Book Description

With its exciting introduction of the Harley-Davidson focus company theme, this book continues to provide a solid, enduring foundation of the tools of modern theory while at the same time developing the logic behind their use. The “10 Principles of Finance” (formerly “Axioms”) provide the framework, or “the big picture” of finance, which ties the major concepts of the book together.A six-part organization covers the scope and environment of financial management, valuation of financial assets, investment in long-term assets, capital structure and dividend policy, working-capital management, and special topics in finance, and special topics in finance.For an enduring understanding of the basic tools and fundamental principles upon which finance is based. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Spawned by a 10-year study of 2,000 firms conducted at Bain & Company, a global consultancy specializing in business strategy, Profit from the Core is based on the fundamental but oft-ignored maxim that prolonged corporate growth is most profitably achieved by concentrating on a single core business. To help companies identify this true essence, narrow their focus accordingly, and move forward in a manner that builds upon existing structure, Bain director Chris Zook and former Bain director James Allen present "a set of practical and proven principles, diagnostic tests, and questions for management teams to use as tools for reexamining or revising their strategies in search of the next wave of profitable growth." Bolstering their argument with real-world examples--including companies such as Disney, which succeeded by taking this approach, and Bausch & Lomb, which faltered by eschewing it--the authors show how to effectively uncover true corporate strengths, elevate them to realize their potential, identify related new businesses that could be successfully added, and even completely redefine a core when confronted with factors forcing such action. (For example: they offer a step-by-step method for mapping "adjacent opportunities" that may prove complementary, ranking them according to potential, and developing strategies to further evaluate and ultimately implement them.) The result is recommended for anyone tired of the management theory du jour who seeks a proven way to propel their company into the future. --Howard Rothman ... Read more

Reviews (27)

Facts and common sense
It is such a pleasure to read a business book free of the gibberish catch-phrases and stilted prose that characterize so many in this saturated segment. Zook's expositions on how companies grow and create value are not driven from guesswork or force-fitting examples into a pre-conceived frame. He started with data and draws the unavoidable conclusions from the data elegantly and simply. Relative market share in a well-defined industry is shown time and again to be a sure way to sustainable growth. Running a business is 95% operations, 5% strategy, but the 95% is useless if the 5% is wrong. This book deals comprehensively with the 5%. Practitioners shouldn't need much else to guide their most important decisions.

Without a Core, Chaos
After a two-year study of the key strategic decisions that most often determine growth or stagnation in business, Zook (with Allen) realized that clients of Bain & Company were eager to share the results of that study. Only later did he decide to write this book, one in which he presents and then develops "a useful framework for understanding and addressing the key decision points encountered in growing a business." He concluded that this framework is practical and could be applied (with appropriate modification) within almost any organization. In the Preface, Zook acknowledges that he was surprised by some of the findings which he briefly identifies. He then observes: "Central to our findings are three ideas: the concept of the core business and its boundaries; the idea that every business has a level of full-potential performance that usually exceeds what the company imagines; and the idea that performance-yield loss occurs at many levels, from strategy to leadership to organizational capabilities to execution." In the five chapters which follow, Zook (with Allen) examines "the types of strategic business decisions that most often seem to tilt the odds of future success or failure." Zook correctly suggests in this book that many organizations cannot resist the appeal ("the siren's song") of "miracle cures" of their problems. Zook focuses entirely on what has been verified in real-world experience, on what is practical, and on what will reliably achieve the desired results of sound strategic decisions.

He and his associates learned a great deal from the study, confiding that "some of the results were quite counterintuitive to us." Several of the findings caught my eye and caused me to challenge a few of my own cherished assumptions. For example, that "the choice of the next hot industry was much less important in driving growth and profitability over the long term than were strategy, competitive position, reinvesting rates, and execution." They also learned that many of the most successful sustained growth companies are actually in lower growth businesses (e.g. Enron in energy, ServiceMaster in basic services, and Bechtel in engineering). Why? Zook suggests that "it might be precisely the difficulty of of these market environments that elicits superior business creativity in the search for new growth out of their core businesses." In other words, these companies ignored "the siren's song" and stuck to the aforementioned "basics": strategy, competitive position, reinvesting rates, and execution. In the last chapter, Zook quotes Sun Tzu: "The more opportunities that I seize, the more opportunities that multiply before me." He then asserts that this phenomenon "is at the heart of growth strategy and embodies the fundamental tension between protecting the core [i.e. 'the basics'] and driving into more and better adjacencies, propelled by greater and greater success."

The various mini-case studies provided are very informative. I also appreciative the dozens of check lists (e.g. "Ten Key Questions for Management"), charts (e.g. 3-1 "Adjacencies Radiate from the Core"), and chapter "Conclusion" sections, all of which serve two important functions: they distill key ideas, and, they can serve as helpful reminders when reviewed later. Obviously, the "goal posts" in today's business world approach and then withdraw, widen and then narrow, with sometimes maddening unpredictability. Wait until they are closer for an easier kick or kick now ("carpe diem") before they begin to back up? Wait until they are wider? What if they become narrower? This metaphorical situation is complicated by the fact that opponents are trying to block the kick in what may well be inclement weather or at least against the wind. Kick now or wait?

One of the most interesting concepts shared in this book is what Zook refers to as "The Alexander Problem." Briefly, Alexander the Great and his armies eventually conquered an area stretching from Mount Olympus to Mount Everest. That was accomplished in less than four years. His resources became overextended. "His sticking point -- the failure to anchor in the core business (in his case, governance) and consolidate a rapid expansion --exemplifies the most common problem across all growth strategy": pursuing the wrong adjacency opportunities. With Alexander's premature death, his empire died with him. He was its core. The same is true of countless companies which expand into related segments which do not utilize, much less reinforce, the strength of their profitable core. "Business adjacencies are growth opportunities that follow a company to extend the boundaries of its core business. What distinguishes an adjacency from another growth opportunity is the extent to which it draws on the customer relationships, technologies, or skills in the core business to build competitive advantage in a new, adjacent, competitive area." Have you ever wondered why at least 70% of all mergers and acquisitions either fail or perform well below expectations? The board members and senior-level executives of those organizations obviously had not read Zook's analysis of "The Alexander Problem" in Chapter 3.

Those who share my high regard for this book are urged to check out Crawford and Matthews' The Myth of Excellence, Fitz-enz's The E-Aligned Enterprise as well as The ROI of Human Capital, and Collins & Porras' Built to Last.

Very Realistic and very useful
This book is very good, it explains very clearly the different growth concepts with clear definitions, and a very interesting growth matrix. in addition, unlike other books, this book uses a lot of real world examples to illustarte the different concepts and growth startegies. It explains how companies, that succeded, evolved from their core business and developed new products without getting lost in the process. Also, explains why and how some companies failed. The book is realistic, and gives you some tools and matrix that you can apply when analyzing and developing a growth strategy. You should also check out the web site, it has some examples of how to apply the gowth matrix.

Dell has applied this book idea very well
This is a very good book for anyone interest in business strategy. Especially reading it with Creative Destruction. One company which has applied this strategy very well is Dell. Its strategy to stay at the core in PC while adjaceny expansion into Printer, PDA ... etc. It stated in Businessweek that it is entering into the low-end (maybe ignorant by market leader) market for market share first. It is similar to a point mentioned in the book. I guess it has a lot to do with Rollin (one of the head of Dell)

These guys really messed up
This book is clearly overrated -- very simplistic and nothing more than a marketing tool for would-be customers. The book's fatal flaw is probably its praise of Enron and its ability to grow from its "core" ... Read more

Book Description

The authors began writing the First Edition of this textbook in early 1988. It took almost 10 years to complete this effort, because they did not want to write an ordinary textbook. Their goal was to write a book that would break new ground in both the understanding and explanation of finance and its practice. They wanted to write a book that would influence the way people think about, teach, and practice finance. A book that would elevate the level of discussion and analysis in the classroom, in the corporate boardroom, and in the conference rooms of Wall Street firms. They wanted a book that would sit on the shelves of financial executives as a useful reference manual, long after the executives had studied and received a degree. They were successful in their endeavor.The success of the first edition of Financial Markets and Corporate Strategy was very heartening. The market for this text has expanded every year, and it is well-known as the cutting edge textbook in corporate finance around the world. The book is used in a variety of courses, both for introductory courses and advanced electives. Some schools have even changed their curriculum to design it around this text.The authors have developed this Second Edition based on the comments of many reviewers and colleagues; producing what is a more reader-friendly book. The most consistent comment from users of the first edition was a request for a chapter on the key ingredients of valuation: accounting, cash flows, and basic discounting. This ultimately led to a new chapter in the text, Chapter 9, which is currently available in the "Sample Chapter" section of the book's website.In almost every chapter, examples are updated, vignettes changed, numbers modified, statements checked for currency and historical accuracy, and exercises and examples are either modified or added to. The goal of the Second Edition is to make the book ever more practical, pedagogically effective, and current. ... Read more

Reviews (7)

The Worst Book in Finance
This is the worst book i have come across in my life.
It is extremely complicated to understand and there is a not a single solution to the end of chapter problems.
A total waste of money.

Misses Off Balance Sheet
Given the spectacular corporate finance shenanigans of Enron, Worldcom, American Tissue, and others, it is inconceivable this book doesn't cover off-balance sheet products in the detail they deserve.

Insightful, Skillful, and Effective
I bought this book as a recommended supplemental text for a course in Corporate Finance in the MBA program at the U of Michigan Business School. I can say I am very glad that I bought and am reading this book. There is a great deal of information here so I hate to say that I have already read it.

But I can recommend it to you strongly by praising it for these reasons:

1) It puts practical flesh on the financial model bones you learned in your first course on finance. There are very good discussions of the basic and well-known fundamental theories and models, but the authors also share with us what tends to happen in the real world. And isn't that what each of us need to add to our theoretical thinking?

2) Each chapter has effective summarizing Key Concepts and Key Terms with plenty of problems to work through and a list of References and Additional Readings that enable the reader to dive deeper into the topic of the chapter just read.

3) The book is helpfully organized into six Parts that provide the framework for the discussion. Parts 1-3 are a review of "Financial Markets and Instruments", "Valuing Financial Assets", and "Valuing Real Assets". This foundation gives the student a good grounding in order to see how these principles are used in the work of managing the capital structure of a corporation. Parts 4-6 discuss the "Corporate Financial Structure", "Incentives, Information and Corporate Control", and "Risk Management". These last three sections are the real meat of the book and where a great deal of its value to the business student lies.

4) Each of the Parts has an effective and brief introduction that sets the tone for what is to be studied. Even better, at the end of each the six Parts there are two very helpful summary sections: "Practical Insights" and "Executive Perspective".

This is a specialized topic. But it is an important topic. This is a very good book that can help a serious student get grounded in some very important principals necessary to managing the financial issues facing every corporation. I recommend it.

An integrated approach to corporate finance and strategy
The most valuable part of this book is in its ability to integrate financial decision making with strategy. This is rare especially for a book this good.

Another valuable point is that its approach of balancing theories and practicality. If student finds it a little confusing or non-conclusive on many issues, it is precisely so in reality.

A book this good is more than a gift.

Fair at explaining, poor at teaching
Although some of the chapters shine as well written, many are overly wordy. Nonetheless, the topics are explained in an orderly way. Maybe I am taking too much for granted in my textbooks; however, in every other way, I find this book poor. For those who learn by doing, I think you will agree. The formulas included in the text generally do not have their variables defined and often appear on separate pages from the text explaining them. Graphs, too, leave the reader flipping through pages (sometimes chapters). Also, following the example problems in the text can take tons of time when a few more simple lines of explanation (and better layout) would make the whole process more efficient for the reader. Finally, my biggest frustration with the book is the problems at the end of each chapter. I enjoy working through problems, and these could be fun if there were some guide to help the reader--a simple numeric answer like "10.2: -2" at the end to let the reader know if he is on the right track. Also, a workbook with separate problems explained would be heaven. The authors do explain the concepts, and, beyond that, leave the student little room for further learning with this book. ... Read more

Book Description

MANAGEMENT CONTROL SYSTEMS 9/E builds on strengths from prior editions by offering a rich diversity of cases balanced with current material. In addition to course offerings of the same title as this text, the book is appropriate for advanced managerial accounting courses and/or MBA-level cost accounting courses with an emphasis on management control. The text is organized to develop insights and analytical skills related to how managers go about designing, and using planning and control systems to implement strategies. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

This is what you need!
Great book. Clear and helpful. If you want to learn about control systems and business management control, this is the book you need.

from Chile
Es un excelente texto de apoyo para la docencia. Tanto mis alumnos como yo lo hemos utilizado. Es importante el aporte de los autores con los casos de estudio que entregan en cada capitulo, que permite en tender y reforzar los conceptos vertidos en el mismo

Excellent!
A straight-forward no-nonsense approach backed by the right mix of cases. Expensive but worth every penny. ... Read more

Book Description

A concise yet thorough, analytically sound 14-chapter introduction to financial management designed especially for the experienced executive.Where most texts prove to be either too simplistic or too advanced for most non-financial managers, this book employs the appropriate level of both practicality and rigor for the executive audience.Its practical approach make it ideal for a course taught from a case approach or as a complement to a more technical introductory text.Self-contained chapters make it an excellent and concise reference text and useful for readers who want to learn the concepts on their own outside of the traditional classroom. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Finance for Executives: Managing for Value Creation
Designed especially for experienced executives, this volume offers a concise fourteen-chapter introduction to the world of financial management.
An introductory text written specifically for executives involved with financial matters and financial management, intended to fill the gap between introductory accounting and finance manuals for non-financial managers and advanced texts in corporate finance. Material emphasizes rigorous analysis but avoids complicated formulas that have no direct application to decision making. Mathematical derivations of formulas are given in appendices. Most chapters are self-contained. Coverage includes balance sheets and income statements, financial diagnosis and management, investment decisions, financing decisions, and business decisions. Includes a glossary and review problems. The authors are affiliated with the European Institute of Business Administration. This second edition includes new case studies.

Readable , practical and ..maybe the best...
In my humble opinion ,this maybe one of the best books of Finance... It is practical,direct to the point,the examples are clearly stated so that you can follow the concepts and central ideas and most important : you really can understand everything in an easy way....no sweat here..
You can apply almost everything in this book to your daily practice. No matter your years of experience , FFE will refresh you and reinforce your knowledge. I always have this book on my desk for reference.

Excellent for Corporate Finance practitioners
‚Finance for Executives' is invaluable for everybody who needs to analyse companies and wants to know whether investment, financing or business decisions create value. It is written very clearly and is therefore easy to understand. It offers plenty of practically relevant examples, mostly based on one company which is being analysed in its different aspects throughout the whole book. Moreover, every chapter finishes with review problems (including solutions) and useful references. Some chapters offer appendices with mathematical proofs or additional in-depth analysis. - You will not be satisfied with this book if you are looking for a scientific, theoretical text. However, your expectations will be exceeded if you are a practitioner who wants to make an impact in a consulting or investment banking environment. - What does make this book so special? After working through it, you will be able to easily put into practice what you read.

Great overview in simple terms and easy to follow
This book is great as an introduction to the major concepts of finance. If you are looking for an advanced refernce book, this is not the one. But if you want to refresh your memory, or want a quick overview of concepts and methods, I can't think of a better book.

A readable, relevant reference for every business person.
Every business owner, executive, accountant, banker and maybe even your lawyer should have this valuable book on their desktop! The authors demystify the art of finance and suggest pragmatic approaches and solutions for every day capital uses and needs. This attractive and attractively priced book is written in an innovative way, making it a useful quick desktop reference as well as an MBA level finance text. The glossary by itself is worth the price of the book. How astounding that the authors are both French, yet write with more clarity in English than any American finance writer I have read of late! Vive la readability! ... Read more

Book Description

A step-by-step approach for planning and performing an assessment of internal controls

In addition to financial results, companies must now analyze and evaluate the quality of the processes and controls used to report these results. How to Comply with Sarbanes-Oxley Section 404 provides a comprehensive, logically structured approach to help readers test and evaluate internal control in their companies.

Designed specifically for Sarbanes-Oxley Section 404 compliance, How to Comply with Sarbanes-Oxley Section 404 features:

• A step-by-step approach to engagement performance
• Original material from a leading expert in auditing and accounting
• Practice aids, including forms, checklists, illustrations, diagrams, and tables
• In-depth explanations to help professionals understand how best to approach the internal control engagement
• Examples and action plans providing blueprints for implementing requirements of the Act

Reviews (1)

Exceptional resource
This book does not much dwell on the details of Sarbanes-Oxley - the reader is assumed to have an understanding of the salient details - but, instead lays out a comprehensive action plan for complying with Section 404.

The author begins with three chapters covering the overall goals and objectives, roles and responsibilities, assessment issues, and an excellent chapter about internal control criteria. Each of these chapters ends in appendices that support the compliance initiative.

Milestones, covered in Chapters 3 through 7, are clearly defined with respect to what it will take, key issues, and appendices that provide examples, guidelines, checklists and other material that support compliance. I was impressed by the straightforward approach, the complete and clear identification of all issues - and especially so regarding IT, developing documentation, and testing the controls - and the fact that the control objectives were carefully mapped to the COSO Framework.

If you want a realistic view of the scope and complexity of Section 404 compliance this book will provide it. If you are an IT professional I strongly recommend visiting Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ASIN B00006BW74), which makes available a free 84-page document titled "IT Control Objectives for Sarbanes-Oxley". For more general information, there is a commercial site that provides news and updates on Sarbanes-Oxley issues (ASIN B0000AM23N), as well as the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (ASIN B00013Y80Y), which provides rule making information and a means to comment on proposed rules. You can reach these sites by pasting the ASIN numbers in the search box at the top of this page, selecting all products and clicking GO. ... Read more

Book Description

Too often, finance courses stop short of making a connection between textbook finance and the problems of real-world business. Financial Modeling bridges this gap between theory and practice by providing a nuts-and-bolts guide to solving common financial models with spreadsheets. Simon Benninga takes the reader step by step through each model, showing how it can be solved using Microsoft Excel. In this sense, this is a finance "cookbook," providing recipes with lists of ingredients and instructions.

Areas covered include computation of corporate finance problems, standard portfolio problems, option pricing and applications, and duration and immunization. The second edition contains six new chapters covering financial calculations, cost of capital, value at risk (VaR), real options, early exercise boundaries, and term structure modeling. A new technical chapter contains a potpourri of tips for using Excel.

Although the reader should know enough about Excel to set up a simple spreadsheet, the author explains advanced Excel techniques used in the book. The book includes chapters dealing with random number generation, data tables, matrix manipulation, and VBA programming. It also comes with a CD-ROM containing Excel worksheets and solutions to end-of-chapter exercises. ... Read more

Reviews (36)

Excellent book due to its simple practicality
I highly recommend this book to any aspiring financial analyst. It is definitely worth it, even at the list price.

Want to master the fundamentals of basic finance using Excel? then this is one of the few books on the market that really meet this need. Want to set up more advanced mathmatics modeling? well as the introduction of this explains, this book is more like a cookbook: it lists the required basic ingredients and the culinary process but if you want to spice the dish (financial model) up, it is up to the individuals to dig out those advanced formulas from the financial trade journals and apply them to the models.

I first saw the first edition of this book in my college library. took it home and was EXCITED. I was looking for a practical book that would show me the intricacies of Excel for setting up financial models and this was like a god-sent. Like one of the other reviewers said, this book combined basic finance, Excel functions, and VBA programming. To add practicality to this book, Professor Benninga even showed how to download financial data from the internet. Granted it is rather basic, but it adds to the usability of his book, making it a well-round book.

The best parts are end-of-the chapter exercises. Solutions are provided in the accompanying CD-ROM. See how many ways can you solve the same problem.

Professor Benninga always outlines the assumptions and explains the parameters of each model. We should remember that in many instances, unrealistic assumptions lead to way-of-the mark numbers, rendering the whole modeling process and its calculations useless.

Want to become a advanced-level financial modeler? then master the fundamentals first! this book gets you started.

P.S. I also highly recommend to anyone just starting with Excel modeling to read William J. Orvis's Excel for Scientists and Engineers. It is a bit outdated but still highly useful for its chapters on curve fitting, VBA programming and raw data manipulation.

Chicken Soup for the Financial Analyst's Soul
If you need to build a working valuation model, calculate the risk of a portfolio with 100+ securities, or figure out what return you might expect to get from a portfolio of high-yield bonds, then you'll find Simon Beninga's "Financial Modeling" merits far more than five stars: this is one book that is indispensable.

One of the biggest problems I ran into during my MBA program was the way my professors taught Corporate Finance. I had great profs, true, but they were teaching theoretical concepts from theoretical textbooks. Sure, you learned the basics: CAPM, net present value, basic options and futures, Arbitrage Pricing Theory, VAR and TEV, but I have always maintained that the best way of learning a subject---particularly corporate finance---is by getting your hands dirty and digging into the guts of the material.

Since Corporate Finance, off-balance sheet instruments aside, isn't very dirty, the best way to get a hands-on practical approach in terms of Capital Structure, the appropriate discount rate to use in pricing an asset, risk, and optimal debt and dividends is to program in Excel and Visual Basic. The problem is that many top finance texts don't offer supplemental material to translate the theoretical concepts into actual valuation and spreadsheet models, which any financial analyst will contend is the life-blood of the industry.

With that in mind, Simon Beninga's "Financial Modelling" is a kind of "Joy of Cooking" for initiate investment bankers, corporate financiers, controllers, analysts, and anyone who wants to use core Corporate Finance concepts in the real world. Beninga goes through the standard laundry list of Corporate Finance text topics---from the optimal risky portfolio to the term structure of interest rates---and shows you how to translate these concepts into workable spreadsheet models that can illustrate, illuminate, and get to the heart of a problem.

If you're a new MBA or financial analyst, you'll find much to love in Beninga's approach, and by pairing the newly expanded 2nd edition up with a top theoretical finance textbook (Ross, Westerfield et al.'s "Corporate Finance" is a fine example) you'll get the most out of your MBA program and have a solid foundation for building Excel and Visual Basic financial models that work.

I liken "Financial Modeling" to a cookbook, in that Beninga provides all the ingredients necessary to the model at hand: he begins with a sprinkling of theory, whether it's modeling a bond portfolio's immunization, calculating the cost of capital, estimating a portfolio's Beta with no short-selling, or pricing put and call options using both the binomial theorem and Black-Scholes. His writing is spare, terse, and to the point, but I have learned more about advanced corporate finance theory through Beninga's marvellously pithy writing and copious Excel examples than I have in reading ten 'top of the list' finance books.

In addition to nicely expanded sections on options (including portfolio insurance) and leasing (including the technically sophisticated subject of leveraged leasing, which requires Excel to comprehend), Beninga concludes his sprightly little tome with a section on getting the most out of Excel (useful little shortcuts that a financial analyst will need but may not have heard of) and a nice little introductory primer on programming in Visual Basic.

"Financial Modeling" is an absolute essential if you're going to make Corporate Finance your profession. For an equally elegant and practical treatment of building discounted cash flow models for businesses, the reader would be advised to pick up Beninga's "Corporate Finance", which, while not equally oriented in spreadsheet modeling, is one of the most terse, accessible, and reasonably technically sophisticated Corp-Fin books on the market today.

Very Good - MBA Students This Is a Must Own
This is a very good book in showing the reader how to utilize and manipulate Excel for financial problem solving and modeling applications. If you are looking for a book that will show you how to build a leverage buy-out or m&a model from scratch, your expectations are way too high. What this book shows you is how to build those types of models by showing you how to model and use various Excel functions to build the various subsections of those types of complicated models and link them all together. I highly recommend this book to MBA students who are career changers and are looking to enter corporate finance or consulting careers where quantative Excel usage is part of the job. This book shows you how to get the most out of Excel, which is a very user friendly software package. The book comes with a CD-ROM which has examples as utilized in the book and homework problems which are good and can be somewhat hard which forces you to learn Excel for financial applications. If you are a quick learner and highly motivated, you will get a lot out of this book. Nothing is to be feared. It is all to be mastered. By buying this book and working out the Excel problems and exercises on my own, my confidence level with Excel and my own modeling skills has shot up. Given what I have learned from this book, i consider the price to be a bargain. This is very much a learning by doing book. You will get a lot out of it.

Excellent book for any novice on financial modeling
I have used this book and recommended to others. It is certainly one of the best books on financial modelling, especially if you are a novice in modeling. It gives step by step clear techniques for various problems. It is very easy to read, with excellent examples. Hope you can enjoy this book as much as I have.

Financial Modeling - 2nd Edition
Great intro to financial modeling, excellent text for undergrad finance and MBA students. Learn core financial topics and Excel simultaneously. Takes financial theory and applies it in excel with real "nuts and bolts" applications. Includes a CD with all the speadheets on it which is alone worth the price. No advanced math or statistics needed, although it would help the reader. Perhaps too basic for a student/graduate Ph.D. in Economics/Finance or M.S. in Financial Engineering. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A practical guide for the manager
I first used this book as a student-I found it useful then, today I insist that all managers reporting to me review, and use, the concepts and techniques provided by the authors.

The book is useful, in that concepts are well explained, the examples are relevant, but most important for me is that it provides managers who have little or no experience in determining project costs with a handy means (including formulae and worked examples) of doing so.

I have tried to get copies of the most recent edition, the popularity seems to be such that the book is sold out. I most readily recommend this to anyone who needs to justify capital expenditure, who needs to do project costing, and who has to prepare proposals for submission to the boss (or the board of directors)in order to obtain funds for capital expansion, refurbishment or simply equipment upgrades. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Straightforward
The authors have put approached this topic in a step by step way. It explains important background topics as well. I bought this book for a class, so I really didn't have much choice in the matter. I expect that most buyers will do so for the same reason. To them, I say "don't worry about it," this won't hurt as much as you think." If you are considering this for pleasure reading, well, don't let me stop you.

Complete, Comprehensive, but lengthy
Probably one of the few only books available that talks about CBA. Lacks in real life examples, otherwise a good read for grasping basic concepts and tools. ... Read more

Book Description

Cost Management: Accounting and Control emphasizes that changing conditions often require a change in cost management systems.Emphasizing this point stresses the dynamic and exciting nature of the field. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Great Condition
the book was just like brand new, no underlining, no torn pages etc. the book is great

Graduate Accounting ARGHHH!!!
Pretty good book that explains complex subject matter in an easy to understand manner. MBA students without an accounting background can easily comprehend the concepts presented. The only fault I found is that sometimes the authors get too wordy trying to make their point. One of the best accounting textbooks I've used in my educational career. ... Read more

Book Description

The first course in finance for finance and business majors has traditionally focused solely on managerial (or corporate) finance.Now, many schools are indicating a need to introduce these students- particularly the non-finance business majors - to the other two major components of finance - institutions and investments - in this first course but at the same level of rigor as traditional financial management texts.With Principles of Finance, Second Edition, Scott Besley and Gene Brigham begin with a discussion of the principles of financial systems and business organizations, move on to valuation concepts and corporate decision making (managerial finance).They conclude with coverage of investment fundamentals.Key chapters may be covered in a one-term course or supplemented with cases and outside readings for a two-term course. Chapters are written in a flexible, modular format, allowing instructors to cover the material in their favorite sequence. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Very Good.
This is an excellent text for an engineering economics class. It concisely explains and demonstrates basic ideas and financial concepts in a logical manner. The only draw back I could detect was the author's nomemclature, which he introduces at the first of the text. If you don't memorize it early on, it becomes difficult to understand quickly. The professor who taught the Engineering Economics class I took was none other than Chan Park himself (guess what the required text was!). ... Read more

Book Description

From the man the Wall Street Journal hailed as "the guru of Revenue Management" comes revolutionary ways to recover from the after effects of downsizing and refocus your business on growth.

Whatever happened to growth? In Revenue Management, Robert G. Cross answers this question with his ground-breaking approach to revitalizing businesses: focusing on the revenue side of the ledger instead of the cost side. The antithesis of slash-and-burn methods that left companies with empty profits and dissatisfied stockholders, Revenue Management overturns conventional thinking on marketing strategies and offers the key to initiating and sustaining growth.

Using case studies from a variety of industries, small businesses, and nonprofit organizations, Cross describes no-tech, low-tech, and high-tech methods that managers can use to increase revenue without increasing products or promotions; predict consumer behavior; tap into new markets; and deliver products and services to customers effectively and efficiently. His proven tactics will help any business dramatically improve its bottom line by meeting the challenge of matching supply with demand. ... Read more

Reviews (14)

Just consultant's sales presentation in book form
This book doesn't do much to explain revenue management beyond oversimplified results and glossed over examples. It discussed neither strategy nor tactics in any way that was fulfilling

Lots of "why," but no "how to"
This book makes a good case for revenue management, but it provides virtually no information about HOW TO DO IT. It's basically a sales brochure for the author's company.

Save your money. I wish I had.

A good book to start with...
A good book to start with Revenue Management. Nothing too complicated, some vague, wordy spots though. Useful to understand the notion of Revenue Management.

Revenue Management: A Hard Core Book for Knowledge
This book was a great introductory on the theories and applications of Revenue Management in the workplace. Robert Cross combines a great deal of experience and knowledge along with actual examples of his ideas in many different business situations. For anyone who deals with complicated supply and demand models this book is great.

The reading helped me to become more aware of the different ways that revenue management can be used to help the bottom line of company profits. The book gave great examples of how we can earn more revenue dollars out of markets that we have already tapped and how to explore new markets, that at first glance may not be chasing. By using tracking and accurate historical data, we can help correctly predict where out business is going and how to best take advantage of the more profitable strategies.

The real life examples made the reading enjoyable, by showing how the theories work. He made examples of companies that are no longer in business that could have used his theories and stayed successful.

This was a book that was assigned to me to read, and with some dread I picked it up. I would say that this, while not a book to read for enjoyment, is great if you are looking to get information that you can use in real life.

Superficial coverage of a complex topic
This is a 250 page self-promoting sales book. Its essence could have been expressed in five pages; there are no concrete analytics of how the concept should be implemented at all.

Additionally, many important factors are glossed over; the manner in which market segmentation is accomplished is a foundation of revenue management, and is given lines like "you should segment your market" without any real explanation on what that means or how difficult it can be. While airline inventory (and, likewise, car/hotel/cruise inventory) is susceptible to market segmentation, it is very difficult to do this effectively in most other markets. The lack of exploration of those practices is a glaring omission, even in a book so obviously self-congratulatory in its recounts of successful endeavors by its author.

For a more thorough analysis of pricing (which is what I was searching for), I found "The Strategy and Tactics of Pricing" (Nagle, Holden) to be a much more rigorous exploration of theoretical pricing issues and their practical applications. Its basic mathematical models far surpass the overwhelming hyperbole found on most pages of "Revenue Management". ... Read more

Book Description

Finally, a resourceful and unique primer on financial statements that uses a creative and different approach to explain every kind of financial report a small business owner or manager needs to succeed. Through an unique visual approach, this book leads users to a clear understanding of how business scores are kept and how to interpret the results.From balance sheets, cash flow statements and income statements, learn how to understand the basic elements that will pave the way to achieving financial success. ... Read more

Reviews (16)

Financial Statements for Dummies!
I've been buying from Amazon.com for at least 5 years but this is my first review. I am 3/4 of the way through Ittelson's book and I want to write this review while my enthusiasm is still burning white hot.

Ittelson has a gift that few experts have. He anticipates all my newbie/beginner stupid questions. Here I am on page 169 wondering why paying payroll taxes doesn't show up on the Income Statement. Sure enough, right after I've wondered to myself why there is no transaction on the Income Statement, I see his note explaining that these payroll tax expenses were put on the Income Statement when the goods were shipped, "not when the actual payment is made."

As soon as the little voice in my head asks, "But why did they do it *this* way?" Ittelson gives me the answer.

I give Ittelson a lot of credit for this. After you've studied something for years, as he clearly has, it's often almost impossible to see the subject with the eyes of a beginner. Believe me, I'm a teacher, I know how difficult it can be.

The first part of the book examines the three basic statements line-by-line: Income Statement, Cash Flow Statement, and Balance Sheet.

The largest part of the book sounds incredibly dry and dull. Each even-numbered page displays all three financial statements: Income Statement, Cash Flow Statement, and Balance Sheet. The odd-numbered page explains a business transation: paying payroll taxes, for example. The transaction's impact on the three financial statements is displayed on the even-numbered page.

Believe it or not, Ittelson makes it interesting to read about these business transactions. He creates a narrative about starting a business and running it. Along the way, he offers a few humorous pearls of business wisdom. This is dry, technical stuff but he makes it entertaining without ever sacrificing explanatory precision.

This is a great book for anyone who feels they need to sharpen their skills with financial statements. I've read short descriptions of financial statements before but it never sank in. What's great about Ittelson's book is that first he gives very clear definitions of key terms and then he takes you step-by-step through each business transaction and how it is reflected on the financial statements.

I wish I had read this book more than 10 years ago when I first started in the business world. I assume that you learn this stuff if you have an MBA. But I didn't. This gives one a solid grounding in the brass tacks of the business world.

This book has been of enormous value to me. It is an essential reference for anyone who needs to understand what business finances are about.

An excellent book for those who wish to start finance
After having read many financial textbooks, I think this book is amazing. The author did an excellent and remarkable work. To begin with, he took in very serious consideration his audience, which is people with poor knowledge in finance. Thus, his book is very easy-to-read and its content very explicit. Every single financial term is clarified with a layman's language. Moreover, for every single term, there is a very understandable example. Likewise, in every page there is a sheet explaining all the transactions. I strongly believe that this book is a masterpiece for non financial managers.

Perfect for budding entrepreneurs!
I would like to thank the author for writing such an insightful and intuitive book on accounting. I highly recommend it to budding entrepreneurs who want to quickly understand financial statements.

GREAT TO UNDERSTAND CONCEPTS OF BALANCE SHEET & INCOME STM
This was a great book which I could finsih in one day. I am a person with a non finance background and now I can explain to any person what a balance sheet and Income stmt mean.

To the author,
I have found one error in the book. While explaining the stockholder equity in page 41. It should be Q + R = S. Whereas in the book it is Q - R = S

Otherwise the book is faboulous for any reader.

The Best Book on Financial Statements, Period!
Wow, what a great book! I am a technical professional enrolled in a graduate business degree program, and until now the plethora of financial and accounting terminology and rules has been bewildering for me. That is no longer true after buying this book. I have primarily used it as a reference book, and without fail any explanation I have needed has been easy to find, clear and concise.

I am no longer in the financially confused majority, largely thanks to this book. The author's education is in biochemistry (as is my undergraduate education), and because he originally came from the hard sciences where clarity and accuracy are valued above all else he was better able to be clear and easy to understand in comparison to many business school authors who seem to thrive on jargon and platitudes.

This is a great book to have on the reference shelf. If you are involved with business finance or investment analysis it is simply the best book available on the subject and should be considered indispensable! ... Read more

Book Description

Completely Revised and Updated

"This book on valuation represents fresh new thinking. The writing is clear and direct, combining the best academic principles with actual experience to arrive at value-increasing solutions."
–J. Fred Weston, Cordner Professor of Money and Financial Markets, Graduate School of Management, UCLA

THE #1 GUIDE TO CORPORATE VALUATION IS NOW BETTER THAN EVER!

"A ‘how-to’ guide for corporate executives who want to get at the unrealized shareholder values trapped in public companies."
–New York Times

Hailed by financial professionals, professors, and students worldwide as the single best guide of its kind, Valuation provides crucial insights into how to measure, manage, and maximize a company’s value. This long-awaited Third Edition has been comprehensively updated and expanded to reflect business conditions in today’s volatile global economy and to provide highly effective ways for managers at every level to create value for their companies.

In addition to all new case studies, Valuation now includes in-depth coverage on valuing dot.coms, cyclical companies, and companies in emerging markets, along with detailed instructions on how to drive value creation and apply real options to corporate valuation. Here is expert guidance that management and investment professionals and students alike have come to trust, including:

• Valuation’s acclaimed chapter devoted to insights into the strategic advantages of value-based management
• Strategies for multibusiness valuation, and valuation for corporate restructuring, mergers, and acquisitions
• International comparisons of the cost of capital, differences in accounting procedures, and how valuationworks in different countries
• Detailed, actual case studies showing how valuation techniques and principles are applied

This timeless, respected book on valuation allows you to face the crossroads where corporate strategy and finance meet with more confidence and winning strategies than ever before.

Please visit us at www.WileyValuation.com

WileyValuation.com is a premier Web site devoted to all things valuation. At this unique online community for financial professionals, you will enjoy the following features:

• New information on valuation topics and links to key valuation sites
• Valuation message boards and chats
• Downloadable valuation spreadsheets

... Read more

Reviews (38)

Superficial and lacking in depth
The first part of the book covers very basic material that may be found anywhere on the Internet or in a beginner's finance text book. This portion will be valuable only to introductory students of the subject.

The second two parts, which deal with actual valuation techniques, are very verbose, but lacking in organization and depth. This half assumes that you are already familiar with concepts such as WACC, Free Cash Flows, and other accounting and valuation terms. Although several valuation techniques are indeed discussed, by no means is the list comprehensive. Furthermore, no systematic approach to deriving or explaining the formulas is available, and often, terms not introduced earlier are used.

On the positive side, however, the book makes easy reading and focuses on a more practical, rather than academic or theoretical, discussion of valuation.

This book may not provide much value to a serious student of valuation. Furthermore, I do not believe it will make an ideal reference for the experienced professional either. At best, it will make a good second reference for a graduate level course in valuation.

Good but bad Excel support
I liked this book. In Russia it is one of the most popular books on valuatuion. But when I can get the perfect excel support for Investment Valuation by Aswath Damodaran or good web support for Valuation Methods and Shareholder Value Creation by Pablo Fernandez, I ask the authors, why don't they put supporting material in disk? I think that the price of their sowtware ($94.50) is too high compairing with the book ($56 with discount), because there is no supporting materials - only 1 spreadsheet (from my point of view does not conform to McKinsey, as the leader of consulting business). I hope, for the 4-th edition we will have a good excel support.

Adequate, but not Original
I hoped that McKinsey would have something new to say on this subject. There are two corporate finance texts and various finance books that cover the ground better or at least as well, so it is hard to see why this book was written.

In light of recent corporate shenanigans with off-balance sheet products, it is unforgiveable that this book doesn't address how lack of value can be disguised using off-balance sheet products. Total return swaps, an off-balance sheet financing tool, isn't discussed, and credit derivatives, another off-balance sheet tool aren't even discussed. For coverage of these topics and offshore vehicles, read "Credit Derivatives" by Tavakoli.

User-unfriendliness at its best
Hmm I wonder if those giving this book five stars actually work for McKinsey. As a practioner, I don't know anyone in the industry who has actually read this book. It looks impressive on the bookshelf, but the content is anything but impressive. A lot of topics are covered, but each one only superficially and the writing is extremely dry and boring. I actually found reading this volume *painful*, and I'm supposed to like this stuff since I do it for a living! My advice for any potential buyer is read a few chapters first before you shell out for it.

Logic jumps
This book is useful if you're already quite familiar with common valuation methods and can fill in the jumps & gaps. However, if any of the areas you're looking at is new to you or if you would like a more logical, well-reasoned approach or simply a discussion of all the various valuation methods in use, buy Damodaran's text instead.

This book was the prescribed & provided reference in the Corporate Finance department I worked in but most of my colleagues and I purchased our own copies of Damodaran's text "Investment Valuation, Wiley, Aswath Damodaran", which is superior in breadth as well as logical description of valuation processes. ... Read more

Book Description

Even the best Wall Street investors make mistakes. No matter how savvy or experienced, all financial practitioners eventually let bias, overconfidence, and emotion cloud their judgement and misguide their actions. Yet most financial decision-making models fail to factor in these fundamentals of human nature. In Beyond Greed and Fear, the most authoritative guide to what really influences the decision-making process, Hersh Shefrin uses the latest psychological research to help us understand the human behavior that guides stock selection, financial services, and corporate financial strategy. Shefrin argues that financial practitioners must acknowledge and understand behavioral finance--the application of psychology to financial behavior--in order to avoid many of the investment pitfalls caused by human error. Through colorful, often humorous real-world examples, Shefrin points out the common but costly mistakes that money managers, security analysts, financial planners, investment bankers, and corporate leaders make, so that readers gain valuable insights into their own financial decisions and those of their employees, asset managers, and advisors. According to Shefrin, the financial community ignores the psychology of investing at its own peril. Beyond Greed and Fear illuminates behavioral finance for today's investor. It will help practitioners to recognize--and avoid--bias and errors in their decisions, and to modify and improve their overall investment strategies. ... Read more

Reviews (10)

A great book about Behavioral Finance
This book builds on the current literature in Behavioral Finance and reviews the most relevant academic articles. It is interesting for the researcher in empirical finance and the best book to understand the behavior of individual investors.

Another fascinating and recent publication in this field is by Andrei Shleifer: "Inefficient Market"

A very good book, but quite academic
I had mixed feeling about this book. Content wise, it's incredible. It's full of real life stories, data, analyses, propositions of many so called market anomalies. However, I really find some of the chapters too long, especially those after chapter 5. The author had copied his style of thesis writing and actually many of his own theses (he's a renowed professor after all) into a book which has a big audience group of investors or traders who want quick fix or certain level of entertainment and personal improvement. In these respects, the "Psychology of Finance by Lars Tvede" and the "Devil take the hindmost by Edward Chancellor" are "easier" but not definitely better alternatives.

Anway, this is one of the very few "serious" books about behavioural finance that is relatively practical. If you are abound of time, go for it. Otherwise, you may try the two books I mentioned above.

p.s. I like the following the most: In April 1997 Financial Timesran a contest suggested by economist Richard Thaler. Readers were told to choose a whole number between 0 and 100. The winning entry would be the one closest to two thirds of the average entry. The winning choice is 13. The real point of this game is that playing sensibly requires you to have a sense of the magnitude of the other players' errors. Hope you got it right.

You won't be overconfident when you've read this!
Behavioural finance is an important topic and this book provides a very enjoyable and insightful read for the layman. It will stimulate interest in the topic by being accessible, which is what it set out to do, so four stars from me. It gives you some good 'dinner party anecdotes' (!) when colleagues or friends tell you about 'how markets work'. It is not a textbook on the subject by any means, rather a book for the airport that you will read again and recommend to others. Don't expect to see any matrix algebra or stochastic differential equations in this one!

A good Overview of the Subject
Mr. Sherfin has written an entertaining, yet scholarly overview of the subject. It is pitched at the practitioner rather than the layman, so anyone wanting detailed financial planning advice or quick fire trading ideas is going to be disappointed. What you do get however is a fascinating insight into the reasons that long-term stock market anomalies continue to exist, and the forms that they take. This should finally bury the idea that markets are efficient.

A couple of beefs though; firstly, as Sherfin points out several times "investors learn slowly" in yet most of the time series he quotes seem to be 3 to 10 years - statistically pretty insignificant in making generalizations about market behavior. Secondly, while he is rightly cynical about he money management industry (and does a good job at exposing some of its less creditable tricks), he at once dismisses active money management - "a combination of private interests and behavioral phenomena provide the basis for the existence of this active segment" - and then goes on to document the success of Fuller & Thaler Asset Management in producing considerable excess return. So which is it Mr.Sherfin?

Pushing Too Far?
In Beyond Fear and Greed, Mr. Shefrin has written a fairly interesting account of the advances in behavioral finance. He draws heavily on previously published research (although often published in fairly esoteric sources), so people searching for lots of new insights will probably be disappointed. That said, Mr. Shefrin covers most of the common biases that we are prone to including mental accounting, loss aversion, trend following and the like. If a reader doesn't see him or herself in at least some of his illustrations, I suspect he is not being honest with himself.

My major problem is that in some instances I think Mr. Shefrin engages in his own form of hindsight bias. For example, in his account of wall street strategists' market predictions I think he finds his bias after he knows the results. If the market had a strong year previously and the strategist predicted another strong year and was proved wrong, then he was guilty of trend following. If however, the same strategist predicted a weak market and proved to be wrong, then he was guilty of gambler's fallacy (mean reversion). So basically either choice represents bias IF YOU ARE WRONG. And yet, just because you are right does not change the mental processes that went into your decision.

However, despite the weaknesses of this book, overall it provides much food for thought for any serious investor and is probably worth at least a quick read. ... Read more

Book Description

Drawing from their experience with comprehensive textbooks Ehrhardt & Brigham focus on the critical financial concepts, skills, and technological applications required by every MBA in the 21st century workplace.The result is a lean textbook that (1) provides an in-depth treatment of all essential topics in corporate finance yet (2) can be covered in its entirely in a single semester. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Thanks!
Great seller, product as described. Fast shipping. Thank you!

Excellent executive-level corporate finance book
The book gives a good insight of all major corporate finance, firm valuation and stock valuation and capital management methodologies and tools. The text is easy to read, provides the right level of quantitative analysis for the audience in order to be interesting and useful. The Excel templates from the book are available for free (even if you don't have the book) at [website] In my opinion the book is a must-have for every executive-level manager, particularly in a public company. ... Read more

Book Description

This book, from the former editors of FMA's Journal of Financial Management, is the first to integrate the major developments made in finance in the last twenty years, such as principal-agent considerations, asymmetric information considerations, and contingent claims analysis. The format parallels that of competitors, but the new material is woven into, and enriches, the traditional presentations. This is also the first corporate finance textbook to truly marry practice with t