This book develops the central aspect of fixed point theory – the topological fixed point index – to maximal generality, emphasizing correspondences and other aspects of the theory that are of special interest to economics. Numerous topological consequences are presented, along with important implications for dynamical systems. The book assumes the reader has no mathematical knowledge beyond that which is familiar to all theoretical economists. In addition to making the material available to a broad audience, avoiding algebraic topology results in more geometric and intuitive proofs. Graduate students and researchers in economics, and related fields in mathematics and computer science, will benefit from this book, both as a useful reference and as a well-written rigorous exposition of foundational mathematics. Numerous problems sketch key results from a wide variety of topics in theoretical economics, making the book an outstandingtext for advanced graduate courses in economics and related disciplines.

This textbook does in part deal with issues that might be considered strategic planning. This is deliberate. The boundary between planning and implementation is quite artificial, and it is in fact very important that they are heavily interlocked. As discussed in the preface, planning and implementation should overlap somewhat. It is vital that planners ensure a careful and considered hand over to those charged with implementation. Indeed, there is a strong case for implementers being participants in the planning process. Many organisations experience a disconnect between strategy and operations partly because planning is undertaken in isolation of operations, and vice versa. This is not to say that this text is a replacement for ones centred on strategic planning. Rather, this text should act as a complementary guide, providing a bridge from the conceptual ideas and analytical tools of strategy development to the more concrete world of operations and project management. It should be read in conjunction with the EBS Strategic Planning text and within the context of the entire Strategic Focus Wheel(TM). In these courses there are some potentially conflicting ideas presented. This is intentional and represents a healthy approach to the subject matter. Management is far from being a 'perfect science', and there are few absolute rights and wrongs. Advanced management students will recognize this and be able to develop lines of argument in favour of divergent theories. In practice, this translates itself into balanced and informed decision making