Teach Yourself French Conversation
Author:Jean-Claude Arragon

This stand-alone, all-audio course is perfect for those who have little or no knowledge of the language and are wanting to learn or brush up basic conversation skills. The course comes on two 75-minute CDs and has an accompanying 48-page booklet which gives the dialogues and the translation to the dialogues, for those who like to see the wriiten word or want additional practice. The ten units or 'conversations' cover the situations you are most likely to find yourself in while on holiday or abroard. The vocabulary is kept to the basics and is introduced gradually, with lots of opportunity to repeat and practise, to improve your confidence in both speaking and understanding.

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Hybrid Products
Author:Alexander Batchvarov

Exploring the wide and innovative world of Hybrid Products, this up-to-date examination breaks down the traditional barriers and notions to aid the design, pricing and understanding of these tailored products.

- Covers the spectrum of hybrid investments, from equity-linked notes to volatility products and structured hedge fund investments

- Illustrates the applications of such products and possible investment strategies under specific market conditions and/or investor objectives

- Merges theory and practice into an understandable whole with the inclusion of case studies and practical examples that can be utilised into your work

- Provides both background and advanced reading on the concepts and products as well the maths that underpins them

- Enables the reader to understand the esoteric nature of volatility and the trading of realised and implied volatility, illustrated through a variety of products - including OTC variance swaps, options on realised variance and the listed VIX

- Presents analysis of credit default swaps and equity default swap correlation and associated products

- Addresses the challenges hybrid products pose to the risk management and information technology systems of an organisation that is structuring, hedging or investing in such products. Topics include position reporting and analysis, position valuation and understanding how changes occur with constantly evolving market conditions

- Alexander Batchvarov is an investment banker who has been at the forefront of innovation in this field over recent years and has assembled a team of equally well-qualified contributors

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Net Words
Author:Nick Usborne

A guide to creating copy that connects with customers­­and makes the sale

Advertising and promotion professionals have long known that, while bells and whistles may grab a customer's attention, words make the sale. Yet, nearly a decade into the Web revolution, E-commerce professionals are just now waking up to the fact that the usual high-tech, graphics-heavy approach to site design is bad for business.

Net Words explores the reasons why and makes a strong case for a revolutionary new approach to copywriting tailored to the unique demands of a powerful new medium. With the help of dozens of examples of successful and unsuccessful on-line writing, author Nick Usborne shows readers how to harness the power of the written word for the Web. Readers learn how to imbue a business with a distinctive on-line "voice" and use it to forge lasting bonds with customers, increase market share, and close sales.

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IFRS Model Financial Statements
Author:David Chitty

From1 January 2005 listed companies in Europe will have to adopt International financial Reporting Standards. Following a consultation exercise by the DTI it was established that all other companies may wish to use IAS. Also, as it may become a mandatory requirement of the future.

IFRS Model Financial Statements present sample model accounts using the international full set of latest standards with explanatory notes and commentary to provide a thorough insight into how your accounts should be adapted to suit.

Illustrative financial statements include accounting policies, management review of the businesses and accompanying notes setting out the authoritative IAS source for the relevant disclosure.

The main focus is on the practical application of the standards helping you to improve your understanding of IFRS and how they should be presented. This book presents a unique and new approach, using the most practical possible methods to explain the new mode of reporting.

Content includes:
- Model Financial Statements on an imaginary trading and manufacturing business
- Accounting policies and management review of the business
- Full text of IFRS1 – First time application of International Financial Reporting Standards
- Disclosure Checklist to ensure all relevant IAS disclosures are included in the preparation of your financial statement.
- Also available online

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The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Management
Author:Cary L Cooper; Chris Argyris; William Starbuck
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
- Flexible, multi-level use, maintained and further extended by sophisticated cross-referencing both among individual encyclopedia entries and between volumes and external sources
- Available online, for the first time, via the EBSCO database and linked to wider literature and to an associated Blackwell Library Online, consisting of a selection of Blackwell Handbooks and Journals in the field.

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Introduction to EU Competition Law
Author:Peter Willis

This new book provides an introduction to EU competition law, explaining the key principles and rules in a clear and concise way.
Introduction to EU Competition Law provides:
- a single source of reference on EU competition law
- a clear explanation of the economic concepts, such as market definition, that underpin the competition rules
- an outline of the application of the rules to commercial agreement and behaviour
- guidance on matters such as surviving dawn raids
- details on the May 2004 reforms to EC merger control and competition law enforcement

Written by practitioners with day-to-day experience of advising businesses on the impact of the competition laws, the emphasis is firmly on commercial relevance. Introduction to EU Competition Law is an invaluable reference for those with little prior knowledge of the subject, who need a basic yet comprehensive understanding of this increasingly important area of law.

What Warren Buffett Thinks 2005
Author:Jonathan Davis;

Each year hundreds of professional investors descend on Omaha, Warren Buffett's home town, to attend Berkshire Hathaway's annual meeting. For six to seven hours, Buffett and his longstanding business partner Charlie Munger sit and answer a broad range of questions about investment. Topics range from their own investment performance, their thoughts on the current state of Wall Street and the secrets of what it takes to be a succesful stock market investor.

This special report, researched and edited by Jonathan Davis, one of the leading UK experts on Buffett, allows you to share directly in this unique event in the investment calendar. This year’s annual meeting is to be held on Saturday April 30th, followed by a press conference the next day. The meetings provide a rare opportunity to tap into the thought processes of the world’s most famous stock market investor. This report - more detailed and authoritative than conventional press coverage - is a must read for any serious investor.

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Directors Salaries on AIM
Author:Growth Company Investor; Ernst & Young
Growth Company Investor, in association with Ernst & Young, present a fully comprehensive 16 page report taking a detailed look at Directors' Salaries on AIM.

For a second year in a row, this project focuses on the remuneration of all directors of companies quoted on AIM. Using data from over 600 companies, the report provides in-depth information on:

- the highest and lowest paid chief executives and entire boards on AIM
- how these have changed over the past year
- remuneration measured against changes in companies' market capitalisation, turnover and pre-tax profits or losses
- which companies' directors are providing the best value for shareholders.

Please ensure you include email address for shipping.


Buying and Running a Small Hotel
Author:Ken Parker;

This book will tell you everything you need to know about buying and running a successful hotel business. First check to see if running a hotel is really for you. Then find out how to:
- Choose the right hotel
- Raise capital and make the purchase
- Buy equipment and employ staff.
- Keep the books and do the accounts.
- Decide on how much to charge
- Stay ahead of the competition
- And - most importantly - how to make a profit.

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Cash Shells
Author:Business XL; Pinsents

Published by Business XL, in association with Pinsents, this 16-page PDF report takes a detailed look at Cash Shells on AIM.

Two years ago, when Business XL last conducted research into this area, there were 25 of these unique corporate entities that have a stock market quote, and money, but no actual operating business. This year our research has uncovered no less than 69 which between them boast cash reserves of just over £77 million. All of these shells are either looking for suitable businesses to acquire or the right business with which to conduct a reverse takeover.

Please ensure you include email address for shipping.

PDF Report

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Venture Capital Trust Report
Author:Growth Company Investor

Growth Company Investor is delighted to announce the launch of a brand new, fully comprehensive 16 page report taking a detailed look into Venture Capital Trusts.

Our research :
Analyses nearly 40 VCTs
Categorises VCTs into generalist, specialist and AIM.
Reviews the performance of each VCT, providing information on the type of companies the VCT is investing in, key people and minimum subscription values.

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Strategy: Analysis and Practice, Text and Cases
Author:John McGee; Howard Thomas; David Wilson

The author team of Professors John McGee, Howard Thomas and David Wilson combine their extensive experience of teaching and consulting in strategy with cutting edge research to form an exciting new textbook. Marrying comprehensive coverage of strategy with an incisive and analytical approach, the new text is ideal for undergraduate and MBA students taking a strategic management, corporate strategy or business policy module. The book sets out to provide students with an understanding of the core concepts and economics of strategy, laying the foundations for analysing strategy on a variety of levels. With a strong emphasis on practice, the book explores contemporary topics, including risk management, strategic change, corporate governance, the learning organization and the implementation of strategy for performance and process improvement. The theory is complemented by thorough pedagogy throughout and a range of excellent case examples and longer cases* furnish students with the practical applications needed to fully appreciate the consequences of strategic decisions

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Effective Motivation: Fast Track Business Excellence
Winning Management Strategies from Top Business Leaders Launching in May 2005, a new series of concise and authoritative books will give readers a unique opportunity to hone their business skills through the experiences of leading business men and women. In first-hand accounts, leaders such as Dawn Airey (MD of Sky Networks), Domenico da Sole (former President and CEO Gucci Group), Stephen Dando (Director of Human Resources, BBC) and David Varney (now Head of Customs and Excise) share with us major experiences that have shaped their vision and practise in their careers. Their powerful and engaging stories, and tried and tested strategies offer both inspiration and the opportunity for readers to develop their own skills and achieve success in their professional lives.

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Exceptional Vision: Fast Track Business Excellence
Winning Management Strategies from Top Business Leaders Launching in May 2005, a new series of concise and authoritative books will give readers a unique opportunity to hone their business skills through the experiences of leading business men and women. In first-hand accounts, leaders such as Dawn Airey (MD of Sky Networks), Domenico da Sole (former President and CEO Gucci Group), Stephen Dando (Director of Human Resources, BBC) and David Varney (now Head of Customs and Excise) share with us major experiences that have shaped their vision and practise in their careers. Their powerful and engaging stories, and tried and tested strategies offer both inspiration and the opportunity for readers to develop their own skills and achieve success in their professional lives.

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Professional Excel Development
Author:Stephen Bullen;Rob Bovey;John Green

Direct from the most respected authorities on Excel, this book will be the definitive guide to developing applications with Microsoft Excel
- Shows how to use Excel as a development platform in its own right to build fast, powerful, easy-to-use business applications
- All three authors are Excel MVPs and run their own companies developing Excel-based applications
- While the main audience is application developers, power users also have much to gain by following the suggestions in the book

Microsoft Excel can be much more than just a spreadsheet. It has become a development platform in it own right. Applications written using Excel are part of many corporations' core suites of business-critical applications. In spite of this, Excel is too often thought of as a hobbyist's platform. While there are numerous titles on Excel and VBA, until now there have been none that provide an overall explanation of how to develop professional-quality Excel-based applications.

All three authors are professional Excel developers who run their own companies developing Excel-based apps for clients ranging from individuals to the largest multinational corporations. In this book they show how anyone from power users to professional developers can increase the speed and usefulness of their Excel-based apps.

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The Complete Guide to Selling Your Business
Author:Paul Sperry;Beatrice Mitchell;

In this comprehensive, fully updated guide two experts take the reader step-by-step through the entire process. From how to determine when is the right time to sell, to valuing a company, to negotiating the final terms, every issue is dealt with. There are real life case studies that show how individuals dealt with the complex issues involved and an appendix containing a sample purchase agreement, confidentiality agreement, and other important documents.

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Brand Failures
Author:Matt Haig;

What do Coca-Cola, McDonalds, IBM, Microsoft and Virgin have in common? Yes, they are all global giants striding successfully across the world, but what they are less recognized for are all those branded products they've launched that have bombed - spectacularly and at great cost.

Brand Failures is a riveting look at how such disasters occur. For the first time we're given the inside story of 100 major brand blunders that make for jaw-dropping reading. Matt Haig approaches his subject in a truly entertaining style - yes, this is a business book that is actually fun to read! But his message is deadly serious.

He describes those brands that have set sail with the help of multi-million dollar advertising campaigns only to sink without trace. He also looks at acknowledged brand mistakes made by successful blue-chip companies and some lesser-known but hilarious bombshells.

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Dealing With the Boss From Hell
Author:Shaun Belding

Most people spend over half their adult lives at work. This can mean spending all that time with a boss who is ignorant, incoherent, embarrassing, harassing, indecisive, dirty, smelly, sexist, vindictive, unappreciative and crude.

Dealing with the Boss from Hell is a survival guide, with real-life strategies, for dealing with a difficult person in charge. There are lots of tips on how to read the mind of the boss, deal with their tricks, keep a low profile, and even how to 'retrain' them. There is also great advice on how to stand up to them, talk honestly and directly, and if nothing works, how to get out quickly and cleanly.

There are case studies of the different types of difficult boss, such as The Boor, Grumpy, The Slave Driver, and The Exploder, and how best to handle them. Dealing with the Boss from Hell is the book that will help everyone to cope with the most difficult situations.

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Public Companies and Equity Finance
Author:C Shephard

Public Companies & Equity Finance provides a clear and practical examination of the legal and regulatory framework within which public companies operate. The Guide examines all aspects of the life of a public company, including flotation, the regulatory regime, and listed company transactions. It includes commentary on corporate governance, with reference to the recently revised Combined Code, and emphasis is given to those areas which, typically, junior lawyers will experience.

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