The best organizations have the best talent. . . Financial incentives drive company performance. . . Firms must change or die. Popular axioms like these drive business decisions every day. Yet too much common management “wisdom” isn’t wise at all—but, instead, flawed knowledge based on “best practices” that are actually poor, incomplete, or outright obsolete. Worse, legions of managers use this dubious knowledge to make decisions that are hazardous to organizational health. Jeffrey Pfeffer and Robert I. Sutton show how companies can bolster performance and trump the competition through evidence-based management, an approach to decision-making and action that is driven by hard facts rather than half-truths or hype. This book guides managers in using this approach to dismantle six widely held—but ultimately flawed—management beliefs in core areas including leadership, strategy, change, talent, financial incentives, and work-life balance. The authors show managers how to find and apply the best practices for their companies, rather than blindly copy what seems to have worked elsewhere. This practical and candid book challenges leaders to commit to evidence-based management as a way of organizational life—and shows how to finally turn this common sense into common practice.

Based on best practices and proven research, The Facility Management Handbook has long been the go-to resource for professionals in the field. Extensively updated for the realities of today’s workplace, the third edition provides readers with the tools and guidance they need to wipe out inefficiency and create a productive facility that integrates people, place, and process. Covering a broad range of topics from space planning and maintenance to benchmarking and outsourcing, readers will gain practical insight into how they can: • design, construct and maintain facilities using sustainable practices • provide a safe, attractive work environment that supports productivity • ensure that facility plans match organizational needs • plan and control capital expenditures • address critical security and emergency preparedness issues Complete with case studies and indispensable information on sustainability and post-9/11 security concerns, this is still the ultimate resource for facility managers.

This timely book brings to the foreground the considerable tensions between the need to engage the public in the importance of environmental governance and the need of professional expertise to address the issues which arise. In doing so, it highlights that not only can public opinion deviate from scientific knowledge, but scientific knowledge itself can be lacunose or contradicting. Drawing together insights from some of the leading scholars, this engaging work will provide guidance to decision makers, including judges, on how to govern public participation procedures and professional expertise and the role that the precautionary principle can play in this regard.

Inhaltsangabe:Abstract: In an economy where the only certainty is uncertainty, the sure source of lasting competitive advantage is knowledge. Peter Drucker (1953) Companies like Microsoft, Netscape, Coca-Cola and Yahoo can be found under the top U.S. companies with the highest market values in 1999. The market value represents the measure of value that the investors and markets associate with the company. However, these companies are not valued for their tangible assets (buildings, inventory, etc.), they are valued for something which cannot be shown on a balance sheet: their intangibles. These include brand recognition, Patents, customer loyalty, innovative business ideas, past achievements, etc. These companies are valued for the knowledge they possess. However, knowledge is of little value, if it cannot be found when needed. Therefore, a successful knowledge management concept is of crucial importance for these companies. The knowledge management market is growing rapidly and it will continue to advance over the next years. Knowledge management is still a relatively young field with new concepts emerging constantly. Most knowledge management initiatives have focused entirely on changes in tools and technologies, such as intranets and Lotus Notes. But knowledge management is more complex: it covers everything the company does to make knowledge available to everyone. The twenty-first century gives companies the tools and connectivity to easily obtain, share, and act on information quickly. Knowledge management uses these possibilities and recent studies showed that companies gained a competitive advantage by implementing it. According to Accenture research, a well implemented knowledge management process can improve employee productivity by an average of 60%. Often, knowledge management is seen as storing documents in a database, thus hoping to enhance knowledge sharing through the implementation of technology. But to successfully apply knowledge management, companies need to implement a process of motivating and inciting people to share information. The old saying Knowledge is power is still popular. The people who are hoarding their knowledge believe that it makes them irreplaceable. However, real power does not come from knowledge kept, but from knowledge shared. People are expected to cooperate, to be open, to participate within the new economy, but resistance can be expected. Obviously, knowledge management is a combination of [...]