Book Description

Can You Predict the Future by Looking at the Past? Since accurate forecasting requires more than just inserting historical data into a model, Forecasting: Methods and Applications, 3/e, adopts a managerial, business orientation. Integrated throughout this text is the innovative idea that explaining the past is not adequate for predicting the future. Inside, you will find the latest techniques used by managers in business today, discover the importance of forecasting and learn how it's accomplished. And you'll develop the necessary skills to meet the increased demand for thoughtful and realistic forecasts. New features in the third edition include:
* An emphasis placed on the practical uses of forecasting.
* All data sets used in this book are available on the Internet.
* Comprehensive coverage provided on both quantitative and qualitative forecasting techniques.
* Includes many new developments in forecasting methodology and practice. ... Read more

Reviews (7)

This book has the formulas.
Chapters 3 and 4, and on covered the vital information that is useful for inventory system forecasting at the SKU level, and for measuring the accuracy of the forecasts. This book was extremely helpful in that regard. Highly recommended.

Down to earth, practical guide on forecasting.
The book provides coverage of three important areas:

- Basic forecasting tools and methods - summarizing data, statistical tools, regression, as well as some material on more advanced forecasting methods
- Data preparation - time series decomposition, smoothing methods
- A discussion of the issues involved in forecasting - long term versus short term forecasting, accuracy of forecasts, the importance and limitations of judgmental forecasts and combining these with statistical forecasts

I was fortunate enough to stumble across this book in a colleagues office and believe this book should belong in every market research professional's shelf.

More of a reference text
I used this text for an undergraduate course in Industrial Forecasting. Unfortunately, the text is not very good if you actually want to learn new material from it. It is better suited as a reference text for you to look up equations and concepts after you have already learned them.

Excellent Examples and Practical Approach
This book was not only recommended, but given to me as a MUST READ at work. Excellent practical approach to the theory with a minimum of formulation. Good practical examples and demos. I recommend it as a training manual for new analysts on the job.

forecasting
forecasting, economics, business cycles, economic activity, business environment ... Read more

Book Description

Featuring a model that is widely used for strategic planning among consultants and companies worldwide, this current, well-written book offers a practitioner-oriented perspective, meets all AACSB guidelines, and focuses on skill-building in all major areas of strategy formation, implementation, and evaluation. Global, natural environment and e-commerce themes are evident throughout the book which also contains 46 Experiential Exercises. A five-part organization includes an overview of strategic management; coverage of strategic formulation, implementation, and evaluation; and a strategic management case analysis. For consultants and other strategic planners. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

A good textbook, with a grain of salt.
The usual textbook treatment of the subject -- ecstatic gibberings over the virtues of casino owners and other such riff-raff (!) seem a bit out of place, since I can't see casinos as a morally uplifting business like the book devotes considerable pages to 'proving' -- but all in all, a solid effort for anyone looking to get good marks on a paper at college, with lots of company info and a good overview of concepts and terminology.

Fantastic
Excellent step by step of identifying SWOT, and using matrix to implement the strategies.

Excellent concise strategic management manual.
Fred David has written an excellent and concise book on startegic management. His methods of including easy to understand and use matrices is a godsend to most students at under graduate level. The TOWS matricedeveloped by Fred David is one of the best tools available in strategicmanagement, it is so simple, yet on one page you can view a company'sstrengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats and devise alternativestrategies to make the best use of your SWOT analysis. The cases in thebook are short and to the point and the low price should ensure it is usedthroughout the world by management students. John McElvaney. ManagementLecturer. Melbourne Australia. ... Read more

Download Description

"It's more important than ever for companies to objectively assess the value of their customers. But conventional measures of ""customer lifetime value"" haven't been linked to overall business value and haven't been useful to senior managers. Managing Customers as Investments overcomes both shortcomings.

Through practical examples and case studies, you'll learn a rigorous yet simple approach to estimating the lifetime value of your customers¿and how you can use that information to make better tactical and strategic decisions. You'll learn how customer value calculations impact customer acquisition, service, retention, and segmentation¿as well as strategic M&A and alliance decisions.

Whether you're a CxO, line-of-business manager, marketer, analyst, or investor, Managing Customers as Investments will help you focus your resources where they'll deliver maximum value.

Key takeaways include

• Customers are assets
• How to calculate the value of customers in a simple way
• How the value of customers provides the basis for marketing strategy and planning
• The importance of balancing the value of the customer to the firm with the value the firm provides to the customer
• How to use the value of the customer as a basis for firm valuation and M&A decisions
• The implications for organization and incentive structure and the limitations of product and brand management
• How to link customer value to business value
• Practical techniques for CxOs, line-of-business managers, marketers, financial analysts, and investors
• How to make better decisions about marketing, partnerships, and organizational structure
• Easy-to-use metrics and real-world case studies

What your customers are really worth: crucial knowledge for better strategic and tactical decision-making

How can you find out, without endlessly complex modeling? And after you know, what should you do with that knowledge?

Managing Customers as Investments has the answers¿and they may surprise you.

You'll learn surprisingly simple ways to get reliable customer value information...and get it in a form you can use.

You'll learn how to use it to measure your marketing effectiveness more accurately than ever before¿and drive improvements throughout your entire customer relationship lifecycle.

You'll learn how customer value can bring new clarity to decisions about M&A and firm valuation.

Everyone tells you to manage your business around customers. This book gives you the tools to do it.

" ... Read more

Reviews (3)

The Do It Smarter Book
Understanding that a businesses customers are one of it's greatest assets is not a new or novel idea.After all these are the people that pay the bills.But how can you fairly asses what the true value of any one customer is?Is it all based on total revenue, profit margin or market share?Questions that are difficult to answer and not really a black and white issue. This book teaches the readers how to see the link between customer value and firm value.It also does a great job of showing you which aspects of customer management are the most critical.One of the rules they want you to look at is long term relationships and strategies and not just the short term fix.

There were two great aspects of the book that made it one that can easily be used.First the authors made the decision to keep the approaches simple.You did not have to work through some multiple step process with NASU like calculations.The authors theory is that simple and intuitive concept can be implemented by almost all management thus insuring a better adoption rate.The second aspect I felt was valuable was that the book was full of real life examples.It was far easier to see how the process worked when you could relate to the examples provided.Overall I really enjoyed the book.It was informative, had great ideas and is one that can make a difference in any organization.

The marketing book of the year 2005?
This is a particularly thought-provoking book which, as have so many others, came from Wharton School Publishing. Columbia professors Sunil Gupta and Donald Lehmann have written regularly on the subject of Customer Value and Marketing over the last 20 years. Their articles and books have been standard texts for many MBA students interesting in customer value management for some time. Sunil and Donald have produced a jewel: it is so well written and convincing that, after reading it, you will rethink your customer relationships in terms of value creating opportunity and not in terms of expense.

Cool approach to help you better understand your company
This book argues a customer based metric to understanding not only firm value, but for making more realistic decisions about investing in new customers or even company acquisitions.The authors are quite frank about the vague nature of some of the components of the equations they develop because you have to make some assumptions about the future.I really like their statement that it is better to be vaguely right than precisely wrong.Upon close examination that statement actually sounds better than it really is, but it gets the point across.

The basic idea is that your customers represent a series of cash flows.Using the tools provided in this book you can make reasonable assumptions and make an estimate of their value to your firm.This can help company executives make better decisions about marketing spends, acquisitions, and in targeting customer segments.It can help investors and analysts double check company predictions and market valuations.

Since we have been through a period of corrupted financial reports by too many companies, it is great to have another tool to check the value of a corporation, no matter how rough.In fact, the measure is so easy to run, it would be great to make a range of assumptions to create a bounded "realities check" in order to see what would need to occur for a given investment or management scenario to be a good decision or realistic outcome.

The one tiny area where I think the authors head off into the world of making the whole world a nail for their new hammer is their idea of a CMO, a Chief Marketing Officer.There are too many Chief whatevers in companies nowadays.I think the reality is that if this turns out to be a useful and predictive tool that executives would be foolish to not use it.The role of marketing within a corporate structure has more to do with the role of marketing in the nature of the product.For example, Proctor & Gamble is a marketing firm and has to emphasize it much more than a captive auto supplier.It is not something that can be uniformly prescribed.

Far from being an abstract exercise in quantification, this is a lively and concise book with many case studies to illustrate the authors' points.Just beware that every new idea cannot really be proven with past data because of the danger of fitting the data to the needs of the tool.You will have to work with these ideas and see how they work in your organization.My guess is that these ideas will yield good results if used well.

Good business book. ... Read more

Book Description

This book is a brief, 2-color, paperback version of Dessler's Management: Leading People and Organizations in the 21st Century 2/e. It covers all key topics in management, in a traditional Planning, Organizing, Leading, and Controlling framework.Chapter topics include managing in the 21st century, managing in a global environment, making decisions, planning and setting objectives, strategic management, the fundamentals of organizing, designing organizations to manage change, staffing the organization, being a leader, motivating employees today, communicating in today's organizations, managing groups and teams, managing organizational and cultural change, and controlling and building commitment.For all levels of managers in a variety of fields and industries. ... Read more

Book Description

Father of modern management, social commentator, and preeminent business philosopher, Peter F. Drucker has been analyzing economics and society for more than sixty years. Now for readers everywhere who are concerned with the ways that management practices and principles affect the performance of the organization, the individual, and society, there is The Essential Drucker -- an invaluable compilation of management essentials from the works of a management legend.

Containing twenty-six selections, The Essential Drucker covers the basic principles and concerns of management and its problems, challenges, and opportunities, giving managers, executives, and professionals the tools to perform the tasks that the economy and society of tomorrow will demand of them.

Reviews (20)

Drucker is a BRAND
How do you value a 60 years work condensed into a book? a 92 year old Guru in a book?

This is the condensation of: The New Realities (1988), Management, Tasks, Responsibilities, Practices (1974), Managing for the Future (1992), Management Challenges for the 21st Century (1999), Management in a Time of Great Change (1995), The Practice of Management (1954), The Frontiers of Management (1986), Innovation and Entrepreneurship (1985), The Effective Executive (1966), and Post-Capitalist Society (1993).

I have to admid one thing: THIS IS MY FIRST DRUCKER BOOK ;-).

For those like me who postpone the will to read DRUCKER as confution of where to start, start from here, and follow the other area of your interest.

This is a holistic approach of management from THE MAN himself. And i would not grade less than anything best possible.

If you already had druckers book, this is a good review of the past and reinforce back his view on management.

He has interesting view on the internet ;-).
Either you are a Drucker New Comers, or Druker Veteran, this book is for you.

Back to the Future!
Recently, I read JACK by GE's Jack Welch. In it, he praises Drucker as one of the best management minds ever. High praise from the person most consider to be THE best CEO America has ever produced. This collection of the best of Drucker's writings is amazing in its clarity, depth, and breadth. To consider that many were written years ago but remain SO current in today's globalized world is truly amazing.

I found myself unable to resist highlighting with my magic marker this passage or that passage. This book is extremely readable and would make a wonderful gift to your favorite manager or to that manager you would like to see develop. My copy, only a few weeks old, is already "dog-earred" from repeatedly going back to read and re-read Drucker's wonderful insights, inspirations, and chastisements.

You will be really sorry if you do not get this book for yourself. You, your work team, and your organization need/deserve it. Invest in a resource that really will have a meaningful return for you.

Very good introduction to Drucker
This is a good book if you are just introducing yourself to Peter Drucker. The author makes several wise selections in the excerpts he chooses especially the section on entrepreneurial strategies from Drucker's 1985 book Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

Good book - bad method
Don't buy the digital version. After reading a couple of chapters I could no longer access the digital book. Calling Adobe wasn't much help. Won't buy a digital copy until I'm sure it doesn't expire.

Text-to-speech disabled
Do not order the Microsoft Reader version if you plan to use the text to speech function, which is disabled for this title. ... Read more

Book Description

Rather than giving instruction in models and solving problems, this textbook focuses on the process of modeling and the use of models in analyzing various managerial situations. The process of modeling is highly relevant to all business disciplines and is a critical skill for all professionals. The emphasis of this text will be on the integration and development of modeling skills including problem recognition, data collection, model formulation, analysis, and communicating and implementing the results. ... Read more

Book Description

In the Second Edition of their popular text, Wayne Winston and Chris Albright continue to build on their highly successful approach of teaching by example while using spreadsheets to model a wide variety of business problems.The authors show the relevance of topics through numerous examples of real-world implementation of management science. The ideal solution for people who want to teach by example and who want to solve real problems with spreadsheets and professional spreadsheet add-ins, this text is always interesting, in part due to the useful cases added to this edition. ... Read more

Reviews (7)

Good hands-on book
I am a student at a very hands-on university and this book fit in perfectly into one of my classes. A professor used this book as a reference in my graduate Operations Research class. I was so intrigued by the step-by-step examples, I went out and bought the book to learn more. The book goes over the basic applications of Operation Research used in Excel which makes the application of what is learned easier to apply outside of class. The step-by-step examples really help when applying what is learned to the excercises.

Not as good as the first edition
I own both editions where I belive the 1st edition is better than their second. I don't particular like their new approach in teaching network modeling; it's non-intuitive. The first edition was a bit more 'logical' and easier to set up than the approach use in their 2nd edition. Secondly, their use of the Palisade @Risk is definitely a good choice, but the time lock (1 year if registered online) somewhat deflates the enthusiasm knowing that at some future date your software will cease to work. I bought the @129 upgrade but jumped through hoops with palisades (their authorization code did not undo the time lock and tech support argued that it was a publisher issue--in the long run they discovered a problem with the software where it was not taking the time lock off the application as designed.) I do like the 2nd edition's choice of larger fonts and the broader examples. I am still yet disappointed that unlike many other quality text books, the text does not include answers to 'odd' or even selected problems. I don't think the authors realize that their text is used by professionals looking to develop workplace skills and are not necessarily enrolled in a formal academic setting. Nevertheless, I bought the second edition because I think management science is a terribly valuable skill to have and that the authors have published the best book in the area of MS.

Very Pleased
I am a business unit manager who frequently purchases books and software to maintain my level of competence in operations management, and I recently purchased the second edition of this book, copyright 2001. I have found it to be a great value, and agree with the reviewers the earlier edition who found it to be a very fine text on Operations Research. It comes with the standard version of Palisade's Decision Tools software, which is just outstanding. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this book to anyone. Additionally, there's an option to upgrade to a fully licensed edition of this software at a greatly reduced price; the student version that comes with the book is fully functional, but is only licensed one year for students, 30 days for professionals. Microsoft doesn't give their software away for free either.

Good Pratical Book
I used this book when I took OR class and I think that the book is quite good but it lack of theory calculation and also scientific calculation about each problem. In general I still believe that this is a good book.

This book is the best of the bunch
I began using this book when I was a part time lecturer while working on my Ph.D. Now that I'm an Assistant Professor I get a chance to review most of the new books that deal with OR/MS. It is surprising that none of those can even come close to the quality of this book. What I enjoy most about it is the amazing clarity with which it explains concepts that would usually force students to run to the hills. In addition, its extensive use of spreadsheets helps the teacher to present the material in a more practical way. Without reservation I recommend it to anyone teaching an OR/MS course at an undergraduate (or even MBA) level. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Excellent Book for All Leaders
Having this be a required book in a recent doctoral course on leadership, I was plesantly surprised by the content. This book should be required reading for all who are interested in strategic management, organizational change, and the future of business and industry. The examples are right-on, useful, and very meaningful. Anyone interested in environmental and internal scanning for an organization can use the simple model provided in the book. I would say this is one of the best books I have ever read on this subject. ... Read more

Book Description

What catastrophes have in common -- and how to keep them from happening to you!

Introducing M3: the first systematic approach to

Managing mistakes so they don't lead to disaster
Building systems that prevent 'failure chains' from spiraling out of control
Avoiding failures in preparation, strategy, execution, and culture
Reducing the impact and cost of the mistakes you do make
Also includes coverage of the unique 'mistake chains' facing entrepreneurs and small businesses.

Every business disaster has one thing in common: the people in charge never saw it coming. The warnings were there. They didn't have to wreck their companies and their careers. But they let it happen. This book can keep it from happening to you.

You will make mistakes. If you don't, you're not taking enough risk. But you can make fewer of them. You can catch them early. Keep them cheap. Learn from them. Whether you're in a global enterprise or a garage startup, Robert Mittelstaedt shows how. His techniques apply to everything from culture to strategy, customer safety to market share. They won't just help you avoid catastrophe: they'll help you improve profitability and business value, too.

Stay on track. Stay off the front page of The Wall Street Journal. Read this book. ... Read more

Book Description

The dramatic growth of the consulting industry in the last 20 years can, in part, be traced to rapid changes in technology that have provoked dramatic changes in the ways companies compete. Consultants provide companies facing such rapidly changing environments with an important means of developing, acquiring, and processing much-needed know-how. Increasingly, consultants have proved to be a vital strategic weapon that companies rely on to improve their competitiveness in a world characterized by technological convergences, strategic consolidations, and growing interdependence.The Advice Business introduces readers to the art, the practice, and the problems that consultants face. The book sheds light on the complex roles that consultants and consulting firms play in enhancing the effectiveness of their clients. Contributions of both academics and practitioners to this emerging field include original case descriptions based on real consulting assignments, and career advice.For consultants in varying areas of expertise, and for the clients and potential clients in need of their services. ... Read more

Book Description

This complete collection of managerial skills prepares users for the work force with a comprehensive introduction to effective management conduct. The book provides a ten-step learning model that enables readers to practice and perfect their management skills. The emphasis is on teamwork, and this book shows that the effectiveness of teams within a firm contributes to the efficiency of its operation, increases productivity, and eventually enhances profitability.After a complete introduction to skills, managerial effectiveness, and self-awareness, the book proceeds to general integrative skills (interpersonal communications, diversity, ethical guideposts, managing skills and time); planning and control skills (goal setting, evaluating performance, creative problem-solving); organizing skills (designing work, selecting and developing people); and leading skills (building a power base and leading change).An excellent resource for human resource managers, organizational development workers, and corporate trainers. ... Read more

Book Description

With an emphasis on modeling techniques, Jeremy Shapiro's MODELING THE SUPPLY CHAIN is the perfect tool for courses in supply-chain management or for professional managers who seek better analytical tools for managing their supply chains, information technologists who are responsible for developing and/or maintaining such tools, and consultants who conduct supply-chain studies using models.Shapiro examines in detail the roles of data, models, and modeling systems in helping companies improve the management of their supply chains.The focus is on optimization models based on linear and mixed integer programming.Shapiro clearly illustrates that when properly applied, these methodologies can create accurate and comprehensive models of great practical value. The book also shows how competitive advantage in supply chain management can be most fully realized by implementing and applying optimization modeling systems. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Highly recommended for those interested in the topic
Shapiro's book is really an interesting introduction to modeling the Supply Chain. After an easy to follow overview on the tools: Linear Programming (Simplex) and Mixed Integer Programming (with an appendix over the Branch and Bound method), these fundamentals are applied to strategic and tactical issues related to modeling the SC. Some actual applications together with their outcomes make examples more credible and dowm to earth. Examples run on excel's solver are strightforward and useful to get a basic handle on the topic.

Several chapters on an unified optimization methodology for planning SC problems and databases are also interesting. The book ends up with a reviw on how decisions are taken within an organization and the role of modeling and optimization techniques. Its plain english is another positive point.

My only "but" could be an overly superficial treatment of hot topics in SC as facilities location whereas covering issues as Corporate Financial Planning far from the core of the book. All in all a profitable bought.

Práctico, Nivel Táctico - Operativo, Muy Útil
Para todos los latinos que esten pensando optimizar las operaciones de una empresa, sea Logística, Inventarios, Producción, les digo: Este libro es la mejor alternativa para aquellos que quieran diseñar, modelar e implementar el SCM en la empresa. Los modelos son mas prácticos que en "The Logic of Logistics" que es muy pero muy matemático, me asusté cuando lo abrí, integrales, derivadas y otras cosas que prefiero no recordar, la verdad, es que ni lo entendí, a pesar de que considero que tengo un nivel poco mas que aceptable en ese campo, debe ser porque estaba en ingles, no?. Los capitulos 3 - 6, presenta los modelos matemáticos. Es 100% Investigación de Operaciones: programación lineal, redes, simulación, es decir el libro de Taha o el Solow, o el Hillier en resumen con ejemplos muy ilustrativos. En el libro hay una dirección para que te bajes un software de optimización muy útil. Te acuerdas del LINDO, el LINGO, el método SIMPLEX, etc? Sabes usar el Solver del Excel? Ahí te explica todo, pero lo mejor de todo que podrás aterrizar esos conocimientos en tu empresa. Esencial para aquellos que trabajen en el área de Planeamiento y Control de la Producción. Yo encuentro este libro en el nivel táctico-operativo, será muy útil para los que quieren hacer un plan de operaciones como Tesis. También explica como modelar los sistemas de información para implementar eficientemente el supply chain, pero hay poco de eso (Atención Ing. de Sistemas e Informáticos, pero les puede servir para comenzar!!). Del cap. 7 al 11, estan las aplicaciones de los modelos en una empresa. Control de Inventarios, Planeación agregada, miren la tabla de contenidos del libro, les dará una buena idea. Lo encuentro mas aplicativo que Logistics and Supply Chain Management (Strategies for Reducing Cost and Improving Service) de Martin Cristopher que es muy teórico. El mismo Prentice Hall lo clasifica en Libros de Estrategia, es decir puras letritas y letritas. El libro de Shapiro te dice: "Manos a la Obra", El de Martin Christopher dice lo que dicen los Gerentes: "Esto es lo que yo quiero, ahora vean como lo logran". Espero que el modesto comentario de un alumno de Ingeniería industrial(UNI) les ayude a que encuentren lo que buscan.

You have NO EXCUSE not to get it -period!
This book is about math-modeling of Supply Chain Management(SCM). While only few analytical SCM books in market, this book is still different. The presentation of math-modeling does not forbid your curiousity in model by giving a proof, theory, lemma; this book shows you the modeling method to capture the complex SCM problem. I like this book over Simchi-Levi (logic of logistics) for its description, practical aspect and future direction. Also, I prefer this book over Chopra (SCM) and Simchi-levi (SCM) for its higher and better modeling issues. This book takes care the readers well since the solution technique is also given, e.g., Linear Programming, Mixed Integer Programming, Unified Optimization, even simulation. While this book is more on quantitative, the interaction between qualitative and quantitative is given -both basic and advanced level. Suggestion to adapt modeling technique to organization is well presented also. The information technology (IT) section covers most SCM issues as well as the implementation and database for SCM. If you're in this area (either academia or practitioner), you have NO EXCUSE not to get this book seriously. For its uniqueness, this book is not supplementary or option, but it's a requirement for you. ... Read more

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Critical Thinking is about becoming a better thinker in every aspect of your life: in your career, and as a consumer, citizen, friend, parent, and lover. Discover the core skills of effective thinking; then analyze your own thought processes, identify wea ... Read more

Reviews (4)

The integrity of an idea whose time has come.
Paul and Elder have left us with a concept of thought, and thinking about thought, that redefines the processes, questions, issues and tools to think beyond ourselves, for ourselves, as well as in behalf of our responsibility to each other. I found "Tools" highly reader frendly, substantively challenging, and consistent. Elder's roots in Educational Psychology compliment Paul's classical perspective making this, in my opinion, their best work ever. Next to "How to Prepare Students for a Rapidly Changing World" or "Taking Charge of Your Learning and Your Life," this is the best most definitive work I've found on the subject. For newbies, there's nothing here that smacks of elitism, authority, or privilege. Tools is about intellectual humility, fairmindedness, and fundamental intellectual standards that introduce us to our own non-intellectual tendencies, prejudices, egocentrisims, and inadaquacies. You come to realize, the label, "intellectual," is actually a good term. By the time you've finished the fourth paragraph, it becomes impossible to think about anything without thinking to some extent about the way you are thinking. The integrity of concepts and best practices for thinking, understanding, teaching and learning becomes quite apparent with each new issue, each new book, editorial, news report, subject, question or debate you encounter. Above the bravado, shouting and world debate you see the shortcomings behind the thinking in leaders, teachers, writers, students, the media, and governments, and yourself. Fingerpointing needs to start with yourself, If you want to understand critical thinking, become and do what you imagine, I know of no better place to start. Tools is a great read! But, more to the point its a necessary lesson.

Tools & Concepts for Critical Thinking
This is a book for business people, for people in a profession, and for people in any arena who simply want to learn how to live their lives in a more rational and ultimately more fulfilling way. In the authors' recurrent phrase, it contains abundant tools for taking charge of one's life. As such, it not only contains good business sense, it contains good sense for living a better life as well.

It's a crisp, clear, useful book. The authors consistently address the heart of each essential aspect of critical thinking in multiple domains. They explain each aspect clearly, trace out its implications, offer effective advice on how to deal with it both as an individual and as a professional. They even supply activities and questions-in inserts labeled "Test the Idea"-for applying that aspect of critical thinking to the reader's own unique circumstances.

The book combines strategic thinking, self-knowledge, fairness toward others, and a down-to-earth, usable ideal of justice. It shows not only how to advance in each, but how those qualities fit together with and further one another. So there is a sense in which the book is essentially about human fulfillment (though that isn't explicitly addressed as a main topic)-fulfillment for myself through understanding, honest self-assessment, and taking control of my life; fulfillment for others in ideals of fairmindedness and justice; fulfillment for the planet as a whole in how the qualities combine.

One of the most invigorating features of Critical Thinking is the way the book covers a whole range of topics clearly and explicitly. The coverage is brief and to the point, but it allows for a wealth of further application for those readers who are willing to incorporate the authors' guidelines into their day-to-day life.

For example, Paul and Elder devote only two pages to a clear, succinct discussion of understanding implications (one of the key elements of reasoning). Then there is a quick "Test the Idea" box. It asks the reader to describe a problem he or she is facing, to formulate alternative decisions to address that problem, and finally to think out the logical implications of each alternative decision. Notice two features of this that seem to go in almost opposite directions: first, how simple the activity is, how do-able, and second how life-transforming it would be if I consistently thought through my potential decisions in terms of a range of alternatives and a conscious awareness of the implications of each. The book consistently offers the same clarity coupled with profundity for each topic covered.

The actual topics covered in the book are just the ones people need to address to take charge of their lives:

-How to think realistically in a world full of change and danger.
-How to evaluate my own thinking across a range of dimensions:
* my skills and abilities
* my self-understanding
* my overall stage as a thinker
-How to improve my thinking-again in a range of dimensions, including:
* the parts of thinking
* the standards of good thinking
* making intelligent decisions
* thinking within corporate life
* increasing the level of my strategic thinking.
-How to deal with egocentrism and sociocentrism.
-How to think reasonably about and within the ethical dimension of our lives.

The book goes deep into the way our unconscious or barely conscious processes rule so much of our conscious thinking. It provides practical strategies for unveiling and confronting our irrational tendencies. Surprisingly in an age of extended therapies, the strategies are often simple and direct-and eminently useful. For example a "Test the Idea" section on "Unearthing Dysfunctional Egocentric Thinking" directs you to "think of a time when your desire to selfishly get what you wanted failed because of your egocentric behavior." It then asks you to describe the situation, to describe your resulting thoughts, wants and behavior, and then to describe a more rational way to think and behave in that situation.

This approach is related to Cognitive Therapy, except that the approach Paul and Elder take is more thorough-going and founded in a deeper and more robust conception of what healthy, reasonable thinking is. It is also a simple "visualization" technique, of the kind that is so effective in altering people's behavior. Only, instead of merely visualizing a healthier way to behave in a situation, I am directed now to use my whole mind (not just my visual imagination).

Another bright feature of the book is that the ethical dimension is covered so well. This is usually neglected in business-oriented books and even in personal-health books. The authors discuss and give "Test the Idea" activities in key aspects of ethical thought and action. The conception they teach is a profound one: being ethical is far different from simply accepting rules imposed on us from outside; it is also different from merely adhering to "codes of ethics" adopted by many professions. The authors' approach also shows what is wrong with simply looking inward to "find my values": "looking inward" is also guided by egocentric tendencies. It is very easy to consult my conscience and find there a justification for the actions that suit my self-interest: why it's all right to take out my anger at others; why my wants are ultimately more important than yours; why I seem so justified in feeling myself a victim of your actions. Paul and Elder consistently dispel such facile reasoning; they supply activities and thought experiments to guide the reader along, and they also provide numerous insights all along the way.

In sum, this is just the kind of book readers have come to expect from Paul and Elder, both of whom have worked for so long and in so many aspects of Critical Thinking. It contains the clear, distilled essence of the critical thinking concepts and tools for taking charge of one's life, professional and personal. The tools and concepts are presented always with an overview to keep the parts in context, full of lucid examples, references to more extended sources, and an abundance of applications.

Empowered Thinking
Paul and Elder's "Critical Thinking: Tools for Taking Charge of Your Personal and Professional Life" provides the key to developing ones mind as an active tool for quality thinking and ultimately better decision-making in professional and personal life. This book explicates the difference between quality thinking in professional practice and flawed thinking. The authors challenge a personal self-examination of the quality of the reader's thinking with activities that are insightful, cognitively interesting and structured so each component of thinking is enhanced. The approach is practical, and meaningful for the reader interested in developing as a critical thinker. Paul and Elder's expertise in dealing with the complexity of thinking needed to survive in society today is illuminating.

As a nurse leader working in a chaotic health care system subject to constant change and revision: critical thinking is the answer to implementing an improvement in health care delivery. The authors have unlocked the mystery of improving my thinking for quality decision-making in my nursing practice. The more I work with these ideas for improving the quality of my critical thinking and decision-making in nursing practice the more empowered I am as a person and professional nurse.

Penelope Heaslip RN

Great expectations disappointed
Richard Paul and Linda Elder are affiliated with the Center for Critical Thinking, which I discovered several years ago when it was operating under the auspices of Sonoma State University. I first encountered Dr. Paul's writing through several fine pieces on the CCT web site, and they established my expectations for this book.

I should mention my misgivings about the phrase 'critical thinking.' It has critical mass as a buzz-phrase, and is susceptible to all of the risks that go with that--chiefly the risk that an assortment of people advocating widely different intellectual practices all find it advantageous to paste that popular name on their disparate wares. Even worse, I have encountered people to whom 'critical thinking' turns on the sense of 'critical' that means captious or disputatious, and who think of it as something nice people don't do; another entire camp seems to maintain that 'critical thinking' is achieved by nothing more than disparagement of reason and an inclination to question and deconstruct everything in sight. Taken far enough, these divergent uses of any 'in' buzzword can threaten to strip it completely of meaning; one cannot be grateful enough that the Center for Critical Thinking is still around and pushing the real deal: rigorous intellectual standards, commitment to clarity and reason and fairmindedness, with all that commitment demands.

But this book makes a disappointing vehicle. Contributing not least to the disappointment are lapses of editing and proofreading that should never be seen in a finished book. Perhaps embarrassments of grammar, spelling, and punctuation do not count directly against the book's intellectual content--but they could lead many readers to underestimate what the book has to offer. That's too bad.

A more serious weakness is the want of exercises that genuinely test the reader's thinking. If learning to think critically is replacing comfortable modes of thought with modes that can be evaluated to standards, an important motivator may be to bump against those standards regularly. But many of the exercises are of the "write down something you think about X" variety notable for not having wrong answers. The questions are often good ones and the exercises are not all busy work, but neither are they as demanding as they could be, and some readers may find them condescending.

An extreme example is found in Chapter 7--The Standards for Thinking--with respect to the standard of 'logicalness,' which gets a treatment of barely one page. A space not much larger could present some rudiments of logic, but this treatment offers only a vague, intuitive appeal and an exercise to identify decisions "based on illogical thinking--thinking that didn't make sense to you." A reader's familiar, and possibly unexamined, judgments about what is "logical" will not necessarily be refined by this approach.

The whole of Chapter 14--The Power and Limits of Professional Knowledge--is likewise disappointing. It seems to promise a disciplined approach to the decision of how much deference is due the pronouncements of professionals on different occasions and topics but, beyond outlining general reasons for skepticism, it doesn't deliver. It offers little insight into how that skepticism should be sensibly qualified, and is a little incautious with some of its own claims: I was surprised to read (p. 260) in a 2002 book that "the medical field is highly resistant" to the role of viruses and bacteria in heart disease and cancer.

I am especially troubled by the Chapter 14 discussion of mathematics (and ought to reveal here that it was my undergraduate major). Here the authors seem to lose sight of their objective and, instead of addressing how mathematical 'expert opinion' should be received, treat instead the value of math education. They suggest that because (a) many are traumatized by doing poorly in math and (b) many who do well still do not cultivate the habit of applying mathematical insight in everyday life, perhaps curricula beyond basic arithmetic should not be mandatory. This despite the number of pressing issues that demand critical thought and require a mathematical understanding. In this one section the authors seem to verge on one of the debased senses of 'critical thinking.' I would go to the mat with them on this one, but there are more comments to make.

A near-disastrous feature of the book is the use made of charged, controversial issues. This is tricky business: of course the very point of critical thinking is to apply it to important issues, and without them the teaching would not be engaging or effective. The authors do well when they present a hot issue as the explicit focus of an exercise, asking the reader to think fairmindedly through all sides; "Thinking Broadly" on p. 105 is a good example. The "Reading Backwards" list is conscientiously selected and balanced. But controversial positions also appear in passing as examples of good or poor thinking, where the focus is elsewhere and a point of view is implicit. My point is not that I disagree with these positions: the authors' politics and mine might be largely compatible. But by failing to decide whether they are writing a book on critical thinking or a book of issue advocacy, the authors undermine their credibility and furnish a ready excuse for half the people who should read this book to dismiss it out of hand.

I would have loved to see Edward Tufte's books on clear and appropriate visual presentation included in the reading list. Regrettably, this book demonstrates many of the pitfalls Tufte identifies in "business graphics": elaborate, busy designs that exaggerate the depth of what is presented. This may be a house style of the publisher, Financial Times.

There is a genuine core of critical thinking instruction contained (sometimes concealed) in this book--perhaps enough to reward the effort of digging it out. Better books of this sort are urgently needed, and Paul and Elder should be able to write them. I hope they will. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Best of official ITIL guides
Among the official guides this one stands out as the most detailed and practical. Most of the official guides are, in my opinion, essential only if you are pursuing certification, but this one goes beyond the essential minimums by providing practical information about the five key process areas in more depth. The areas covered are:

(1) Service Level Management
(2) Financial Management for IT Services
(3) Capacity Management
(4) IT Service Continuity Management
(5) Availability Management

As in all books in this series this one covers the theory, practical and implementation perspectives, as well as the relationships between and among key process areas.

Another resource I highly recommend is ITIL Community Forum, which you can reach by pasting the ASIN number B0002FP9PO into the search box on this page, selecting all products and clicking GO. This site has a link to an open source version of the ITIL documentation that is evolving, but contains good descriptions of many of the key process areas.

Fundamental IT
The information Technology Infraestructure Library is a set of guidance developed by United Kingdom's Office of Goverment Commerce (OGC). The guidance, documented in a set of books, describe an integrated, process based, best practice framework for managing, delevop in this case, IT services. To date, this book is the only comprehensive, non-propriestary, publicly available guidance fot IT Management in Service Delivery.
So, is primarily targeted at people responsible for managing IT services or IT consultants from enterprise that offers IT review services. ... Read more

Book Description

This cutting edge, "how to" manual details proven methods for turning around chronically late, overbudget, and underperforming projects. Project Management in the Fast Lane explains how Theory of Constraints tools can be applied to achieve effective, breakthrough solutions in virtually any environment. It includes a complete discussion of the Critical Chain scheduling approach pioneered by Eli Goldratt-the most significant new development in project scheduling in the last 40 years!The project management tools described in Project Management in the Fast Lane are clearly outlined and will help project managers in manufacturing, construction, and new product development in any field find efficient, practical, and sound solutions to management issues. Common problems related to deadlines, budgets, project performance, and more are thoroughly treated, providing a solid basis for applying tools to familiar problems. This book is sure to inspire managers, executives, engineers, and MIS and quality assurance professionals to rethink their management approaches and create dramatic, profit-driven improvements in their organizations. ... Read more

Reviews (10)

One step beyond TQM
Excelente libro para todos aquellos que quieran comprender de una manera progresiva y efectiva los fundamentos y estado del arte en la programación de proyectos. No son necesarios conocimientos previos de TOC aunque si son deseables, asi como tener claros conceptos de TQM y análisis de causas raices, al objeto de aplicar con exito las recomendaciones del libro. Outstanding book for those who want to understand in a progressive and straightforward manner the fundamentals of nowadays realistic project scheduling. TOC background is not necessary but preferable for a better understanding of the philosophy behind these pages. Root Cause Analysis and TQM concepts are also desirable to succesfully implement TOC to project management.

full of wisdom!
Do not bother reading "Critical Chain" novel. This is the book to start with. Read it twice: it has so much new thinking against traditional thought that unless you already has TOC concepts it requires a second reading (as good movies). It is a little conceptual book, but if you want more practical advice, you can continue with books like "Critical Chain Project Management" by Lawrence P. Leach; Advanced Project Portfolio Management and the PMO: Multiplying ROI at Warp Speed by Gerald I. Kendall, Steve C. Rollins; and if you are interested in Software Engineering: Agile Management for Software Engineering: Applying the Theory of Constraints for Business Results by David Anderson.

Proactively deals with inaccurate project estimates
The achilles heal of project management, especially in product development, are the estimates of time and resources. Traditional project management approaches do a lousy job of solving this. For example, although traditional PERT was developed to do this, it is not used. (In fact, in most environments PERT is not defined as the tool but as a network diagram because of this.) Finally, there is an effective approach to proactively dealing with inaccuracy in estimates. The critical chain approach can accomplish this, and this is the best book for defining what critical chain is.

Good, but disappointing
Newbold covers the basic TOC concepts and applies the thinking processes to project management. He also has several helpful insights into implementing TOC in an organization. It is good information, but Newbold can't seem to decide what he is trying to accomplish with the book - teach project mgmt or implement TOC in an organization. There is lot's of good information and worth reading, but the information is a bit fragmented. I get the sense that Newbold has taken a set of isolated lectures and tried to make a book out of them. The materials need a class room discussion to really sink in. As it is, the concepts are rather isolated and disconnected. It probably makes perfect sense to an experienced TOC consultant, but was a bit over my head with only having read two TOC books prior to this one.

Great book - very practical
Short review here - if you can't get projects out on time - read this - it will help a lot! ... Read more

Book Description

The market-leading textbook for the course, Winston's OPERATIONS RESEARCH owes much of its success to its practical orientation and consistent emphasis on model formulation and model building. It moves beyond a mere study of algorithms without sacrificing the rigor that faculty desire. As in every edition, Winston reinforces the book's successful features and coverage with the most recent developments in the field. The Student Suite CD-ROM, which now accompanies every new copy of the text, contains the latest versions of commercial software for optimization, simulation, and decision analysis. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

a must read for CEO's
As the CEO of a software company, I have been searching for PRACTICAL advice for enhancing the experience for our customers. Most books I have seen are full of theory and are basically worthless. If you don't walk away from this book with a list of action items, then you obviously don't care about serving your customers.

I believe that this book will be on my desk as a reference for a long time. It will take a couple of years to implement all that I learned.

Definitely worth the read!

Not just philosophy, but how to design around the customer
Unlike others in the field, Wheeler and Smith lay out what you need to do to consciously design a business that consistently gives the customer an experience that lives up to their brand. In the rush to cost control, we often forget that it's easy to make life difficult for the customer, and the result is massive damage to the brand, even to the point of destroying the organization.

A must read, especially in uncertain times, where the tendency will be to cut, without regard for the customer.

Managing the Customer Experience
We all know that the customer has already become the decision maker of company operations in the digital economy. Without custmers, no company can survive. Shaun's book certainly uncovers the secrets on how to sustain the performance and growth of the company. He illustrates his proven model with a number of cases we can benchmark. In this regard, I dare to say that this book may be used by all business people as the bible of management.

Managing the Customer Experience
This is a must-read book for executives and managers seeking to improve customer loyalty. The authors convincingly demonstrate how branded customer experience drives customer loyalty to create a sustainable competitive advantage. The book is well researched and contains dozens of examples of companies who have met the loyalty/branding challenge. The stories behind the success of Harley Davidson, Amazon.com, Virgin, Home Depot and many others are fascinating and highly instructive. The ideas and perspectives covered in this book are both insightful and pragmatic. It is an excellent resource.

Practical Insight
This book is definitely worth the read. It does a nice job of quickly building the case as to why delivering an exceptional customer experience is the key issue for many companies today, especially service firms. More importantly it provides a clear example of how to get it done, so for internal practioners this book can serve as a straightforward roadmap for implementation. I also thought the examples were good, especially as they related to the issue of senior leadership engagement. Overall I would highly recommend this book to anyone else interested in this subject since I have not found a lot of material that actually describes what to do to deliver a branded customer experience. ... Read more

Book Description

Chris Albright and Wayne Winston have brought their hallmark teach-by-example approach to the undergraduate spreadsheet modeling course. Renowned for their other successful texts in operations research/management science, Winston and Albright successfully show how spreadsheets are used in real life to model and analyze real business problems. By modeling problems using spreadsheets from the outset, SPREADSHEET MODELING AND APPLICATIONS prepares future managers for the types of problems they will encounter on the job. Real cases throughout the text further cement this book's status as the most relevant of its kind on the market. This text is also accompanied by Palisade Corporation's professional spreadsheet add-ins, DecisionTools® Suite. ... Read more

Book Description

The essential complement to the pathbreaking book Competitive Strategy, Michael E. Porter's Competitive Advantage explores the underpinnings of competitive advantage in the individual firm. With over 30 printings in English and translated into thirteen languages, this second volume in Porter's landmark trilogy describes how a firm actually gains an advantage over its rivals. Competitive Advantage introduces a whole new way of understanding what a firm does. Porter's groundbreaking concept of the value chain disaggregates a company into "activities," or the discrete functions or processes that represent the elemental building blocks of competitive advantage.

Now an essential part of international business thinking, Competitive Advantage takes strategy from broad vision to an internally consistent configuration of activities. Its powerful framework provides the tools to understand the drivers of cost and a company's relative cost position. Porter's value chain enables managers to isolate the underlying sources of buyer value that will command a premium price, and the reasons why one product or service substitutes for another. He shows how competitive advantage lies not only in activities themselves but in the way activities relate to each other, to supplier activities, and to customer activities. Competitive Advantage also provides for the first time the tools to strategically segment an industry and rigorously assess the competitive logic of diversification.

That the phrases "competitive advantage" and "sustainable competitive advantage" have become commonplace is testimony to the power of Porter's ideas. Competitive Advantage has guided countless companies, business school students, and scholars in understanding the roots of competition. Porter's work captures the extraordinary complexity of competition in a way that makes strategy both concrete and actionable. ... Read more

Reviews (24)

A classic to which one should now return
The second of the gospels according to Porter and the more useful of the two. This book gives a framework for allocating costs and assets among business activities which can then be used to seek drivers for cost advantage or differentiation. The later chapters may at first blush seem repetitive, but they are useful elaborations on the the basic search criteria for finding and exploiting value.If one had read this in 1995, their stock portfolio would have many fewer worthless e-commerce shares...

This book must be read by all strategists!
Porter has highlighted many important considerations for those who are pursuing possible strategies to employ for their organisation. In order to pursue generic strategies like cost, differentiation & quick response (recent), you would have to gear your value chain towards these options. Porter has shown how this may be done in his book which is a great reference for strategic formulation. However, in order to have the optimum strategy(s) for an organisation, you would have to consider the human side. Porter's book tends to sway towards the organisational design dimension. I recommend Miller & Dess's Strategic Management (McGraw-Hill Series in Management) for a complete overview of strategic management. Also look out for Warren Bennis's Organizing Genius for an insight into great teams.

The Porter Advantage
I am an MBA student and the book, Competitive Advantage, by Michael Porter is one of the best books I have read on the theory of sustaining competitive advantage. The text illustrates the five forces theory and the generic strategies which companies must use as analytical tools in designing the right strategy to maintain supremacy in their field.

I recommend this book to anyone interested in gaining fantastic insight into Michael Porter's theories of competition.

Excellent Book
I am an MBA student at a Top 10 Business School, and I found it very knowledgeable and insightful. It's definitely written for the intelligent business owner, not patronizing at all. It's definitely NOT, "Competitive Strategy for Dummies".

A definite read for any strategy or product executive.

An excellent reading - top level book
This book is the continuum to the first book of M. Porter: Techniques for analyzing industries and competitors. A must-be read book, in deep analysis proving an absolute mastery on this complex subject of strategy establishing, sustaining and improving. ... Read more