In this lively, far-reaching investigation, award-winning financial journalist Hamish McRae calls on years of experience to bring a fresh perspective to the question of lasting success. Taking examples from around the world, "What Works" guides us through businesses, organisations and initiatives that have what it takes to succeed in today's competitive global marketplace and challenging economic climate. The results may surprise you. Ikea is an obvious example of a successful business model, but the slums of Mumbai are not. And yet Asia's largest slum is, in its own way, a successfully functioning organisation, boasting schools, health care, economic activity and social stability.
Using these and other case studies ranging from public safety in Japan to the high-tech industries of Bangalore, McRae sheds a fascinating and instructive light on what Michelle Obama referred to as 'the flimsy difference between success and failure'. Counterintuitive, agenda-free and ultimately optimistic, this is a business book for anyone inspired to be successful, curious about the future economic landscape of our increasingly global world, and interested in learning about the ways in which we can apply successes in other parts of the world to our own endeavours.