The Five Futures Glasses

This is an inspiring, and practical book about seeing more of the future markets than the competitors. It is the first comprehensive model for analyzing and managing the future systematically and effectively. The five futures glasses and the 'Eltville Model' are simple, but thorough tools to improve thinking and communicating about the future.

On few occasions in the history of modern management have leadership skills been in such sharp focus as they are now. The ability to direct often very large and diverse organizations; to make sense of the complex and turbulent markets and environments in which you operate; and to adapt and learn seems at an all time premium. The premise behind the fifth edition of this influential Handbook is that leadership, management and organizational development are all parts of the same process; enhancing the capacity of organizations, whatever their size, and the people within them to achieve their purpose. To this end, the editors have brought together a who's who of current writers on leadership and development and created the definitive single volume guide to the subject. The perspectives that the text provides to leadership, learning and development, embrace the formal and the informal, cultures and case examples from organizations of all kinds; and offers readers a rigorous, readable and, where appropriate, ground-breaking book. In the 14 years since the fourth edition of this classic book, very much has changed. But the need for this Handbook is as strong as ever and the Fifth Edition of Gower Handbook of Leadership and Management Development is set to become a definitive read for senior managers and those who develop them and an essential reader for the management students aspiring to become the next generation of leaders.

Embracing the theory and practice of strategic foresight and illuminating how different schools of thought regard its role in policy making, Tuomo Kuosa describes how something not traditionally considered an independent discipline, is steadily becoming one. In The Evolution of Strategic Foresight he explains how the practice of strategic foresight has long been closely associated with the military and politics. Linking strategic thinking more broadly to futurology, however, it is quite new. Since strategic foresight refers to the practice of generating analyses of alternative futures and strategies, based on available intelligence and foreknowledge, the practice can and should be applied to companies, business sectors, national and trans-national agencies of all descriptions, and to all aspects of public policy making. The author explains its practice in terms of structure, process, and knowledge domains, and examines its methodologies and systems, along with how strategic foresight can be used to produce better knowledge and be more effectively linked to policy making. Using examples from 30 different countries and with access to interviews and workshops involving key experts, The Evolution of Strategic Foresight will be valuable to scholars, educators, students engaged in strategy and future studies, long-range, public policy and urban planners, analysts; risk assessment experts, and consultants, managers and decision makers in many organisations, public and private.

The Bloomsbury Companion to Lexicography offers the definitive guide to a key area of linguistic study. Each companion is a comprehensive reference resource featuring an overview of key topics, research areas, new directions and a manageable guide to beginning or developing research in the field. Lexicography, as the practice of compiling dictionaries, has a long tradition that has been, for much of the time, largely independent of linguistics. The direct influence of linguistics on lexicography goes back around 50 years, though longer in the case of learners' dictionaries. The present volume aims to reflect on the research that has been and is being done in lexicography and to point the way forward. It tackles, among other topics, the critique of dictionaries in the electronic medium, the future of historical lexicography in the electronic mode with special reference to the online Oxford English Dictionary, and e-lexicography in general.

2012 Best Management Book Award – managementbuch.de (online book portal) Leaders wanted – presence not required. Detlef Lohmann disregards everything universities teach about economy. Hierarchies? Departments? A boss who makes all the decisions? As managing director, Lohmann did away with all that, flipping the classical pyramid structure on its head. By the standards of traditional business management, Lohmann's company cannot exist, let alone flourish. But it does. In fact, his business is extremely successful, flexible and robust. Lohmann discovered that when employees are empowered to work autonomously within the right structural framework, leaders don't have to do anything anymore. Or rather, leaders finally have time to do what leaders should do. And at lunchtime? They go home ...

This core textbook, edited by five leading scholars of the subject, provides a comprehensive overview of the key topics, debates and themes in this increasingly important field. Balancing research-led theory with industry best-practice to provide students with a definitive overview of HRD, the book draws on the international experience of its authors to tackle topics as diverse as leadership and managing development, change and diversity, workplace learning, and graduate employability. The book's approachable yet thorough writing style and lively presentation helps students to understand the topic from a critical perspective while also demonstrating how HRD plays out in reality. This is an essential textbook for undergraduate, postgraduate and MBA students of Human Resource Development on HRD or Business and Management degree programmes. New to this Edition: - New contributors and revised content, including additional coverage of careers, career management and employability - More international coverage, especially of the EU - Inclusion of topical subjects including employee engagement, skills shortage and business partnering - Improved student-friendly pedagogy and updated figures and diagrams to appeal to different learning styles - Thoroughly updated references and web links

'Elegant and multi-focal. Glorious!' Simon Garfield 'It will make you look at specs with fresh eyes' New Statesman 'Lively, engaging and admirably wide-ranging' The Times 'Fascinating' Observer The humble pair of glasses might just be one of the world's greatest inventions, allowing millions to see a world that might otherwise appear a blur. And yet how much do many of us really think about these things perched on the ends of our noses? Through the Looking Glasses traces the fascinating story of spectacles: from their inception as primitive visual aids for monkish scribes right through to today's designer eyewear and the augmented reality of Google Glass. There are encounters with ingenious medieval Italian glassmakers, myopic Renaissance rulers and spectacle-makers, as well as the silent movie star Harold Lloyd, the rock'n'roller Buddy Holly and the full-screen figure of Marilyn Monroe. This is a book about vision and the need for humanity to see clearly, and where the impulse to improve our eyesight has led us.

Technology, at least in theory, is improving our productivity, efficiency, and communication. The one thing it's not doing is making us happier. We are experiencing historically high levels of depression and dissatisfaction. But we can change that. Knowing that technology is here to stay and will continue to evolve in form and function, we need to know how to navigate the future to achieve a better balance between technology, productivity, and well-being. Technology can drive—not diminish—human happiness. In The Future of Happiness, author Amy Blankson, cofounder of the global positive psychology consulting firm GoodThink, unveils five strategies successful individuals can use, not just to survive—but actually thrive—in the Digital Age: • Stay Grounded to focus your energy and increase productivity • Know Thyself through app-driven data to strive toward your potential • Train Your Brain to develop and sustain an optimistic mindset • Create a Habitat for Happiness to maximize the spaces where you live, work, and learn • Be a Conscious Innovator to help make the world a better place By rethinking when, where, why, and how you use technology, you will not only influence your own well-being but also help shape the future of your community. Discover how technologies can transform the idea of "I'll be happy when . . ." to being happy now.