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It may be hard to believe in an era of Walmart, Citizens United, and the Koch brothers, but corporations are on the decline. The number of American companies listed on the stock market dropped by half between 1996 and 2012. In recent years we’ve seen some of the most storied corporations go bankrupt (General Motors, Chrysler, Eastman Kodak) or disappear entirely (Bethlehem Steel, Lehman Brothers, Borders). Gerald Davis argues this is a root cause of the income inequality and social instabilit...

Michael Porter is recognized as one of the top authorities on corporate strategy and business competition. The historical review of strategic management clearly shows that Porter’s research has bridged up two general paradigms (before and after the 1980s) thus helping both researchers and practitioners to better understand unanticipated global changes. His two generic strategies: costs and diversification, the two interdependent strategic options, are key in the context of the competitiveness of...

The Frackers by Gregory Zuckerman, bestselling author of The Greatest Trade Ever, tells the untold story of the tycoons behind the US fracking controversy. Things looked grim for American energy in 2006. Oil production was in steep decline and natural gas was hard to find. The Iraq War threatened the nation's already tenuous relations with the Middle East. China was rapidly industrializing and competing for resources. Major oil companies had just about given up on new discoveries on US soil, and...

This title features an untold story of the most horrifying crimes and massacres of the twentieth century. In September 1910, the activist and anti-imperialist Roger Casement arrived in the Amazon to investigate reports of widespread human-rights abuses in the vast forests stretching along the Putumayo River. There, the Peruvian entrepreneur Julio Cesar Arana ran an area the size of Belgium as his own private fiefdom; his British-registered company operated a systematic programme of torture, expl...

"It is impossible to grasp the meaning of the idea of sound money if one does not realize that it was devised as an instrument for the protection of civil liberties against despotic inroads on the part of governments." - from The Theory of Money and Credit Originally published in 1912, Ludwig von Mises's The Theory of Money and Credit remains today one of economic theory's most influential and controversial treatises. Von Mises's examination into monetary theory changed forever the world of eco...

Examines the strategies and tactics which management and employees have used to control each other. The text explores the historical roots and complexities of the management-employee relationship in the US, taking into account the initiatives and responses of both sides during the past 200 years.

Unique among nations, America conducts almost all of its formally organised religious activity, and many cultural, arts, human service, educational, and research activities through private non-profit organisations. Though partially founded by government, as well as by fees and donations, American non-profits have pursued their missions with considerable independence. Many have amassed remarkable resources and acquired some of the most impressive hospital, university, performing arts, and museums...

Management as we know it has been the driver of business growth in U.S. economies for a couple of centuries. Yet the practice of management is no longer focused on creating real value. Instead, it is now all about using sophisticated financial techniques-and practices like outsourcing and downsizing, among others—to improve profitability. Such addition through subtraction results in higher profits in the short term but puts the corporation and its employees at risk in the long term—not to mentio...

Posth arrived in China with a vision. He navigated a steep learning curve, achieved his goals and now shares an insightful, first-hand account of an intriguing journey that included bumps and highlights. 1,000 Days in Shanghai is a breathtaking manual for anyone contemplating a business career in the increasingly vibrant arena of today's China. It is also a personal account, done with great sensitivity, revealing between the lines a deep respect for the spirit that propels China's social and ind...

Innovation is a major contributory factor to economic growth. How can it be encouraged? One solution favoured especially in highly-competitive high-tech industries is cooperation in research and development. The theoretical issues raised by these joint ventures are examined in these essays which cover all aspects for growth, technology, competition and welfare. Contributions from the UK, Europe, North America and Asia ensure a broad international approach. There is an indepth study of European t...

Of all the companies affected by the attacks of 11 September, none was more devastated than Cantor Fitzgerald, the financial services conglomerate, who lost 658 people. CEO Howard Lutnick survived only because he had taken his son to school that day. He vowed to restore the company. but how can you focus on work when your brother and best friend are among those murdered? How can you grieve when all the families are looking to you to be strong and help them? How can you help them when some o...

Big Biba, the final flowering of Barbara Hulanicki's legendary Biba store in London, was a shop like no other, before or since. It was a fabulous fantasy palace that brought the indulgence of Hollywood to the world of retail. Big Biba lasted just two years before it fell victim to recession, but the myth of 'the most beautiful store in the world' continues to enchant both its former habitues and those who came to it too late. Founded as a corner-shop selling just one dress, Biba had grown in les...

Does Bill Gates's retirement consign Microsoft to the corporate retirement home as well? Mary Jo Foley doesn't think so. Her 25 years of Microsoft-watching provides a unique vantage point from which to speculate on how Microsoft might write its next chapter. Identifying signposts and interpreting clues she knows well, Foley offers a thought-provoking view of the software giant's post-Gates future. Don't be surprised to be surprised.