Entrepreneurship: A Very Short Introduction

Entrepreneurship: A Very Short Introduction
Author: Paul Westhead
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 177
Release: 2013-11
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0199670544

What is entrepreneurship? Is it important? What do entrepreneurs actually do? These are a few of the key questions considered in this Very Short Introduction. Paul Westhead and Mike Wright provide a clear guide to all aspects of the process of entrepreneurship, including the diversity of the people involved and the benefits it brings to society.

American Business History: A Very Short Introduction

American Business History: A Very Short Introduction
Author: Walter A. Friedman
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 177
Release: 2020-06-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 0190622504

By the early twentieth century, it became common to describe the United States as a "business civilization." President Coolidge in 1925 said, "The chief business of the American people is business." More recently, historian Sven Beckert characterized Henry Ford's massive manufactory as the embodiment of America: "While Athens had its Parthenon and Rome its Colosseum, the United States had its River Rouge Factory in Detroit..." How did business come to assume such power and cultural centrality in America? This volume explores the variety of business enterprise in the United States and analyzes its presence in the country's economy, its evolution over time, and its meaning in society. It introduces readers to formative business leaders (including Elbert Gary, Harlow Curtice, and Mary Kay Ash), leading firms (Mellon Bank, National Cash Register, Xerox), and fiction about business people (The Octopus, Babbitt, The Man in the Grey Flannel Suit). It also discusses Alfred Chandler, Joseph Schumpeter, Mira Wilkins, and others who made significant contributions to understanding of America's business history. This VSI pursues its three central themes - the evolution, scale, and culture of American business - in a chronological framework stretching from the American Revolution to today. The first theme is evolution: How has U.S. business evolved over time? How have American companies competed with one another and with foreign firms? Why have ideas about strategy and management changed? Why did business people in the mid-twentieth century celebrate an "organizational" culture promising long-term employment in the same company, while a few decades later entrepreneurship was prized? Second is scale: Why did business assume such enormous scale in the United States? Was the rise of gigantic corporations due to the industriousness of its population, or natural resources, or government policies? And third, culture: What are the characteristics of a "business civilization"? How have opinions on the meaning of business changed? In the late nineteenth century, Andrew Carnegie believed that America's numerous enterprises represented an exuberant "triumph of democracy." After World War II, however, sociologist William H. Whyte saw business culture as stultifying, and historian Richard Hofstadter wrote, "Once great men created fortunes; today a great system creates fortunate men." How did changes in the nature of business affect popular views? Walter A. Friedman provides the long view of these important developments.

Contemporary Art: A Very Short Introduction

Contemporary Art: A Very Short Introduction
Author: Julian Stallabrass
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 169
Release: 2006-03-23
Genre: Art
ISBN: 0192806467

"Bloodied toy soldiers, gilded shopping carts, and Lego concentration camps. Contemporary art is supposed to be a realm of freedom where artists shock, break taboos, and switch between confronting viewers with works of great profundity and jaw-dropping triviality. But away from shock tactics in the gallery, there are many unanswered questions. What is contemporary about contemporary art? What effect do politics and big business have on art? And who really runs the art world?" "Previously published as Art Incorporated, this controversial and witty Very Short Introduction is an exploration of the global art scene that will change the way you see contemporary art."--BOOK JACKET.

Education: A Very Short Introduction

Education: A Very Short Introduction
Author: Gary Thomas
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 161
Release: 2013-03-28
Genre: Education
ISBN: 0199643261

From the schools of ancient times to the present day, Gary Thomas looks at how and why education evolved as it has. By exploring some of the big questions, he examines the ways in which schools work, considers the differences around the world, and concludes by considering the future of education worldwide.

Design: A Very Short Introduction

Design: A Very Short Introduction
Author: John Heskett
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 169
Release: 2005
Genre: Art
ISBN: 0192854461

This book will transform the way you think about design by showing how integral it is to our daily lives, from the spoon we use to eat our breakfast cereal to the medical equipment used to save lives. John Heskett goes beyond style and taste to look at how different cultures and individuals personalise objects.

Social Entrepreneurship

Social Entrepreneurship
Author: David Bornstein
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 172
Release: 2010-04-16
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0195396332

In development circles, there is now widespread consensus that social entrepreneurs represent a far better mechanism to respond to needs than we have ever had before--a decentralized and emergent force that remains our best hope for solutions that can keep pace with our problems and create a more peaceful world.David Bornstein's previous book on social entrepreneurship, How to Change the World, was hailed by Nicholas Kristof in The New York Times as "a bible in the field" and published in more than twenty countries. Now, Bornstein shifts the focus from the profiles of successful social innovators in that book--and teams with Susan Davis, a founding board member of the Grameen Foundation--to offer the first general overview of social entrepreneurship. In a Q & A format allowing readers to go directly to the information they need, the authors map out social entrepreneurship in its broadest terms as well as in its particulars.Bornstein and Davis explain what social entrepreneurs are, how their organizations function, and what challenges they face. The book will give readers an understanding of what differentiates social entrepreneurship from standard business ventures and how it differs from traditional grant-based non-profit work. Unlike the typical top-down, model-based approach to solving problems employed by the World Bank and other large institutions, social entrepreneurs work through a process of iterative learning--learning by doing--working with communities to find unique, local solutions to unique, local problems. Most importantly, the book shows readers exactly how they can get involved.Anyone inspired by Barack Obama's call to service and who wants to learn more about the essential features and enormous promise of this new method of social change, Social Entrepreneurship is the ideal first place to look.

Globalization: A Very Short Introduction

Globalization: A Very Short Introduction
Author: Manfred B. Steger
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 185
Release: 2020-05-28
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0192589326

We live today in an interconnected world in which ordinary people can became instant online celebrities to fans thousands of miles away, in which religious leaders can influence millions globally, in which humans are altering the climate and environment, and in which complex social forces intersect across continents. This is globalization. In the fifth edition of his bestselling Very Short Introduction Manfred B. Steger considers the major dimensions of globalization: economic, political, cultural, ideological, and ecological. He looks at its causes and effects, and engages with the hotly contested question of whether globalization is, ultimately, a good or a bad thing. From climate change to the Ebola virus, Donald Trump to Twitter, trade wars to China's growing global profile, Steger explores today's unprecedented levels of planetary integration as well as the recent challenges posed by resurgent national populism. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Computer Science

Computer Science
Author: Subrata Dasgupta
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 169
Release: 2016
Genre: Computers
ISBN: 0198733461

While the development of Information Technology has been obvious to all, the underpinning computer science has been less apparent. Subrata Dasgupta provides a thought-provoking introduction to the field and its core principles, considering computer science as a science of symbol processing.

Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship
Author: Pip van den Nieuwenhuizen
Publisher: CreateSpace
Total Pages: 78
Release: 2014-11-26
Genre:
ISBN: 9781503317826

Entrepreneurship is the process of starting a business or other organization. The entrepreneur develops a business model, acquires the human and other required resources, and is fully responsible for its success or failure. Entrepreneurship operates within an entrepreneurship ecosystem. Contents: Preface 8 1 What Are Interpersonal Skills and Why Are They Important to Entrepreneurs? 10 1.1 What are Interpersonal Skills? 10 1.2 Soft Skills: A Topic of Study and Consideration Throughout History 10 1.3 How Does Developing Your Interpersonal Skills Make You a Better Entrepreneur? 11 1.4 Key Points From Chapter 1 12 1.5 Quiz - Reviewing Concepts From Chapter 1 13 1.6 Answers to Quiz for Chapter 1 15 2 Communication Skills That Set Business Leaders Apart 17 2.1 Why Are Communication Skills Important for a Business Owner? 17 2.2 Active Listening and How It Can Boost Your Sales 19 2.3 Common Barriers to Communication 26 2.4 Body Language: What People Are REALLY Saying 28 2.5 How to Communicate Effectively through Multi-Media Outlets 33 2.6 Key Points from Chapter 2 38 2.7 Quiz - Reviewing Concepts From Chapter 2 38 2.8 Answers to Quiz from Chapter 2 40 3 Public Speaking Tips for Business Leaders 42 3.1 Be Prepared 42 3.2 Stay Positive 43 3.3 Tell 'Em a Story 44 3.4 Don't be Self-Conscious 45 3.5 Seek Professional Help 45 3.6 Key Points from Chapter 3 45 3.7 Quiz - Reviewing Concepts From Chapter 3 46 3.8 Answers to Quiz from Chapter 3 47 4 Winning Persuasion and Negotiating Skills 49 4.1 Winning Persuasion Tactics for Business Management 49 4.2 Build Stronger Relationships as You Negotiate 52 4.3 Key Points from Chapter 4 55 4.4 Quiz - Reviewing Concepts From Chapter 4 56 4.5 Answers to Quiz from Chapter 4 57 5 The Assertive Entrepreneur: How to Be Heard in Business 59 5.1 Assertion vs. Aggression 59 5.2 Timing 59 5.3 Word Choice 61 5.4 Assertive Body Language 61 5.5 Clarity 62 5.6 Key Points from Chapter 5 62 5.7 Quiz - Reviewing Concepts From Chapter 5 63 5.8 Answers to Quiz from Chapter 5 65 6 Resolving Conflict 66 6.1 Conflict Resolution in The Workplace 66 6.2 Learn and Practice Assertive Communication Skills 66 6.3 Establish Healthy Boundaries 67 6.4 Seek First to Understand 67 6.5 Key Points from Chapter 6 68 6.6 Quiz - Reviewing Concepts From Chapter 6 68 6.7 Answers to Quiz from Chapter 6 70 Executive Education-170x115-B2.indd 1 18-08-11 15:13 7 Be a Source of Inspiration 72 7.1 Integrity 73 7.2 Empathy in the Workplace 73 7.3 Validate Emotions 73 7.4 Be Part of the Solution 74 7.5 Key Points from Chapter 7 74 7.6 Quiz - Reviewing Concepts From Chapter 7 74 7.7 Answers to Quiz from Chapter 7 76 Resources 78

Marketing: A Very Short Introduction

Marketing: A Very Short Introduction
Author: Kenneth Le Meunier-FitzHugh
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 177
Release: 2021-02-25
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 019256224X

Very Short Introductions: Brilliant, Sharp, Inspiring Marketing is pivotal in today's world. Used for determining and satisfying the needs of the customer, it stands at the interface between an organisation and its environment. Marketing provides customer and competitor information to the organisation, as well as creating awareness of the company's offering. As globalization creates increasing challenges to established marketing practices, marketing efforts need to reposition and adapt continuously to maintain an organisation's ability to reach potential customers. This Very Short Introduction provides a general overview of the function and importance of marketing to modern organisations. Kenneth Le Meunier-FitzHugh discusses how marketing remains central to creating competitive advantage, and why it needs to be forward looking and constantly reinventing itself in line with new developments in the marketplace, such as the growth of social media, and the importance of ethics and responsible marketing. He shows how this has led to the role of marketing expanding beyond advertising and promotion, encompassing a broader sense of customer relationship management. He also considers how marketers need to remain able to manage the marketing mix in response to their understanding of customer's purchasing habits. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.