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| paul strassmann the business value of computers: The Business Value of Computers Paul A. Strassmann, 1990 The book addresses the practical needs of executives responsible for planning, budgeting & justifying information technology expenditures. Written by the former chief information executive (1956-1978) & vice president of strategic planning (1978-1985), author of the widely acclaimed & translated INFORMATION PAYOFF - THE TRANSFORMATION OF WORK IN THE ELECTRONIC AGE (Free Press, 1985), lecturer & university professor. Reviews: A New Bible for Management Information Systems. An eminently readable book made more so by a playful sense of humor -Information Week-; Strips away obfuscation that has concealed the real value of computers. (The Financial Post); A true path to the Holy Grail of business value. (Computer Weekly); Some surprising answers to familiar questions cast new light on investing profitably in computer hardware & software. (The Conference Board); All those either transfixed or baffled by the powers & potential of computers would do well to heed Strassmann's advice. (Daily Telegraph); Measuring managerial productivity is the key to knowing how to invest in information technology. Strassmann's new book sets out the results of his research in detail. His argument comes through clearly. (The Financial Times). |
| paul strassmann the business value of computers: My March to Liberation Paul A. Strassmann, 2011 The author was fifteen when his family's life in Trenín, Slovakia, was turned upside down by the World War II. His memoir describes what it was like to be a teenager during World War II--what he learned, what he lost, and what he had to do to survive. During the summer and fall of 1944 his family was deported, and he became a fugitive, but he quickly determined that he was unsuited for a life in hiding. He joined a partizan unit, and took part in military actions and survival efforts during the winter months that followed. His memoir reflects on the reasons he chose to take up combat as a means of escaping the Germans. Not only does he provide the reader with recollections of various partizan campaigns, but he also offers tender portrayals of those he loved and eventually lost. In addition, the memoir addresses how the Slovak government methodically organized the impoverishment and then the annihilation of Slovak Jews. |
| paul strassmann the business value of computers: Computer Organization and Programming Charles William Gear, 1974 |
| paul strassmann the business value of computers: Business Perseus Publishing, 2002-08-15 A landmark in reference publishing, this resource covers virtually every aspect of the world of business. It contains clear concise text plus profiles of 150 countries and biographies of management pioneers. Includes 150 maps and 700 illustrations. |
| paul strassmann the business value of computers: The Squandered Computer Paul A. Strassmann, 1997 Strassmann reveals the hidden costs versus value of information technology, including how to realize the alignment of IT and business plans, how spending interacts with revenue, overhead costs, and personnel related to IT, and the idea of workload without payoff. One strategy is outsourcing and the perspective that the best companies do not outsource massive amounts of data manipulation, but rather study good reasons for outsourcing and manage it effectively without decaying their information assets. |
| paul strassmann the business value of computers: Structuring Your Business for Success Ira S. Kalb, 1992 |
| paul strassmann the business value of computers: The Light Touch Malcolm L. Kushner, 1991 Humor is a powerful management tool, although few business people how how to use it. Malcolm Kushner, a prominent consultant to corporations on the use of humor, presents his easy-to-apply formulas that help command respect and attention, build morale, and create a more productive work environment. |
| paul strassmann the business value of computers: Strategic Management Samuel C. Certo, J. Paul Peter, 1988 |
| paul strassmann the business value of computers: Infonomics Douglas B. Laney, 2017-09-05 Many senior executives talk about information as one of their most important assets, but few behave as if it is. They report to the board on the health of their workforce, their financials, their customers, and their partnerships, but rarely the health of their information assets. Corporations typically exhibit greater discipline in tracking and accounting for their office furniture than their data. Infonomics is the theory, study, and discipline of asserting economic significance to information. It strives to apply both economic and asset management principles and practices to the valuation, handling, and deployment of information assets. This book specifically shows: CEOs and business leaders how to more fully wield information as a corporate asset CIOs how to improve the flow and accessibility of information CFOs how to help their organizations measure the actual and latent value in their information assets. More directly, this book is for the burgeoning force of chief data officers (CDOs) and other information and analytics leaders in their valiant struggle to help their organizations become more infosavvy. Author Douglas Laney has spent years researching and developing Infonomics and advising organizations on the infinite opportunities to monetize, manage, and measure information. This book delivers a set of new ideas, frameworks, evidence, and even approaches adapted from other disciplines on how to administer, wield, and understand the value of information. Infonomics can help organizations not only to better develop, sell, and market their offerings, but to transform their organizations altogether. Doug Laney masterfully weaves together a collection of great examples with a solid framework to guide readers on how to gain competitive advantage through what he labels the unruly asset – data. The framework is comprehensive, the advice practical and the success stories global and across industries and applications. Liz Rowe, Chief Data Officer, State of New Jersey A must read for anybody who wants to survive in a data centric world. Shaun Adams, Head of Data Science, Betterbathrooms.com Phenomenal! An absolute must read for data practitioners, business leaders and technology strategists. Doug's lucid style has a set a new standard in providing intelligible material in the field of information economics. His passion and knowledge on the subject exudes thru his literature and inspires individuals like me. Ruchi Rajasekhar, Principal Data Architect, MISO Energy I highly recommend Infonomics to all aspiring analytics leaders. Doug Laney’s work gives readers a deeper understanding of how and why information should be monetized and managed as an enterprise asset. Laney’s assertion that accounting should recognize information as a capital asset is quite convincing and one I agree with. Infonomics enjoyably echoes that sentiment! Matt Green, independent business analytics consultant, Atlanta area If you care about the digital economy, and you should, read this book. Tanya Shuckhart, Analyst Relations Lead, IRI Worldwide |
| paul strassmann the business value of computers: The Computers Nobody Wanted Paul A. Strassmann, 2008 The Computers Nobody Wanted is a history of an ill-conceived acquisition, in 1969, of Xerox's entry into the computer business to its subsequent abandonment. The text discusses attempts to convert a superior scientific computer to replace Xerox' own IBM computers that were processing business applications. The author was responsible for managing these conversions against technical obstacles that could not be overcome. After spending tens of millions for technology improvements, Xerox decided to exit form the computer business. The book also traces investments in a computer workstation - the STAR computer - from conception in 1973 to its dissolution in 1984. It describes the pioneering research at the Xerox PARC (Palo Alto Research Center) and how an inspired group produced superb innovations that were of no commercial value. During this epoch Strassmann was Vice-President of Strategic Planning for the Information Products Group that was responsible for transfer of PARC results to the marketplace. |
| paul strassmann the business value of computers: Marketing Management and Information Technology Keith Fletcher, 1995-01-01 This work gives an overview of marketing concepts and techniques and shows how a marketing manager's job is being, or may be, changed by information technology. Each chapter begins with aims and learning objectives and ends with self-assessment questions. This second edition reflects technological changes and includes chapters on positioning and targeting, and database marketing. Case histories and examples highlight the benefits and pitfalls of the use of IT in marketing. |
| paul strassmann the business value of computers: The Politics of Information Management Paul A. Strassmann, 1995 This book looks at the place of information management within an organisation and the responsibilities, possibilities and political issues involved in successful information management. |
| paul strassmann the business value of computers: Product Planning and Management William Loyd Moore, Edgar A. Pessemier, 1993 |
| paul strassmann the business value of computers: Information Productivity Paul A. Strassmann, 1999 Discusses the costs of information management in relation to all other costs of doing business. Shows how to calculate and analyze the information productivity of a corporation. Includes a ranking of the productivity of 1,586 U.S. industrial corporations in an appendix. |
| paul strassmann the business value of computers: Paul's War Paul A. Strassmann, 2006 Paul’s War tells about the experiences of a fifteen-year-old who joined a partizan unit in September 1944, to derail German trains on a strategic railroad in Slovakia. Military actions and survival in the mountains during a brutal winter are described as often tragic events. Paul stayed with the partizans until the end of war when he joined the Czechoslovak army. The text includes recollections about the influences that formed Paul's attitudes that enabled him to choose combat as a way of escaping the Germans. The section about Family offers portrayals of the personalities of his relatives, with special attention devoted to his father, a former military officer. |
| paul strassmann the business value of computers: The Technical and Social History of Software Engineering Capers Jones, 2014 Pioneering software engineer Capers Jones has written the first and only definitive history of the entire software engineering industry. Drawing on his extraordinary vantage point as a leading practitioner for several decades, Jones reviews the entire history of IT and software engineering, assesses its impact on society, and previews its future. One decade at a time, Jones assesses emerging trends and companies, winners and losers, new technologies, methods, tools, languages, productivity/quality benchmarks, challenges, risks, professional societies, and more. He quantifies both beneficial and harmful software inventions; accurately estimates the size of both the US and global software industries; and takes on unexplained mysteries such as why and how programming languages gain and lose popularity. |
| paul strassmann the business value of computers: The Craft of Scientific Presentations Michael Alley, 2006-05-17 This timely and hugely practical work provides a score of examples from contemporary and historical scientific presentations to show clearly what makes an oral presentation effective. It considers presentations made to persuade an audience to adopt some course of action (such as funding a proposal) as well as presentations made to communicate information, and it considers these from four perspectives: speech, structure, visual aids, and delivery. It also discusses computer-based projections and slide shows as well as overhead projections. In particular, it looks at ways of organizing graphics and text in projected images and of using layout and design to present the information efficiently and effectively. |
| paul strassmann the business value of computers: Information Assurance Joseph Boyce, Dan Wesley Jennings, 2002-06-17 Written by two INFOSEC experts, this book provides a systematic and practical approach for establishing, managing and operating a comprehensive Information Assurance program. It is designed to provide ISSO managers, security managers, and INFOSEC professionals with an understanding of the essential issues required to develop and apply a targeted information security posture to both public and private corporations and government run agencies. There is a growing concern among all corporations and within the security industry to come up with new approaches to measure an organization's information security risks and posture. Information Assurance explains and defines the theories and processes that will help a company protect its proprietary information including: * The need to assess the current level of risk. * The need to determine what can impact the risk. * The need to determine how risk can be reduced. The authors lay out a detailed strategy for defining information security, establishing IA goals, providing training for security awareness, and conducting airtight incident response to system compromise. Such topics as defense in depth, configuration management, IA legal issues, and the importance of establishing an IT baseline are covered in-depth from an organizational and managerial decision-making perspective. Experience-based theory provided in a logical and comprehensive manner. Management focused coverage includes establishing an IT security posture, implementing organizational awareness and training, and understanding the dynamics of new technologies. Numerous real-world examples provide a baseline for assessment and comparison. |
| paul strassmann the business value of computers: Unimagined Futures – ICT Opportunities and Challenges Leon Strous, Roger Johnson, David Alan Grier, Doron Swade, 2020-12-05 This Festschrift, Unimagined Futures – ICT Opportunities and Challenges, is the first Festschrift in the IFIP AICT series. It examines key challenges facing the ICT community today. While addressing the contemporary challenges, the book provides the opportunity to look back to help understand the contemporary scene and identify appropriate future responses to them. Experts in different areas of the ICT scene have contributed to this IFIP 60th anniversary book, which will be a key input to the ICT community worldwide on setting policy priorities and agendas for the coming decade. In addition, a number of contributions look specifically at the role of professionals and of national, regional, and global organizations in disseminating the benefits of ICT to humanity worldwide. |
| paul strassmann the business value of computers: The Information Paradox John Thorp, Fujitsu Consulting's Center for Strategic Leadership, 2003 Considerable change has transpired in the years since the first edition of this book was published, yet the paradox remains - investments in IT-enabled business change are still not being consistently translated into business value. This is the Information Paradox - the conflict between the widely held belief that information, and investment in IT to provide that information, is a good thing and the all too frequent reality that we cannot demonstrate a connection between IT investments and business results. John Thorp and Fujitsu Consulting have continued to work with many clients around the world, implementing the Benefits Realization Approach - a unique, client-tested framework that introduces a benefits-focused mindset. Their experience has led to the understanding that the issues with IT value are merely a symptom of a broader business value problem, and to the development of a new, expanded approach - Enterprise Value Management. A completely new Afterword outlines this new approach which goes beyond the challenge of IT value to provide a comprehensive value-driven organizational governance process. It builds on the foundation of benefits realization to help organizations manage value in an increasingly uncertain and real-time business environment. It takes readers to a new level of understanding.--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved |
| paul strassmann the business value of computers: Rewriting Nature Paul Enríquez, 2021-06-24 Rewriting Nature is a cogent, riveting interdisciplinary exploration of the law, science, and policy of emerging genome-editing technology. |
| paul strassmann the business value of computers: A History of the Internet and the Digital Future Johnny Ryan, 2010-09-15 A History of the Internet and the Digital Future tells the story of the development of the Internet from the 1950s to the present and examines how the balance of power has shifted between the individual and the state in the areas of censorship, copyright infringement, intellectual freedom, and terrorism and warfare. Johnny Ryan explains how the Internet has revolutionized political campaigns; how the development of the World Wide Web enfranchised a new online population of assertive, niche consumers; and how the dot-com bust taught smarter firms to capitalize on the power of digital artisans. From the government-controlled systems of the Cold War to today’s move towards cloud computing, user-driven content, and the new global commons, this book reveals the trends that are shaping the businesses, politics, and media of the digital future. |
| paul strassmann the business value of computers: The One to One Future Don Peppers, Martha Rogers, 1993 Using the 1 to 1 techniques, readers will discover what their customers want today and what they will want tomorrow. Already being tested in companies such as Procter & Gamble, Nissan, and American Express, the 1 to 1 system represents a major evolution in business. |
| paul strassmann the business value of computers: The Logic of Business Strategy Bruce D. Henderson, 1985-09-01 |
| paul strassmann the business value of computers: The UNIX-haters Handbook Simson Garfinkel, Daniel Weise, Steven Strassmann, 1994 This book is for all people who are forced to use UNIX. It is a humorous book--pure entertainment--that maintains that UNIX is a computer virus with a user interface. It features letters from the thousands posted on the Internet's UNIX-Haters mailing list. It is not a computer handbook, tutorial, or reference. It is a self-help book that will let readers know they are not alone. |
| paul strassmann the business value of computers: How to Measure Anything Douglas W. Hubbard, 2010-03-25 Now updated with new research and even more intuitive explanations, a demystifying explanation of how managers can inform themselves to make less risky, more profitable business decisions This insightful and eloquent book will show you how to measure those things in your own business that, until now, you may have considered immeasurable, including customer satisfaction, organizational flexibility, technology risk, and technology ROI. Adds even more intuitive explanations of powerful measurement methods and shows how they can be applied to areas such as risk management and customer satisfaction Continues to boldly assert that any perception of immeasurability is based on certain popular misconceptions about measurement and measurement methods Shows the common reasoning for calling something immeasurable, and sets out to correct those ideas Offers practical methods for measuring a variety of intangibles Adds recent research, especially in regards to methods that seem like measurement, but are in fact a kind of placebo effect for management – and explains how to tell effective methods from management mythology Written by recognized expert Douglas Hubbard-creator of Applied Information Economics-How to Measure Anything, Second Edition illustrates how the author has used his approach across various industries and how any problem, no matter how difficult, ill defined, or uncertain can lend itself to measurement using proven methods. |
| paul strassmann the business value of computers: Organizational Linkages National Research Council, Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education, Board on Human-Systems Integration, Panel on Organizational Linkages, 1994-02-01 By one analysis, a 12 percent annual increase in data processing budgets for U.S. corporations has yielded annual productivity gains of less than 2 percent. Why? This timely book provides some insights by exploring the linkages among individual, group, and organizational productivity. The authors examine how to translate workers' productivity increases into gains for the entire organization, and discuss why huge investments in automation and other innovations have failed to boost productivity. Leading experts explore how processes such as problem solving prompt changes in productivity and how inertia and other characteristics of organizations stall productivity. The book examines problems in productivity measurement and presents solutions. Also examined in this useful book are linkage issues in the fields of software engineering and computer-aided design and why organizational downsizing has not resulted in commensurate productivity gains. Important theoretical and practical implications contribute to this volume's usefulness to business and technology managers, human resources specialists, policymakers, and researchers. |
| paul strassmann the business value of computers: Information and Organizations Arthur L. Stinchcombe, 1990 An ambitious new work by a well-respected sociologist, Information and Organizations provides a bold perspective of the dynamics of organizations. Stinchcombe contends that the information problem and the concept of uncertainty provide the key to understanding how organizations function. In a delightful mix of large theoretical insights and vivid anecdotal material, Stinchcombe explores the ins and outs of organizations from both a macro and micro perspective. He reinterprets the work of the renowned scholars of business, Alfred Chandler, James March and Oliver Williamson, and looks in depth at corporations like DuPont and General Motors. Along the way, Stinchcombe explores subjects as varied as class consciousness, innovation, contracts and university administration. All of these analyses are distinguished by incisive thinking and creative new approaches to issues that have long confronted business people and those interested in organizational theory. A tour de force, Information and Organizations is a must-read for business people and scholars of many stripes. It promises to be a widely discussed and debated work |
| paul strassmann the business value of computers: Radiation and Health Thormod Henriksen, 2002-09-05 Radiation and the effects of radioactivity have been known for more than 100 years. International research spanning this period has yielded a great deal of information about radiation and its biological effects and this activity has resulted in the discovery of many applications in medicine and industry including cancer therapy, medical diagnostics |
| paul strassmann the business value of computers: Managing Science Frederick Betz, 2010-11-30 What is science? How is it performed? Is science only a method or is it also an institution? These are questions at the core of Managing Science, a handbook on how scientific research is conducted and its results disseminated. Knowledge creation occurs through scientific research in universities, industrial laboratories, and government agencies. Any knowledge management system needs to promote effective research processes to foster innovation, and, ultimately, to channel that innovation into economic competitiveness and wealth. However, science is a complicated topic. It includes both methodological aspects and organizational aspects, which have traditionally been discussed in isolation from each other. In Managing Science, Frederick Betz presents a holistic approach to science, incorporating both philosophical and practical elements, in a framework that integrates scientific method, content, administration and application. Illustrating all of the key concepts with illustrative case studies (both historical and contemporary, and from a wide spectrum of fields), Betz provides in-depth discussion of the process of science. He addresses the social, organizational, institutional, and infrastructural context through which research projects are designed and their results applied, along the path from experimentation to innovation to commercialization of new products, services, and processes. This practical approach to science is the foundation of today's knowledge-intensive and technology-enabled industries, and positions the management of science within the broader context of knowledge management and its implications for organizations, industries, and regional and national technology management policies. Managing Science will be an essential resource for students in all areas of research, industry scientists and R&D specialists, policymakers and university administrators, and anyone concerned with the application of research to economic growth and development. |
| paul strassmann the business value of computers: Estimating Software Costs Capers Jones, 2007-05-10 Deliver bug-free software projects on schedule and within budget Get a clear, complete understanding of how to estimate software costs, schedules, and quality using the real-world information contained in this comprehensive volume. Find out how to choose the correct hardware and software tools, develop an appraisal strategy, deploy tests and prototypes, and produce accurate software cost estimates. Plus, you'll get full coverage of cutting-edge estimating approaches using Java, object-oriented methods, and reusable components. Plan for and execute project-, phase-, and activity-level cost estimations Estimate regression, component, integration, and stress tests Compensate for inaccuracies in data collection, calculation, and analysis Assess software deliverables and data complexity Test design principles and operational characteristics using software prototyping Handle configuration change, research, quality control, and documentation costs Capers Jones' work offers a unique contribution to the understanding of the economics of software production. It provides deep insights into why our advances in computing are not matched with corresponding improvements in the software that drives it. This book is absolutely required reading for an understanding of the limitations of our technological advances. --Paul A. Strassmann, former CIO of Xerox, the Department of Defense, and NASA |
| paul strassmann the business value of computers: Developing Software to Government Standards William H. Roetzheim, 1991 |
| paul strassmann the business value of computers: The Economics of Corporate Information Systems Paul A. Strassmann, An economic analysis of investments in computers, including illustrative workbooks, examples of productivity analysis and how to apply knowledge value metrics. Includes 55 Tables, 27 Figures and a collection of 18 illustrative calculators to show the methods and analysis applied in the management of information. |
| paul strassmann the business value of computers: Strategic Information Management Robert D. Galliers, Dorothy E Leidner, 2013-06-17 'Strategic Information Management' has been completely up-dated to reflect the rapid changes in IT and the business environment since the publication of the second edition. Half of the readings in the book have been replaced to address current issues and the latest thinking in Information Management. It goes without saying that Information technology has had a major impact on individuals, organizations and society over the past 50 years or so. There are few organizations that can afford to ignore IT and few individuals who would prefer to be without it. As managerial tasks become more complex, so the nature of the required information systems (IS) changes - from structured, routine support to ad hoc, unstructured, complex enquiries at the highest levels of management. As with the first and second editions, this third edition of 'Strategic Information Management: Challenges and strategies in managing information systems' aims to present the many complex and inter-related issues associated with the management of information systems. The book provides a rich source of material reflecting recent thinking on the key issues facing executives in information systems management. It draws from a wide range of contemporary articles written by leading experts from North America and Europe. 'Strategic Information Management' is designed as a course text for MBA, Master's level students and senior undergraduate students taking courses in information management. It provides a wealth of information and references for researchers in addition. |
| paul strassmann the business value of computers: Information management Leslie Willcocks, 2013-11-11 Survey and study background In an effort to gain some answers on the 1ST capital investment (project selection) decision criteria used in practice, a survey was undertaken in 1990 of 80 American, British, Australian and New Zealand companies. A one-page survey form was used that provided 15 possible 1ST investment criteria, a means of indicating whether they are used or not, the percentage of projects to which each criterion is applied, and an overall ranking in terms of total project value for each criterion. The criteria are shown in Table 2.1. The criteria are categorized into financial, management, and development criteria. They were developed, first, through interviews with some 20 chief information officers (CIOs) in Britain and the United States. These CIOs were questioned on what criteria their organizations use in selecting 1ST investment projects, with the aim of developing a full list of the criteria used in practice. Secondly, the criteria and the form were tested and refined in a pilot study with some 12 companies. The criteria used in the survey and listed in Table 2.1 are primary level criteria. |
| paul strassmann the business value of computers: Does It Matter? Nicholas G. Carr, 2004-04-07 Over the last decade, and even since the bursting of the technology bubble, pundits, consultants, and thought leaders have argued that information technology provides the edge necessary for business success. IT expert Nicholas G. Carr offers a radically different view in this eloquent and explosive book. As IT's power and presence have grown, he argues, its strategic relevance has actually decreased. IT has been transformed from a source of advantage into a commoditized cost of doing business--with huge implications for business management. Expanding on Carr's seminal Harvard Business Review article that generated a storm of controversy, Does IT Matter? provides a truly compelling--and unsettling--account of IT's changing business role and its leveling influence on competition. Through astute analysis of historical and contemporary examples, Carr shows that the evolution of IT closely parallels that of earlier technologies such as railroads and electric power. He goes on to lay out a new agenda for IT management, stressing cost control and risk management over innovation and investment. And he examines the broader implications for business strategy and organization as well as for the technology industry. A frame-changing statement on one of the most important business phenomena of our time, Does IT Matter? marks a crucial milepost in the debate about IT's future. An acclaimed business writer and thinker, Nicholas G. Carr is a former executive editor of the Harvard Business Review. |
| paul strassmann the business value of computers: The Media Lab Stewart Brand, 1989 Personalized newspapers, life-sized holograms, telephones that chat with callers, these are all projects that are being developed at MIT's Media Lab. Brand explores the exciting programs, and gives readers a look at the future of communications. |
| paul strassmann the business value of computers: Entangled Life Merlin Sheldrake, 2021-04-13 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A “brilliant [and] entrancing” (The Guardian) journey into the hidden lives of fungi—the great connectors of the living world—and their astonishing and intimate roles in human life, with the power to heal our bodies, expand our minds, and help us address our most urgent environmental problems. “Grand and dizzying in how thoroughly it recalibrates our understanding of the natural world.”—Ed Yong, author of An Immense World ONE OF PEOPLE’S BEST BOOKS OF THE 2020S • ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: Time, BBC Science Focus, The Daily Mail, Geographical, The Times, The Telegraph, New Statesman, London Evening Standard, Science Friday When we think of fungi, we likely think of mushrooms. But mushrooms are only fruiting bodies, analogous to apples on a tree. Most fungi live out of sight, yet make up a massively diverse kingdom of organisms that supports and sustains nearly all living systems. Fungi provide a key to understanding the planet on which we live, and the ways we think, feel, and behave. In the first edition of this mind-bending book, Sheldrake introduced us to this mysterious but massively diverse kingdom of life. This exquisitely designed volume, abridged from the original, features more than one hundred full-color images that bring the spectacular variety, strangeness, and beauty of fungi to life as never before. Fungi throw our concepts of individuality and even intelligence into question. They are metabolic masters, earth makers, and key players in most of life’s processes. They can change our minds, heal our bodies, and even help us remediate environmental disaster. By examining fungi on their own terms, Sheldrake reveals how these extraordinary organisms—and our relationships with them—are changing our understanding of how life works. Winner of the Wainwright Prize, the Royal Society Science Book Prize, and the Guild of Food Writers Award • Shortlisted for the British Book Award • Longlisted for the Rathbones Folio Prize |
| paul strassmann the business value of computers: Changes in the Life Insurance Industry: Efficiency, Technology and Risk Management J. David Cummins, Anthony M. Santomero, 2012-12-06 Major challenges for life insurance companies have been posed by an unprecedented wave of mergers and acquisitions in the insurance industry and the emergence of non-traditional competitors such as banks, mutual fund companies and investment advisory firms. This is the first book to analyze the determinants of firm performance in the life insurance industry by identifying the `best practices' employed by leading insurers to succeed in this dynamic business environment. The book draws upon data from insurer financial statements as well as upon an extensive survey of life insurer management practices and strategic choices in distribution systems, information technology, mergers and acquisitions, human resources and financial strategies. Generic strategies such as cost leadership, customer focus, and product differentiation are analyzed as well as strategic practices specific to the insurance industry. Best practices are identified by measuring the economic efficiency of insurers and by comparing firms across the industry. Both cost and revenue efficiency are measured relative to best practice efficient frontiers consisting of the industry's dominant life insurance firms. Economies of scale and the effects of mergers and acquisitions on efficiency are also analyzed. Financial strategies are examined with specific reference to pricing policy, valuation of assets and liabilities, and the current state of firm-level risk management systems. The benchmarks established are the result of extensive fieldwork that identifies key financial risks and methodologies to both measure and manage them at the firm level. The results discussed in the book indicate that firm performance is significantly correlated with management practices and strategic choices. Thus, life insurers can improve profitability by adopting optimal combinations of strategies. The book contains important new material on the effects of strategic choices in product distributionsystems, information technology, mergers and acquisitions, human resources, and financial risk management policies. In the area of efficiency, the methodology provides a new approach for identifying peer groups of insurers and measuring the performance of individual insurers relative to their peer group. On the topics of risk and pricing, new insights are offered relative to current methodologies and in regard to areas where improvement is clearly warranted. The book concludes with an analysis of the future opportunities and challenges in the life insurance industry facing managers, and the strategic options available to them to cope with these changes. |
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Paris est la capitale de l’amour, de l’élégance, de la mode et de la vie romantique. Au gré de ces cafés, croissants et viennoiseries, PAUL Traiteur a peu à peu développé une gamme de mets …
Quiches & Pizzas - Repas chaud - PAUL
Établie depuis 1889, la Maison PAUL conçoit chaque jour de délicieuses quiches et pizzas pour vos repas du midi. Nos produits sont fabriqués avec soin et sont désormais disponibles à …
Contactez-nous - PAUL
Conformément à la loi Informatique et Libertés n°78-17 du 6 janvier 1978 modifiée et au Règlement Général sur la Protection des Données à caractère personnel n° 2016/679/UE du …
