Our culturally shaped values influence the way we work as well as our behaviour towards our colleagues, superiors and business partners – whether we care to acknowledge it or not. Not surprisingly, then, intercultural competence has come to be one of the key skills of the 21st century: anyone seeking success on the international business scene needs a navigation system to guide them through the complexities of other cultures' modes of interaction, behaviour and communication.In this book, ...

In this definitive and revealing history, Henry Mintzberg, the iconoclastic former president of the Strategic Management Society, unmasks the press that has mesmerized so many organizations since 1965: strategic planning. One of our most brilliant and original management thinkers, Mintzberg concludes that the term is an oxymoron -- that strategy cannot be planned because planning is about analysis and strategy is about synthesis. That is why, he asserts, the process has failed so often and...

Craig Storti is a renowned expert in intercultural communications whose approaches are highly practical and based on his decades of experience as an intercultural trainer throughout the world.This hands-on resource can be used as a self-paced guide or in a facilitated (work or academic course) environment. The book enables readers to encounter and confront culture head on, to interact with and respond to it. In the process, culture will become something real and alive, something to...

With his usual engaging and inimitable style, Mats Alvesson takes the reader on a riveting journey through the diverse ways in which culture itself can be understood and how these powerfully inform organizational life.′ - Blake E. Ashforth, Arizona State University′Understanding Organizational Culture comunicates complex ideas in a manner that will illuminate for those who are less familiar with the concepts discussed, as well as providing a depth and crit...

Many of today’s books on the tools and techniques of leadership and management provide descriptions of long lists for use in decision-making, leading, coaching and project management. This book takes a completely different approach. It contests the claims that the tools and techniques are based on evidence and explains why human activities of leading and managing are simply not amenable to scientific proof and consequently, why long-term futures of organizations are unpredictable.T...

In this second book I have concentrated on the theme of ‘Education’. Many essays in the IELTS test are based on this theme. Use the plans to give you ideas or to help with style. Write an essay from each plan and then compare your essay with the model at the end of the book.

As a painfully outdated institution the school is accused of: being alienating, closing itself off to society and to the needs of young people; reproducing social inequality and consolidating existing power relations; demotivating youth; showing a lack of effectiveness and having great difficulty with employability. And last but not least, the school is considered redundant: the school, where learning is bound to time and place, is no longer needed in the digital era of virtual learning en...

As a painfully outdated institution the school is accused of: being alienating, closing itself off to society and to the needs of young people; reproducing social inequality and consolidating existing power relations; demotivating youth; showing a lack of effectiveness and having great difficulty with employability. And last but not least, the school is considered redundant: the school, where learning is bound to time and place, is no longer needed in the digital era of virtual learning e...

Making a case for a reflexive approach to leadership, the authors draw upon decades of carrying out in-depth studies of professionals trying to "do" leadership. Through interviews with managers and their subordinates, getting a good understanding of organizational context, and critically interpreting their observations considering both leadership theories and a wealth of other perspectives, their celebration of reflexivity is used to question dominant leadership thinking.Considerin...

'Fifth Discipline' is one of the very few approaches to management that has attained position on the International Hall of Fame. Professor Flood's book explains and critiques the ideas in straight forward terms. This book makes significant and fundamental improvements to the core discipline - systemic thinking. It establishes crucial developments in systemic thinking in the context of the learning organisation, including creativity and organisational transformation. It is therefore a very ...

From businesses, public administrations, universities and schools, to hospitals, prisons, political parties, or the military, peoples’ lives are inextricably bound up with organizations from cradle to grave. Yet we receive little training in how - as members, customers, voters, or patients - to deal with them. In Organizations Stefan Kühl asks and answers many questions. What are these entities that wield such strong influence in our society? What makes them tick? What are our options for...

***The Mindful International Manager***tackles the management situations that international managers have to handle every day. Accessible and jargon-free it explains how to clarify local vs. international roles, support and develop a team, organize and coordinate boundaries of time and distance, and win commitment toward common goals. The authors, both interculturalists, include exercises and best practice advice and the experiences and insights of practising international managers. They c...