1. Understanding Why: Most managers would likely agree that understanding concepts is more important than memorizing techniques. This text focuses on why companies use various techniques, rather than have students blindly apply the concepts.
2. Seeing the concepts in many areas of the field: All business sectors discussed. The concepts found in this text do not solely apply to large corporations, which is why nonprofit, retail, wholesale, service, selling, manufacturing, and administrative situations are addressed throughout.
3. Presenting the basics up-front: The core concepts and principles are explained in the first few chapters and are then revisited, where applicable, at more complex levels throughout the remainder of the text. Covering the fundamental concepts in the first few chapters helps to equip students with a foundation that they can use to apply to the more challenging material.
4. Taking out the guesswork: Real-world business examples are provided so that students don’t have to imagine how techniques will work in today’s businesses. These examples—which are drawn from actual companies that students know and trust such as Starbucks, Boeing, AT&T, McDonald’s, and Microsoft—are presented with relevant subject matter, clearly and accessibly, throughout the text.