The introduction explains that effective management depends on understanding both organizational processes and human behaviour. Organizations achieve their goals through people, making it essential for managers to understand how individuals think, communicate, make decisions, and work in teams. The authors introduce organizational behaviour as the study of how people behave within organizations and show how this knowledge can improve leadership, motivation, communication, and organizational performance. The book combines management theory with practical applications, helping students understand the challenges faced by modern organizations in a rapidly changing business environment. It emphasizes the importance of balancing organizational objectives with employee needs to achieve long-term success

The introduction explains what information systems (IS) are and why they are important to organisations. The book takes a management perspective: information systems are not simply about computers and technology; managers must understand how technology interacts with people, organisations, processes and business strategy

The introduction explains that marketing is a fundamental business activity concerned with understanding customers, creating value, and developing relationships that benefit both organizations and consumers. It presents marketing as more than simply advertising or selling; it is a strategic process involving research, planning, communication, product development, pricing, distribution, and customer engagement.

The authors emphasize that successful marketing begins with understanding customer needs, wants, and behaviors. Organizations must analyze markets, identify opportunities, develop valuable offerings, and communicate effectively with their target audiences. The introduction also highlights how changes in technology, globalization, and digital media have transformed marketing practices and created new ways for organizations to interact with customers

The introduction explains the role of marketing communications in helping organizations connect with customers, build relationships, and achieve business objectives. It presents marketing communication as a strategic process that goes beyond traditional advertising by combining multiple communication methods to deliver clear, consistent, and engaging messages.

The authors introduce the idea of integrated marketing communications (IMC), where offline and online channels work together to create a unified customer experience. They highlight how digital technology, social media, mobile platforms, and data analytics have transformed the way brands communicate and interact with audiences.

The introduction explains that marketing research is a systematic process of collecting, analyzing, and interpreting information to support marketing decision-making. It emphasizes that organizations operate in highly competitive and rapidly changing markets, making reliable information essential for understanding customers, identifying opportunities, solving business problems, and reducing uncertainty. The author highlights that marketing research connects businesses with consumers through data and provides managers with evidence for planning products, pricing, promotion, distribution, and market strategies. The book combines theoretical concepts with practical applications, real-world examples, case studies, and modern analytical techniques to help students and professionals develop effective marketing research skills. It also stresses the growing importance of technology, ethics, and global perspectives in contemporary marketing research

The introduction explains that materials selection is a fundamental part of engineering design because the choice of material strongly influences the performance, safety, cost, and sustainability of a product. The author emphasizes that engineers must select materials not only based on their properties, but also on how those materials fit the requirements of a particular design problem.

The chapter introduces a systematic approach to choosing materials from the wide range of available options. It explains that good design requires balancing multiple factors, such as:

The introduction explains that media events are powerful forms of mediated communication that bring large audiences together around significant moments, ceremonies, conflicts, disasters, or public happenings. The editors revisit the influential concept of media events developed by Daniel Dayan and Elihu Katz and examine how the concept needs to be reconsidered in the context of today’s globalized and digital media environment.

The introduction argues that media events are no longer limited to traditional television broadcasts or nationally shared experiences. Global communication networks, online platforms, and changing audience behaviors have transformed how events are produced, distributed, experienced, and interpreted. Audiences are increasingly active participants who can comment, share, remix, and influence the meaning of media events

The introduction explains that economics is a way of understanding how people, businesses, and societies make choices when resources are limited. The authors present economics as a practical discipline that helps explain everyday decisions, market outcomes, and the forces that shape modern societies.

The authors emphasize that economics is not only about money or business; it is about understanding trade-offs, incentives, and human behavior. Economic thinking helps people analyze choices by comparing costs and benefits, considering alternatives, and examining how individual decisions influence larger economic systems.

The introduction explains that traditional ideas of government based on the central authority of the nation-state have been challenged by new patterns of decision-making involving international organizations, regional governments, local authorities, private organizations, and civil society groups. The editors introduce multi-level governance as a framework for understanding how power and responsibility are increasingly shared across different levels and networks of actors. The book examines how this concept has developed, especially through studies of the European Union, and considers both its usefulness and limitations as an approach to understanding modern politics. The introduction emphasizes the need for new ways of analyzing governance that move beyond traditional state-centred perspectives and recognize the complex relationships between governmental and non-governmental actors