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business acumen for dummies: The Business Acumen Handbook Steven Haines, 2019-01-29 Leaders rely on business people to see the big picture and get things done. They want mindset and mojo, all in one! The problem is that all business people aren't wired that way, and that's where The Business Acumen Handbook comes in. The main idea behind The Business Acumen Handbook is to help managers understand the pillars of their company's business, and to operate more effectively and efficiently. After reading this book, you'll be able to: Understand and apply the dimensions of business acumen that focus on people, processes, projects, and products so that you can see the big picture of business Incorporate finance, strategy, and performance management into your professional mindset Develop a model for how to effectively communicate with, and influence others. Understand complex business situations, evaluate facts and data, and make better decisions The book is filled with tools, templates, exercises, and guidelines. It also introduces readers to their own individual business acumen assessment so that they can create a purposeful career and professional development strategy. This book is also the companion text for the Business Acumen Workshop offered by The Business Acumen Institute (visit: www.businessacumeninstitute.com) |
business acumen for dummies: Seeing the Big Picture Kevin Cope, 2012 Advocates that employees should focus their attention on what the author defines as the key drivers of cash, profit, assets, growth, and people to evaluate the viability of their organization and their prospects for advancement. |
business acumen for dummies: What the CEO Wants You to Know Ram Charan, 2001 A powerful lesson in what is really important in business, this remarkable book by an ultimate insider takes the lessons of the peddler and reveals how they can be used by the rest of us. Reminiscent of bestsellers such as Who Moved My Cheese? and The One-Minute Manager, What the CEO Wants You to Know is simple, direct, and of immense use to everyone in business. |
business acumen for dummies: Business Acumen for Strategic Communicators Matthew W. Ragas, Ron Culp, 2024-09-10 Drawing on Ragas and Culp’s prior books, this workbook offers hands-on learning opportunities to help put newly acquired business acumen knowledge into practice. Through briefs, exercises and discussion activities readers will learn to analyze and interpret key business materials produced by companies and nonprofits organizations. |
business acumen for dummies: Building Business Acumen for Trainers Terrence L. Gargiulo, Ajay Pangarkar, Teresa Kirkwood, Tom Bunzel, 2006-12-13 As a training and development or human resource professional, do you have the knowledge, skills, and experience you need to become an indispensable strategic partner within your organization? Building Business Acumen for Trainers provides step-by-step practical advice on business practices guaranteed to win the support, respect, and attention of your organization. Written for both new and seasoned professionals, this essential resource will show how to put into practice the three critical areas of business acumen: Finance skills Partnering skills Communication skills |
business acumen for dummies: Ten-day MBA, The, Rev. Steven Silbiger, 1999-10-20 Steven Silbiger has distilled the material of the ten most popular business schools in order to teach readers the language of business. At the rate of one easy-to-understand chapter a day, this book will enable readers to absorb the material, speak the language, and, most importantly, acquire the confidence and expertise needed to get ahead in the competitive business world. |
business acumen for dummies: Developing Business Acumen Jennifer Currence, 2017 The small business HR professional has a unique work environment. For one, HR departments in small businesses are typically quite small, often consisting of only one or two employees. Because of this, these HR professionals are usually expected to be generalists able to answer all HR-related questions. But because there are only one or two of them, they are also expected to be specialists in those same areas. With so much responsibility, how do small business HR professionals have time to focus on their own professional development? And where to start? This is the first book in the Making an Impact in Small Business HR Series. |
business acumen for dummies: Entrepreneurship For Dummies Kathleen Allen, 2011-04-18 Thought of the perfect business idea but unsure how to start a company? Achieve your goal of entrepreneurship with this no-nonsense business guide as your partner Today's business marketplace is filled with news of small businesses and online entrepreneurs making it big. Maybe you have a great idea for a business but little acumen when it comes to launching a business. Entrepreneurship For Dummies has what you need to get started in business in one concise and plainly written package. From developing an opportunity and coming up with a concept to creating the company, this user-friendly book guides you step-by-step along the path to entrepreneurial success. Find out what's necessary to create a successful business: from creating a business plan, to learning how to know your customer, testing and protecting your product, and finally launching your business. You'll discover how to Determine the best legal structure for your business Write a financial plan and find investors Choose a business model for your company Hire the right team members to help you achieve your goals Plan for future growth with the organizational model for you Develop your company's branding and marketing strategy Get your products and services to your customers Prepare for unforeseen challenges And so much more Additionally, to ensure you're as prepared as you can be to launch your start-up, you'll learn reasons why not to start a business and ideas to spark your entrepreneurial spirit. With help on how to analyze your competitors and tips for using the internet to grow your business, Entrepreneurship For Dummies is sure to help you chase your dreams. Get your own copy today and make those dreams a reality. |
business acumen for dummies: Good Business Sense for Doing Good Business Donald C. Yates Ed.D., 2020-12-16 Dr. Yates is well equipped to present materials to assist others in bettering their position as corporate individuals. He presents information about leadership, interactivity/productivity, language, writing, and cultural awareness in such a way that practical information is disseminated with a style and direction that will appeal to any reader who wishes to advance in the workplace. He has over sixty years in the fields of education, leadership, and management and possesses a writing style and purpose which is readily transferrable to the world of work. Dr. Yates has earned advanced degrees in English, Reading, and Educational Administration while working as a teacher, coordinator, supervisor, vice principal and principal. As Department Chairman of English at a large urban high school, he created new aspects of textbook budgeting and departmental scheduling to streamline and simplify teacher/student interaction. Dr. Yates also wrote many curriculum guides and program evaluation processes which he made available to staff, students, teachers, and parents. |
business acumen for dummies: Developing Skills for Business Leadership Gillian Watson, Stefanie Reissner, 2014-02-17 Mapped to the CIPD Level 7 Advanced module of the same name, Developing Skills for Business Leadership focuses on three core areas for successful professional development and practice: managing yourself and others, transferable managerial skills and postgraduate study skills. Each skill is covered both conceptually and practically by a subject area expert to help all readers analyze and critically evaluate, manage more effectively, make sound and justifiable decisions and lead and influence others. Covering key concepts such as developing your professional identity, effective management of interpersonal relationships at work, people management and interpreting financial information, this fully updated 2nd edition of Developing Skills for Business Leadership is ideal for all postgraduate business students taking a module in professional development, career development or management skills. Integrating IT skills into each chapter, it includes a new chapter on reflecting and coaching, updated references to the CIPD's HR Profession Map, additional coverage of stress, health and wellbeing and an enhanced international dimension throughout the text. Online supporting resources include an instructor's manual and lecture slides as well as additional case studies, and sample assignments, checklists and exam guides lecturers can use in their teaching. |
business acumen for dummies: The Art of Profitability Adrian Slywotzky, 2002-09-26 An extraordinarily new business slant on how companies can generate greater profits in 23 compact lessons with ongoing tutorials between two fictitious individuals. In the past, companies taught their employees about quality. In today's unstable economy, employers must stress the importance of profitability. Now with scores of examples from the global marketplace, the bestselling coauthor of The Profit Zone and Profit Patterns takes you to a higher level in the art of business. Each of the twenty-three chapters in this concise, challenging book presents a different, powerful business model...and a provocative dialogue between an extraordinary teacher called David Zhao and his young protégé. Revealed are the invisible but significant governing principles that allow businesses to survive and prosper in any economic climate. By participating in each session with the exuberant, challenging master, you too will learn how your company and your competitors generate profit...what approach best applies to your profit-making strategy...what specific actions your organization can take in the next ninety days to improve its bottom line...and more. |
business acumen for dummies: Measure What Matters John Doerr, 2018-04-24 #1 New York Times Bestseller Legendary venture capitalist John Doerr reveals how the goal-setting system of Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) has helped tech giants from Intel to Google achieve explosive growth—and how it can help any organization thrive. In the fall of 1999, John Doerr met with the founders of a start-up whom he'd just given $12.5 million, the biggest investment of his career. Larry Page and Sergey Brin had amazing technology, entrepreneurial energy, and sky-high ambitions, but no real business plan. For Google to change the world (or even to survive), Page and Brin had to learn how to make tough choices on priorities while keeping their team on track. They'd have to know when to pull the plug on losing propositions, to fail fast. And they needed timely, relevant data to track their progress—to measure what mattered. Doerr taught them about a proven approach to operating excellence: Objectives and Key Results. He had first discovered OKRs in the 1970s as an engineer at Intel, where the legendary Andy Grove (the greatest manager of his or any era) drove the best-run company Doerr had ever seen. Later, as a venture capitalist, Doerr shared Grove's brainchild with more than fifty companies. Wherever the process was faithfully practiced, it worked. In this goal-setting system, objectives define what we seek to achieve; key results are how those top-priority goals will be attained with specific, measurable actions within a set time frame. Everyone's goals, from entry level to CEO, are transparent to the entire organization. The benefits are profound. OKRs surface an organization's most important work. They focus effort and foster coordination. They keep employees on track. They link objectives across silos to unify and strengthen the entire company. Along the way, OKRs enhance workplace satisfaction and boost retention. In Measure What Matters, Doerr shares a broad range of first-person, behind-the-scenes case studies, with narrators including Bono and Bill Gates, to demonstrate the focus, agility, and explosive growth that OKRs have spurred at so many great organizations. This book will help a new generation of leaders capture the same magic. |
business acumen for dummies: Critical Selling Nick Kane, Justin Zappulla, 2015-10-19 Master these top-performing sales skills to dominate the marketplace Critical Selling is a dynamic and powerful guide for transforming your sales approach and outperforming your competition. This book is based on Janek Performance Group's, an award winning sales performance company, most popular sales training program, Critical Selling®. Let authors Justin Zappulla and Nick Kane, Managing Partners at Janek, lead you through their flagship sales training methodology to provide you with the strategies, skills and best practices you need to accelerate the sales process and close more deals. From the initial contact to closing the deal, this book details the winning strategies and skills that have supercharged the sales force of program alumni like OptumHealth, Santander Bank, Daimler Trucks, California Casualty, and many more. Concrete, actionable steps show you how to plan a productive sales call, identify customer needs, differentiate yourself from the competition, and wrap up the sale. You'll also learn proven techniques for building rapport, overcoming objections, dealing with price pressures, and handling the million little things that can derail an otherwise positive sales interaction. Sales are the lifeblood of your company. Are they meeting your expectations? What if you could exceed projected sales figures and blow your competition out of the water? This book provides the research-based framework to ignite your sales team and excite your customer base, for sustainable success in today's market. Let Critical Selling® show you how to: Connect with customers on a deeper level to build trust Present a persuasive and value-based solution tailored to your customer’s needs Handle pricing pressure, doubt, and objections with confidence Utilize proven methodologies that help you close the sale Sales is about so much more than exchanging goods or services for cash. It's about relationships, it's about outperforming the competition, it's about demonstrating real value, and it's about understanding and solving people's problems. Critical Selling shows you how to bring it all together, using proven techniques based on real sales performance research. |
business acumen for dummies: Career Development All-in-One For Dummies The Experts at Dummies, 2017-03-30 Take control of your career today Want to get ahead in the workplace? Learn new skills and increase your visibility as a leader in your company with the help of this practical, hands-on guide to professional development. You'll find new techniques for being a better leader, tips for writing better emails, rules for running more effective meetings, and much more. Plus, you'll discover how to give presentations that will keep your audience engaged and learn to be a more mindful person. Combined from seven of the best For Dummies books on career development topics, Career Development All-in-One For Dummies is your one-stop guide to taking control of your career and improving your professional life. Perfect on its own or as part of a formal development program, it gives you everything you need to advance your career. Become a better leader Manage your time wisely Write effective business communications Manage projects more effectively Success is an individual responsibility—so put your professional future in your own hands with this guide! |
business acumen for dummies: Business for Communicators Sandra Duhé, 2021-08-30 Business for Communicators provides future and current professional communicators with a hands-on, working knowledge of how businesses profit, grow, and adapt in their competitive environments. Corporate communicators aspire to sit at the decision-making table but too often fall short because of an inability to speak the language of business or effectively apply a business mindset to communication strategy. Business for Communicators provides the in-depth business literacy these professionals need, beyond just building the case for business intelligence or explaining business basics. The text delves into the details of corporate finance, accounting, marketing, strategy, operations, and economics to provide a theoretical grounding and a working knowledge that business communicators can apply to every decision they make. Real world applications illustrate concepts covered, focus on the communication implications of business outcomes, and provide opportunities for extended learning and discussion. This book is an essential resource for advanced undergraduate and graduate students, as well as professional corporate communicators ready to enhance their influence and advance their careers with business acumen. An accompanying website, blog, email, and social media platforms provide additional resources, interaction, commentary, and responses to questions from educators and practitioners, as well as teaching materials for educators, at www.thecommunicatorsmba.com. |
business acumen for dummies: Business Writing For Dummies Natalie Canavor, 2013-07-29 How many pieces of paper land on your desk each day, or emails in your inbox? Your readers – the people you communicate with at work – are no different. So how can you make your communication stand out from the pile and get the job done? Whether you’re crafting a short and sweet email or bidding for a crucial project, Business Writing For Dummies is the only guide you need. Inside you’ll find: The basic principles of how to write well How to avoid the common pitfalls that immediately turn a reader off Crucial tips for self-editing and revision techniques to heighten your impact Lots of practical advice and examples covering a range of different types of communication, including emails, letters, major business documents such as reports and proposals, promotional materials, web copy and blogs - even tweets The global touch - understand the key differences in written communication around the world, and how to tailor your writing for international audiences |
business acumen for dummies: Product Management For Dummies Brian Lawley, Pamela Schure, 2017-01-24 Your one-stop guide to becoming a product management prodigy Product management plays a pivotal role in organizations. In fact, it's now considered the fourth most important title in corporate America—yet only a tiny fraction of product managers have been trained for this vital position. If you're one of the hundreds of thousands of people who hold this essential job—or simply aspire to break into a new role—Product Management For Dummies gives you the tools to increase your skill level and manage products like a pro. From defining what product management is—and isn't—to exploring the rising importance of product management in the corporate world, this friendly and accessible guide quickly gets you up to speed on everything it takes to thrive in this growing field. It offers plain-English explanations of the product life cycle, market research, competitive analysis, market and pricing strategy, product roadmaps, the people skills it takes to effectively influence and negotiate, and so much more. Create a winning strategy for your product Gather and analyze customer and market feedback Prioritize and convey requirements to engineering teams effectively Maximize revenues and profitability Product managers are responsible for so much more than meets the eye—and this friendly, authoritative guide lifts the curtain on what it takes to succeed. |
business acumen for dummies: Rise of the DEO Maria Giudice, Christopher Ireland, 2014 Place of publication transcribed from publisher's website. |
business acumen for dummies: Soft Skills Hard Results Anne Taylor, 2020-01-23 ***BUSINESS BOOK AWARDS 2021 WINNER: SELF DEVELOPMENT BOOK OF THE YEAR*** Everyone says a great leader needs EQ, Emotional Intelligence, soft skills, blah, blah, blah. What does that even mean? Where do you start? Where’s the line for that on the P&L? You might think that business is all about facts and figures. You probably prefer it that way. The truth is that as uncertainty and business complexity increases, successful leaders need to embrace soft skills to get the best out of their people in a sustainable manner. In this succinct, no-nonsense approach, Anne Taylor shares: Key soft skills relevant for leadership and practical applications of how to use them every day drawn from real-life case studies Straightforward tools to better understand yourself, because your leadership starts with YOU Simple frameworks to communicate with others to get things done while building a stronger relationship with them (at the same time, how efficient!) Logical ideas you can try immediately with on-line support if you want it. All done in an easy to read, logical, organized manner for people who prefer facts and don’t consider themselves natural ‘people people.’ In a direct yet professional manner, Anne combines the results-oriented focus from her extensive business background in Fortune 100 corporations with her passion for personal awareness and conscious choice to help you get better results through your people, fast. The Practical Principles in this book, when applied, practiced and honed, can improve your effectiveness, impact and bottom-line results. |
business acumen for dummies: Starting a Business For Dummies Colin Barrow, 2014-10-27 Starting your own UK business is an exciting - and challenging - time. This updated edition of the startup classic shows you how to build a business agile enough to take advantage of emerging trends and opportunities, and sturdy enough to weather any storm. Packed with real-life examples and links to hundreds of valuable resources, Starting a Business For Dummies, 4th UK Edition gives you what you need to make the leap from employee to successful entrepreneur with confidence. All your favourite, trusted content has been updated including: Laying the groundwork and testing the feasibility of your business idea Writing a winning business plan and finding funding How to operate effectively, including managing your finances and employing people Growing your business and improving performance New content includes: The latest funding schemes, including government funding and crowdfunding Tendering for public sector work Avoiding business cyber-crime Franchising and pop ups Exporting (the government has set a target of doubling the number of exporting companies by 2020) Environmental impact (a recent survey found 77% of SMEs wanted to know how to measure and improve their environmental impact) |
business acumen for dummies: No Bullsh!t Leadership Martin G. Moore, 2021-09-28 What makes a truly exceptional leader? Discover the practical, fail-proof tools that will help you to fine-tune your leadership skills, solidify respect among your workforce, and ensure your company’s lasting success. When Martin G. Moore was asked to rescue a leading energy corporation from ever-increasing debt and a lack of executive accountability, he faced an uphill battle. Not only had he never before stepped into the role of CEO; he also had no experience in the rapidly evolving energy sector. Relying on the practical leadership principles he had honed throughout his thirty-three-year career, he overhauled the company’s culture, redefined its leadership capability, and increased earnings by a compound annual growth rate of 125 percent. In No Bullsh!t Leadership, Moore outlines these proven leadership principles in a clear, direct way. He sweeps away the mystical fog surrounding leadership today and lays out the essential steps for success. Moore combines this tangible advice with honest, real-world examples from his own career to provide a no-nonsense look at the skills a true leader possesses. Moore’s principles for no bullshit leadership focus on: Creating value by focusing only on the things that matter most Facing conflict, adversity, and ambiguity with decisiveness and confidence Setting uncompromising standards for behavior and performance Selecting and developing great people Making those people accountable, and empowering them to do their best Setting simple, value-driven goals and communicating them relentlessly Though the steps aren’t easy, they are guaranteed, if implemented, to lift your leadership–and your organization–to a higher level. Wherever you are in your career, No Bullsh!t Leadership will help you develop the skills and form the habits needed to become a no bullshit leader. |
business acumen for dummies: The Only Sales Guide You'll Ever Need Anthony Iannarino, 2016-10-11 The USA Today bestseller by the star sales speaker and author of The Sales Blog that reveals how all salespeople can attain huge sales success through strategies backed by extensive research and experience. Anthony Iannarino never set out to become a salesman, let alone a sales manager, speaker, coach, or writer of the most prominent blog about the art and science of great selling. He fell into his profession by accident, as a day job while pursuing rock-and-roll stardom. Once he realized he'd never become the next Mick Jagger, Iannarino turned his focus to a question that's been debated for at least a century: Why are a small number of salespeople in any field hugely successful, while the rest get mediocre results at best? The answer is simple: it’s not about the market, the product, or the competition—it’s all about the seller. And consequently, any salesperson can sell more and better, all the time. Over twenty-five years, Iannarino has boiled down everything he's learned and tested into one convenient book that explains what all successful sellers, regardless of industry or organization, share: a mind-set of powerful beliefs and a skill-set of key actions, including... ·Self-discipline: How to keep your commitments to yourself and others. ·Accountability: How to own the outcomes you sell. ·Competitiveness: How to embrace competition rather than let it intimidate you. ·Resourcefulness: How to blend your imagination, experience, and knowledge into unique solutions. ·Storytelling: How to create deeper relationships by presenting a story in which the client is the hero and you're their guide. ·Diagnosing: How to look below the surface to figure out someone else's real challenges and needs. Once you learn Iannarino's core strategies, picking up the specific tactics for your product and customers will be that much easier. Whether you sell to big companies, small companies, or individual consumers, this is the book you'll turn to again and again for proven wisdom, strategies, and tips that really work. |
business acumen for dummies: Win Your Case Gerry Spence, 2007-04-01 From renowned trial attorney and New York Times bestselling author Gerry Spence: a must own book for every lawyer and business professional seeking to make cutting-edge winning presentations--in court, at work, everywhere, any time. Gerry Spence is perhaps America's most renowned and successful trial lawyer, a man known for his deep convictions and his powerful courtroom presentations when he argues on behalf of ordinary people. Frequently pitted against teams of lawyers thrown against him by major corporate or government interests, he has never lost a criminal case and has not lost a civil jury trial since 1969. In Win Your Case, Spence shares a lifetime of experience teaching you how to win in any arena-the courtroom, the boardroom, the sales call, the salary review, the town council meeting-every venue where a case is to be made against adversaries who oppose the justice you seek. Relying on the successful courtroom methods he has developed over more than half a century, Spence shows both lawyers and laypersons how you can win your cases as he takes you step by step through the elements of a trial-from jury selection, the opening statement, the presentation of witnesses, their cross-examinations, and finally to the closing argument itself. Spence teaches you how to prepare yourselves for these wars. Then he leads you through the new, cutting-edge methods he uses in discovering the story in which you form the evidence into a compelling narrative, discover the point of view of the decision maker, anticipate and answer the counterarguments, and finally conclude the case with a winning final argument. To make a winning presentation, you are taught to prepare the power-person (the jury, the judge, the boss, the customer, the board) to hear your case. You are shown that your emotions, and theirs, are the source of your winning. You learn the power of your own fear, of honesty and caring and, yes, of love. You are instructed on how to role-play through the use of the psychodramatic technique, to both discover and tell the story of the case, and, at last, to pull it all together into the winning final argument. Whether you are presenting your case to a judge, a jury, a boss, a committee, or a customer, Win Your Case is an indispensable guide to success in every walk of life, in and out of the courtroom. |
business acumen for dummies: One Page Talent Management, with a New Introduction Marc Effron, Miriam Ort, 2018-07-17 A radical approach to growing high-quality talent--fast You know that winning in today's marketplace requires top-quality talent. You also know what it takes to build that talent--and you spend significant financial and human resources to make it happen. Yet somehow, your company's beautifully designed and well-benchmarked processes don't translate into the bottom-line talent depth you need. Why? Talent management experts Marc Effron and Miriam Ort argue that companies unwittingly add layers of complexity to their talent-building models--without evaluating whether those components add any value to the overall process. Consequently, simple activities like setting employee performance goals become multipage, headache-inducing time wasters that turn managers off and fail to improve results. Effron and Ort introduce a simple, powerful, scientifically proven approach to increase your ability to develop better leaders faster: One Page Talent Management (OPTM). Using the straightforward, easy-to-follow process described in this book, you will eliminate frustrating complexity, focus only on those components that add real value, and build transparency and accountability into every practice. Based on extensive research and experience in companies such as Avon Products, Bank of America, and Philips, One Page Talent Management shows you how to: Quickly identify high-potential talent without complex assessments Increase the number of ready now successors for key roles Generate 360-degree feedback that accelerates change in the most critical behaviors Significantly reduce the time required for managers to implement talent-building processes Do away with complexity and bureaucracy--and develop the high-quality talent you need, right now. |
business acumen for dummies: Drive Daniel H. Pink, 2011-04-05 The New York Times bestseller that gives readers a paradigm-shattering new way to think about motivation from the author of When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing Most people believe that the best way to motivate is with rewards like money—the carrot-and-stick approach. That's a mistake, says Daniel H. Pink (author of To Sell Is Human: The Surprising Truth About Motivating Others). In this provocative and persuasive new book, he asserts that the secret to high performance and satisfaction-at work, at school, and at home—is the deeply human need to direct our own lives, to learn and create new things, and to do better by ourselves and our world. Drawing on four decades of scientific research on human motivation, Pink exposes the mismatch between what science knows and what business does—and how that affects every aspect of life. He examines the three elements of true motivation—autonomy, mastery, and purpose-and offers smart and surprising techniques for putting these into action in a unique book that will change how we think and transform how we live. |
business acumen for dummies: Building a Second Brain Tiago Forte, 2022-06-14 Building a second brain is getting things done for the digital age. It's a ... productivity method for consuming, synthesizing, and remembering the vast amount of information we take in, allowing us to become more effective and creative and harness the unprecedented amount of technology we have at our disposal-- |
business acumen for dummies: Business Etiquette For Dummies Sue Fox, 2011-01-31 Make no mistake, etiquette is as important in business as it is in everyday life — it’s also a lot more complicated. From email and phone communications to personal interviews to adapting to corporate and international cultural differences, Business Etiquette For Dummies, 2nd Edition, keeps you on your best behavior in any business situation. This friendly, authoritative guide shows you how to develop good etiquette on the job and navigate today’s diverse and complex business environment with great success. You’ll get savvy tips for dressing the part, making polite conversation, minding your manners at meetings and meals, behaving at off-site events, handling ethical dilemmas, and conducting international business. You’ll find out how to behave gracefully during tense negotiations, improve your communication skills, and overcome all sorts of work-related challenges. Discover how to: Make a great first impression Meet and greet with ease Be a good company representative Practice proper online etiquette Adapt to the changing rules of etiquette Deal with difficult personalities without losing your cool Become a well-mannered traveler Develop good relationships with your peers, staff, and superiors Give compliments and offer criticism Respect physical, racial, ethnic, and gender differences at work Learn the difference between “casual Friday” and sloppy Saturday Develop cubicle courtesy Avoid conversational faux pas Business etiquette is as important to your success as doing your job well. Read Business Etiquette For Dummies, 2nd Edition, and make no mistake. |
business acumen for dummies: Making Sense of Business Reference Celia Ross, 2020-07-15 This is the guide to keep at your side when serving business students, job-seekers, investors, or entrepreneurs in your library. |
business acumen for dummies: Business for Punks James Watt, 2016-02-23 Forget about building a business—businesses fail and fade into oblivion. Start a revolution instead. James Watt started a rebellion against tasteless mass market beers by founding BrewDog, now one of the world’s best-known and fastest growing craft breweries, famous for beers, bars, and crowdfunding. In this smart, funny book, he shares his story and explains how you too can tear up the rule book and start a company on your own terms. It’s an anarchic, DIY guide to entrepreneurship—and a new manifesto for business. After spending seven years on the high seas of the North Atlantic, James Watt started BrewDog craft brewery in Scotland with his best friend, Martin Dickie. They didn’t have a business plan. All they had was a mission to revolutionize beer drinking and make other people as passionate about craft beer as they are. They’ve succeeded. Within a few years, BrewDog was huge—a world-famous craft brewery with beer bars around the globe and hundreds of thousands of fans. Those fans became literal backers of their business with the introduction of an unprecedented crowdfunding movement, Equity for Punks. And in rewriting the record books and kickstarting a revolution—James and BrewDog inadvertently forged a whole new approach to business. Business for Punks bottles the essence of James’s methods in an accessible, honest manifesto. Among his mantras: · Cash is motherf*cking king. Cash is the lifeblood of your company. Monitor every penny as if your life depends on it—because it does. · Get people to hate you. You won’t win by trying to make everyone happy, so don’t bother. Let haters fuel your fire while you focus on your hard-core fans. · Steal and bastardize from other fields. Take inspiration freely wherever you find it— except from people in your own industry. · Job interviews suck. They never reveal if someone will be a good employee, only how good that person is at interviews. Instead, take them for a test drive and see if they’re passionate and a good culture fit. Business for Punks rethinks conventional business wisdom so you can go beyond the norm. It’s an anarchic, indispensable guide to thriving on your own terms. |
business acumen for dummies: Traction Gino Wickman, 2012-04-03 OVER 1 MILLION COPIES SOLD! Do you have a grip on your business, or does your business have a grip on you? All entrepreneurs and business leaders face similar frustrations—personnel conflict, profit woes, and inadequate growth. Decisions never seem to get made, or, once made, fail to be properly implemented. But there is a solution. It's not complicated or theoretical.The Entrepreneurial Operating System® is a practical method for achieving the business success you have always envisioned. More than 80,000 companies have discovered what EOS can do. In Traction, you'll learn the secrets of strengthening the six key components of your business. You'll discover simple yet powerful ways to run your company that will give you and your leadership team more focus, more growth, and more enjoyment. Successful companies are applying Traction every day to run profitable, frustration-free businesses—and you can too. For an illustrative, real-world lesson on how to apply Traction to your business, check out its companion book, Get A Grip. |
business acumen for dummies: Confronting Reality Larry Bossidy, Ram Charan, 2004-10-19 Confronting Reality will change the way you think about and run your business. It is the first book that shows how to connect the big picture of the new era of business with the nitty-gritty of what to do about it. Through a completely new way to understand and use the business model as the primary tool for confronting reality—a breakthrough that will become the management innovation of this decade—you’ll know sooner rather than later whether your fundamental business premise is under assault, where your best opportunities lie, what you should change and what you should leave alone, and how to realistically plan the future of your business. The fundamentals of how a business makes money are being rapidly and permanently altered by sweeping structural changes. With their extraordinary depth and breadth of experience, Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan are the ideal guides for everyone—entrepreneur, mid-level manager, or CEO—about what is to be done so you can get things right in this challenging, radically changed world. They start by showing you how to understand the most fundamental element of any business: whether you can realistically make the money you hope to in the game you’re playing. Bossidy and Charan show how to use the business model to develop a robust, reality-based process for thinking about the speci?cs of your business in a holistic way. They show how to tie together the financial targets you must meet, the external realities you face, and internal activities such as strategy development, operating tactics, and selection and development of people. Through the lens of the business model, as well as the skillful use of initiatives and development of people with the right leadership characteristics, you’ll see how Robert Nardelli at Home Depot, Jim McNerney at 3M, Dick Harrington at the Thomson Corporation, Michael Wisbrun at KLM, Joseph Tucci at EMC, and John Chambers at Cisco confronted reality. Whether they faced crisis or opportunity, all made the right kinds of changes through a combination of business savvy (the art of understanding the fundamentals driving a business) and business model thinking. |
business acumen for dummies: AMA Business Boot Camp Edward T. Reilly, 2013 The collective wisdom of The American Management Association-right at your fingertips. |
business acumen for dummies: Disciplined Entrepreneurship Bill Aulet, 2013-08-12 24 Steps to Success! Disciplined Entrepreneurship will change the way you think about starting a company. Many believe that entrepreneurship cannot be taught, but great entrepreneurs aren’t born with something special – they simply make great products. This book will show you how to create a successful startup through developing an innovative product. It breaks down the necessary processes into an integrated, comprehensive, and proven 24-step framework that any industrious person can learn and apply. You will learn: Why the “F” word – focus – is crucial to a startup’s success Common obstacles that entrepreneurs face – and how to overcome them How to use innovation to stand out in the crowd – it’s not just about technology Whether you’re a first-time or repeat entrepreneur, Disciplined Entrepreneurship gives you the tools you need to improve your odds of making a product people want. Author Bill Aulet is the managing director of the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship as well as a senior lecturer at the MIT Sloan School of Management. For more please visit http://disciplinedentrepreneurship.com/ |
business acumen for dummies: Introduction to Business Lawrence J. Gitman, Carl McDaniel, Amit Shah, Monique Reece, Linda Koffel, Bethann Talsma, James C. Hyatt, 2024-09-16 Introduction to Business covers the scope and sequence of most introductory business courses. The book provides detailed explanations in the context of core themes such as customer satisfaction, ethics, entrepreneurship, global business, and managing change. Introduction to Business includes hundreds of current business examples from a range of industries and geographic locations, which feature a variety of individuals. The outcome is a balanced approach to the theory and application of business concepts, with attention to the knowledge and skills necessary for student success in this course and beyond. This is an adaptation of Introduction to Business by OpenStax. You can access the textbook as pdf for free at openstax.org. Minor editorial changes were made to ensure a better ebook reading experience. Textbook content produced by OpenStax is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. |
business acumen for dummies: Consultative Selling Mack Hanan, James J. Cribbin, Herman C. Heiser, 1970 Textbook on consultative salespersonhip - gives an introduction to the principles of consultative selling and describes the business management strategies, the profit planning strategies and Motivation to ' personal negotiation' with clients on which the new role of the salesman is based. |
business acumen for dummies: Social Media Marketing All-in-One For Dummies Jan Zimmerman, Doug Sahlin, 2010-08-26 Face Facebook, link up with LinkedIn, and tweet with Twitter using this all-in-one guide! Marketing your business through social media isn't rocket science. Here's how to apply the marketing savvy you already have to the social media your prospects are using, helping you get and keep more customers, make more sales, and boost your bottom line. Find the business side — explore the variety of social media options and research where your target audience hangs out Collect your tools — discover ways to simplify posting in multiple locations and how to monitor activity Establish your presence — start a blog or podcast to build a following Follow and be followed — find the right people to follow on Twitter and get them to follow you Fan out — showcase your company with a customized Facebook business page Follow up — use analytics to assess the success of your social media campaign Open the book and find: Tips for finding your target market Important legal considerations Step-by-step guidance for setting up a campaign Lots of helpful technology tools Blogging and podcasting advice How to make Twitter pay off for your business Tools for analyzing your success in each medium When to move forward and when to pull back |
business acumen for dummies: Managing Millennials For Dummies Hannah L. Ubl, Lisa X. Walden, Debra Arbit, 2017-04-06 Everything you need to harness Millennial potential Managing Millennials For Dummies is the field guide to people-management in the modern workplace. Packed with insight, advice, personal anecdotes, and practical guidance, this book shows you how to manage your Millennial workers and teach them how to manage themselves. You'll learn just what makes them tick—they're definitely not the workers of yesteryear—and how to uncover the deeply inspirational talent they have hiding not far below the surface. Best practices and proven strategies from Google, Netflix, LinkedIn, and other top employers provide real-world models for effective management, and new research on first-wave versus second-wave Millennials helps you parse the difference between your new hires and more experienced workers. You'll learn why flex time, social media, dress code, and organizational structure are shifting, and answer the all-important question: why won't they use the phone? Millennials are the product of a different time, with different values, different motivations, and different wants—and in the U.S., they now make up the majority of the workforce. This book shows you how to bring out their best and discover just how much they're really capable of. Learn how Millennials are changing the way work gets done Understand new motivations, attitudes, values, and drive Recruit, motivate, engage, and retain incredible emerging talent Discover the keys to optimal Millennial management The pop culture narrative would have us believe that Millennials are entitled, lazy, spoiled brats—but the that couldn't be further from the truth. They are the generation of change: highly adaptive, bright, and quick to take on a challenge. Like any generation of workers, performance lies in management—if you're not getting what you need from your Millennials, it's time to learn how to lead them the way they need to be led. Managing Millennials For Dummies is your handbook for allowing them to exceed your expectations. |
business acumen for dummies: The Little Book of Business Secrets That Work! Jacqueline Camacho-Ruiz, 2010-05 Have you ever wondered what it takes to build a successful business? The secrets that seem so elusive to many are now available to all in Jackie Camacho-Ruiz s book, The Little Book of Business Secrets That Work! Whether you are starting your business or are a seasoned professional, you will take away valuable lessons from this book. Open to any page at any time of the day to capture one of Jackie s secrets. With the exercises provided at the end of each secret you ll learn to apply them to your business and your life immediately. Ideas without implementation are like smoke that disappears into the air reignite your potential by applying these basic, easy-to-use principles today! |
business acumen for dummies: Confessions of an HR Pro Julie Turney, 2021-05-31 This book will help you to regain your HR mojo, find your community and gain clarity on your way forward. Based on real-life experiences from HR Professionals who felt just like you at some point in their careers, you will learn about our moments of defeat and triumph. I wrote this book because I believe that we need more transparency in our HR community. Enough about what we need to do and more about how we are actually navigating our careers in this space.Read this book to:Learn how to navigate working with a bad boss Understand what it takes to be the best recruiter you can beDiscover how Agile ways of working can improve your workflowLearn how to become more inclusive in building your HR teamLearn why your mental health and well-being mattersUnderstand how to build resilience through making mistakesDiscover how to build your HR Community/tribe |
business acumen for dummies: Business Skills All-in-One For Dummies Kate Burton, 2012-02-03 Fulfil your workplace potential with this indispensable handbook. Written by a team of experts, Business Skills All-in-One For Dummies is your complete guide to perfecting your communication, management and organizational skills. Inside you'll find simple techniques for improving your performance at work - everything from presentation skills, project management, persuading and influencing people, motivating (yourself and others!), managing your workload, managing a team and much more. No other book offers you this much in one volume. It's like having a whole team of business, communication and management experts sitting on your bookshelf...but much less crowded! Inside you'll find 4 books in 1: Book I: Communicating Effectively (covering communication, presentations, body language, confidence, persuasion & influence) Book II: Building Your Commercial Acumen (covering accounting and budgeting, technology, selling, negotiation) Book III: Managing and Leading Others (recruiting, working in teams and groups, dealing with ethics and office politics, coaching, leadership) Book IV: Increasing Productivity and Performance (time management, project management, achieving goals, motivation, managing stress, organising time, managing meetings and dealing with emails). |
BUSINESS | English meaning - Cambridge Dictionary
BUSINESS definition: 1. the activity of buying and selling goods and services: 2. a particular company that buys and….
VENTURE | English meaning - Cambridge Dictionary
VENTURE definition: 1. a new activity, usually in business, that involves risk or uncertainty: 2. to risk going….
ENTERPRISE | English meaning - Cambridge Dictionary
ENTERPRISE definition: 1. an organization, especially a business, or a difficult and important plan, especially one that….
INCUMBENT | English meaning - Cambridge Dictionary
INCUMBENT definition: 1. officially having the named position: 2. to be necessary for someone: 3. the person who has or….
AD HOC | English meaning - Cambridge Dictionary
AD HOC definition: 1. made or happening only for a particular purpose or need, not planned before it happens: 2. made….
BUSINESS | English meaning - Cambridge Dictionary
BUSINESS definition: 1. the activity of buying and selling goods and services: 2. a particular company that buys and….
VENTURE | English meaning - Cambridge Dictionary
VENTURE definition: 1. a new activity, usually in business, that involves risk or uncertainty: 2. to risk going….
ENTERPRISE | English meaning - Cambridge Dictionary
ENTERPRISE definition: 1. an organization, especially a business, or a difficult and important plan, especially one that….
INCUMBENT | English meaning - Cambridge Dictionary
INCUMBENT definition: 1. officially having the named position: 2. to be necessary for someone: 3. the person who has or….
AD HOC | English meaning - Cambridge Dictionary
AD HOC definition: 1. made or happening only for a particular purpose or need, not planned before it happens: 2. made….
LEVERAGE | English meaning - Cambridge Dictionary
LEVERAGE definition: 1. the action or advantage of using a lever: 2. power to influence people and get the results you….
ENTREPRENEUR | English meaning - Cambridge Dictionary
ENTREPRENEUR definition: 1. someone who starts their own business, especially when this involves seeing a new opportunity….
CULTIVATE | English meaning - Cambridge Dictionary
CULTIVATE definition: 1. to prepare land and grow crops on it, or to grow a particular crop: 2. to try to develop and….
EQUITY | English meaning - Cambridge Dictionary
EQUITY definition: 1. the value of a company, divided into many equal parts owned by the shareholders, or one of the….
LIAISE | English meaning - Cambridge Dictionary
LIAISE definition: 1. to speak to people in other organizations, etc. in order to work with them or exchange….