Research Methods & Encyclopedias in Social Sciences

The second edition of this flagship business and management reference work is divided into 12 individual subject volumes and an index and includes a brand new volume on Entrepreneurship: Comprises over 6500 specially commissioned and carefully edited entries Written and edited by international teams of over 1500 of the world's best scholars and teachers Features extended bibliographies of relevant, wider, international literature and the foremost global scholarship in each field.

The role of Corporate Social Responsibility in the business world has developed from a fig leaf marketing front into an important aspect of corporate behavior over the past several years. Sustainable strategies are valued, desired and deployed more and more by relevant players in many industries all over the world. Both research and corporate practice therefore see CSR as a guiding principle for business success. The "Encyclopedia of Corporate Social Responsibility" has been conceived to assist researchers and practitioners to align business and societal objectives.

This work is designed to serve as a core reference for anyone interested in the essentials of contemporary management theory. Drawing together a team of international scholars, it examines the global landscape of the key theories and the theorists behind them, presenting them in the context needed to understand their strengths and weaknesses to thoughtfully apply them. In addition to interpretations of long-established theories, it also offers essays on cutting-edge research as one might find in a handbook. And, like an unabridged dictionary, it provides concise, to-the-point definitions of key concepts, ideas, schools, and figures.

Features & Benefits: 150 carefully selected signed entries (each with Cross References and Further Readings) are organized in A-to-Z fashion to give students easy access to the full range of topics in new venture management. A thematic Reader's Guide in the front matter groups related entries by broad topical and thematic areas to make it easy for users to find related entries at a glance, with themes that include "Entrepreneurial Decision Making," "Corporate Entrepreneurship," "Entrepreneurial Marketing," "Leadership & Human Resources," "Financing & Development," and more.

This encyclopedia provides decision-makers in Operations Research with a comprehensive overview of the range of ideas and forces that combine in OR/MS. New topics for the third edition, include yield management, flexible queuing systems, service management, local search, tolerance sensitivity analysis, influence diagrams, knowledge management, strategy and policy making, school districting, computational biology.

Society, globally, has entered into what might be called the "service economy." Services now constitute the largest share of GDP in most countries and provide the major source of employment in both developed and developing countries. Services permeate all aspects of peoples' lives and are becoming inseparable from most aspects of economic activity. "Quality management" has been a dominating managerial practice since World War II. With quality management initially associated with manufacturing industries, one might assume the relevance of quality management might decrease with the emergence of the service economy. To the contrary, the emergence of the service economy strengthened the importance of quality issues, which no longer are associated only with manufacturing industries but are increasingly applied in all service sectors, as well.

The International Encyclopedia of Hospitality Management is the definitive reference work for any individual studying or working in the hospitality industry. It covers all of the relevant issues in the field of hospitality management from a sectoral level (lodging, restaurants/food service, time-share, clubs and events) as well as a functional one (accounting and finance, marketing, strategic management, human resources, information technology and facilities management).

The business of food and drink is for better and worse the business of our nation and our planet, and to most consumers how it works remains largely a mystery. This encyclopedia takes readers as consumers behind the scenes of the food and drink industries. The contributors come from a wide range of fields, and the scope of this encyclopedia is broad, covering from food companies and brands to the environment, health, science and technology, culture, finance, and more.