Robert J. Thomas

Brands and branding have deep historical roots. Almost anything or anyone can be branded with a name or mark for commercial or other purposes. The act of branding initiates activities in a brand ecosystem among people and organizations who have a vested interest in the brand's value. Unfortunately, a brand may experience a tragedy that can put its value and equity at risk. Pundits will often conclude there is a primary reason for a specific brand's tragedy, however, studying the situation more deeply can reveal tragic flaws in response to brand-challenging experiences that enhance managerial wisdom. The purpose of the book is to examine the backstories of a selection of relatively well-known brands that have experienced a tragedy. The objective is to inform how and why some brands survived and some did not. Doing so, may help leaders and managers of current brands avoid the miscues that lead to brand tragedies and possibly revive a brand when tragedy strikes. It is a book for those who need to improve their understanding of the vital importance of a brand for organizational success and who want to build and manage their brands to continuously improve value for customers, employees, shareholders, and the well-being of society. While there will be no one right approach or silver bullet to avert or ameliorate a specific tragedy, the better prepared leaders and managers are for a brand tragedy, the greater the likelihood of avoiding one and realizing an expedient and constructive outcome when one occurs.

Brands and branding have deep historical roots. Almost anything or anyone can be branded with a name or mark for commercial or other purposes. The act of branding initiates activities in a brand ecosystem among people and organizations who have a vested interest in the brand's value. Unfortunately, a brand may experience a tragedy that can put its value and equity at risk. Pundits will often conclude there is a primary reason for a specific brand's tragedy, however, studying the situation more deeply can reveal tragic flaws in response to brand-challenging experiences that enhance managerial wisdom. The purpose of the book is to examine the backstories of a selection of relatively well-known brands that have experienced a tragedy. The objective is to inform how and why some brands survived and some did not. Doing so, may help leaders and managers of current brands avoid the miscues that lead to brand tragedies and possibly revive a brand when tragedy strikes. It is a book for those who need to improve their understanding of the vital importance of a brand for organizational success and who want to build and manage their brands to continuously improve value for customers, employees, shareholders, and the well-being of society. While there will be no one right approach or silver bullet to avert or ameliorate a specific tragedy, the better prepared leaders and managers are for a brand tragedy, the greater the likelihood of avoiding one and realizing an expedient and constructive outcome when one occurs.

The surge of interest in cannabis-based medicinal products has put an extremely high demand on testing capabilities, particularly for contaminants such as heavy metals, which are naturally taken up through the roots of the plants from the soil, growing medium, and fertilizers but can also be negatively impacted by the grinding equipment and extraction/distillation process. Unfortunately, many state regulators do not have the necessary experience and background to fully understand all the safety and toxicological issues regarding the cultivation and production of cannabis and hemp products on the market today. Measuring Heavy Metal Contaminants in Cannabis and Hemp offers a comprehensive guide to the entire cannabis industry for measuring elemental contaminants in cannabis and hemp. For testing labs, it describes fundamental principles and practical capabilities of ICP-MS and other AS techniques for measuring heavy metals in cannabis. For state regulators, it compares maximum contaminant limits of heavy metals with those for federally regulated pharmaceutical materials. For cultivators and processors, it helps them to better understand the many sources of heavy metals in cannabis. And for consumers of medical cannabis, it highlights the importance of choosing cannabis products that are safe to use. Other key topics include: The role of other analytical techniques for the comprehensive testing of cannabis products Tips to optimize analytical procedures to ensure the highest quality data Guidance on how to characterize elemental contaminants in vaping liquids and aerosols Suggestions on how to reduce errors using plasma spectrochemistry The role of certified reference materials to validate standard methods Easy-to-read sections on instrumental hardware components, calibration and measurement protocols, typical interferences, routine maintenance, and troubleshooting proceduresWritten with the cannabis testing community in mind, this book is also an invaluable resource for growers, cultivators, processors, testers, regulators, and even consumers who are interested in learning more about the potential dangers of heavy metal contaminants in cannabis and hemp.

The surge of interest in cannabis-based medicinal products has put an extremely high demand on testing capabilities, particularly for contaminants such as heavy metals, which are naturally taken up through the roots of the plants from the soil, growing medium, and fertilizers but can also be negatively impacted by the grinding equipment and extraction/distillation process. Unfortunately, many state regulators do not have the necessary experience and background to fully understand all the safety and toxicological issues regarding the cultivation and production of cannabis and hemp products on the market today. Measuring Heavy Metal Contaminants in Cannabis and Hemp offers a comprehensive guide to the entire cannabis industry for measuring elemental contaminants in cannabis and hemp. For testing labs, it describes fundamental principles and practical capabilities of ICP-MS and other AS techniques for measuring heavy metals in cannabis. For state regulators, it compares maximum contaminant limits of heavy metals with those for federally regulated pharmaceutical materials. For cultivators and processors, it helps them to better understand the many sources of heavy metals in cannabis. And for consumers of medical cannabis, it highlights the importance of choosing cannabis products that are safe to use. Other key topics include: The role of other analytical techniques for the comprehensive testing of cannabis products Tips to optimize analytical procedures to ensure the highest quality data Guidance on how to characterize elemental contaminants in vaping liquids and aerosols Suggestions on how to reduce errors using plasma spectrochemistry The role of certified reference materials to validate standard methods Easy-to-read sections on instrumental hardware components, calibration and measurement protocols, typical interferences, routine maintenance, and troubleshooting proceduresWritten with the cannabis testing community in mind, this book is also an invaluable resource for growers, cultivators, processors, testers, regulators, and even consumers who are interested in learning more about the potential dangers of heavy metal contaminants in cannabis and hemp.

Come back from every setback a stronger and better leader. If you read nothing else on mental toughness, read these ten articles by experts in the field. We've combed through hundreds of articles in the Harvard Business Review archive and selected the most important ones to help you build your emotional strength and resilience--and to achieve high performance. This book will inspire you to:Thrive on pressure like an Olympic athleteManage and overcome negative emotions by acknowledging themPlan short-term goals to achieve long-term aspirationsSurround yourself with the people who will push you the hardestUse challenges to become a better leaderUse creativity to move past traumaUnderstand the tools your mind uses to recover from setbacksThis collection of articles includes "How the Best of the Best Get Better and Better," by Graham Jones; "Crucibles of Leadership," by Warren G. Bennis and Robert J. Thomas; "Building Resilience," by Martin E. P. Seligman; "Cognitive Fitness," by Roderick Gilkey and Clint Kilts; "The Making of a Corporate Athlete," by Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz; "Stress Can Be a Good Thing If You Know How to Use It," by Alla Crum and Thomas Crum; "How to Bounce Back from Adversity," by Joshua D. Margolis and Paul G. Stoltz; "Rebounding from Career Setbacks," by Mitchell Lee Marks, Philip Mirvis, and Ron Ashkenas; "Realizing What You're Made Of," by Glenn E. Mangurian; "Extreme Negotiations," by Jeff Weiss, Aram Donigian, and Jonathan Hughes; and "Post-Traumatic Growth and Building Resilience," by Martin Seligman and Sarah Green Carmichael. HBR's 10 Must Reads paperback series is the definitive collection of books for new and experienced leaders alike. Leaders looking for the inspiration that big ideas provide, both to accelerate their own growth and that of their companies, should look no further. HBR's 10 Must Reads series focuses on the core topics that every ambitious manager needs to know: leadership, strategy, change, managing people, and managing yourself. Harvard Business Review has sorted through hundreds of articles and selected only the most essential reading on each topic. Each title includes timeless advice that will be relevant regardless of an ever-changing business environment.

Jess finds himself in the town of Appleton, Texas, where he finds Lance 'Lucky' Leyden. Finding no law in town, he hauls the body to the town of Avery, Texas, to make a claim for the bounty on Leyden's head. While there, he discovers that the next man he's hunting, Lowe Rogan, is hanging around a town everyone calls Hades. They claim that the town rose up from the depths of hell and is rife with demons and witches. Jess doesn't believe any of it. He finds the town and discovers that it has been taken over by the Roper brothers and their gang of cold-blooded killers, including Lowe Rogan. Jess tracks Rogan from Hades to the town of Chilton, where he ends up killing him and another man by the name of Arron Carmichael. The law in Chilton, along with all the townsfolk, are terrified of the Roper brothers and their men. They believe that the town of Hades is cursed. Jess demands that the town marshal pay him his bounty on Rogan and he does so reluctantly. Roper's men take revenge on the town of Chilton by hanging the town marshal, leaving Jess feeling responsible for it. He vows to remove every cold-blooded killer from Hades and save the town, but he's up against some of the worst killers in the west. Then, the brother of Arron Carmichael, Jason, shows up in Chilton to kill Jess as a revenge killing. But surprisingly, Jason Carmichael teams up with Jess to rid Hades of Roper's ruthless gang of killers. Jess quickly finds out that Carmichael is suffering from bad memories of the Civil War and worries that Carmichael might just get him killed. The battle begins, lead starts flying and men start dying. Jess hopes that he's still standing when it's over, but he finds the job of saving what's left of Hades a much more difficult task. At the same time, he wonders if Jason Carmichael is helping only to find the perfect time to kill him for killing his brother Arron.

Effectively diagnose and manage adult and pediatric sleep disorders with help from Atlas of Sleep Medicine, the most comprehensive and detailed source of pictorial and video guidance available. A full-color design with an entirely new image collection and video segments facilitates the observation and interpretation of sleep-related events and recordings. Whether you are preparing for the sleep medicine fellowship examination, or simply want to offer your patients today's best care, this sleep medicine book is an ideal resource! Confidently treat sleep-related breathing disorders with a practical step-by-step approach to positive pressure titration, summarizing merits, demerits, dangers, and limitations. Observe, evaluate, and treat unusual, uncommon, and often unrecognized PSG patterns. See how clinical and PSG findings correlate in real time for various sleep disorders by watching video segments (new to this edition!) that show sleep movements and polysomnography data side by side. Visually reinforce your understanding of circadian dysrhythmias through dynamic hypnograms and a tantalizing pictorial display. Evaluate indications and choose appropriate dental appliances with step-by-step instruction and supporting video clips. Address undesired phenomena that occur in association with sleep with eight new unique vignettes with associated videos including a variety of parasomnias, cataplexy, and death from obstructive sleep apnea. Access the fully searchable text online including the complete image library, over two dozen videos, and more at Expert Consult.

This fieldbook companion to Driving Results Through Social Networks provides leaders with a guide to aligning their organization's networks with their strategy to drive innovation and growth. Drawn from the authors' work with over 200 organizations, this fieldbook is a collection of best practices/actions that serve to align the organization's networks with its strategic and operational goals. Using workshops, organizational or process changes, and leveraging of web 2.0 technologies, the workbook enables executives to confront key collaborative issues including Collaboration and Community; Innovation; Team Effectiveness; Talent and Workforce Management; and Managing Organizational Change.

Driving Results Through Social Networks shows executives and managers how to obtain substantial performance and innovation impact by better leveraging these traditionally invisible assets. For the past decade, Rob Cross and Robert J. Thomas have worked closely with executives from over a hundred top-level companies and government agencies. In this groundbreaking book, they describe in-depth how these leaders are using network thinking to increase revenues, lower costs, and accelerate innovation.

Experience may be a leader's best teacher--but there's a hitch. Two people can have identical experiences, but one blossoms while the other is depleted. The same can be said for any pair of fired CEOs, unsuccessful political candidates, or rookie supervisors. In Crucibles of Leadership, Robert J. Thomas concludes that what matters most is what one makes of experience, particularly the traumatic and often unplanned crucible events that challenge one's identity as a leader. What distinguishes leaders who grow through a crucible experience? Their approach to learning. Like accomplished athletes or artists, they practice as strenuously as they perform. And because the line between performance and practice is often hard to discern, they learn how to practice while they perform. But theirs is no ordinary practice. It's a regimen tailored to individual aspirations, motivations, and learning styles--a Personal Learning Strategy. Building on insightful and moving stories told by accomplished leaders, Thomas offers probing self-assessments and innovative tools designed to help you develop your own Personal Learning Strategy. Provocative and original, with examples drawn from business and politics as well as from the inner workings of the Mormon Church and the Hell's Angels, Thomas's book will revolutionize the way you think about leadership and learning.

Every day, workforce talent is becoming harder to gain and easier to lose. A potentially lethal mix of changing workforce demographics, reduced workforce engagement and alignment, and the need for new skills are forcing organizations to look anew at their recruitment and retention strategies. Crucially, organizations that neglect to manage and grow their talent are destined to suffer a dramatic decline in business performance. The Talent Powered Organization combines a strategic and robust analysis of the dominant issues with a practical approach to reveal the best ways for you to recruit, manage, engage and retain people in your organization. The authors, leading experts on talent management within global consultancy Accenture, draw on a rich pool of international research and analysis to reveal key trends affecting recruitment and retention. Their findings provide you with the insight you need to ensure your organization doesn't lose out in the fight to attract and retain the right people. With the help of the information provided in this book, you will be able to: * Place talent at the heart of your business strategy * Make leaders and line managers accountable for engaging employees * Build organizational capabilities in learning and skills development * Establish diversity as a key strategic asset for success * Enlist your entire organization in identifying and nurturing talent Containing case studies, international research findings, and practical tools, this book provides you with an objective platform for reviewing talent in your company. It will empower you to understand the forces affecting recruitment and retention and harness them for the long term good of your organization and customers.

Today's young leaders grew up in the glow of television and computers; the leaders of their grandparents' generation in the shadow of the Depression and World War II. In "Leading for a Lifetime", Warren Bennis and Robert Thomas set to find out how era and values shape those who lead. At the heart of this model are what the authors call "crucibles" - utterly transforming periods of testing from which one can emerge either hopelessly broken or powerfully emboldened to learn and to lead. Whether losing an election or burying a child, learning from a mentor or mastering a martial art, crucibles force us to decide who we are and what we are capable of.

The Reckoning is the first in a series of western novels by Robert J. Thomas. The main character in the novel is a young boy, Jess Williams, whose family is brutally murdered. Forced to become a man overnight, he vows to avenge his family's savage deaths. He begins to practice with his Pa's Colt .45 and then a stroke of destiny arrives when he discovers a new pistol and holster that mysteriously appears. Jess practices with it relentlessly until he becomes so quick that he is unbeatable on the draw. He leaves home transformed from a boy to a highly skilled shootist with no reason to live except to hunt down and kill each of the three men responsible for the murders. As he begins his journey, he does so with a pistol and holster that no one has ever seen before---and won't again for almost one-hundred years.

Today's young leaders grew up in the glow of television and computers; the leaders of their grandparents' generation in the shadow of the Depression and World War II. In a groundbreaking study of these two disparate groups - affectionately labeled "geeks" and "geezers" - legendary leadership expert Warren Bennis and leadership consultant Robert Thomas set out to find out how era and values shape those who lead. What they discovered was something far more profound: the powerful process through which leaders of any era emerge. "Geeks and Geezers" is a book that will forever change how we view not just leadership-but the very way we learn and ultimately live our lives. It presents for the first time a compelling new model that predicts who is likely to become - and remain - a leader, and why. At the heart of this model are what the authors call "crucibles" - utterly transforming periods of testing from which one can emerge either hopelessly broken, or powerfully emboldened to learn and to lead. Whether losing an election or burying a child, learning from a mentor or mastering a martial art, crucibles are turning points: defining events that force us to decide who we are and what we are capable of. Through the candid and often deeply moving crucibles of pioneering journalist Mike Wallace to new economy entrepreneur Michael Klein, from New York Stock Exchange trailblazer Muriel Siebert to environmental crusader Tara Church, "Geeks and Geezers" illustrates the stunning metamorphoses of true leaders. It also reveals the critical traits they share, including adaptability, vision, integrity, unquenchable optimism, and "neoteny" - a youthful curiosity and zest for knowledge. Highlighting the forces that enable any of us to learn and lead not for a time, but for a lifetime, this book is essential reading for geeks, geezers, and everyone in between. Warren Bennis is Professor and Founding Chairman of The Leadership Institute at the University of Southern California, and the author of over thirty visionary books on leadership. Robert J. Thomas is an Associate Partner and Senior Fellow with the Accenture Institute for Strategic Change and award-winning author of "What Machines Can't Do".

What are the secrets behind such spectacular new product successesas Slim-Fast, Cellular One, and Phillips CD? How did Snapple, MCIFriends and Family, MTV, and The Body Shop emerge from obscurity tobecome household names, seemingly overnight? Find out in New Product Success Stories, a book that takes youbehind the scenes of 24 of the biggest new product success storiesof the past few years. From repeat purchase and durable productssuch as Lever 2000 and Ford Taurus, to major technologies such asCellular One, from services like Courtyard by Marriott, toretailers such as The Body Shop International, you're given aunique, firsthand look at how a wide range of innovative companiesemployed a variety of approaches to successfully developing andmarketing their new products. New Product Success Stories was designed to help businesspeople toidentify and study the factors that have been shown to play acentral role in new product success. Consequently, the book isorganized according to such vital issues as: * Aligning strategic opportunities * Capitalizing on the business environment * Pursuing market acceptance * Motivating the organization * Creating new product ideas * Designing new products from concepts * Refining the new product * Tracking the new product Each success story follows a similar format, offering a briefhistory of the product idea, a company profile, a blow-by-blowaccount of the development process, an explanation of the product'ssuccess in terms of factors both inside and outside theorganization, and future prospects for both product and thecompany. Offering a unique opportunity to learn the secrets behind 24sensational new product success stories, New Product SuccessStories is an invaluable tool of survival in today's rapidlychanging business world. "A refreshing and practical book that adds considerable insight tothe processes of new product development. Both practitioners andstudents of new product development will find considerable value inbenchmarking against these success stories." --Thomas S. RobertsonSainsbury Professor of Marketing London Business School "New products are essential for organizations, but they are bothrisky and costly. The stories in this book record how 24 newproducts traversed the marketplace minefield successfully. Theyprovide insight and inspiration for those involved in the newproduct arena." -- Gary L. Lilien Director, Institute for the Studyof Business Markets Distinguished Research Professor of ManagementScience, Penn State "Refreshing and illuminating . . . a compelling series of casestudies that shows how the success of a new product can be achievedthrough innovation and risk-taking. A book on new product successthat is a new product in its own right." -- John S. HendricksFounder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer DiscoveryCommunications, Inc. "This book makes an important contribution to the literature on newproduct success. It inspires as it instructs." --William W. AdamsFormer Chairman and President Armstrong World Industries,Inc. "One of the most readable and insightful collections of new productcase studies I have ever read. New Product Success Storiesdemonstrates that business managers and new product professionalscan gain relevant insights from others' successes as well aslearning from others' mistakes." -- John D. Bowlin President andChief Operating Officer Miller Brewing Company

Virtually every manufacturing company has plans for an automated "factory of the future." But Robert J. Thomas argues that smart machines may not hold the key to an industrial renaissance. In this provocative and enlightening book, he takes us inside four successful manufacturing enterprises to reveal the social and political dynamics that are an integral part of new production technology. His interviews with nearly 300 individuals, from top corporate executives to engineers to workers and union representatives, give his study particular credibility and offer surprising insights into the organizational power struggles that determine the form and performance of new technologies. Thomas urges managers not to put blind hopes into smarter machines but to find smarter ways to organize people. As U. S. companies battle for survival in an era of growing global competition, What Machines Can't Do is an invaluable treatise on the ways we organize work. While its call for change is likely to be controversial, it will also attract anyone who wishes to understand the full impact of new technology on jobs, organizations, and the future of the industrial enterprise.

Learn how to maintain a firm grasp of a project throughout its development, how to forecast with greater accuracy and how to ensure the successful launch of a product. Covers new consumer and industrial products, the latest services and technologies. Contains a slew of examples and case studies to illustrate concepts.

Originally published in 1981, this book examines the ways in which social groups interact in the making of a common food in American society: iceberg lettuce. The major questions posed by the research, however, extend beyond the features of one agricultural product, as the authors analyse the organization of industrial production. The goal of the text is the integration of the analysis of social systems involving agricultural production with a broader body of theory and research concerned with production. The major theoretical categories and concepts used by the authors are primarily Marxian. Although this study could be integrated with rural and industrial sociology, it addresses a number of issues neglected by both fields.