This text is designed for use in a course in an applied international corporate finance for managers and executives. Instead of the encyclopedic approach, the text focuses on the two main issues of interest to managers who deal with overseas operations. The first main issue is how uncertain foreign exchange (FX) rate changes affect a firm's ongoing cash flows and equity value, and what can be done about that risk. The second main issue is the estimation of the cost of capital for internati...

The relationship between a market and a consumer is complex. Far from simply an exchange of services there is an often complex transaction of feeling, meaning and experience. How does the study of relationship marketing interpret this?In this exciting new book the authors explore the factors of relationship marketing in its contemporary context, with the consumer in mind. From the experience of a football club supporter to experiences of gap year travel, to text messaging behaviour...

Due to the vital importance of SMEs in developed economies worldwide, this book aims to provide a unique and much-needed investigation into the underlying mechanisms and practices of management within these companies by collecting a wide range of original conceptual and empirical research in the topical area of management in SMEs and new ventures.Collecting work from dozens of leading scholars in fields ranging from management and entrepeneurship to human resource management and st...

SMEs need to become more sustainable. To reach such a goal they also need to become more professional in their outlook and approach. In this way they may be able to deal with the instability, complexity, ambiguity and uncertainty of change; and to cope with the ever increasing pressures brought by change. After outlining what is meant by sustainability and professionalism, some strategies for how SME owner/managers might become more professional by focussing on the development of their own...

This unique text is the first to explore leadership in the context of healthcare systems across Europe. It investigates leadership and management learning against the backdrop of increasing European parliamentary influence, the expansion of EU membership, and the increasing number of patients, staff, governments and healthcare employers viewing Europe as a single market for healthcare provision and employment.Written by leading authority Neil Goodwin, this timely book provides an a...

Briefing is not just presenting a set of documents to the design team; it is a process of developing a deep understanding about client needs. This book provides both inspiration to clients and a framework for practitioners. The coverage extends beyond new build, covering briefing for services and fit-outs. Written by an experienced and well-known team of authors, this new edition clearly explains how important the briefing process is to both the construction industry, in delivering well-de...

The whole landscape of space use is undergoing a radical transformation. In the workplace a period of unprecedented change has created a mix of responses with one overriding outcome observable worldwide: the rise of distributed space. In the learning environment the social, political, economic and technological changes responsible for this shift have been further compounded by constantly developing theories of learning and teaching, and a wide acceptance of the importance of learning as th...

This important book examines issues affecting the sustainability and spread of new working practices. The question of why good ideas do not spread, ‘the best practices puzzle’, has been widely recognized. But the ‘improvement evaporation effect’, where successful changes are discontinued, has attracted less attention. Keeping things the way they are has been seen as an organizational problem to be resolved, not a condition to be achieved. This is one of the first major studies of the susta...

In Design for Services, Anna Meroni and Daniela Sangiorgi articulate what Design is doing and can do for services, and how this connects to existing fields of knowledge and practice. Designers previously saw their task as the conceptualisation, development and production of tangible objects. In the twenty-first century, a designer rarely 'designs something' but rather 'designs for something': in the case of this publication, for change, better experiences and better services. The authors r...

Corporate learning functions are now an established part of many of the world's leading multinational firms. In this book, Shlomo Ben-Hur demonstrates how corporate learning can and should have an integral, strategic, role in a company. Based on firsthand experience, Ben-Hur provides a practical guide to setting up or restructuring a corporate learning function within a company, covering its seven key activities. He identifies and elucidates the key decision points in this process. But The...

It is more possible than ever to influence and shape our working environments, our experience of work and each other. Business leaders who set the conditions and create engaging, meaningful work through organisational design and use of the knowledge and creative potential of their workforces are engaging in smart working. In Smart Working: Creating the Next Wave, Anne Marie McEwan explains how smart working is more than just flexible and mobile working. It is about flexibility and autonomy...

On few occasions in the history of modern management have leadership skills been in such sharp focus as they are now. The ability to direct often very large and diverse organizations; to make sense of the complex and turbulent markets and environments in which you operate; and to adapt and learn seems at an all time premium. The premise behind the fifth edition of this influential Handbook is that leadership, management and organizational development are all parts of the same process; enha...