Bigger Isn’t Necessarily Better examines the performance and operation of the US homebuilding sector based on a detailed survey of large home builders conducted by the authors in the period of the great building boom of the 2000s. In contrast to the many books that have focused on the financial side of the housing sector prior to the Great Recession, the book examines the operational side of the industry and what did, and, more importantly, what did not, happen during the period of unprece...

The apparel and textile industries have always been at the mercy of rapidly changing styles and fickle customers who want the latest designs while they are still in fashion. The result for these businesses, often forced to forecast sales and order from suppliers with scant information about volatile demand, is a history of stock shortages, high inventories, and costly markdowns. But, as the authors explain in A Stitch in Time, technological advances in the 1980s paved the way for ...

The CEO behind Rakuten and Kobo reveals how his unique approach to empowerment and collaboration defies conventional wisdom, and isthe future of growth and globalization strategy.If Web 2.0 described the shift from static to interactive life on the Web, then 3.0 is the next sea change — driven by personalization, intelligent search, and user behavior. And that evolution has huge implications for everything we see, buy and do online. Rejecting the zero-sum, vending-m...

**NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A hard-hitting behind-the-scenes look at how luxury fashion went global, revealing manufacturing secrets that Prada, Gucci, and Burberry don’t want you to know“Fascinating . . . The story of luxury goods today is really about globalization, capitalization, class, and culture.”—Fareed Zakaria, Newsweek“What Fast Food Nation did for food service, this book does for fashion.”—Los Angeles Times**Luxury wa...

Once a luxury that only the elite could afford, fashion is now accessible to all. High street brands such as Zara, Topshop and H&M have put fashion within the reach of anyone, whilst massive media attention has turned designers such as Tom Ford, Alexander McQueen and Stella McCartney into brands in their own right. Fashion Brands takes you 'behind the seams', so to speak, exposing how the use of advertising, store design and the media has altered our fashion 'sens...

A la cart is for suppliers, producers, processors and others in the food industry who want to understand what is important to food retailers. Everyone in the food industry needs to understand what retailers are doing and why. A la cart will help you drive more sales and get your items in the shopping cart more often.Go behind the closed doors of the retailers and understand what they are focused on, why and what you should do about it. Benefit from Peter Chapman's 25 years in the fo...

American manufacturing is on life support—at least, that's what most people think. The exodus of jobs to China and other foreign markets is irreversible, and anything that is built here requires specialized skills the average worker couldn't hope to gain. Not so, says Dan DiMicco, chairman and former CEO of Nucor, America's largest steel company. He not only revived a major US manufacturing firm during a recession, but helped galvanize the flagging domestic steel industry when many of his ...

Patent Ease! The New Extraordinary Book that everyone is talking about, has made it possible to finally patent that idea of yours for free! It's the "How to Write Your Own Patent" book for beginners! Because, lets face it... you're a beginner, not a dummy!Finally! Now writing a patent yourself could not be easier, thanks to a new book by the previously published author Wayne Hoss. Wayne has many years of Patent Application experience, and his new book literally makes writing your ow...

At the age of thirteen, David Alliance was taken out of school by his father and apprenticed into the Grand Bazaar in Tehran, where he learned the business skills that were to prove invaluable in one of the most successful business careers of modern times. In 1950, with just ?14 in his pocket, he arrived in Manchester in search of textile bargains, going hungry and sometimes forced to sleep on the street. Six years later, however, when he was still only twenty-four, he bought a loss-making...

The entry of transnational retailers into emerging markets inevitably disrupts the existing retail and distribution structures. Thailand experienced such disruption to its traditional retailing system beginning in 1990 and continuing through the following two decades, to the extent that many observers have called it a “revolution.” But the term “revolution” is a misnomer, according to this study. The new retail and distribution formats, rather than replacing traditional markets, have conti...

Due to the profound growth in international trade, the need to pursue global supply and institute risk management practices has never been greater. The globalization of world markets has reconfigured supply networks, causing increasing complexities and challenges in sourcing and risk management. Managing Global Supply and Risk blends three distinct but interrelated topics—international purchasing, global supply management, and global risk management—to present the critical...

Would you like to know the outlook for Luxury consumables in China in 2015 and beyond? This specialist report has it all.Adriaan Brits is the lecturer for a large international group on Udemy where he teaches the International Marketing Diploma. As a specialist consultant in this field, he created this report to help companies who seek an entry strategy into the Chinese Luxury Market. This report acknowledges that whilst experts do not find Chinese consumer data reliable, by analyz...