“This book is a must for any Business Development Manager, Corporate Strategist, R&D Director, and anyone else who is accountable for growth in a corporation. It is an easy read that is practical and not fraught with useless academic theories.” Ron Pierantozzi, Ph.D., CEO of PPT Research and Former Director, Business Development, Air Products & Chemicals, Inc. A Breakthrough Approach to Investing in Business Innovation Most companies analyze investments using tools that bias them against real innovation and lead them to avoid their best opportunities. This book introduces a breakthrough alternative: Opportunity Engineering. Drawing upon recent advances in financial analysis, but without requiring a lot of math, the authors show how to engineer the risk out of uncertain opportunities so you can pursue more high-payoff innovations. You’ll learn how to escape from the “go/no-go vise” and implement more flexible decision-making that considers all the business alternatives, models, and opportunities associated with each project. You’ll learn how to systematically structure high-potential projects to limit downside exposure and boost your potential upside. The authors show how to define the scope of investment opportunities, identify key drivers of potential profits, document assumptions, design out major risks, and tease out key challenges and vulnerabilities. Using these techniques, you can escape the mindset that limits you to low-impact innovations and begin pursuing serious growth opportunities--and make business uncertainty work for you, not against you. Why companies avoid their best opportunities for innovation Getting past risk-averse analysis that snuffs out experimentation and innovation Systematically engineering your opportunities Capturing the upside, slicing out the downside Beyond rigid “go/no-go” decisions How flexible, staged innovation creates more opportunities for delivering value Constructing an engineered growth portfolio of innovation investments Optimizing your mix of core-enhancing investments and high potential “long shots”

Africa welcomes business investment and offers some of the world's highest returns and impacts Africa has tremendous economic potential and offers rewarding opportunities for global businesses looking for new markets and long-term investments with favorable returns. Africa has been one of the world's fastest-growing regions over the past decade, and by 2030 will be home to nearly 1.7 billion people and an estimated $6.7 trillion worth of consumer and business spending. Increased political stability in recent years and improving regional integration are making market access easier, and business expansion will generate jobs for women and youth, who represent the vast majority of the population. Current economic growth and poverty-alleviation efforts mean that more than 43 percent of the continent's people will reach middle- or upper-class status by 2030. Unlocking Africa's Business Potential examines business opportunities in the eight sectors with the highest potential returns on private investment—the same sectors that will foster economic growth and diversification, job creation, and improved general welfare. These sectors include: consumer markets, agriculture and agriprocessing, information and communication technology, manufacturing, oil and gas, tourism, banking, and infrastructure and construction. The book's analysis of these sectors is based on case studies that identify specific opportunities for investment and growth, along with long-term market projections to inform decision-making. The book identifies potential risks to business and offers mitigation strategies. It also provides policymakers with solutions to attract new business investments, including how to remove barriers to business and accelerate development of the private sector.

A practical approach to business transformation Fit for Growth* is a unique approach to business transformation that explicitly connects growth strategy with cost management and organization restructuring. Drawing on 70-plus years of strategy consulting experience and in-depth research, the experts at PwC’s Strategy& lay out a winning framework that helps CEOs and senior executives transform their organizations for sustainable, profitable growth. This approach gives structure to strategy while promoting lasting change. Examples from Strategy&’s hundreds of clients illustrate successful transformation on the ground, and illuminate how senior and middle managers are able to take ownership and even thrive during difficult periods of transition. Throughout the Fit for Growth process, the focus is on maintaining consistent high-value performance while enabling fundamental change. Strategy& has helped major clients around the globe achieve significant and sustained results with its research-backed approach to restructuring and cost reduction. This book provides practical guidance for leveraging that expertise to make the choices that allow companies to: Achieve growth while reducing costs Manage transformation and transition productively Create lasting competitive advantage Deliver reliable, high-value performance Sustainable success is founded on efficiency and high performance. Companies are always looking to do more with less, but their efforts often work against them in the long run. Total business transformation requires total buy-in, and it entails a series of decisions that must not be made lightly. The Fit for Growth approach provides a clear strategy and practical framework for growth-oriented change, with expert guidance on getting it right. *Fit for Growth is a registered service mark of PwC Strategy& Inc. in the United States

From The Author Unlocking Unlimited Potential is about how inside of all educators there is an infinite power that once harnessed can be contagious among all those we serve. Divided into three parts. Building the Foundation, Challenges as Opportunities for Growth, and Believing in You, this book reminds readers of their why. Unlocking Unlimited Potential is at the core of what every educator is trying to achieve with all those they serve. In order to stay true to this vision, you must first look within. Editorial Reviews In a well-written and engaging book, Dr. Brandon Beck underscores the importance of believing in one's self. Those of us who develop programs know that the teacher's role is critical to the success and well-being of students. He inspires readers, telling his own and others' stories, gently weaving in research and showing that all of us have unlimited potential. A must read for new and experienced educators. Dr. Matia Finn-Stevenson - Yale University, Director of School for the 21st Century Unlocking Unlimited Potential is about understanding that inside all of us is an infinite power that we can unleash. Controlling that power allows us to overcome any challenges we face in our classrooms and our schools. UUP is full of ideas, exciting stories, sound wisdom, helpful exercises, and valid support from a wide range of leaders in the field. Educators must understand that they have the power to unlock unlimited possibilities with all students, and this book takes that mission to a whole new level! Thomas C. Murray - Director of Innovation for Future Ready Schools, Best-Selling Author of Personal & Authentic If you want to get better, to take your game to the next level, this book is a must! In Unlocking Unlimited Potential, Dr. Brandon Beck gives readers exceptional insight from his experiences as a teacher and as a coach. Among the gold nuggets you'll find action steps for implementation that are not only meaningful but bring a shift in mindset with them. Whether you're a teacher, a coach, or a school leader, grab this book and Unlock the Unlimited Potential found inside you. Dr. Darrin M. Peppard - Author of Road to Awesome -Superintendent - Speaker- Consultant Dr. Brandon Beck tells you what you have been waiting to hear. Through a compilation of research, experiences, knowledge, theory, and common sense, he allows you to discover your strengths. You have the tools. You are capable of unlimited possibilities. As you proceed on your journey in life, you tap into your greatest gifts, and you allow other people to realize their strengths. Move forward and discover your unlocked, unlimited potential with Dr. Beck. Dr. Frank Rudnesky - Author of Fired Up Leadership - Speaker - Consultant - Retired Principal Leading by example in the classroom, on the field, and in life, Dr. Brandon Beck is a force for positive change and transformation in education. In Unlocking Unlimited Potential, he draws on insights from Brene Brown, Carol Dweck, Simon Sinek, and other notable voices to make the case that there is always more than meets the eye: more growth to be achieved, more learning to be realized, more inequities to be removed, more successes waiting to be won. In a turbulent world, our students and communities count on educators to step up. Unlimited Unlocking Potential helps us do just that. Tim Cavey - Host of Teacher's On Fire Podcast

This field book shows educators how to improve schools by developing group culture, enhancing facilitators' skills, and equipping groups to resolve complex issues around student learning.

Waste to Wealth proves that 'green' and 'growth' need not be binary alternatives. The book examines five new business models that provide circular growth from deploying sustainable resources to the sharing economy before setting out what business leaders need to do to implement the models successfully.

"Human beings make decisions in two ways. One is slow, deliberate and calculating. The other is fast, instinctive and emotional. And the fast one is in the driving seat. Psychologists call it System 1. This book shows how businesses can achieve profitable growth by devising their marketing for System 1 decision-making. It reveals how designing for System 1 can unlock success across innovation, advertising, brand building and shopper marketing. It brings together years of work on how people buy, and how to get them buying you."--