The Economist: Economics: An A-Z Guide

Matthew Bishop

The new essential guide fromThe Economist.

Economics is the'study of how society uses its scarce resources'or, more snappily,'the science of choices'that helps people make decisions about how to use such scarce things as land, labour, raw materials, capital, entrepreneurial spirit and time. An understanding of economics can therefore help people in politics and public service, in ...

The Economist: Directors: An A-Z Guide

Bob Tricker

The new essential guide fromThe Economist.

Recent years have seen a number of scandals that have revealed sometimes shockingly poor standards of corporate governance in well-known companies - and exposed some directors had regard only to their own interests while others were hopelessly ineffective. Managers may run a company but it is the job of directors to make sure it is well ...

The Economist: Investment: An A-Z Guide

Philip Ryland

The new essential guide fromThe Economist.

Stockmarkets have soared and slumped, highlighting the risks of different kinds of investments. Everyone wants to buy low and sell high - and get a healthy stream of income in between. But it is not easy to do so. Any strategy for investment requires an essential level of knowledge that goes beyond the basics. This clear and lively guide ...

The Economist: Negotiation: An A-Z Guide

Gavin Kennedy

The new essential guide fromThe Economist.

Almost every aspect of business - and indeed human life - involves negotiating skills, whether you are striking a deal, organising a team working on a project, seeking a pay rise or a pay-off, or simply settling such important matters as who is going to do the shopping or the household chores. This witty and intelligent guide looks at the ...

The Economist: Business Strategy

Jeremy Kourdi

A business's overall strategy may be set at board level, but many people throughout the organisation...

On these decisions hangs the future of the business: how successful it is, even whether it is successful. Yet business history is full of strategic decisions, both big and small, that were weak, poorly conceived and consequently disastrous. This book...

The Economist: Brands and Branding

Rita Clifton

The bestselling guide to the role of brands and brand building

Although the balance sheet may not even put a value on it, a company's brand or its portfolio of brands is in many cases its most valuable asset, accounting for as much as 70% of a firm's market value in some cases. This book argues that because of this and because of the power of not-for-profit brands like Oxfam, all organisations ...

The Economist Guide To Business Planning

Graham Friend, Stefan Zehle

A comprehensive guide to every aspect of preparing and using a business plan.

To get any new business idea off the ground or develop and better manage an existing business you must have a plan - and if you need to raise finance to fund the business or get the approval of senior management, it must be a convincing plan. The business plan also provides the blueprint for successfully creating and ...

The Economist Guide to Financial Management

John Tennent

Business finance explained in a practical and accessible way.

Managers are constantly expected to make decisions fully understanding the financial consequence. In the absence of formal training few people are prepared for the responsibilities of dealing with management reports, budgets and capital proposals, and find themselves embarrassed by their lack of understanding.This book will be a ...

The Economist Guide to Organisation Design

Naomi Stanford

Business failure is not limited to start ups. Industry Watch (published by BDO Stoy Hayward, an accounting firm)'predicts that 17,043 businesses will fail (in the UK) in 2006, a further 4 per cent increase from 2005'. In America between 1990 and 2000, there were over 6.3 million business start-ups and over 5.7 million business shut-downs.Risk of failure can be greatly reduced through effective ...

The Economist: Business Consulting

Fiona Czerniawska, Gilbert Toppin

The ultimate guide for those using or planning to use business consultants - and for consultants themselves In the last three decades of the 20th century the management consultancy industry grew at a cracking pace but increased scepticism about the value that consultants genuinely add, combined with the economic slowdown, has made life much tougher for the consulting industry.As firms have cut ...