Introduction                                       ix
    1 The world of strategy                        1  (18)
      The nature of strategy                       2  (2)
      Dealing with strategy                        4  (1)
      Applying strategy to your area               5  (2)
      Four pillars of strategy                     7  (1)
      Strategy and the art of unfair competition   8  (1)
      Portfolio strategy                           9  (2)
      Creating a vision for your firm and your     11 (1)
      team
      Mergers and acquisitions                     12 (1)
      How to be innovative                         13 (1)
      The language of strategy                     14 (2)
      Business start-ups                           16 (3)
    2 Marketing and sales                          19 (18)
      Introduction                                 20 (1)
      The nature of marketing                      20 (1)
      The advertising brief                        21 (1)
      How to be an advertising expert              22 (1)
      The marketing brief                          23 (2)
      Market segmentation                          25 (1)
      How to price                                 26 (2)
      Market research                              28 (2)
      Competitive and market intelligence          30 (2)
      What people buy and why                      32 (2)
      How not to sell                              34 (3)
    3 Finance and accounting                       37 (28)
      Introduction                                 38 (1)
      Maths for managers                           38 (2)
      Surviving spreadsheets                       40 (1)
      The financial structure of the firm          41 (1)
      Models of business                           42 (2)
      Financial accounting                         44 (1)
      How to use the Capital Asset Pricing Model   45 (3)
      Assessing investments in practice            48 (1)
      Negotiating your budget                      49 (2)
      Managing your budget                         51 (1)
      Overseeing budgets                           52 (2)
      The balanced scorecard                       54 (1)
      The nature of costs: cash versus accruals    55 (1)
      The nature of costs: fixed versus variable   56 (2)
      Cutting costs: method changes                58 (2)
      Cutting costs: slash and burn                60 (1)
      Cutting costs: smoke and mirrors             61 (4)
    4 Human capital                                65 (16)
      Introduction                                 66 (1)
      Dealing with HR professionals                66 (1)
      HR strategy and minimising the cost of       67 (1)
      production
      HR strategy and the quality of production    68 (5)
      HR strategy: enabling growth (or decline)    73 (1)
      HR strategy: compensation                    74 (1)
      Organisation culture and what you can do     75 (1)
      about it
      Organisation culture and how to change it    76 (2)
      When to fire someone                         78 (1)
      Ethics                                       79 (2)
    5 Operations, technology and change            81 (14)
      Introduction                                 82 (1)
      How to start a change effort                 82 (2)
      Setting up a project for success             84 (1)
      Managing projects                            85 (1)
      The nature of quality                        86 (1)
      Applying quality                             87 (1)
      Restructuring the organisation               88 (1)
      Reengineering                                89 (2)
      Using consultants                            91 (1)
      Dealing with the law                         92 (3)
    6 Lead your team                               95 (20)
      Introduction                                 96 (1)
      How to take control                          96 (1)
      What your team wants from you                97 (2)
      Setting goals                                99 (2)
      How to delegate                              101(2)
      How to motivate: the theory                  103(1)
      How to motivate in practice                  104(2)
      Styles of coaching: coaching, counselling    106(1)
      or dictating?
      Coaching for managers                        107(3)
      Giving praise                                110(1)
      How to criticise                             111(2)
      Managing MBAs and other professionals        113(2)
    7 Dealing with colleagues                      115(12)
      Introduction                                 116(1)
      Colleagues or competitors?                   116(2)
      Understanding yourself                       118(1)
      Understanding others                         119(2)
      Negotiating judo: succeed without fighting   121(1)
      How to disagree agreeably (how to turn       122(1)
      disagreement into agreement)
      How to handle exploding head syndrome        123(2)
      When to fight                                125(2)
    8 Managing across the organisation             127(14)
      Introduction                                 128(1)
      Networks of influence                        128(3)
      Making decisions                             131(2)
      How to influence decisions                   133(1)
      Managing crises                              134(1)
      The art of the good meeting                  135(1)
      Getting your way in meetings                 135(2)
      Surviving conferences                        137(1)
      Corporate entertaining                       138(3)
    9 Managing yoursel                             141(12)
      Introduction                                 142(1)
      Achieving a work-life balance                142(1)
      Managing time: effectiveness                 143(2)
      Managing time: efficiency                    145(1)
      Managing stress                              146(1)
      Howto get up in the morning                  147(1)
      Dealing with adversity                       148(2)
      When to move on                              150(3)
    10 The daily skills ofmanagement               153(16)
      Introduction                                 154(1)
      The art of the persuasive conversation       155(2)
      Listening                                    157(1)
      The art of presenting                        158(1)
      Howto use PowerPoint                         159(2)
      How to write                                 161(1)
      How to read - and seeing the invisible       162(1)
      Communicating: finding the right medium      163(1)
      Communicating: principles and practice       164(1)
      Professional guard                           165(1)
      Etiquette                                    166(1)
      Dress for success                            166(1)
      The dirty dozen: the language of business    167(2)
    11 Manage your career                          169(16)
      Introduction                                 170(1)
      Paths to power                               170(2)
      Building your career skills                  172(1)
      How to acquire the skills of the leader      173(1)
      How to get the right boss and the right      174(1)
      assignment
      Manage your boss                             175(1)
      How to get promoted                          176(1)
      How not to get promoted                      177(1)
      How to get fired                             178(1)
      Ten steps to a good CV                       179(1)
      What your CV really says about you           180(1)
      Manage your profile                          181(1)
      What it takes to be a leader                 182(3)
Index                                              185