Business: The Key Concepts
by Mark Vernon

published by Routledge: 2002

Are you looking for a road map of business studies?

Are you looking for a 'pocket MBA' to have on your desk?

Or are you simply baffled by business jargon?

Business: The Key Concepts - by Mark Vernon will help.  A desktop encyclopaedia, the book defines hundreds of business terms and discusses their uses and abuses in an A to Z of exploratory articles.

Business: The Key Concepts aims at bringing clarity to subjects from accountability to zero-sum game. It includes everyday business topics such as accounting and brand, analyses more dubious terminology such as innovation and synergy, as well as unpacking theories like neoclassical economics and semiotics. For those seeking a contemporary perspective on business the book not only discusses, for example, business ethics but important recent developments in the area such as activism. It looks at the philosophical take on business of a number of thinkers. For example, Marx is discussed on labour, Freud on behavioural theory, and Heidegger on technology. It is also of the first generation of business books able to consider the significance of e-business, 'post-hype'.

"I wanted the book to be a resource for anyone who wants to know more about how business works," explains Mark Vernon , author of Business: The Key Concepts.  "Business is all around us whether we are studying it, working for a company, or simply living in a world saturated in commerce. I hope the book will be of real value to students looking for a guide in their studies. It will help business people looking for information to put, say, in that presentation they need to do next week. It will be of interest to the general reader who needs a reference for terms they don't quite understand or suspect might be being misused! And above all, I hope it is a good, stimulating read."

Business: The Key Concepts is thus aimed at three groups of people: those in business needing a handy reference guide; those on business studies courses needing an introduction to business concepts as well as pointers for further reading (the book includes an extensive bibliography); and those who are generally interested readers. All areas of management, marketing, finance, economics, organisational behaviour and operations are included, providing a practical and accessible guide to the essentials of business.

ISDN numbers:
Hardback 0-415-25323-3
Paperback 0-415-25324-1