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Scaling a business is not for the faint of heart. It's a mind-bending journey that causes millions of business owners around the globe to either throw in the towel'or avoid risk entirely and suffer from smallness and mediocrity. ' Most of these businesses fail because they are ill prepared to face the real challenges involved in scaling. Either they don't have the bandwidth to keep up with the sales demand or production, miss out on major opportunities due to fear, or keep making the same mistakes over and over because systems and processes aren't in sync with the rate of growth. ' To truly scale, you must upsize your strategic practices, implement new marketing strategies, find new ways to build your team, and expand your mindset to break through whatever is keeping you stuck at the same level. Then you must be willing to take the leap into the giant unknown - to make your impossible possible. In Scale or Fail, author Allison Maslan'who has successfully scaled ten companies from scratch and has guided thousands of small businesses to do the same'shares her revolutionary SCALEit Method for successfully growing, replicating, and expanding your business. She also shares pivotal mindset strategies she's used to break the fear barrier as a trapeze artist so you can move past any obstacle, take strategic Big Picture risks, and fulfill your dreams of business expansion and skyrocketing profit. ' Featuring a wealth of real-life success stories, visual tools, and exercises that are prescriptive and inspirational,'Scale or Fail'offers proven scaling strategies and a proactive approach to: -Create your Big Picture Vision and build a plan to achieve it -Produce an ever-flowing stream of cash flow with consistent profits -Establish a powerhouse team that functions well without you -Become a true leader and feel like you deserve your success -Improve systems and processes that facilitate scaling -Get past the mental and strategic pitfalls that cause revenue bottlenecks -' Scale or Fail'is adaptable to any type of business'manufacturing, consumer goods, a brick and mortar, a digital service, a wholesaler, a consulting service, and everything in between.'Whether you're six figures and scaling to seven...'r in the seven figures and scaling to eight or even nine,'Scale or Fail'provides the roadmap to multiply your business growth'and empower you to soar in the air with the greatest of ease.

"An intimate, news-making look at the men who are first in line to the most powerful office in the world--the vice presidents of the modern era--from Richard Nixon and LBJ to Dick Cheney, Joe Biden, and Mike Pence. Bestselling author Kate Andersen Brower took us inside the lives of the White House staff in The Residence. She followed that with an in-depth look at the modern first ladies in First Women. Now, in her signature style, she introduces us to the second-most-powerful men in the world, exploring the lives and roles of thirteen modern vice presidents--eight Republicans and five Democrats. In interviews with more than two hundred people, including all six living former vice presidents, their family members, insiders, and confidants, Brower pulls back the curtain to reveal the sometimes close, often chilly, and always complicated relationship between our modern presidents and their vice presidents.^. - And she shares surprising revelations about the relationship between former vice president Joe Biden and former president Barack Obama, and how Vice President Mike Pence and President Donald Trump interact behind closed doors. As Brower reveals, the president and the vice president, whether they began as allies or rivals, share a very tangible sense of admiration mixed with jealousy and resentment even when the relationship appears to be ideal. Vice presidents owe their position to the president--a connection that affects not only how they are perceived but also their possible future as a presidential candidate, which is tied, for better or worse, to the president they serve. George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan had a famously prickly relationship during the 1980 primary, yet Bush would not have been elected president in 1988 without Reagan's high approval rating.^. - Al Gore's 2000 loss, conversely, could partly be attributed to the Monica Lewinsky sex scandal and Bill Clinton's impeachment. Current vice president Mike Pence is walking a high-stakes political tightrope as he tries to reassure anxious Republicans while staying on his boss's good side. The rich dynamic between the president and the vice president has never been fully explored or understood--until now. Compelling and rigorously reported, grounded in history and politics, and full of deeply personal stories told here for the first time, First in Line lifts the veil of secrecy surrounding this historic political office to offer us a spellbinding portrait of what it is truly like to be a heartbeat away from the most powerful position in the world."--Jacket

"A Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist pulls back the curtain on the extraordinary inner lives of America's most obsessive sports fans. There are fans, and then there are fanatics. In this wondrously immersive look at American sports fandom, George Dohrmann travels the country to find out what distinguishes an ordinary, everyday enthusiast from that special breed of supporter known as the superfan. In Minnesota, Dohrmann meets newly minted generals of the Viking World Order, a Minnesota Vikings affinity group organized along military lines. In Oregon, he shares a few beers with a determined soccer fan who amassed--almost singlehandedly--a four-thousand-strong cheering section for the fledgling Portland Timbers. In Illinois, he talks with the parents of a five-year-old boy whose intense hatred of Tom Brady went viral on YouTube. Through these and other intimate profiles, Dohrmann shows us the human faces behind the colored face paint, the real people inside the elaborate costumes who prowl the stands and parking lots at stadiums from coast to coast. In addition to the fans themselves, Dohrmann also talks with the experts who study them. He uses the latest thinking in sports psychology--some of it learned during a spirited round of miniature golf with a group of professors at the annual Sports Psychology Forum--to unravel the answers to such burning questions as: How does fandom begin? What are its effects on everyday life? When does it go too far? For everyone who's ever body-painted their torso with the team colors of their alma mater before heading off to a sports bar--or even just screamed at their television during the final minute of an NBA Finals game, Superfans offers an entertaining and insightful exploration of the many ways human beings find meaning in something bigger than themselves. PRAISE FOR GEORGE DOHRMANN'S PLAY THEIR HEARTS OUT Winner of the PEN/ESPN Award for Literary Sportswriting Winner of the Award for Excellence in the Coverage of Youth Sports "A tour de force of reporting, filled with deft storytelling and vivid character studies."--The Washington Post "Often heartbreaking, always riveting."--The New York Times Book Review "One of the finest sports books of all time."--Harper's Magazine "Amazing stuff. the Friday Night Lights of youth basketball."--Leigh Montville, author of Sting Like a Bee "A landmark achievement in basketball journalism."--Kirkus Reviews (starred review) "Tremendous."--The Plain Dealer "Indispen ...

"Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jon Meacham helps us understand the present moment in American politics and life by looking back at critical times in our history when hope overcame division and fear. Our current climate of partisan fury is not new, and in The Soul of America Meacham shows us how what Abraham Lincoln called the "better angels of our nature" have repeatedly won the day. Painting surprising portraits of presidents including, besides Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, and Lyndon B. Johnson, and illuminating the courage of such influential citizen activists as Martin Luther King, Jr., early suffragettes Alice Paul and Carrie Chapman Catt, civil rights pioneers Rosa Parks and John Lewis, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, and Army-McCarthy hearings lawyer Joseph N. Welch, Meacham brings vividly to life turning points in American history. He writes about the Civil War, Reconstruction, and the birth of the Lost Cause; the backlash against immigrants in the First World War and the resurgence of the Klu Klux Klan in the 1920s; the fight for women's rights; the demagoguery of Huey Long and Father Coughlin and the isolationist work of America First in the years before World War II; the anti-Communist witch-hunts led by Senator Joseph McCarthy; and Lyndon Johnson's crusade to finish the fight against Jim Crow. In each of these dramatic, crucial turning points, the battle to lead the country to look forward rather than back, to assert hope over fear, was joined, even as it is today. While the American story has not always been heroic, and the outcome of our battles never certain, in this inspiring book Meacham reassures us,"the good news is that we have come through darkness before"--as, time and again, Lincoln's better angels have found a way to prevail. Advance praise for The Soul of America "This is a brilliant, fascinating, timely, and above all profoundly important book. Jon Meacham explores the extremism and racism that have infected our politics, and he draws enlightening lessons from the knowledge that we've faced such trials before."--Walter Isaacson "Jon Meacham has done it again, this time with a historically rich and gracefully written account of America's long struggle with division in our immigrant nation and the heroic efforts to heal the wounds. It should be in every home and on every student's desk."--Tom Brokaw"--

A roadmap to improve corporate social responsibility The 2016 U.S. Presidential Campaign focused a good deal of attention on the role of corporations in society, from both sides of the aisle. In the lead up to the election, big companies were accused of profiteering, plundering the environment, and ignoring (even exacerbating) societal ills ranging from illiteracy and discrimination to obesity and opioid addiction. Income inequality was laid squarely at the feet of us companies. The Trump administration then moved swiftly to scrap fiscal, social, and environmental rules that purportedly hobble business, to redirect or shut down cabinet offices historically protecting the public good, and to roll back clean power, consumer protection, living wage, healthy eating initiatives and even basic public funding for public schools. To many eyes, and the lens of history, this may usher in a new era of cowboy capitalism with big companies, unfettered by regulation and encouraged by the presidential bully pulpit, free to go about the business of making money-no matter the consequences to consumers and the commonwealth. While this may please some companies in the short term, the long term consequences might result in just the opposite. And while the new administration promises to reduce "foreign aid" and the social safety net, Stanley S. Litow believes big companies will be motivated to step up their efforts to create jobs, reduce poverty, improve education and health, and address climate change issues - both domestically and around the world. For some leaders in the private sector this is not a matter of public relations or charity. It is integral to their corporate strategy-resulting in creating new markets, reducing risks, attracting and retaining top talent, and generating growth and realizing opportunities. Through case studies (many of which the author spearheaded at IBM), The Challenge for Business and Society provides clear guidance for companies to build their own corporate sustainability and social responsibility plans positively effecting their bottom lines producing real return on their investments. This book will help: - Create an effective corporate social responsibility and sustainability plan - Provide long-term bottom line benefit - Protect and enrich brand value- Recruit and retain top talent Perfect for CEOs, CFOs, Human Resource/Corporate Affairs executives, but also for government and not-for-profit leaders, this book helps you come up with a solid plan for giving back to society, producing real sustainable value.

Machine generated contents note: -- Preface -- Acknowledgments -- About the Author -- Introduction -- A History of Respectable Fears -- Estimating the Number of Gangs, Gang Members, and Gang Crimes -- Chapter 1. Early Research and Perspectives -- 18th- and 19th-Century Gangs -- Thrasher: The First Gang Researcher -- Gangs as Delinquent Subcultures -- Differential Opportunity Theory -- Lower-Class Culture and Adolescence -- Gangs as Near-Group -- Group Process and Gang Delinquency -- Roles within Gangs: Keiser and the Vice Lords -- Street Gangs and Street Workers -- Chapter 2. Definitions, Daily Life, Dynamics, and Risk Factors -- Sociological Definitions -- Legal Definitions -- What Gangs Are Not -- A Structured Typology -- Daily Life -- Positive and Negative Aspects -- Interrelated Dynamics -- Membership -- Organization -- Subgroups -- Intensity -- The Causes and Correlates Studies -- Protective Factors -- Chapter 3. Race, Migration, and Immigration -- A Brief Note on Race Relations in American History -- Black Gangs -- The Crips and Bloods -- Latino Gangs -- The People Nation and the Folks Nation -- A Typology of Mexican American Gangs -- Asian and Asian Pacific Islander Gangs -- Chinese Gangs -- Southeast Asian Gangs -- Filipino Gangs -- Native American Gangs -- White Gangs -- Skinheads -- Skinheads as Gangs -- Nazi Low Riders -- Chapter 4. Females -- Early Studies and Stereotypes -- Increases in Female Arrests and Incarceration -- Further Developments in Female Gang Research -- Differences and Similarities between Gang Females and Males -- The Number of Female Gangs and Gang Members -- Different Types of Female Gangs -- Female Gang Violence -- Sexual Victimization -- Identity, Femininity, Sexuality, and Respect -- Pregnancy and Motherhood -- Prosocial Functions and Post-Gang Lives -- Chapter 5. Drug Use and Sales -- Substance Use Patterns -- Alcohol -- Marijuana -- Other Illicit Drugs -- Attitudes about Hard Drug Use -- Drug Addiction -- Drug Selling -- Myths ab --- "Gangs: An Introduction provides a wide-ranging overview ideal for courses on gangs. Opening with a discussion of early research and perspectives from the late 1920s until the early 1970s, the book then moves on to cover sociological and legal definitions of gangs; daily life and risk and protective factors; race and immigration; female gang members; drug use and selling; violence and victimization; the cultural criminology of gangs; theories on gangs and gang behaviors; desistance; suppression, intervention, and prevention; and more. FEATURES * A focus on theories of gangs, rather than on criminological theories * Original contributions to the gang literature * An emphasis on evidence-based practices * Examples of real-life court cases * Interview excerpts from gang members, drawn from the author's research *Media Check! sections in each chapter featuring examples from movies, documentaries, TV shows, and music"--- "This is a textbook for undergraduate majors and non-majors in an introductory Juvenile Delinquency course or course on Gangs"--

"Dr. Mohamed A. El-Erian, one of the world's most influential economic thinkers and the New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of When Markets Collide, has written a roadmap to what lies ahead and the decisions we must make now to stave off the next global economic and financial crisis. Our current economic path is coming to an end. The signposts are all around us: sluggish growth, rising inequality, stubbornly high pockets of unemployment, and jittery financial markets, to name a few. Soon we will reach a fork in the road: One path leads to renewed growth, prosperity, and financial stability, the other to recession and market disorder. In The Only Game in Town, El-Erian casts his gaze toward the future of the global economy and markets, outlining the choices we face both individually and collectively in an era of economic uncertainty and financial insecurity. Beginning with their response to the 2008 global crisis, El-Erian explains how and why our central banks became the critical policy actors--and, most important, why they cannot continue is this role alone. They saved the financial system from collapse in 2008 and a multiyear economic depression, but lack the tools to enable a return to high inclusive growth and durable financial stability. The time has come for a policy handoff, from a prolonged period of monetary policy experimentation to a strategy that better targets what ails economies and distorts the financial sector--before we stumble into another crisis. The future, critically, is not predestined. It is up to us to decide where we will go from here as households, investors, companies, and governments. Using a mix of insights from economics, finance, and behavioral science, this book gives us the tools we need to properly understand this turning point, prepare for it, and come out of it stronger. A comprehensive, controversial look at the realities of our global economy and markets, The Only Game in Town is required reading for investors, policymakers, and anyone interested in the future. Advance praise for The Only Game in Town "Mohamed El-Erian has had an extraordinary career as an investment analyst, investor, and market commentator. His 'new normal' concept was prescient, provocative, and has proven out. Agree or disagree, his go-forward thoughts contained in this bracing book are well worth considering."--Lawrence H. Summers, former secretary of the U.S. Treasury "Achieves the nearly impossible: It takes complex f ...

""Mel Goodman has spent the last few decades telling us what's gone wrong with American intelligence and the American military. he is also telling us how to save ourselves."--Seymour M. Hersh, The New Yorker "Whistleblower at the CIA offers a fascinating glimpse into the secret, behind-the-scenes world of U.S. intelligence. Melvin A. Goodman's first-person account of the systematic manipulation of intelligence at the CIA underscores why whistleblowing is so important, and why the institutional obstacles to it are so intense. At its core it's an invaluable historical expose, a testimony to integrity and conscience, and a call for the U.S. intelligence community to keep its top leaders in check. Urgent, timely, and deeply recommended."--Daniel Ellsberg "In this fascinating and candid account of his years as a senior CIA analyst, Mel Goodman shows how the worst enemies of high quality intelligence can come from our own midst, and how the politicization of intelligence estimates can cause more damage to American security than its professed enemies. Whistleblower at the CIA is a must-read for anyone interested in the intricate web of intelligence-policymaking relations."--Uri Bar-Joseph, author of The Angel: The Egyptian Spy Who Saved Israel Melvin Goodman's long career as a respected intelligence analyst at the CIA, specializing in US/Soviet relations, ended abruptly. In 1990, after twenty-four years of service, Goodman resigned when he could no longer tolerate the corruption he witnessed at the highest levels of the Agency. In 1991 he went public, blowing the whistle on top-level officials and leading the opposition against the appointment of Robert Gates as CIA director. In the widely covered Senate hearings, Goodman charged that Gates and others had subverted "the process and the ethics of intelligence" by deliberately misinforming the White House about major world events and covert operations. In this breathtaking expose, Goodman tells the whole story. Retracing his career with the Central Intelligence Agency, he presents a rare insider's account of the inner workings of America's intelligence community, and the corruption, intimidation, and misinformation that lead to disastrous foreign interventions. An invaluable and historic look into one of the most secretive and influential agencies of US government--and a wake-up call for the need to reform its practices. Melvin A. Goodman served as a senior analyst and Division Chief at the CIA from 1966 to 1990. ...

"A timely, counterintuitive defense of Wall Street and the big banks as the invisible--albeit flawed--engines that power our ideas, and should be made to work better for all of us Maybe you think the banks should be broken up and the bankers should be held accountable for the financial crisis in 2008. Maybe you hate the greed of Wall Street but know that it's important to the proper functioning of the world economy. Maybe you don't really understand Wall Street, and phrases such as "credit default swap" make your eyes glaze over. Maybe you are utterly confused by the fact that after attacking Wall Street mercilessly during his campaign, Donald Trump has surrounded himself with Wall Street veterans. But if you like your smart phone or your widescreen TV, your car or your morning bacon, your pension or your 401(k), then--whether you know it or not--you are a fan of Wall Street. William D. Cohan is no knee-jerk advocate for Wall Street and the big banks. He's one of America's most respected financial journalists and the progressive bestselling author of House of Cards. He has long been critical of the bad behavior that plagued much of Wall Street in the years leading up to the 2008 financial crisis, and because he spent seventeen years as an investment banker on Wall Street, he is an expert on its inner workings as well. But in recent years he's become alarmed by the cheap shots and ceaseless vitriol directed at Wall Street's bankers, traders, and executives--the people whose job it is to provide capital to those who need it, the grease that keeps our economy humming. In this brisk, no-nonsense narrative, Cohan reminds us of the good these institutions do--and the dire consequences for us all if the essential role they play in making our lives better is carelessly curtailed. Praise for William D. Cohan "Cohan writes with an insider's knowledge of the workings of Wall Street, a reporter's investigative instincts and a natural storyteller's narrative command."--The New York Times "[Cohan is] one of our most able financial journalists."--Los Angeles Times "A former Wall Street man and a talented writer, [Cohan] has the rare gift not only of understanding the fiendishly complicated goings-on, but also of being able to explain them in terms the lay reader can grasp." - The Observer (London)

This book explores the implications of knowing our place in the universe and recognising our hybridity. It is a series of self-reflections and essays drawing on many diverse ways of knowing. The book examines the complex ethical challenges of closing the wide gap in living standards between rich and poor people/communities. The notion of an ecological citizen is presented with a focus on protecting current and future generations. The idea is to track the distribution and redistribution of resources in the interests of social and environmental justice. The central argument looks for ways to hold the powerful to account so as to enable virtuous living by the majority to be demonstrated in what the author calls a "planetary passport" - a careful use of resources and a way to provide safe passage to those in need of safe habitat. The book argues that nation states need to find ways to control the super-rich through the governance process and to enhance a sense of shared ecological citizenship and responsibility for biodiversity. The fundamental approach is collaborative research. Planetary Passport: Representation, Accountability and Re-Generation is comprised of six chapters. Chapter 1 begins by making a case for a paradigm shift away from business as usual and the pursuit of profit at the expense of the social and environmental fabric of life. The aim is to explore alternatives and to discuss some ways of achieving wellbeing whilst the focus is on human rights, discrimination and outlining the notion of a planetary passport. Chapter 2 makes a specific link between people and the planet as a basis for understanding the nature of hybridity and interconnectedness and the implications for ethics. Chapter 3 focuses on building this planetary passport for social and environmental justice in order to enable people with complex needs to consider the consequences of either continuing to live the same way as before or making changes to the way that they live. Meanwhile Chapter 4 does the same as the previous chapter, but explores the political context of consumption and short term profit Chapter 5 examines the challenges and opportunities that come from explorations within a cross-cultural learning community. This includes a look at co-creation and co-determination. Finally Chapter 6 ends with a look to the future and a potential new framework for people and the planet through a planetary passport

This stimulating volume uses multiple lenses to analyze the complex causes of health disparities affecting minorities, in particularAfrican Americans, and explains how this knowledge can be used to reduce their destructive effects. Pinpointing genetic, non-genetic, and epigenetic factors underlying health conditions common to the population-including heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, and cancer-the author traces intricate links among these factors in the current environmental and social context. The section on non-genetic factors in health disparities, such as social determinants and health behaviors, adds depth to the ongoing discourse on public health and health policy objectives. And the chapters on gene/environment interactions outline the vast potential for developing new multidisciplinary frontiers in shrinking health inequities and personalizing care.Included in the coverage: The African diaspora and disease-specific disparities The genetic basis to health disparities The role of epigenetics Economic factors and health Psychological issues and how they affect disparitiesGene-environment interactions in health disparitiesRace, a biological or social conceptCompelling and accessible,Health Outcomes in a Foreign Landwill challenge and inspire medical students,epidemiologists, public health professionals, biomedical research scientists, and social scientists to go farther in their work. A wider audience would include policymakers, government officials, nurses, physicians, lawyers, economists,community outreach investigators, and interested general readers. Bernard Kwabi-Addo, PhD, is an associate professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and the Principal Investigator of the Prostate Cancer Research Laboratory at Howard University in Washington, D.C., and an adjunct associate professor of Oncology at Johns Hopkins Medical School in Baltimore, Maryland. His research work included receptor tyrosine kinase signaling in prostate cancer. More recently, Dr. Kwabi-Addo is investigating the role of epigenetic changes in prostate cancer etiology/progression with an emphasis on understanding the contribution of epigenetic changes as well as gene-environmental interaction in cancer disparities.Dr. Kwabi-Addo graduated from Queen Mary and Westfield College at University of London (where he received a PhD studying site-directed gene targeting in mammalian cells using the bacteriophage Cre-loxP recombination system as a tool) and University College London in England, and University of Dundee in Scotland. He trained at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, in cancer biology, specifically in prostate cancer research. Dr. Kwabi-Addo has published scientific articles in journals including Nature Genetics, PNAS, Cancer Research, Prostate,and Epigenetics. His book, Cancer Causes and Controversies: Understanding Risk Reduction and Prevention, was published by Praeger in 2011. He lives in Northern Virginia with his wife, Gertrude, a financial analyst, and their three sons, Benjamin, Joshua, and David.

Following World War Two, the progress towards international accountability and international criminal justice came to a halt as a result of the Cold War. But only three years since the end of the Cold War and forty-five years after the post-WWII prosecutions, the international community was forced to face the ethnic tensions and civil war tearing apart the republics that once comprised the former Yugoslavia. United Nations Security Council Resolution 780 (1992), appointed a Commission of Experts to investigate war crimes and crimes against humanity amounting to violations of international humanitarian law in the territory of the former Yugoslavia and it was expected that the Commission would be the historic link to the post-WWII experiences. Despite the Commission's mandate being the broadest of its kind since Nuremberg, those who opposed its work sought to hamper its success through bureaucratic and political chicanery, including the failure to fund the Commission's work. The investigation into the conflict is detailed in this book including the uncovering of 187 mass graves, the interviewing of 223 victims of rape and sexual assault, and the utilization of prison camps and mass expulsion for the purpose of ethnic cleansing. Along with the author's personal insights and insider anecdotes on the conflict, this book highlights the continuing need for the pursuit of accountability and international criminal justice in a world of thriving bureaucracy and realpolitik. The Commission broke the glass ceiling of realpolitik by fighting the hard battle that lead to the success of its mandate and to the establishment of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. This timely work reminds us all that indeed the past is prologue. About the author M. Cherif Bassiouni served as member and chair of the Commission of Experts established by United Nations Security Council Resolution 780 (1992), whose work is at the center of this book, as well as in twenty-one other UN positions. He is an Emeritus Professor of Law at DePaul University College of Law where he taught for 45 years and was a founding member of the International Human Rights Law Institute. He was also a founder of the Siracusa Institute, formerly the International Institute of Higher Studies in Criminal Sciences, in Siracusa, Italy, where he served as President and now Honorary President. He also served as the Secretary-General, President and Honorary President of the prestigious L'Associati ...

Examining the origins of the First World War has been called "the ultimate who dunnit". In his book, published on the anniversary of the assassination said to have triggered it, John Zametica, focusing on the Habsburg Empire and the Balkans, re-examines the evidence. This leads to a number of radical new interpretations and some remarkable revelations about the events that in 1914 led to the outbreak of the First World War. The centenary of WW1 has spawned many new books on the subject. Utilizing a wide range of Serbo-Croat and German-language sources, the author overturns most of what we have been led to believe about the respective culpability of Austria-Hungary and Serbia for the outbreak of war. He also re-examines the role of Russia and Germany in this. The reader is left to conclude that Britain was drawn reluctantly into the war in defence of two small countries, one on each side of Europe, which had been attacked simultaneously by Austria-Hungary and Germany without provocation. In Folly and Malice John Zametica reveals that: The First World War was kick-started by an ailing Austria-Hungary which believed that waging a successful war was the only way it could remain a Great Power; This empire, with its eleven squabbling nations, and with its statesmen unwilling to contemplate any meaningful internal reform, was the real powder keg of Europe; Franz Ferdinand, the Austro-Hungarian Heir to the Throne normally portrayed as a likely enlightened reformer of the Empire, was actually seeking to destroy the Dualist political compromise between Austria and Hungary and replace it with his own centralist autocracy; Serious antagonism between Austria-Hungary and Serbia really only began as late as 1906 and had on the whole almost nothing to do with the supposedly crucial 'South Slav' question; Gavrilo Princip, Franz Ferdinand's assassin, was impelled to do his deed by a Yugoslav ideology conceived and propagated from within Habsburg Croatia, not independent Serbia; The notorious Black Hand, the secret Serbian officers' organisation, far from planning to assassinate Franz Ferdinand during his visit to Bosnia, was in May-June 1914 busy plotting to overthrow civilian rule in Serbia and replace it with a military-led dictatorship; The famous Serbian warning to Vienna, intended to thwart Franz Ferdinand's assassination, was the work of Lieutenant-Colonel Apis, the leader of the Black Hand; In July 1914, Vienna also wanted its 'good' war against Serbia so as to dislo ...

"The definitive guide to private equity for investors, finance professionals, managers and business owners. Mastering Private Equity: Growth via Venture Capital, Minority Investments & Buyoutspresents a valuable on-demand tool and unique handbook for investors, finance professionals, managers and business owners looking to engage with private equity or venture firms. The book distills the essence of private equity into core concepts ranging from fundraising over investment process execution to institutional investors building and managing a private equity fund portfolio, always referring to standard market practice across all steps of the private equity life cycle. The book is complimented by Private Equity in Action: Case Studies from Developed and Emerging Markets, an INSEAD case book which provides rich, real-life applications of these core concepts. The complexity of the private equity model continues to confuse industry outsiders, with the success of the industry often attributed either to a mystical & ldquo;secret sauce & rdquo; or a ruthless approach to cost cutting and asset stripping. In the authors & rsquo; experience, however, the competitive advantage of private equity comes from the diligent application of best practices, as described in this book, a corporate governance model which provides alignment of interest among managers and owners, a keen focus on major drivers of risk and opportunity and, above all, a lot of hard work. This book provides a comprehensive, unbiased guide to investing market practices, enabling its readers to better understand the inner workings of the private equity model. It can equally serve as a standard introduction for investment professionals new to the field, as a reference book for specific steps along the investment process, or as a comprehensive overview of the mechanics of private equity to students of alternative investing. Each diligently researched and concisely presented chapter focuses on one specific aspect of private equity and is complemented by a comment from a guest author, all of whom are seasoned private equity and venture capital professionals or founding partners of established funds. The team of experienced authors ensures the right balance of academic rigor and industry relevancy, given their experience in the world of alternative investments and their regular engagement with both PE investors and the fund managers themselves. The chapters and case studies have been refined through in-class discussion at one of the world & rsquo;s preeminent business schools, INSEAD, and bolstered by the research engine of the Global Private Equity Initiative (GPEI), a leading private equity research institution"--

This book explores the implications of knowing our place in the universe and recognising our hybridity. It is a series of self-reflections and essays drawing on many diverse ways of knowing. The book examines the complex ethical challenges of closing the wide gap in living standards between rich and poor people/communities. The notion of an ecological citizen is presented with a focus on protecting current and future generations. The idea is to track the distribution and redistribution of resources in the interests of social and environmental justice. The central argument looks for ways to hold the powerful to account so as to enable virtuous living by the majority to be demonstrated in what the author calls a "planetary passport"--A careful use of resources and a way to provide safe passage to those in need of safe habitat. The book argues that nation states need to find ways to control the super-rich through the governance process and to enhance a sense of shared ecological citizenship and responsibility for biodiversity. The fundamental approach is collaborative research. Planetary Passport: Representation, Accountability and Re-Generation is comprised of six chapters. Chapter 1 begins by making a case for a paradigm shift away from business as usual and the pursuit of profit at the expense of the social and environmental fabric of life. The aim is to explore alternatives and to discuss some ways of achieving wellbeing whilst the focus is on human rights, discrimination and outlining the notion of a planetary passport. Chapter 2 makes a specific link between people and the planet as a basis for understanding the nature of hybridity and interconnectedness and the implications for ethics. Chapter 3 focuses on building this planetary passport for social and environmental justice in order to enable people with complex needs to consider the consequences of either continuing to live the same way as before or making changes to the way that they live. Meanwhile Chapter 4 does the same as the previous chapter, but explores the political context of consumption and short term profit Chapter 5 examines the challenges and opportunities that come from explorations within a cross-cultural learning community. This includes a look at co-creation and co-determination. Finally Chapter 6 ends with a look to the future and a potential new framework for people and the planet through a planetary passport.