Managing business in the twenty first century

Business firms today are managed in fundamentally different ways compared to thirty or even twenty years ago. Most firms, including family-run businesses, pay attention to the latest management techniques and concepts to maximize the firm's growth. In India, the public's interest in how business work has grown manifold ever since the end of the "closed economy." As interest in management techniques and ideas has spread beyond business communities, theories have abounded, and several are misunderstood. This volume brings together fourteen essays on significant theoretical concepts in management that are critical to business strategy in the twenty-first century. Setting the stage with a discussion on globalization and the new economy, the essays explore: industry structure, financial systems, and macroeconomics at firm level; creating and sustaining competitive advantage of firms in the new marketplace; managing the value-chain--from supplier to consumer--by responding faster to environmental changes; navigating and continuing to create future value for all stakeholders; and meeting social obligations of business by providing transparent and good governance of the enterprise. Written by well known experts and teachers of management sciences from the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, the volume is uniquely instructive, yet lucid and accessible.