4.1 identifying and graphing sequences evaluate homework and practice answers

· Big Data/Data Analysis. A central theme of the Ninth Edition, it has become a leading and highly visible component of a broader technological phenomena—the emergence of digital technology. Such initiatives have the potential to enable firms to better customize their product and service offerings to customers while more efficiently and fully using the resources of the company. Throughout the text, we provide examples from a wide range of industries and government. This includes discussions of how Coca Cola uses data analytics to produce consistent orange juice, IBM’s leveraging of big data to become a healthcare solution firm, Caterpillar’s use of data analytics to improve machine reliability and to identify needed service before major machine failures, and Digital Reasoning’s efforts to use data analytics to enhance the ability of firms to control employees and avoid illegal and unethical behavior.

· Greater coverage of international business/international management (IB/IM from new co-author). As we noted at the beginning of the Preface, we have invited Seung-Hyun Lee, an outstanding IB/IM scholar, to join the author team and we are very pleased that he has accepted! Throughout the book we have included many concepts and examples of IB/IM that reflects the growing role of international operations for a wide range of industries and firms. We discuss how differences in national culture impact the negotiation of contracts and whether or not to adapt human resource practices when organizations cross national boundaries. We also include a discussion of how corporate governance practices differ across countries and discuss in depth how Japan is striving to develop balanced governance practices that incorporate elements of U.S. practices while retaining, at its core, elements of traditional Japanese practices. Additionally, we discuss why conglomerate firms thrive in Asian markets even as this form of organization has gone out of favor in the United States and Europe. Finally, we discuss research that suggests that firms in transition economies can improve their innovative performance by focusing on learning across boundaries within the firm compared to learning from outside partners.

· “Executive Insights: The Strategic Management Process.” Here, we introduce a nationally recognized leader and explore several key issues related to strategic management. The executive is William H. McRaven, a retired four-star admiral who leads the nation’s second largest system of higher education. As chief executive officer of the UT System, he oversees 14 institutions that educate 217,000 students and employ 20,000 faculty and more than 70,000 health care professionals, researchers, and staff. He is perhaps best known for his involvement in Operation Neptune Spear, in which he commanded the U.S. Navy Special Forces who located and killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. We are very grateful for his valuable contribution!

· Half of the 12 opening “Learning from Mistakes” vignettes that lead off each chapter are totally new. Unique to this text, they are all examples of what can go wrong, and they serve as an excellent vehicle for clarifying and reinforcing strategy concepts. After all, what can be learned if one simply admires perfection?

· Over half of our “Strategy Spotlights” (sidebar examples) are brand new, and many of the others have been thoroughly updated. Although we have reduced the number of Spotlights from the previous edition to conserve space, we still have a total of 64—by far the most in the strategy market. We focus on bringing the most important strategy concepts to life in a concise and highly readable manner. And we work hard to eliminate unnecessary detail that detracts from the main point we are trying to make. Also, consistent with our previous edition, many of the Spotlights focus on two

PREFACE

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“hot” issues that are critical in leading today’s organizations: ethics and environmental sustainability—as well as data analytics in this edition.

Key content changes for the chapters include:

· Chapter 1 addresses three challenges for executives who are often faced with similar sets of opposing goals which can polarize their organizations. These challenges, or paradoxes, are called (1) the innovation paradox, the tension between existing products and new ones—stability and change; (2) the globalization paradox, the tension between global connectedness and local needs; and, (3) the obligation paradox, the tension between maximizing shareholder returns and creating benefits for a wide range of stakeholders— employees, customers, society, etc. We also discuss three theaters of practice that managers need to recognize in order to optimize the positive impact of the corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives. These are (1) Focusing on philanthropy, (2) Improving operational effectiveness, and (3) Transforming the business model.