The Procurement Compendium is a collection of short articles relating to procurement and supply chain management, first published online via Spend Matters and Public Spend Forum websites. They aim to inform, provoke, occasionally educate and sometimes even amuse. Although procurement is the broad theme, topics range from Machiavelli's thinking on change management to 'licensing the procurement profession' the James Bond way; from the reasons for David Cameron's EU negotiation failure to wh...

Oxford Brookes University Boat Club has risen from obscurity to being acclaimed as probably the best rowing club in the world, winning no less than 13 titles at Henley Royal Regatta in the last two years. With a historical overview, analysis, photographs and interviews, this book lifts the lid on how inspirational coaches Richard Spratley and Henry Bailhache-Webb have taken Brookes to the very top of rowing, with athletes (men and women) who now compete with, and usually beat, the very bes...

If you were lost on a beautiful tropical island, would you find your way back home or have a relaxing vacation?

Convicted killers don't often ring their local newspapers from behind bars. Hard-nosed Canadian crime reporter Ben Ludlow took one such phone call which plunged his life into the blood-thirsty world of multiple murders. Soon other killers called him from behind bars. Before long he had a murderers' hot line going. Who was out there sparking these scary killers to call him? They themselves were evil monsters. They had each been convicted of bludgeoning or stabbing or strangling innocent wom...

Enter the world of Professor Peter Smith. I have lived a full, exciting, and unique life. In my youth I lived a conundrum. My rebellious nature drew me my away from my academic studies into the world of punk rock; a very different world to that which I normally inhabited. Some might say I was a middle-class, aspiring academic. However, during the late 1970s I threw myself into the maelstrom of crazy, manic, dangerous concerts full of young, disillusioned, punks and skinheads, many of whom ...

The story of Icarus leaves us wishing to equip our children with the character and skills to navigate through life and change course when flying too close to the sun. In today's world, young adults face unprecedented distractions and instantly gratifying messaging that challenge anyone's ability to focus, decide and/or execute a game plan for launch. Students, parents, mentors, and mentees may find themselves disoriented. "Icarus 2.0, parachute included" re-cages our gyros and orients us t...

In 1987, the original Oxford Publishing Company produced an amalgam of two paperback books written by former Branksome fireman Peter Smith. Mendips Engineman and Footplate over the Mendips told the story of a young railway fireman and his driver Donald Beale. Enthralling the reader with stories of working trains over the old Somerset & Dorset line, the two books encompassed not just ordinary workings, but also early footplate experiences of Peter's own railway career, dri...

Procurement with Purpose describes a growing and powerful movement how organisations can use the money they spend with suppliers to help address wider environmental, social and economic issues. That is not just about emissions and climate change, but includes how to address issues such as biodiversity and habitat loss, plastics and waste, modern slavery, inequality and discrimination, and more. That organisational ‘buying power’ is now being used to drive change across the business and pol...

The Greek mythical story of Icarus leaves us wishing to equip our children with the character and skills to navigate through life and change course when flying too close to the sun. In today's world, young adults face unprecedented distractions and instantly gratifying messaging that challenge anyone's ability to focus, decide and/or execute a game plan for launch. Students, parents, mentors, and mentees may find themselves disoriented. Eject! Eject! Eject! re-cages our gyros and orients u...

With the emergence of the digital revolution, traditional educational assumptions and programs are being significantly disrupted. Historically, educational practices that attempted to bridge the gap between adults' lives, college, and work were marginalized because our society was information-poor and they defied the dominant academic traditions. Now, the tables are turned. In our information-rich, digitized society, new technologies and data analytics are defining learning opportunities t...

Increase Your Conscious Awareness and Discover Alternate Realities Using Quantum PhysicsDeepen your understanding of quantum physics and expanded states of awareness with Quantum Consciousness, an enlightening guide that helps you pull science and spirituality closer together. This fascinating book invites you to tour alternate realities, parallel lives, interdimensional consciousness, the eternal state, and even the very fabric of the universe.Spe...

Essentially Human: On Sales and Salespeople reframes the often-misunderstood profession of sales and salespeople by revealing the core traits and behaviors that distinguish truly exceptional practitioners.Drawing on four decades of executive-level leadership, firsthand stories from top performers across multiple disciplines, and tapping into the rigorous academic research on the psychology of sales and human behavior, Smith delivers a clear, practical, and highly readable guide.