastering the Five Skills of Disruptive Innovators."
The DNA of Leadership: Leverage Your Instincts to Communicate, Differentiate, Innovate
by Judith E. GlaserIn many ways, an individual's DNA determines their destiny. Companies, like individuals, have an organizational DNA. The DNA of Leadershiphelps leaders and organizations understand how to shape a company's genetic code for success by communicating, differentiating, and innovating - within relationships, teams, organizations, and with clients and customers. Expert author, Judith E. Glaser identifies seven vital leadership practices that can reshape an organisation into a WE-centric culture - a culture that will enable people to effectively work together during times of transformation. These seven practices can be 'grafted' into meetings, conversations, new product development, strategic initiatives, and even mergers and acquisitions, to maximize results and allow leaders and organizations to leverage talent in amazing ways.