Traditionally, the effectiveness of medical treatments is attributed to specific elements, such as drugs or surgical procedures. However, many other factors can significantly effect the outcome. Drugs with nationally advertised names can work better than the same drug without the name. Inert drugs (placebos, dummies) often have dramatic effects on some patients and effects can vary greatly amon…

Human Paleobiology provides a unifying framework for the study of past and present human populations to a range of changing environments. It integrates evidence from studies of human adaptability, comparative primatology, and molecular genetics to document consistent measures of genetic distance among subspecies, species, and other taxonomic groupings. These findings support the interpretation …

This textbook on international business integrates the academic study of international trade and foreign direct investment with the actual strategic and operational decisions of exporters and multinational enterprises. The book aims to merge managerial decision making in the internationally oriented firm with the conceptual tools provided by international economics. The book proceeds as follows…

Race is often defined by its reference to biology, blood, genes, nature or essence. Yet these concepts are often left unexamined. Integrating material from the history of science, science studies, and anthropological studies of kinship and new reproductive technologies, as well as from studies of race, Peter Wade explores the meaning of such terms and interrogates the relationship between natur…

New best practices for the evolving business Everyone knows that adopting accounting best practices can improve efficiency and reduce error rates in the accounting department, but less obvious are the benefits gained from better reporting of information to other parts of the company. More accurate data reported faster can play an integral role in both short- and long-term strategic planning. Ac…

Advances in the Economics of Information Systems provides a wide perspective on the issues related to applications of economics to information systems area. From grid computing to online auctions, the reader can find novel uses of economics tools in understanding concepts related to the use of technology at the firm level. IT professionals will also find rich analysis of problems at their agend…

Business process management is usually treated from two different perspectives: business administration and computer science. While business administration professionals tend to consider information technology as a subordinate aspect in business process management for experts to handle, by contrast computer science professionals often consider business goals and organizational regulations as te…

The requirement to maximise value for shareholders is at the core of any corporate investment or financing decision. The intrinsic value of proposed investments should be assessed before deciding how much capital to allocate: the benefits and risks associated with each available source of finance should be considered when capital is being raised: and capital, and any associated financial risks,…

The Best Practices series addresses the growing appetite for a business reference series. Addressing issue that matter most to middle managers, the series focuses on dealing with people and communicating. Drawing on the sales history of other management series, the Best Practices line will give managers what they want most: insight into what successful managers already know and presented in eas…

This text provides constructive guidelines to readers to open their minds to the challenges of creating value. This second edition updates the reasons for the choice of the individual offering as the strategy unit, and extends the challenges to standard approaches and conventional thinking.