Bücher der Reihe Routledge Focus on Business and Management

Focusing on the issue of power as the main building block of relationships between business buyers and sellers, this book explains the complex nature of power with its multidimensional and multi-directional character. As a complex construct, inter-firm power is treated as a matter of perception as well as in terms of total and relative power. The book analyses extensively the issue of power asymmetry with its dynamics and its consequences for business-to-business (B2B) relationships, particularly analyzing the dynamic mechanism of power. Various theoretical domains or research streams regarding managing an asymmetrical business relationship by the weaker partner are also examined. Based on the studies of other scholars as well as on the authors' own research, this book shows how weaker suppliers or buyers deal with high-power partners in business relationships and the approaches of more powerful parties to asymmetrical relationship development. Additionally, the book presents the specific nature of power in international B2B relationships, including its connection to culture and conflict, as well as how to handle power in managing export performance within international B2B relationships. It is written for scholars and students who are interested in academic research concerning B2B marketing and B2B relationship marketing domains, specifically those who are interested in literature dealing with supply chain management, key account management, relationship portfolio management, distribution channel management and the network approach.

This concise book uses narrative fiction to address how researchers can conduct qualitative research using both online and first-hand data and digital and face-to-face methods. The book is structured around four phases of the research process.

In Search of Excellence was the book that launched a thousand popular management books. In this concise book, David and Jack Collins demonstrate the emptiness of business excellence and in so doing reveal the flawed foundations of popular management theory.

Entrepreneurs who start out with no network, no money, no market and scarce resources find a big contrast between what they read in books and the success stories from the Valley and their reality, specially first-timers. Most entrepreneurial books focus on the Business Canvas Model, simplifying the process of building a start-up. Many entrepreneurs who have no previous business experience embrace quick and lean methods without the foundations needed to build solid value proposals. This book stands out because it deals with entrepreneurship in environments far removed from large cities with fewer infrastructures, connections and resources but which also need companies that provide services to citizens and society. This book focuses on the basics, treating each part of the business canvas as a discipline itself that must be mastered. The book illustrates key lessons learned and offers guidance on essential topics for new venture success in mainstream markets. It expands critical lessons learned and points of guidance across several key topics for new venture creation. Noteworthy is the role of context, financial understanding, building business development skills and start-up communications.Entrepreneurship for Rural Start-ups will be of interest to students, academics and researchers in the field of entrepreneurship, and will be of use to individuals looking to start a local business to take advantage of the rural environment and the possibilities it offers.

This book explores the need for business schools to strategically work to redefine the concept of an innovative business school ecosystem through commitment to experimentation and innovation.

Management and labor have been adversaries in American and Canadian workplaces since the time of colonial settlement. Labor lacked full legal legitimacy in Canada and the United States until the mid-1930s and the passage of laws that granted collective bargaining rights and protection from dismissal due to union activity. The US National Labor Relations Act (Wagner Act) became the model for labor laws in both countries. Organized labor began to decline in the United States in the late 1960s due to a variety of factors including electoral politics, internal social and cultural differences, and economic change. Canadian unions fared better in comparison to their American counterparts, but still engaged in significant struggles.This analysis focuses on management and labor interaction in the United States and Canada from the 1930s to the turn of the second decade of the twenty-first century. It also includes a short overview of employer and worker interaction from the time of European colonization to the 1920s. The book addresses two overall questions: In what forms did management and labor conflict occur and how was labor-management interaction different between the two countries? It pays particular attention to key events and practices where the United States and Canada diverged when it came to labor-management conflict including labor law, electoral politics, social and economic change, and unionization patterns in the public and private sectors.This book shows that there were key points of convergence and divergence in the past between the United States and Canada that explain current differences in labor-management conflict and interaction in the two countries. It will be of interest to researchers, academics, and students in the fields of management and labor history, employment and labor relations, and industrial relations.

Performance Measurement in Non-Profit Organizations addresses the issue of performance measurement in non-profit companies to understand, manage, and improve the performance of such companies by employing systems theory to examine their conditions of existence and manifestations of life.

This book suggests a robust risk management maturity model and illustrates the application in crisis situations. It will interest entrepreneurs, managers and risk management professionals, who can use the model in their management processes, as well as enterprise stakeholders and academics.

Rising Consumer Materialism presents a theoretical advancement of materialism research. It identifies eight areas of a consumer's life that are inter-disciplinary and of prime importance towards promoting happy and rewarding lifestyles. This study examines the pre-planned purchase process as the primary step towards sati