In a culture flush with social media sound bites and email blasts, many business leaders and entrepreneurs have forgotten the most innate and powerful means of connecting with other people: telling stories. The power of storytelling lies in its ability to take data and analysis and distill it into a form that is easily understood, remembered, and shared. While data is important in building credibility and justifying decisions, its importance is often exaggerated. And, while data may convince people that something is true, a well-told story is what makes the data resonate with people’s emotions and drives them to action. In Power Stories, Valerie Khoo demonstrates how entrepreneurs can use this subtle and underutilized marketing tool to build an arsenal of eight power stories that can influence customers, attract loyal employees, promote media attention, persuade investors, and build an unforgettable brand.
In Go Mobile, Jeanne Hopkins and Jamie Turner offer insights into the relatively new world of mobile marketing. While it can seem daunting to learn about apps, 2D codes, and location-based marketing, these mobile terms are actually not difficult to understand and can be easily implemented in most businesses’ marketing plans. The authors break down the technology associated with mobile marketing and give step-by-step plans that any marketing team or small business can quickly implement.
In Connecting Organizational Silos, Frank Leistner presents a full-featured guide for organizations interested in using social media. His argument is simple: as it becomes easier for people to interact virtually, the value of effectively moving knowledge through an organization increases. Leistner outlines basics like social media analytics, the mobilization of various departments, and social network dynamics, and he explains why social media is here to stay. Leistner also explores the concept of enterprise social networks (ESNs) and how the future of social media platform technologies will affect both users and organizations in the coming years.
As Craig Storti explains in Speaking of India, India will continue to play a greater role in the global business market. Businesses will continue to outsource more than information technology (IT) or call centers overseas to India; instead, they will outsource tasks such as business process outsourcing (BPO), aspects of banking and financial services, insurance operations, legal services, mortgage services, television digitization, editing, and airline reservations. With about two million Indian workers in the United States, and Indians owning more than 3,000 companies in California alone, individuals must learn to overcome many culture differences in order to achieve successful Indian-Western partnerships and joint ventures.
Irv Rothman describes Out-Executing the Competition as “chapters about evolution,” both professional and personal. By being open to lifelong learning, Rothman experienced a paradigm-shifting moment concerning business models that shaped his entire career. The principle of customer-centric business models created by employees was the foundation of a series of successful business ventures. Once considered radical business philosophies, listening to customers and empowering employees are now fundamental practices required to sustain business success. In addition, Rothman’s life lessons show that business success is a product of hard work, being smart, acting prudently, taking calculated risks, adapting to innovations, and planning ahead. By applying business axioms consistently, value can be delivered reliably, market fluctuations can be responded to nimbly, and core business strengths can be leveraged to out-execute the competition.
In many organizations some employees behave in ways that are extremely
damaging to their co-workers. These bullies wreak havoc in
organizations. Their damaging behavior leads to emotional, physical, and
financial challenges for the employees they target. For organizations,
these problems often lead to losing productive employees and can result
in lawsuits. In extreme cases, bullying can lead to homicide or suicide.
In The Bully-Free Workplace, authors Gary Namie and
Ruth F. Namie inform executives that the best solution to eradicate
bullies from the workforce is to implement a formal policy, such as the
Namie Blueprint process—a process that defines standards of appropriate
behavior and holds people accountable for that conduct. When
organizations draw a line in the sand clearly illustrating what behavior
is unacceptable they can put an end to bullying.
