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Since Peter Senge published The Fifth Discipline, he and his associates have frequently been asked by the business community: “How do we go beyond the first steps of corporate change? How do we sustain momentum?” They know that companies and organizations cannot thrive today without learning to adapt their attitudes and practices. But companies that establish change initiatives discover, after initial success, that even the most promising efforts to transform or revitalize organizations – despite interest, resources, and compelling business results – can fail to sustain themselves over time. That’s because organizations have complex, well-developed immune systems, aimed at preserving the status quo.

Now, drawing upon new theories about leadership and the long-term success of change initiatives, and based upon twenty-five years of experience building learning organizations, the authors of The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook show how to accelerate success and avoid the obstacles that can stall momentum. The Dance of Change, written for managers and executives at every level of an organization, reveals how business leaders can work together to anticipate the challenges that profound change will ultimately force the organization to face. Then, in a down-to-earth and compellingly clear format, readers will learn how to build the personal and organizational capabilities needed to meet those challenges.

Filled with individual and team exercises, in-depth accounts of sustaining learning initiatives by managers and leaders in the field, and well-tested practical advice, The Dance of Change provides an insider’s perspective on implementing learning and change initiatives at such corporations as British Petroleum, Chrysler, Dupont, Ford, General Electric, Harley-Davidson, Hewlett-Packard, Mitsubishi Electric, Royal DutchShell, Shell Oil Company, Toyota, the United States Army, and Xerox. It offers crucial advice for line-level managers, executive leaders, internal networkers, educators, and others who are struggling to put change initiatives into practice.

Business Beyond the Box makes note of the self-imposed limitations each of us places on ourselves unconsciously. With a focus on applying new mindsets and achieving breakthrough results, O’Keeffe suggests working with–rather than within–boundaries. Applicable to both individuals and organizations, Business Beyond the Box will improve readers’ ability to innovate.

Seven years after the publication of the first edition, Spain is still different, but it is changing, too-modernizing rapidly and participating as an active member of the European Union.

While thoroughly updating her original work, Helen Wattley-Ames has maintained her focus in describing the uniqueness of both the Spanish people and their culture and on examining what effect the differences have on the way the Spaniards and Americans relate to and interact with each other. She looks at how Spain has evolved from a travel destination, as source of “sun and cheap wine,” to a dynamic modern society. She depicts a people proud of their accomplishments, yet working hard to maintain valued traditions in the face of increased buying power and more European and American influence.

The author begins by looking into Spain’s past and at critical dimensions of present day American-Spanish relations. She then explores certain aspects of culture important in cross-cultural interactions: society and the individual; relationships; language and communication; work and play. She ends each chapter with an “encounter”-a critical incident that illuminates a situation which may cause misunderstanding, embarrassment or conflict.

With extensively updated and revised sections on women (in the workplace in particular), and new sections on minorities and immigrants, and ethics and corruption, the new edition of Spain is Different will be welcomed by anyone looking for clear guidance on how to be most effective in the encounter with the people and culture of Spain.

Gavin Kennedy aims to go beyond tough guy tactics to reveal how people actually negotiate. This text is not about what people ought to do, rationally or otherwise – it is about how people really behave and what you can do about it.

His thesis is that the two usual modes of negotiating behaviour should be blended. The “red style” is the use of manipulative tactics and agressive ploys, whilst the “blue style” is the antidote to this, suggesting the use of principled negotiation and rational problem solving prescriptions. Kennedy presents his “purple style”, which says: “give me some of what I want (“red style”) and I will give you some of what you want (“Blue style”)”. “Red” is taking behaviour, “blue” is giving behaviour, and “purple” is trading behaviour. “Purple” behaviour deals with people as they are, and not how you assume them to be. It is biased towards how negotiators behave and prefers the evidence of their behaviour to affirmations of their good intentions, but it is not a rationale for cynicism.

The author sets-out a simplified, 4-phase process of this theory: prepare; debate; propose; and bargain.

Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) is a revolutionary approach to human communication and development based on the discovery that by changing how you think, you can transform what you think. It helps you to modify your thought and behavioural patterns to suit your projected goals. NLP literally “re-programs” your mind and your life – for faster learning, better relationships and greater success.

NLP will change your life. It has already helped millions of people overcome fears, increase confidence, enrich relationships and achieve greater success. Now, the NLP Comprehensive Training Team, a team of counsellors, coaches and consultants, draw on years of personal and professional experience to create an effective guidebook to learning and applying this technology to achieve what you want.

The reader can learn to: master powerful techniques of persuasion and negotiation; eliminate fears, phobias and low self-esteem in minutes; and learn the success secrets of top achievers. Every chapter in this step-by-step guide includes exercises to help you master specific NLP techniques, and a new 21-day programme, created especially for this book, provides the essential skills needed to achieve peak performance in business and in life.

Charles Faulkner is the author of “NLP: The New Technology of Achievement” and “Success and Mastery with NLP“.

For years, business schools and professional consultants have turned to Sun Tzu’s 2,500-year-old Chinese text for its invaluable commentary on such topics as leadership, strategy, organisation, competition and cooperation. Now the wisdom of Sun Tzu’s The Art of War is made accessible to the modern reader.

Not simply a new translation, this is the first book to provide a clear, easy-to-follow interpretation of the classic document. The Art of War for Executives reveals the brilliance of Sun Tzu – and shows how to win on the battlefield of modern business. The tone and insight of the original classic remain, whilst incorperating the ideas of contemporary business philosophers, like Peters, Drucker and Bennis.

Here at last is an accessible interpretation of Sun Tzu’s The Art of War incorperating modern business lessons to make this classic text relevant and readable for today’s executive facing strategic and competitive challenges.

The need for new approaches, methods, and techniques in cross-cultural training and intercultural education are virtually insatiable, especially for experiential activities. The emphasis in this book is on activities that foster the development of intercultural awareness and cross-cultural sensitivity, helping learners understand some of the principal dimensions of intercultural communication, cross-cultural human relations, and cultural diversity.

The selections include simulations, case studies, role plays, critical incidents, and individual and group exercises. A number address relatively complex workplace issues; others focus on intercultural dynamics in educational contexts. Some are printed here for the first time; others are culled from less accessible sources. They range from basic introductory activities to those that facilitate the exploration of intercultural issues in significant depth.

In an introductory essay, Sheila Ramsey, an experienced scholar and trainer, examines the nature of intercultural training and lays out a conceptual framework for assessing its effectiveness. The rest of the book is made up of activities organized around six facets of intercultural contact: cultural differences for beginners, understanding oneself as a cultural person, the intercultural perspective, working across cultures, cross-cultural “foul-ups,” and returning home.

Each section opens with an introduction, followed by activities. Each activity includes, at a minimum, objectives, audience, materials required, setting, time required, and procedure for facilitation. Many of the activities include handouts or illustrations. This book will be especially valuable for trainers and educators who want to further ground their work in a solid theoretical base and at he same time augment their resources to expand heir repertoire.

Drawing on contemporary psychological insights, this book shows how both teaching and learning styles are rooted in the dynamics of personality. By opening the door to a whole range of teaching techniques addressing the personality needs of different students, Effective Teaching, Effective Learning will prove an invaluable aid to classroom teachers, parents, school psychologists, counselors, administrators, and all those concerned with contemporary educational issues. Filled with practical, concrete suggestions, this book: clarifies the strengths and weaknesses of different teaching and learning styles, helps teachers get more satisfaction out of teaching by identifying new ways to reach students with various learning styles, matches the different types of learners with the teaching approaches and materials most likely to work for them, provides specific steps for handling conflict, discipline, and academic and interpersonal issues.

Nothing could be more timely than the publication of this revised edition of the Intercultural Sourcebook. The 1979 edition reflected the new field of cross-cultural training, at that time searching for focus and direction. This new edition embodies the progress made in that search, systematically defining the field’s parameters and offering concrete examples of the methods and techniques currently employed by its practitioners.

Intercultural Sourcebook will be a “must have” not only for educators and trainers concerned with intercultural learning or the development of cross-cultural skills, but for anyone who wishes to comprehend fully what these processes involve. Comprehensive in scope, the book examines both the principal methods used in cross-cultural training and a selection of specialized techniques and instructional devices.

In this, the first of a two-volume set, six methods are examined in twenty articles: role plays, contrast-culture training, simulation games, critical incidents, the cultural assimilator, and case studies. In each, a lead article traces the development and use of the particular method; several articles then offer specific applications. Intercultural Sourcebook provides both a framework for conceptualizing the training methods covered and resources for applying them in one’s own work. Each article is written by an experienced trainer; in fact, the author list comprises the core of a who’s who in the field.

Thorough, practical, and enlightening, this book will define the field for years to come.

Much has been written on the economic dimensions of U.S.-Mexican business relations, but little on the more subtle and sensitive cultural issues involved. In this revised edition, Eva Kras has provided us with an updated book that confronts head-on the problems that arise out of the cultural differences between U.S. and Mexican managers. And it could not be more timely. Since the publication of this book in 1989, the Maquiladoras have increased in number, the NAFTA agreement has been ratified and is already having an impact on Mexican society, and business practices have changed and evolved in response. In this new edition, Ms. Kras has expanded her analysis and offers the reader a sharper image of her subject in the light of these developments and their meaning for interaction between U.S. and Mexican managers. Mexico’s ambitious Maquiladora program—designed to foster the establishment of foreign, especially U.S., manufacturing plants in Mexico along the U.S. border—has been strikingly successful. All along the border, jointly managed industries have sprung up. The result has been a significant increase in the amount of contact between managers from the two cultures and a dramatic rise in the stakes involved in their developing effective working relationships. This practical handbook is based on extensive interviews with Mexican and U.S. managers. Ms. Kras compares the critical areas of a managerial setting in which the values and behaviors of the two cultures differ and offers specific recommendations as to how the disparities between them can be handled. In the process, she deals realistically with the problems and misunderstandings that arise between Mexican and U.S. managers and demonstrates clearly how simple but hard-to-achieve changes in attitude and style can resolve them.

*The original book behind the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® (MBTI®) test*

Like a thumbprint, personality type provides an instant snapshot of a person’s uniqueness. Drawing on concepts originated by Carl Jung, this book distinguishes four categories of personality styles and shows how these qualities determine the way you perceive the world and come to conclusions about what you’ve seen. It then explains what they mean for your success in school, at a job, in a career and in your personal relationships.

For more than 60 years, the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) tool has been the most widely used instrument in the world for determining personality type, and for more than 25 years, Gifts Differing has been the preeminent source for understanding it.

This book is for people who want to learn, especially while treading the fertile ground of organizational life.

The idea of a learning organization has become increasingly prominent over the last few years. This book’s predecessor, The Fifth Discipline, helped give voice to that wave on interest by presenting the conceptual underpinnings of the work of building learning organizations. Since its publication in 1990, Peter Senge et al. have talked to thousands of people who have committed themselves to the idea of building a learning organization. However, many of them are still not certain how to put the concepts into practice, asking questions like ‘What do we do Monday morning? How do we navigate past the many barriers and roadblocks to collective learning? How do we discover exactly what kind of learning organization we wish to create? How do we get started?’ No one person has THE answers to these questions, but there are answers.

It is time for a ‘fieldbook’ – a collection of notes, reflections and exercised ‘from the field’. This volume contains 172 pieces of writing by 67 authors, describing tools and methods, stories and reflections, guiding ideas and exercises and resources which people are using effectively.