NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Once in a great while, a book comes along that changes our view of the world. This magnificent novel from the Nobel laureate and author of Never Let Me Go is “an intriguing take on how artificial intelligence might play a role in our futures ... a poignant meditation on love and loneliness” (The Associated Press). • A GOOD MORNING AMERICA Book Club Pick! Here is the story of Klara, an Artificial Friend with outstanding observational qualities, who, from her place in the store, watches carefully the behavior of those who come in to browse, and of those who pass on the street outside. She remains hopeful that a customer will soon choose her. Klara and the Sun is a thrilling book that offers a look at our changing world through the eyes of an unforgettable narrator, and one that explores the fundamental question: what does it mean to love?

A brand new collection of business analytics insights and actionable techniques… 3 authoritative books, now in a convenient e-format, at a great price! 3 authoritative eBooks deliver comprehensive analytics knowledge and tools for optimizing every critical business decision! Use business analytics to drive maximum value from all your business data! This unique 3 eBook package will help you harness your information, discover hidden patterns, and successfully act on what you learn. In Enterprise Analytics, analytics pioneer Tom Davenport and the world-renowned experts at the International Institute for Analytics (IIA) bring together the latest techniques, best practices, and research on large-scale analytics strategy, technology, implementation, and management. Using real-world examples, they cover everything from building better analytics organizations to gathering data; implementing predictive analytics to linking analysis with organizational performance. You'll find specific insights for optimizing supply chains, online services, marketing, fraud detection, and many other business functions; plus chapter-length case studies from healthcare, retail, and financial services. Next, in the up-to-the-minute Analysis Without Paralysis, Second Edition, Babette E. Bensoussan and Craig S. Fleisher help you succeed with analysis without getting mired in advanced math or arcane theory. They walk you through the entire business analysis process, and guide you through using 12 core tools for making better decisions about strategy and operations -- including three powerful tools covered for the first time in this new Second Edition. Then, in Business and Competitive Analysis, Fleisher and Bensoussan help you apply 24 leading business analysis models to gain deep clarity about your business environment, answer tough questions, and make tough choices. They first walk you through defining problems, avoiding pitfalls, choosing tools, and communicating results. Next, they systematically address both “classic” techniques and the most promising new approaches from economics, finance, sociology, anthropology, and the intelligence and futurist communities. For the first time, one book covers Nine Forces, Competitive Positioning, Business Model, Supply Chain Analyses, Benchmarking, McKinsey 7S, Shadowing, Product Line, Win/Loss, Strategic Relationships, Corporate Reputation, Critical Success Factors, Driving Forces, Country Risk, Technology Forecasting, War Gaming, Event/Timeline, Indications, Warning Analyses, Competitor Cash Flow, ACH, Linchpin Analyses, and more. Whether you're an executive, strategist, analyst, marketer, or operations professional, this eBook collection will help you make more effective, data-driven, profitable decisions! From world-renowned analytics and competitive/business intelligence experts Thomas H. Davenport, Babette E. Bensoussan, and Craig S. Fleisher

This book considers a wide range of illicit industries in China, exploring what drives such activities, why consumers tolerate them to differing degrees, how attempts to regulate them are implemented and how such regulation is resisted. Industries considered include human smuggling, human organs trade, illicit pharmaceuticals, smuggling of animal parts, illegal logging and trade of woods, food safety and shadow banking. Throughout, the book describes how the shadow economy works, analyses the degree to which illicit activities are regarded as criminal and highlights the importance of the shadow economy for certain regions of China and certain sections of Chinese society. In doing so, it reveals the challenges of human security posed by these industries not only for China, but also for the global community, and considers a robust governance mechanism at both national and global levels to address these challenges. Overall, the book provides a very rich picture of a key aspect of China’s contemporary economy which is difficult to research.