Stanford Briefs

"Captures the basic laws of growth companies and creates a new formula for success." -Richard A. D'Aveni, Tuck School of Business, Dartmouth College Organic business growth is governed by its own natural laws-underlying truths that set the stage for growth and innovation, much in the way that Einstein's theory of relativity accounts for the movement of objects in the space-time continuum. The most fundamental law is that uncertainty is the only certainty. Dominating forces are ambiguity and change; the processes at work involve exploration, invention, and experimentation. Unfortunately, these truths run counter to the principles of stability, predictability, and linearity that have long informed the design of our firms. The Physics of Business Growth explains how to create growth in today's business environment, providing a roadmap and a set of practical tools to navigate its challenges. The book lays out a three-step formula that will prove invaluable to professionals who have the opportunity to influence growth now, as well as to tomorrow's growth leaders, guiding them in (1) creating the right employee and organizational mindsets to enable growth, (2) building an internal corporate growth system, and (3) putting in place processes that result in identifying opportunities, launching growth experiments, and managing a growth portfolio. "Avoids the trap of magical thinking, which glosses over the messiness and complexity involved in growing a business. Rather, they offer a robust toolkit that growth leaders can adapt to their own circumstances." -J. M. Ryan, Senior Fellow, Wharton Executive Education

Women war criminals are far more common than we think. From the Holocaust to ethnic cleansing in the Balkans to the Rwandan genocide, women have perpetrated heinous crimes. Few have been punished. These women go unnoticed because their very existence challenges our assumptions about war and about women. Biases about women as peaceful and innocent prevent us from "seeing" women as war criminals-and prevent postconflict justice systems from assigning women blame. Women as War Criminals argues that women are just as capable as men of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity. In addition to unsettling assumptions about women as agents of peace and reconciliation, the book highlights the gendered dynamics of law, and demonstrates that women are adept at using gender instrumentally to fight for better conditions and reduced sentences when war ends. The book presents the legal cases of four women: the President (Biljana Plavšic), the Minister (Pauline Nyiramasuhuko), the Soldier (Lynndie England), and the Student (Hoda Muthana). Each woman's complex identity influenced her treatment by legal systems and her ability to mount a gendered defense before the court. Justice, as Steflja and Trisko Darden show, is not blind to gender.

An accessible guide to decoding and understanding the divisive rhetoric implemented by the former president, and to resisting it. Trumpism has not only ushered in a new political regime, but also a new regime of language-one that cries out for intelligent and informed analysis. When Words Trump Politics takes insights from linguistic anthropology and related fields to decode, understand, and ultimately provide non-expert readers with easily digestible tools to resist the politics of division and hate. Adam Hodges's short essays address Trump's Twitter insults, racism and white nationalism, "truthiness" and "alternative facts," #FakeNews and conspiracy theories, Supreme Court politics and #MeToo, Islamophobia, political theater, and many other timely and controversial discussions. Hodges breaks down the specific linguistic techniques and processes that make Trump's rhetoric successful in our contemporary political landscape. He identifies the language ideologies, word choices, and recurring metaphors that underlie Trumpian rhetoric. Trumpian discourse works in tandem with media discourse-Hodges shows how Trump often induces journalists and social media agents to recycle and strengthen his spectacular and misleading claims. Those who study democracy have long emphasized the need for an informed electorate. But being informed on political issues also demands a keen understanding of the way language is used to convey, discuss, debate, and contest those issues. When Words Trump Politics analyzes the political rhetoric of today. The actionable insights in this book give journalists, politicians, and all Americans the successful tools they need to respond to the politics of hate. When Words Trump Politics is an essential resource for political resistance, for anyone who cares about freeing democracy from the spell of demagoguery. Praise for When Words Trump Politics "This is no ordinary time for language and politics, but Adam Hodges successfully marshals his considerable expertise in linguistic anthropology to bring insight into a political discourse that is often presented by journalists and pundits without this useful framework. Trumpian discourse is overrepresented and yet underanalyzed, and this book highlights the special need to attend to the subversive, anti-democratic use of language Trump has modeled." -Paul V. Kroskrity, University of California, Los Angeles "A thoroughly insightful account of the president's rhetorical collusion with the dark strains of American public life-its racism, hypernationalism, xenophobia-and his systematic obstructions of truth. When the histories of the political language of this era are written, Hodges' book will be a seminal point of reference." -Geoff Nunberg, University of California, Berkeley

As popular uprisings spread across the Middle East, popular wisdom often held that the Gulf States would remain beyond the fray. In Sectarian Gulf, Toby Matthiesen paints a very different picture, offering the first assessment of the Arab Spring across the region. With first-hand accounts of events in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait, Matthiesen tells the story of the early protests, and illuminates how the regimes quickly suppressed these movements. Pitting citizen against citizen, the regimes have warned of an increasing threat from the Shia population. Relations between the Gulf regimes and their Shia citizens have soured to levels as bad as 1979, following the Iranian revolution. Since the crackdown on protesters in Bahrain in mid-March 2011, the "Shia threat" has again become the catchall answer to demands for democratic reform and accountability. While this strategy has ensured regime survival in the short term, Matthiesen warns of the dire consequences this will have-for the social fabric of the Gulf States, for the rise of transnational Islamist networks, and for the future of the Middle East.

This critical study "artfully explores the power of limits . . . A compelling-and fittingly concise-read for our times" (Kate Raworth, author of Doughnut Economics). Western culture is infatuated with the dream of endless economic growth, even as it is haunted by the specters of drought, famine, and nuclear winter. How did we come to think of the planet and its limits as we do? This book reclaims, redefines, and makes an impassioned plea for limits-a notion central to environmentalism-clearing them from their association with Malthusianism and the ideology and politics that go along with it. In Limits, Giorgos Kallis offers a critical reassessment of economist Thomas Robert Malthus and his legacy. He separates the concepts of limits and scarcity, which have long been conflated in both environmental and economic thought. Limits are not a property of nature to be deciphered by scientists, but a choice that confronts us, one that, paradoxically, is part and parcel of the pursuit of freedom. Taking us from ancient Greece to Malthus, from hunter-gatherers to the Romantics, from anarchist feminists to 1970s radical environmentalists, Limits shows us how an institutionalized culture of sharing can make possible the collective self-limitation we so urgently need.

"If you're as worried about the effects of Trump's election as I am, then this brave and surprising book is for you." -Reza Aslan, #1 New York Times-bestselling author   Democracy is being destroyed by an ancient evil, and modernity is in denial. In Tyranny of Greed, Timothy K. Kuhner reveals the United States to be a government by and for the wealthy, with Trump-the spirit of infinite greed-at its helm. Taking readers on a tour through evolutionary biology, psychology, and biblical sources, Kuhner explores how democracy emerged from religious and revolutionary awakenings. He argues that to overcome Trump's regime and establish real democracy, we must reconnect with that radical heritage. Our political tradition demands a revolution against corruption.   "Many books are announcing the downfall of American democracy, but Tyranny of Greed operates on another level. It's an original and powerful work of art. Tapping into a deeper awareness, Kuhner helps us recognize this dark time for what it really is-an opportunity for rebirth. Yes, I feel shaken, but also awakened. The more people who read this book, the more transformative our national conversation will become."-Frances Moore Lappé, bestselling author of Diet for a Small Planet   "Explosive, penetrating and utterly compelling, Kuhner charts the death spiral of American democracy as it collapses into the black hole of the religion of money. Never before in human history have noble ideals been corrupted so deeply with the connivance of so many. This book lays tyranny bare for all to see-as a mirror for the human soul." -Philip Goodchild, author of Theology of Money

Master the delicate art of balancing competition and cooperation: "A powerful guide that will help you redo something you do every day." -Karl E. Weick, coauthor of Managing the Unexpected We often assume that strategic negotiation requires us to wall off vulnerable parts of ourselves and act rationally to win. But what if you could just be you in business? Taking a positive approach, this concise book distills years of research, teaching, and coaching into an integrated framework for negotiating genuinely. One of the most fundamental and challenging battlegrounds in our work lives, negotiation calls on us to both compete and cooperate to do our jobs well and achieve extraordinary results. But, the biggest challenge in a negotiation is to be strategic while also being real. Shirli Kopelman, executive director of the International Association for Conflict Management, argues that this duality is both possible and powerful. In Negotiating Genuinely, she teaches how to reconcile the disparate hats you wear in everyday life-with families, friends, and colleagues-bringing one "integral hat" to the negotiation table. Kopelman develops and shares techniques that illuminate this approach-and exercises along the way help you negotiate more naturally, positively, and successfully.