ebooks & articles

Uncertainty is currently a hot topic. As our societies have become more complex, the level of uncertainty has increased and people find they have to deal with fast changing, rapidly evolving situations and circumstances which do not fit their previous experience, where planning is difficult and where the outcomes are uncertain. The unexpected has become the norm. It can be difficult to know how best to deal with this increasingly uncertain world, Uncertainty can lead to us become anxious and feeling stressed ? and we try our best to reduce it, It?s only too easy to become impatient and just want to get things ?sorted? regardless of the consequences. We focus on protecting ourselves from anxiety rather than looking for long term sustainable solutions to the complex challenges we face. This book starts by explaining why uncertainty has increased, the challenges this brings and why it is likely to continue to be a feature of all our lives over the 21st century . Drawing on the analogy of navigating through mountainous terrain, the authors describe an original, straightforward, logical, and proactive way of dealing with uncertainty that helps people take personal responsibility, think more positively, and take advantage of the opportunities that uncertainty brings. The book is timely and has implications for the way we educate and develop people generally. It draws on the extensive experience of the authors and is brought vividly to life by case studies and personal examples. It is relevant internationally for the general reader.

This book explores new ways for companies to sustain their success, by means of viable business models and a values-driven culture. The point of departure is a value proposition designed to last, and grounded in the values espoused and actively practiced by the organization. These values are in turn the product of a values creation process, which is essential to  any business trying to ensure its viability in the long run. A concise step-by-step process explains how this process can be introduced to keep companies competitive for and in the future. In subsequent chapters, the book describes key challenges for modern management, introduces a paradigm of sustainable management, and presents roadmaps to future viability and axioms of viable business management.  Active practitioners in executive and operational management roles, research and development, innovation management, human resources, sustainability, or process management will benefit from this volume. Given its scope of coverage, the book offers a valuable resource for lecturers and students in business management, economics, law, and sustainability-related degree courses.

This cutting-edge book charts the latest ideas and concepts in employment relations research. Mapping out the intellectual boundaries of the field, The Future of Work and Employment outlines the key research and policy outcomes for work and employment in the age of digitisation and artificial intelligence. Internationally renowned contributors unpack the implications of the latest developments in employment relations, from the rise of the gig economy to the role of platform companies, from perspectives such as employment (in)security, equity, fairness, wellbeing and voice. Reviewing the extant literature on the future of work, and exploring the biggest issues facing the modern workforce, this book argues for a research base that allows more sober reflections on the grand claims that dictate the future of work. Empirically-grounded and incisively-argued, the book forms critical reading for both undergraduate and postgraduate students of business and human resource management, featuring insight into the latest developments in the field. Researchers, policymakers and practitioners will also benefit from its implications for policy and its blending of theory and practice.

Pascal Dey and Chris Steyaert provide a timely critique on the idea of social entrepreneurship and its reputation as a means for positive social change. The book uses different traditions and modes of critique to interrogate, disrupt and reimagine the concept of social entrepreneurship. Presented in five parts, each individual contribution uses a different critical perspective to analyse and assess social entrepreneurship in its mythological, ideological and performative constitution, looking for its democratic possibilities and alternative affirmations. Using varied analytical approaches, the resulting work highlights the need for a greater recognition of the unintended effects of social entrepreneurship and in doing so, adds nuance to a concept that has gone relatively unchallenged. In addition, each chapter identifies intriguing points for further research.Scholars in the fields of social entrepreneurship, management and organizational studies will find this a relevant and insightful work. Those with a wider scholarly interest in critical research, particularly in the humanities or social sciences, will also find the critical approaches compelling.

Digital Governance provides managers with a simple and jargon-free introduction to the impact that digital technology can have on the governance of their organisations. Digital technology is at the heart of any enterprise today, changing business processes and the way we work. But this technology is often used inefficiently, riskily or inappropriately. Worse perhaps, many organisational leaders fail to grasp the opportunities it offers and thus fail to "transform" their organisations through the use of technology. This book provides an explanation of the basic issues around the opportunities and risks associated with digital technology. It describes the role that digital technology can play across organisations (and not just behind the locked doors of the IT department), giving boards and top management the insight to develop strategies for investing in and exploiting digital technology as well as arming them with the knowledge required to ask the right questions of specialists and to detect when the answers given are evasive or irrelevant. International in its scope, this essential book covers the fundamental principles of digital governance such as leadership, capability, accountability for value creation and transparency of reporting, integrity and ethical behaviour.