Today’s organizations face rapid change, digital disruption, and rising demands for sustainability and resilience. This fifth-edition text equips executives, students, and educators with a proven framework for designing effective organizations in complex environments. Built on decades of research, the multi-contingency model provides a step-by-step guide from diagnosis to design and implementation – now expanded to include knowledge interdependence, AI integration, sustainable development, and organizational resilience.

Rich with real-world cases from LEGO, Microsoft, Haier, and BlackBerry, the book blends theory with practice and offers clear visuals, intuitive two-by-two models, and tools to support hands-on learning and application. It helps readers understand who should do what, who should talk to whom, and – crucially – who should know what, in today’s increasingly dynamic settings. Whether used in executive education or as a core text in MBA and business school courses, this updated edition is a comprehensive, accessible, and globally trusted guide to modern organizational design.

A tort is a special kind of wrongdoing. ‘Tort’ is a legal term that describes a particular category of interpersonal wrongdoing dealt with by the civil justice system. The law of torts covers a wide range of different types of misconduct, including many torts with well-known names like ‘assault’, ‘battery’, ‘trespass to land’, ‘defamation’ and ‘negligence’. The task of defining the word ‘tort’ is notoriously difficult, given that more than 70 torts are known to the common law world, each with a different focus and a distinctive set of elements to protect different personal interests.

Curiously, there does not appear to be any shared identifying characteristic nor any unified set of interests that the law of torts seeks to protect to the exclusion of any other area of the law. The search for a clear definition is further complicated by the constant state of development of the law of torts. Some torts are outdated and no longer recognised in Australia, while others that have existed in other common law jurisdictions for many years have not yet been widely accepted here.

This chapter explores the constructed nature of environmental understanding through colonial, neocolonial, postcolonial and ecofeminist lenses. It begins by dissecting the binary opposition of nature versus civilisation as shaped by colonial narratives, revealing how this dichotomy justified the exploitation of Indigenous populations, women and natural resources. The analysis extends to neocolonial practices – such as land-grabbing and neoliberal economic expansion – and their environmental repercussions. Through literary and filmic examples like Robinson Crusoe and Cast Away, the chapter highlights how survival narratives reinforce human supremacy and commodify nature. It then critically examines the idealisation of Indigenous peoples as ‘noble savages’ and the romanticised notion of nature as a Garden of Eden. Moving towards constructive alternatives, it foregrounds postcolonial and ecofeminist approaches that challenge anthropocentrism, promote interconnectedness and embrace Indigenous cosmologies centred around earth goddesses like Pachamama and Papatūānuku. The chapter concludes with a case study on Brendon Grimshaw’s ecological restoration of Moyenne Island, advocating for grassroots conservation and ethical environmental care. Ultimately, the chapter urges readers to reassess dominant narratives and join collective efforts to protect and regenerate nature.

This chapter explores incentive systems as tools to align employee behavior with organizational goals. Incentives can be based on behavior or results, and targeted at individuals or groups, forming four types: personal pay, skill pay, bonus-based pay, and profit/gain-sharing. Each has strengths and risks, e.g., bonus pay may drive results but also short-termism. Misaligned incentives can lead to unintended behaviors. Digital tools such as AI and real-time monitoring enable more dynamic, granular incentive systems but raise ethical concerns around privacy and surveillance. Incentives also reflect power dynamics and can affect trust and fairness. In modern work settings – remote, hybrid, or gig-based – traditional incentive models face challenges in visibility and accountability. Sustainability-linked incentives are gaining traction, integrating environmental and social goals into reward systems. Successful incentive design balances financial and non-financial motivators, adapts to evolving work models, and supports long-term, ethical performance.

In this chapter, the element of breach is covered in four sections. Section 12.1 discusses the nature of breach as an element of the tort of negligence – what it is there for and what it covers. Section 12.2 discusses the standard of care – a question of law. Section 12.3 explains what courts take into account to assess the conduct of a defendant – a question of fact. Section 12.4 discusses the ways in which breach of duty can be proved.

Two sets of ‘Summary points’ summarise the matters that you should take into account when approaching a problem question. They appear at the end of the discussion of the nature and role of breach (section 12.1) and again at the end of the chapter.

Note that these ‘Summary points’ ask you to engage in an active reading exercise: your task is to link each of the summary points with a case in the section.

This chapter first discusses the main subjects of international law and explains their principal features. It then zooms in on states, the traditional and principal actors in the international legal system. It discusses the criteria for statehood under international law, the role that recognition plays in this respect, and how new states emerge. Finally, this chapter turns to an analysis of the right to self-determination, a notion that plays an important role in the creation of states and is considered to be the most prominent right of one of the subjects of international law: people.

This chapter begins by explaining why international lawyers typically begin discussions about the sources of public international law by referencing Article 38 of the Statute of the International Court of Justice (ICJ). It then introduces treaties and custom, which are the two main sources of law in this field, before discussing other sources, namely general principles of law, decisions of international organizations, unilateral declarations, judicial decisions, and the teachings of international legal experts. The chapter ends with a discussion of non-binding instruments, which do not contain binding legal rules, but are nonetheless significant in the international legal field as they contain norms that impact the behaviours of states.

International criminal law is the branch of public international law under which individuals may be held criminally responsible for the offences of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression. International criminal law seeks to prevent impunity by holding accountable those individuals who are responsible for serious violations of international criminal law. This chapter begins with the history of international criminal law, starting with the aftermath of the First and Second World Wars, and ending with the creation of a spate of international criminal courts and tribunals in recent decades. The chapter then covers substantive aspects of international criminal law, namely the crime of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression. Finally, the chapter covers key procedural aspects of international criminal law, including the jurisdiction of international courts and tribunals, the admissibility of cases, modes of liability, and immunities. The International Criminal Court is a focal point in this chapter

International organizations perform activities in areas in which states can no longer operate effectively in isolation, and in which there is a common interest in cooperation within a permanent international framework. This chapter will examine international organizations primarily from a legal perspective. The chapter aims to present a general overview of the law of international organizations. This chapter discusses the legal status, privileges, and immunities of international organizations. The chapter further deals with membership issues, powers, and institutional structures. The chapter also looks at decisions of international organizations: the way in which they are taken and the different types of decisions. The chapter briefly examines the finances of international organizations. There has been an exponential increase in the activities of international organizations over the years. Not all of these activities have been successful, however, and there have been failures and wrongdoings. In recent years, a much-debated issue is to what extent international organizations and/or their members may be held responsible for such failures and wrongdoings.

The rules of state responsibility are set out in the International Law Commission’s (ILC) Articles on the Responsibility of States for Internationally Wrongful Acts. This chapter introduces the basic features of the ILC’s Articles on State Responsibility, beginning with an explanation of what constitutes an internationally wrongful act. It then discusses the circumstances precluding wrongfulness that may be invoked by states seeking to avoid responsibility for an internationally wrongful act. The chapter then covers the aftermath of an internationally wrongful act, which can involve legal consequences, such as reparations, as well as countermeasures. This chapter focuses specifically on the responsibility of states, rather than the responsibility of international organizations or individuals.

This chapter begins by introducing a number of foundational concepts, which serve as the starting point in the field of public international law. Section 1.1 begins with the notion that states are sovereign equals and must consent to be bound by international law. This section also introduces the critical distinction that international law makes between states and ‘non-state actors’. Section 1.2 discusses the inevitable comparison of public international law with domestic legal systems, and the significant limitations of this analogy as a means for understanding the field of public international law. Section 1.3 introduces the subject of the relationship between international and domestic law. Section 1.4 concludes by explaining this book’s overarching structure as well as the approach of this book to the introduction of public international law.