This book discusses the concepts of volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity (VUCA) that are the core of various paradigms used in strategic management to understand competitive advantage as well as flexibility in organizational boundaries. It serves as a valuable reference resource in the area of VUCA markets. An increase in the levels and types of uncertainty has important implications potentially for the durability of a company’s advantages, the way firms learn and adapt, approaches for managing innovation and knowledge, and the attractiveness of different strategies and organizational models. In today’s world, strategic flexibility in VUCA is essential for business leaders to sustain market advantage and attain a clear vision amid the chaos. Business leaders who stay focused and are aware of external volatility as the prevalent characteristic are successful, while those who are not flexible in this VUCA world and lock themselves into fixed positions lose out. The book includes empirical and conceptual research papers along with case studies and models discussing strategies for emerging markets in volatile and uncertain environments. It also covers a variety of issues, including innovation, people and processes, financial management, and leadership and strategies in VUCA markets. Apart from research fraternity and academia, the contents of the book will be useful for practitioners as well as industry watchers.

The book focuses on key emerging areas concerning flexible systems management as an approach for transforming organizations. It is divided into three parts, discussing Enterprise Flexibility and Performance Management; Transformational Strategies and Organizational Competitiveness; and Supply Chain Flexibility. Part I addresses the integration aspects of learning, innovation, and entrepreneurship for organizational success, performance gains through cross-border acquisitions, flexibility measurement, and organizational competitiveness, impact of disinvestment, employability gaps and sustainable growth. Part II then examines risk governance structure, supporting culture, channel collaboration, waste management, IT-based process re-engineering, HR flexibility and adoption of big data as transformational strategies. Lastly, the third part investigates the development of a framework for a green flexible manufacturing system, measuring the effect of supply chain design on firm performance, exploring and ranking logistics service providers’ best practices, and exploring the relationship between optimism and career planning in the context of manufacturing sector, and analyzes customers’ emotional engagement and their inclinations towards the brand. The concept of flexibility is a common thread running through the three parts. The book is supported by both quantitative- and qualitative-based research as well as case applications relating to different areas of government and profit and not for profit organizations. Written by leading academics and practitioners, it is a useful resource for management students, scholars, consultants and practicing managers in both government and corporate sectors.

Specialists from different disciplines and continents to provide answers discuss organizational justice, sustainable HR, machine learning, and more, providing future roadmaps to minimise disruption during occurrences like the COVID-19-related worldwide catastrophe and the ramifications for managers and policymakers.

The globalized economy, dominated by the diffusion of innovation and social, political, and economic changes, allows people and knowledge to flow without knowing what lies ahead. As new economies emerge and technologies impose significant changes, the internationalization of markets and industries has made defining its delimitation more difficult. Competitive Drivers for Improving Future Business Performance is a conceptualized reference source that discusses the use of digital skills to manage change in volatile contexts and provides fundamental understanding of competitive advantage to guarantee superior performances. To assure this level of performance, a set of choices (drivers) must be created ensuring operational efficiency, innovative products, customer knowledge-base, and focused branding. Featuring research on topics such as consumer experience, strategic leadership, and flexible technologies, this book is ideally designed for managers, executives, entrepreneurs, academicians, consulting professionals, researchers, industry professionals, and students seeking coverage on how to improve competitive performance in an era of uncertainty.

This textbook approaches innovation and innovators as two elements of an equation with business application. It discusses creativity, methods to develop creativity, design thinking, the lean startup and minimum viable product (MVP), personal development for entrepreneurs, charisma, franchising and cases from the UAE. It is designed to be a practical and up-to-date resource for an innovation and entrepreneurship course. It contains practical information about the innovation frameworks and their applicability, explanation of creativity and creative mindset, methods of innovation, design thinking in practice, lean startup methodology, charisma, setting up a business, go-to-market strategies, growth and change as well as franchise management. It comes with worksheets to help the reader in practicing. The book solves the need of having innovation resources in one place, well explained and exemplified for students, aspirant and existing entrepreneurs as well as innovation enthusiasts.

The COVID-19 pandemic has permanently changed lives around the world and no dimension of life and leadership seems to have been spared from its wrath. It has also stirred us into thinking about novel approaches to lead organizations and societies toward a shared, sustainable future. This book offers novel perspectives on leadership and change management after the COVID-19 pandemic that take us beyond striving for thriving—perspectives that are grounded in emergent theory, research and practice. It highlights sustainable leadership and change management strategies to effectively deal with unpredictable and rapidly changing situations—particularly in a world that is increasingly volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA). This book also highlights engaging perspectives by specialists from different disciplines such as business, psychology, education, and health care. It serves as a practical guide in identifying and responding to leadership challenges and opportunities in each of the four VUCA categories of volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity—and how they affect businesses, organizations, and societies as a whole.

Unified Theory of Business Strategy (UTBS) Successful businesses require strategic thinking, well-formulated goals and a clear approach to implementation. These are widely accepted as essential to business success. But describing these factors is not the same as making them happen. What corporate executives and business owners increasingly need is a practical, workable approach to business strategy that is supported by theory (but not drowned in it). That is where this book comes in. In Unified Theory of Business Strategy, Dr Rod Samimi combines theory and practice to give readers a solid understanding of how to formulate and implement a pragmatic business strategy. It includes a theoretical framework and applied interpretations, plus a detailed guide for compiling business plans. Using the Sentinel 9 multidisciplinary approach, the book configures an innovative way to look at business strategy.