This book covers the key steps in designing, implementing and administering a formal strategic planning process and provides practical guidance on the elements of a business plan and the steps that should be taken to create a business plan that can be used for execution of strategy and presentations to investors and other external stakeholders. This book also explores a variety of topics of interest to researchers and managers focusing on comparative aspects of strategic planning activitie...

The human resources function is at the forefront of a company's efforts with respect to two of the key elements of organizational design—people and organizational structure. While human resources practices differ around the world, it would seem to be universally true that in order for companies to successfully achieve their strategic goals and objectives they must strive to attract, motivate, and retain those employees who are best qualified to carry out the necessary activities of the com...

Organizational culture is one of the most frequently employed yet least understood constructs of organizational behavior and management. Organizational culture includes the common values, beliefs, assumptions and norms that govern the interactions between persons in an organization and how they work. These often run beneath the surface, often unwritten and yet enormously powerful in influencing day-to-day performance and execution of long-term strategy. Organizational culture cannot be a p...

In its 2004 Principles of Corporate Governance, the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development described corporate governance as involving a set of relationships between a company's management, its board, its shareholders and other stakeholders that provide the structure through which the objectives of the company are set, the means of attaining those objectives are determined and the methods of monitoring performance are established. This book provides an introduction ...

Entrepreneurship—and starting a new business—is always exciting and challenging; however, the stakes and stress are particularly high for those hoping to launch an "emerging company": an enterprise focused on high and sustainable growth in both employment and revenues while pursuing technological breakthroughs, dramatic shifts in the costs associated with satisfying existing consumer needs, identification of new consumer needs and/or sociological or economic changes. This book is intended ...

Everyone, including people with disabilities, has the right to a basic standard of living adequate for their own health and well-being and for their families including access to employment and decent work, financial services and economic resources, adequate food (freedom from hunger and access to nutritious food), clothing, clean water and sanitation (essential for health and hygiene), secure housing (safe, habitable shelter with access to services like water, sanitation and electricity an...

Impact organizations are dedicated to fulfilling unmet social needs, reducing inequities, advancing environmental protection, improving public health, expanding opportunity and strengthening communities through the identification and deployment of innovative and entrepreneurial solutions and operating through ethical governance and responsible management. The definition of impact organizations encompasses nonprofit organizations, hybrid entities, and for-profit businesses whose products or...

In Businesses and Human Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Alan Gutterman provides a compelling and timely roadmap for how businesses of all sizes and sectors can actively promote and protect the human rights of persons with disabilities. Drawing on principles from international human rights law, corporate social responsibility, and disability justice, the book moves beyond compliance and charity to make the ethical, legal, and business case for full inclusion. This work offers ...

Ableism—the systemic devaluation and exclusion of people with disabilities—remains a persistent barrier to full social, economic, and political inclusion. People with disabilities face barriers not because of inherent limitations, but because of the environment and systems around them. Combatting ageism and ableism requires more than just policy pronouncements or isolated programs. It demands a comprehensive, multi-sector approach that transforms communities, services and institutions in o...

In Human Rights of Persons with Disabilities, renowned legal scholar Alan S. Gutterman offers a profound and comprehensive exploration of one of the most urgent and often overlooked dimensions of global human rights. This essential volume traces the evolution of the disability rights movement, critically examines the international legal frameworks that underpin protections for disabled persons, and highlights the ongoing challenges they face across all facets of life—from educatio...

Impact investing is aimed directly at creating a positive environmental or social impact by identifying and solving a particular environmental or social problem. In contrast to the efforts of traditional philanthropy to generate positive, measurable social and environmental impact, impact investors also seek a financial return. Impact investment is an emerging strategy within the umbrella of sustainable finance, which seeks to provide the external financing necessary to support progress to...

Sustainable finance is a long-term approach to finance and investing, emphasizing long-term thinking, decision-making and value creation that considers environmental, social and governance ("ESG") issues. Sustainable finance has emerged in parallel to aggressive policy initiatives such as the UN's Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris climate agreement of 2015 as it has become clear that they cannot be realistically undertaken and completed without innovative private sector financing...