Product Description: Within the European context of innovation for growth, public and corporate actors are faced with pressing questions concerning innovation policy and the return on public and private investment in innovation at the regional level. To help them answer these questions, researchers in the field of Geography of Innovation propose interesting developments and new perspectives for the analysis of localized innovation processes, interactions between science, technology and industry, and their impact on regional growth and competitiveness, offering new foundations for designing and evaluating public policies...read more

New from the bestselling HBR’s 10 Must Reads series.To innovate profitably, you need more than just creativity. Do you have what it takes?If you read nothing else on inspiring and executing innovation, read these 10 articles. We’ve combed through hundreds of articles in the Harvard Business Review archive and selected the most important ones to help you innovate effectively.Leading experts such as Clayton Christensen, Peter Drucker, and Rosabeth Moss Kanter provide the insights and advice you need to:• Decide which ideas are worth pursuing• Innovate through the front lines―not just from the top• Adapt innovations from the developing world to wealthier markets• Tweak new ventures along the way using discovery-driven planning• Tailor your efforts to meet customers’ most pressing needs• Avoid classic pitfalls such as stifling innovation with rigid processes

In this book, Eric von Hippel, author of the influential Democratizing Innovation, integrates new theory and research findings into the framework of a "free innovation paradigm." Free innovation, as he defines it, involves innovations developed by consumers who are self-rewarded for their efforts, and who give their designs away "for free." It is an inherently simple grassroots innovation process, unencumbered by compensated transactions and intellectual property rights.Free innovation is already widespread in national economies and is steadily increasing in both scale and scope. Today, tens of millions of consumers are collectively spending tens of billions of dollars annually on innovation development. However, because free innovations are developed during consumers' unpaid, discretionary time and are given away rather than sold, their collective impact and value have until very recently been hidden from view. This has caused researchers, governments, and firms to focus too much on the Schumpeterian idea of innovation as a producer-dominated activity.Free innovation has both advantages and drawbacks. Because free innovators are self-rewarded by such factors as personal utility, learning, and fun, they often pioneer new areas before producers see commercial potential. At the same time, because they give away their innovations, free innovators generally have very little incentive to invest in diffusing what they create, which reduces the social value of their efforts.The best solution, von Hippel and his colleagues argue, is a division of labor between free innovators and producers, enabling each to do what they do best. The result will be both increased producer profits and increased social welfare—a gain for all.

Product Description: This book sheds new light on the role of industrial districts in the industrial development of the past and present. Industrial districts, which refer to the geographical concentration of enterprises producing similar or closely related commodities in a small area, play a significant role in the development of manufacturing industries not only historically in Europe and Japan but also at present in emerging East Asian economies, such as China and Vietnam and low-income countries in sub-Saharan Africa...read more

Inspired by the Simple Sabotage Field Manual released by the Office of Strategic Services in 1944 to train European resistors, this is the essential handbook to help stamp out unintentional sabotage in any working group, from major corporations to volunteer PTA committees. In 1944, the Office of Strategic Services (OSS)—the predecessor of today’s CIA—issued the Simple Sabotage Field Manual that detailed sabotage techniques designed to demoralize the enemy. One section focused on eight incredibly subtle—and devastatingly destructive—tactics for sabotaging the decision-making processes of organizations. While the manual was written decades ago, these sabotage tactics thrive undetected in organizations today: • Insist on doing everything through channels.• Make speeches. Talk as frequently as possible and at great length.• Refer all matters to committees.• Bring up irrelevant issues as frequently as possible. Haggle over precise wordings of communications.• Refer back to matters already decided upon and attempt to question the advisability of that decision.• Advocate caution and urge fellow-conferees to avoid haste that might result in embarrassments or difficulties later on.• Be worried about the propriety of any decision. Everyone has been faced with someone who has used these tactics, even when they have meant well. Filled with proven strategies and techniques, this brief, clever audiobook outlines the counter-sabotage measures to detect and reduce the impact of these eight classic sabotage tactics to improve productivity, spur creativity, and engender better collegial relationships.

Product Description: This book provides an in-depth analysis of the wheat production developments in the Eurasian region and assesses the potential contribution of the region to domestic and international food security. In particular, the book covers policy and institutional developments of the agricultural sector in Eurasia with a special focus on the horizontal issues relevant to the current and future potential growth of the wheat production, such as land policy, credit and finance, privatization, farm restructuring, and environmental challenges...read more

"We're sorry but your recommendation wasn't approved."We've all heard those words; it's a sentence that swallows your hopes and crushes your confidence.Getting ideas or projects approved and securing the resources needed to implement them is one of the greatest challenges business leaders face. With multiple stakeholders, constrained budgets, and competing agendas, it's difficult to cut through the clutter and garner the required support.The Elegant Pitch provides a simple, proven process to go from idea to approval more quickly and effectively than ever before. This is the same method used by elite strategy consulting firms such as McKinsey & Co. and Bain Consulting. But you don't have to be a high-priced consultant to master a process that promises:• Clearer and more compelling recommendations and ideas.• Shorter and crisper communications.• Greater efficiency.• Shorter and fewer meetings.• More efficient decision-making processes.• A higher likelihood of getting your recommendations approved.Do less work, hold fewer and shorter meetings, and get ideas approved on the first pass? Sign me up!By using the methods in The Elegant Pitch, you can get to "yes" more quickly and drive the results that set you apart from the crowd.

Product Description: So you want to be a great mum and, ideally, a rich one too? Welcome to Million Pound Mum. This is the first in a range of audiobooks offering constructive advice on how to start a business, but still be a great mum and have fun while doing it...read more

Product Description: Singapore has gained a reputation for being one of the wealthiest and best-educated countries in the world and one of the brightest success stories for a colony-turned-sovereign state, but the country's path to success was anything but assured...read more

Product Description: This book presents peer-reviewed, state-of-the-art conceptual and empirical papers devoted to changes in the international competitive position of the Central and Eastern European (CEE) region, its countries and businesses. While the unprecedented scale of transformation in the CEE region has provided a distinct research setting for international business and economics scholars for more than two decades, there have also been recent discussions about the extent to which the region continues to have a unique business environment...read more

The landscape is littered with the corpses of great products and strong companies that died because of crappy marketing.Why do so many companies fail so miserably? Why do high-priced ad agencies and marketing firms keep spitting out stupid campaigns?Too many in business have failed to recognize the shift that has happened right under their noses. It's not so much that people have changed; it's that the business landscape has changed—dramatically. For the first time in human history, we have no unmet needs. Every problem has a solution, and many companies now find themselves creating solutions that appear to be looking for a problem.In his provocative and enlightening new book, Visibility Marketing, David Avrin shows what marketing approaches work, which don't, and why. You will learn how to uncover your true competitive advantages and a process to craft messages and tactics that achieve tangible results.A remarkably accessible, relatable, thought-provoking reference book, Visibility Marketing speaks directly to business owners, entrepreneurs, marketing managers, and sales professionals.With wisdom gleaned from hundreds of presentations and workshops and conversations with tens of thousands of company leaders, Visibility Marketing will forever change how businesses and professionals look at the competitive landscape and how they promote themselves.