Details

Introduction 1 <p><b>Part I: What Is Business? 5</b></p> <p>Chapter 1: Understanding Business and Business Studies 7</p> <p>Chapter 2: Identifying the Internal and External Influences on Business 21</p> <p>Chapter 3: Using Business Analyses 37</p> <p>Chapter 4: Making Decisions 61</p> <p><b>Part II: How Business Works 75</b></p> <p>Chapter 5: Structuring and Evolving Organisations 77</p> <p>Chapter 6: Meeting Stakeholder Demands 91</p> <p>Chapter 7: Organising for Success 103</p> <p><b>Part III: How to Be a Business and Do Business 119</b></p> <p>Chapter 8: Understanding Business Strategy 121</p> <p>Chapter 9: Creating Great Products and Services 137</p> <p>Chapter 10: Marketing Your Products or Services 151</p> <p><b>Part IV: Money, Money, Money 171</b></p> <p>Chapter 11: Understanding Finance 173</p> <p>Chapter 12: Structuring Accounts 193</p> <p>Chapter 13: Investing in the Present and in the Future 211</p> <p>Chapter 14: Using Numbers in Business 231</p> <p><b>Part V: The Awkward Bit: The People! 245</b></p> <p>Chapter 15: Knowing People 247</p> <p>Chapter 16: Managing Human Resources 269</p> <p>Chapter 17: Handling Employee Relations 289</p> <p><b>Part VI: Putting It All Together 307</b></p> <p>Chapter 18: Examining Operations 309</p> <p>Chapter 19: Delivering Great Projects 327</p> <p>Chapter 20: Using Technology to Your Best Advantage 341</p> <p><b>Part VII: The Part of Tens 357</b></p> <p>Chapter 21: Ten Tips for Succeeding at Business School 359</p> <p>Chapter 22: Ten Ways to Put Your Knowledge to Work Outside the Classroom 367</p> <p>Index 375</p>

<p><b>Richard Pettinger, MBA,</b> is the Principal Teaching Fellow in Management Education at the Department of Management Science and Innovation, University College London. He is also Director of the BSc/MSci Information Management for Business programme, a major national initiative to transform undergraduate and pre-professional business and management education.

<p><b>Learn about:</b> <ul> <li>Organisational structures and stakeholders</li> <li>Accounting and finance, marketing and publicity</li> <li>Human resources, management and leadership</li> <li>The role of technology in businesses today</li> </ul> <p><b>Stay a step ahead of the competition – at university and on the job</b> <p>Whether you're trying to decide if business is the best course of study for you, you're settling into your first year at university or you want to fill in the gaps of a business education on your own, this is the book for you. Written by an expert in the field, it supplies you with a solid foundation in all of the subjects covered in a typical business studies programme – from business start-ups to analytics, human resources to finance and accounting and more. <li><b>See how companies are organised</b> – learn about different types of organisational structures and how teams, departments and divisions function separately and how they interact</li> <li><b>Get a handle on operations</b> – get the lowdown on business operations and the demands that production and service delivery place on companies</li> <li><b>Sort out strategy</b> – discover the central role strategy plays in business and why it's important to have a core strategic position to guide every aspect of ongoing business development</li> <li><b>Know why marketing matters</b> – find out why marketing is so crucial to success and the role it plays in everything from product development to customer engagement</li> <li><b>Make sense of business finance</b> – get up to speed on the numbers side of business, from accounting to leverage, financial reporting to calculating ROI</li> <li><b>Factor in the human element</b> – learn how to get the best from people in business by exploring business culture, leadership, employee recruitment and motivation</li> </ul> <p><b>Open the book and find:</b> <ul> <li>A bird's-eye view of different types of business organisations</li> <li>How great products and services are created</li> <li>Traditional and up-to-the-minute marketing strategies and tools</li> <li>Insights into the behavioural issues that can make or break a business</li> <li>An explanation of the critical role technology plays in business</li> <li>Priceless tips on how to succeed in business school</li> <li>Activities for broadening your knowledge and understanding</li> </ul>

GB