Karolin Marx examines the significance of the social context for strategy-making. She shows that social relationships within organizations are not only positive, but can also impede the successful development of strategic initiatives.

Innovating Strategy Process presents a series of reflective essays by established and emerging scholars on the subject of innovation, considering it both as an outcome of strategy and as a process in itself. Contains new ideas and rich case descriptions that will trigger creative thinking about how to design a more innovative strategy process. Offers new conceptual frameworks for analyzing and designing strategy process. Addresses cutting-edge topics, such as play as the means and art as the impetus for strategy-making; the role of emotion in new venture decision-making; and science and entrepreneurship as a source of innovative strategies. Signals the future direction of the field.

Foreword Since the first studies by Bower and Burgelman in the early 1980’s on the phenomenon of strategic initiatives, the use of strategic initiatives in the strategic management of diversified organizations now is omnipresent. Strategic initiatives are seen as efficient answers of management teams for pressing challenges. By making use of strategic initiatives, managers can proceed flexibly and with entrepreneurial vigor from broad ideas toward specific commitments. Managing initiatives is perceived as a complex challenge by most managers. Empirical studies show that about 70% of all strategic initiatives fail to reach their goals. This statistic shows us, that successful management and implementation of strategic initiatives requires a multitude of diverse managerial skills. To date, the complexity of strategic initiatives is most often not fully taken into account in strategic management research. Almost all studies investigating strategic initiatives have concentrated either on the external or internal organizational context or have solely identified contextual factors that undermine the successful implementation of strategic initiatives. This underscores the fact that most prior research on the relationship between the organizational context and strategic initiatives is too narrow and suggests the need for a more holistic approach.

Presenting a broad literature review of scholarly work in the area of Business Model Innovation, this new book analyses 50 management theories in the context of BMI to yield valuable new insights. Research on BMI is still in its infancy and has so far proved to be more than just a sub-discipline of strategy or innovation research. Exploring the field of Business Innovation demonstrates the importance of the discipline as a more specialized management research field and offers new understandings of this important subject. It presents ‘grand theories’ that will help researchers approach BMI through a different angle and describes business models as phenomena, enabling readers to understand their patterns and mechanisms. Reviewing the most important academic work on the subject over the last 15 years, the authors aim to open up the debate and inspire researchers to look at this phenomenon from new and different angles.

As organizations face an unprecedented rate of change, how should the role of the strategist adapt to address new challenges? Based on original research and consulting projects from the Institute of Management and Strategy, University of St. Gallen, The New Strategist is a practical guide which explains how to execute strategy, not just think about the theory. It examines day-to-day strategy work, explores the competences required by strategic leaders, and maps out the strategist's tools of the trade, including processes, initiatives and discourse. Using a rich and unique data set, this book looks at the roles of different strategists in an organization and emphasizes the importance of managers and strategy consultants as well as Chief Strategy Officers and other leaders. Crucially, The New Strategist focuses on the practice of strategy rather than the theory, answering key questions around how professional strategists should work and which methods and techniques they should draw upon. This timely and authoritative text will support and strengthen managers in fulfilling their strategic leadership responsibilities, allowing them to contribute to the professionalization of the field and ensure their role is suitable for the future of business.

It is commonplace for today’s transnational enterprises to undertake political risk analysis when choosing foreign markets and creating entry strategies. Despite this, non-market elements of corporate strategy are less well researched than the traditional market-based perspectives. Providing comprehensive and leading edge overviews of current scholarship, this Companion surveys the current state of the field and provides a basis for improving our understanding of the non-market environment, encouraging new insights to improve strategies for enhancing a firm’s performance and legitimacy. With a foreword by David Baron, the international team of contributors includes Jean-Philippe Bonardi, Bennet Zelner, and Jonathan Doh, who combine to create a book that is essential reading for students and researchers in business, management, and politics, including those interested in business regulation, environmental policy, political risk and corporate social responsibility.

Explore diverse dimensions of human behavior and development with this essential textbook, designed specifically for social work students and practitioners. This textbook is an invaluable resource for social work students and new practitioners, offering a comprehensive exploration of human behavior and development within the social environment. Practical guidance is provided through the application of various social work lenses and approaches. The book meticulously covers each stage of development, from in-utero and prenatal through to late adulthood and end of life, offering real-world case studies to contextualize developmental content and exploring a range of perspectives in the podcast discussions. Chapter authors, most of whom are actively engaged in clinical practice, provide unique insights into how various environments impact developmental stages. Practical exercises and guidance are designed to promote effective social work practice, ensuring students gain hands-on experience. Expect to benefit from diverse viewpoints and distinctive communication styles that make the content accessible and engaging for readers from various backgrounds and learning patterns. The textbook also includes developmental considerations for social work practice, along with a variety of tools and resources to support student learning outcomes for each chapter. By incorporating multiple perspectives and expert knowledge, this textbook offers a multifaceted approach to understanding human development, equipping students with the skills and knowledge needed to succeed in dynamic social work environments. Key Features: Experience a textbook that gives voice to traditionally marginalized groups, preparing students for inclusive and effective social work practice. A clear competency-based focus on diversity and social justice that aligns with the Council on Social Work Education’s Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards (EPAS). Benefit from the insights of diverse chapter authors who bring a wealth of clinical expertise and a variety of lived experiences, fostering a broader understanding of development. Enhance knowledge with a range of pedagogical elements, including case studies, discussion questions, and podcasts, catering to both auditory and visual learners. Instructors will also have access to an Instructor Manual utilizing chapter highlights, micro lectures, critical discussion questions, and in-class activities; chapter PowerPoints; and a Sample Syllabus with a suggested course schedule.

Of the 1.2 billion adolescents in the world today, 90% live in low- and middle-income countries. These adolescents face many challenges in their lives. Enrollment in secondary schools is still low in many parts of the world, with illiteracy rates approaching 30% in the least developed countries. Further, adolescents not in school are more vulnerable to trafficking, recruitment into armed conflict, and child labor. Many adolescent girls marry and begin bearing children at a young age, contributing to the perpetuation of poverty and health problems. Despite these many challenges, adolescents also represent a resource to be cultivated through educational opportunities and vocational training to move them toward economic independence, through initiatives to improve their reproductive health, and through positive interpersonal relationships to help them avoid risky behaviors and make positive decisions about their futures. Edited by Jennifer E. Lansford and Prerna Banati, the Handbook of Adolescent Development Research and its Impact on Global Policy tackles both the challenges and the promise of adolescence by presenting cutting-edge research on social, emotional, behavioral, cognitive, and physical development. In addition to providing actionable strategies for policy-makers and practitioners, this volume consciously adopts a positive framing of adolescence, representing young people as opportunities, rather than threats. Throughout the book, readers will find a valuable investment at the individual and societal levels as a way to contribute to a positive shift in the public discourse around young people today.

These companion volumes bring together research and theoretical work that addresses the relations between social context and the development of children. They allow for the in-depth discussion of a number of vital metatheoretical, theoretical, and methodological issues that have emerged as a result of increased investigation in these areas. For example: Which methodological and statistical procedures are appropriate and applicable to studies of social context and processes of development? Should the nature of social context be reconceptualized as something more than different levels of some social independent variable? Are theories of development that do not consider social context incomplete? Will the increasingly finer definitions of social context lead to extreme situationism and contextualism? As developmental theory and investigation continues to address relationships between social and cognitive development, it becomes increasingly important that issues concerning social context be elaborated and discussed.