The last 20 years has seen one management fad after another come and go. At the behest of consultants and gurus, businesses have re-engineered, downsized, learnt excellence, developed competencies and created customer-focused strategies. But to what avail? Despite all these fads and improvements we still find bad management, unhappy customers and companies that are extolled as excellent one day and go bust the next. There is a huge gulf between the excellence industry that is touted by the gurus and the real world of business. “Hard-core Management” aims to bridge that gap. It exposes all the core assumptions made by managers and their gurus by stripping them of their fancy garb and forcing us to confront the stark, warts-and-all reality. More than 100 overdressed assumptions are presented for frank examination such as: we know our customers; we know our competition; we have a strategy; our leader knows the way; we have a vision; we are in control; and we can change.

A good business plan should impress potential financial backers by clarifying aims, providing a blueprint for the future of your company and a benchmark against which to measure growth.

How to Prepare a Business Plan explains the whole process clearly, and includes guidance on: producing cash flow forecasts and sample business plans; expanding a business; planning the borrowing; and monitoring business progress.

The author introduces several small businesses as case studies, analysing their business plans, monitoring their progress and discussing their problems. Whether you are looking to start up or expand, this practical advice will help you to prepare a plan that is tailored to the requirements of your business – one that will get you the financial backing you need.

Written in straightforward language, this useful guide offers tried and tested advice on constructing profitable marketing strategies for your business. Revealing how to revitalize your products and services using straightforward marketing know-how, How to Market Your Business covers everything from market research, advertising, promotion, selling techniques, product launches, and use of the internet – everything you need to ensure your product reaches your market successfully.

Now fully updated, this new sixth edition has been thoroughly rewritten to keep you up to date with all the new channels to market, in particular those offered by the internet. With a strong emphasis on practical advice this is an essential guide to good marketing on a tight budget for anyone, regardless of their level of marketing experience.

Properly managed no brand need decay and die – immortality is within the reach of all. If the right decisions, the right resources and the right imagination are brought to bear, brands can renew continuously and outlive their creators.

Brand Immortality is a practical health manual for brands of all types and ages that seek immortality. Drawing on the renowned IPA Effectiveness Awards case histories, and full of examples including Nokia, Sony, Nike, Apple and Virgin, it examines how the nature of brands has changed over time and continues to evolve, and the implications this has for marketing. It identifies the factors that are essential to a brand’s long term survival – especially those which defend and strengthen a brand’s place in the hearts and minds of consumers.

The Definitive Personal Assistant and Secretarial Handbook is the ultimate guide for all management assistants, PAs, secretaries and executive assistants. Written by a former Times Creme PA of the Year, it deals with every aspect of these vital administrative roles and the necessary skills, including: relationship management, communication and confidence, the secrets of body language, listening and questioning skills, coping with pressure and stress, dealing with difficult people, time management and personal organization.

The Definitive Personal Assistant and Secretarial Handbook is set to become a bible for all assistants world wide. Comprehensive and accessible, it will help you to maintain a professional image and achieve resounding success.

To access all additional resources for this book, visit http://www.koganpage.com/resources/pash

This is a practical approach to re-engineering the performance management process in order to ensure effectiveness. It deals with the use of performance management in the US and Europe, defines performance management and assesses how well it is doing. It also considers how organizations are changing and the implications of these changes on traditional approaches to performance management. Hartle goes on to outline the steps to be taken to re-engineer the traditional approach into a more effective performance management process. The book draws from case studies of work with cliets around the world. The author stresses that for performance management to be fully effective it has to be a collaborative exercise between managers and staff.

The third edition of Logistics and Retail Management has been substantially updated to take account of recent developments in retail logistics. Retailers have recognised the need to have more involvement in supply chains and noted that benefits can be achieved in both service levels and cost reduction. Notwithstanding the major strides made, numerous challenges remain, and new issues are constantly emerging. This book brings together well-known academics and practitioners, who share their research, ideas and experience of current thinking on supply chain management in retail.

What is the procedure if an employee calls in sick but is later spotted in the park playing with his children?

Employers may think they have grounds to serve a warning, but would they be within their rights to do so?

Harry Sherrard, a successful employment law solicitor, identified the need for HR professionals and line managers to understand the legal rules and procedures when dealing with workplace disputes and dilemmas. He and his colleagues created training workshops that offered more than the usual dry handling of the subject by encouraging delegates to share their experiences of workplace disputes or ‘headaches’, and participate in lively discussion to generate practical and legal resolutions

The idea of turning your staff into ‘gold’ lies at the heart of all training and development programmes. As this lively and thought-provoking book shows, the best route to organizational success is through developing people to their full potential.

Providing a structured and practical guide to making the most of the human capital in any type of organization (large or small, public or private sector), the book takes a holistic and innovative approach to both staff development and organizational success. With a wide variety of case studies, a toolkit of techniques for assessing and developing the skill base of staff, and advice on developing staff at low cost, Training With the Midas Touch is ideal for these cost-conscious times. While highly practical in both tone and approach, Training With the Midas Touch also provides a sound theoretical framework for staff development and includes a detailed reading list with further recommendations.Training with the Midas Touch : Developing Your Organizations Greatest Asset

Whatever the size or nature of the organization, its directors are constantly faced with a myriad of problems and dilemmas: whether it’s financial failure, fraud, succession issues, directors’ indiscretions, a personality clash, a hostile takeover or low staff morale. This work provides a glimpse behind the boardroom door to witness the wrangles and clashes. There are 40 real-life cases with conclusions for action.

Trivial issues can reach gigantic proportions if they are not handled skilfully. This practical self-study workbook is designed to help managers to develop their skills when faced with difficult problems and complaints from members of staff. Structured to allow managers to gain the confidence they need to face even the most daunting situations, the examples and sample dialogues show managers how to deal with a wide range of scenarios including: concerns about hazards in the workplace; excessive workloads; coping with delays; and retaining staff. There are exercises and examples, cases and sample scenarios.

We live in a world were people have become empowered. Consumers can contact companies directly and they can talk to each other with a powerful voice they never had before. Sticky Marketing takes into account these fundamental changes and provides a new set of rules for effective communications in a world transformed by new technology. It introduces a new model of customer engagement and asks ‘not what your marketing can do for you, but what your marketing can do for your customer’. Companies have to move away from the old marketing system of shouting messages at people to attracting them by providing value around their product or service – in other words by becoming ‘sticky’ or attractive. Grant Leboff argues that it is not ‘return on investment’ that matters but ‘return on engagement’, not your unique sales point (or USP), but your customer engagement point (your CEP), that will make the difference in today’s cluttered marketplace.

The only way forward for business success is to create a memorable brand and fix it in the consumer’s mind. Branding Your Business explains the whole branding process in easy-to-follow terms. Providing practical help instead of academic theories, it explains what a brand is and what it is not, how to conduct a ‘DIY’ brand audit and how to use marketing NLP and psychology principles to create a powerful brand for your business.

Based around the theory that a brand is the total perception a customer has about a company, its products or services, Branding Your Business will reveal what is needed to create and manage successful brands, increase profits and leave the competition standing.

Doing Business with Spain aims to help international companies take advantage of the dynamic Spanish business environment by providing a clearly written guide to its business structures and procedures, as well as an authoritative review of current trade and investment opportunities.

Designed to provide salespeople with a clearly defined approach to the account planning process, which will benefit their effective management of key customers. The ideas put forward in the text are based on the authors’ sales training programme LAMP (Large Account Management Programme). The reader is taught how to implement an action plan for the management of a key account, how to manage limited resources, how to build long-term relationships with clients and how to identify the right contacts and activate proper channels of communication.