Government Management

The 25th Secretary of Defense takes listeners behind the scenes to reveal the inner workings of the Pentagon, its vital mission, and what it takes to lead it. The Pentagon is the headquarters of the single largest institution in America: the Department of Defense. The DOD employs millions of Americans. It owns and operates more real estate and spends more money than any other entity. It manages the world’s largest and most complex information network and performs more R&D than Apple, Google, and Microsoft combined.

Analyzing the movement's deep-seated origins in questions that the country has sought too long to ignore, some of the greatest economic minds and most incisive cultural commentators capture the Occupy Wall Street phenomenon in all its ragged glory. They give listeners an on-the-scene feel for the movement as it unfolds while exploring the heady growth of the protests, considering the lasting changes wrought, and recommending reform.

Warehouse workers pack boxes while a virtual dragon races across their screen. If they beat their colleagues, they get an award. If not, they can be fired. Uber presents exhausted drivers with challenges to keep them driving. China scores its citizens so they behave well, and games with in-app purchases use achievements to empty your wallet. Points, badges, and leaderboards are creeping into every aspect of modern life. Game designer Adrian Hon delivers a blistering takedown of how corporations, schools, and governments use games and gamification as tools for profit and coercion.

The IT world is fascinating inside and out. Every year, new technologies come to the market to much appeal and praise, from phones to computers to cybersecurity programs. However, what people do not see covered in the press as much are the IT projects that do not make it big. A realty of the technology world is that projects fail every year - many projects. Furthermore, government entities, who one would think had all tools necessary to launch a successful IT project, have a long list of failed IT projects.

Digitalisierung ist wichtig und alle machen mit. Doch in der Praxis bleiben die Ergebnisse weit hinter den Erwartungen zurück. Widerstände, Unwissenheit, Angst, Politik: Die digitale Transformation scheitert nicht an der Technik, sondern an der Organisation. All das Neue nützt nichts, wenn Hunderte von Mitarbeitenden damit nichts anfangen können. Ömer Atiker zeigt, welches die wirklichen Probleme bei der Digitalisierung sind und wie sie gelöst werden. Er liefert zu Situationen des geschäftlichen Alltags ganz konkrete Maßnahmen, mit denen Führungskräfte ihre Belegschaft in Bewegung bringen.

Thompson and Ware, nationally known consultants in the fields of management and leadership, offer a practical guide that focuses on the skills G.W. Bush has used throughout his career and in the White House. Each useful chapter highlights one of his leadership lessons. From identifying core values to getting results, this clearly written guide is filled with timeless and time-tested advice.

The Art of War is an ancient Chinese military treatise dating from the fifth century BCE). The work, attributed to the ancient Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu (Sunzi), comprises 13 chapters, each devoted to an aspect of warfare and its application to military tactics and strategy. It contains a detailed analysis of the Chinese military, from weapons and strategy to rank and discipline as well as the importance of intelligence and espionage in war.

This practical resource will equip government leaders at all levels with evidence-based, hands-on guidance for transforming their organizations, enabling them to better serve the public and their customers. While many books focus on organizational agility for leaders of for-profit companies, this is the first one tailored to the unique requirements government leaders face. They must find a way to accomplish their mission while navigating constant change.

Digitalisierung ist der Megatrend, aber auch das Schreckgespenst in allen Unternehmen. Äußerlich wird fleißig genickt, wenn es um die Wichtigkeit der Digitalisierung fürs eigene Business geht, aber innerlich ruft der Begriff Unruhe hervor: Wie geht Digitalisierung? Was heißt das für mich persönlich? Müssen wir unser komplettes Geschäftsmodell neu erfinden? Sollen wir etwa Google werden? Natürlich nicht, lautet die Antwort von Bettina Volkens und Kai Anderson.

In The Prince, it is asserted that a good ruler is one who works for the benefit of the state at all times, even when this requires acting immorally or unethically. Basically, the ends justify the means, even if the means are killing innocent people, blackmailing, and being deceitful. This idea was contentious then and now - many people believe that rulers should act with kindness and lawfulness above all, rather than bending ethics to achieve the ends they want.

Forty-one-year Army veteran General (Ret.) Martin Dempsey and 41-year-old UC Berkeley associate professor Ori Brafman have been friends for almost 10 years. Though they have almost nothing in common, their collaboration has produced a powerful message. Their new book, Radical Inclusion, examines today’s leadership landscape and describes the change it demands of leaders. The nature of power is changing and should not be measured by degree of control alone.

Under Joe Solmonese's leadership, the Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest LGBT rights organization, became the model other organizations look toward to create effective social and political change. Beginning with a moving story of working with Matthew Shepard's mother Virginia in passing the hate crimes bill that bears Matthew's name, Solmonese shows how he discovered that channeled anger can drive a commitment to change.

This provocative book makes a compelling case for reducing the number of workdays in a week to four. International business expert Robert Grosse draws on scholarly research to construct an appealing argument for why the four-day workweek benefits both the organization and the employee. Research has demonstrated that longer work hours harm the individual and don't amount to a more effective organization. The book goes beyond merely arguing that a reduced workweek is a good idea. It delves into why, explores the means for achieving it, and scrutinizes the barriers to getting there.

Why do some changes occur, and others don't? What are the factors that drive successful social and environmental movements, while others falter? How Change Happens examines the leadership approaches, campaign strategies, and ground-level tactics employed in a range of modern social change campaigns. The book explores successful movements that have achieved phenomenal impact since the 1980s—tobacco control, gun rights expansion, LGBT marriage equality, and acid rain elimination.

The times are changing at an ever-increasing velocity. Old systems, organizations, and ways of operating no longer work in our dynamic, complex and increasingly unstable new environment. Out of this chaos and confusion, a new and different leader must emerge. Old systems and methods will no longer work. Leading the Charge is a visionary leadership book that examines the trends that have reshaped our world and the ways in which leaders and organizations can effectively respond.

You can't have a healthy economy with an unhealthy work force. Work Less proposes ways to reduce work hours and keep workers happier, healthier, and more productive.

For well over a century, public schools have been a non-partisan gathering place and vital center of civic life in America—but something has changed. In School Moms, journalist Laura Pappano explores the on-the-ground story of how public schools across the country have become ground zero in a cultural and political war as the far-right have made efforts to seek power over school boards.

The word 'tickbox' emerged recently as a cynical angle on official or corporate incompetence. They had 'ticked the box' - people said - but failed to act. It is increasingly used to describe this gap between official spin and reality. Yet, says David Boyle in this powerful expose of tickbox culture, that is just the tip of a vast tickbox iceberg. The only people who remain blind to this gap are those rich or powerful enough to run the world, and behind Tickbox lies an insidious philosophy of automation and the misuse of data that weighs heavily on every one of us.

Our government organizations face political fallout, media scrutiny, reduced funding, and the many challenges involved in motivating large, multi-layered and highly regulated organizations. It's no surprise that many government organizations report that their employees are less engaged than ever and that leaders feel helpless to change the situation. In many cases, employees and government leaders are caught in a vicious cycle. Performance declines, scrutiny increases, and employee paralysis ensues. How do you break this cycle and begin building successful government?

Bolstered with archival and original data, including the first complete count of American business corporations before the Civil War, Corporation Nation makes a compelling argument for improved internal governance and more effective external government regulation.