Book Description

Now nearing its 60th printing in English and translated into nineteen languages, Michael E. Porter's Competitive Strategy has transformed the theory, practice, and teaching of business strategy throughout the world. Electrifying in its simplicity -- like all great breakthroughs -- Porter's analysis of industries captures the complexity of industry competition in five underlying forces. Porter introduces one of the most powerful competitive tools yet developed: his three generic strategies -- lowest cost, differentiation, and focus -- which bring structure to the task of strategic positioning. He shows how competitive advantage can be defined in terms of relative cost and relative prices, thus linking it directly to profitability, and presents a whole new perspective on how profit is created and divided. In the almost two decades since publication, Porter's framework for predicting competitor behavior has transformed the way in which companies look at their rivals and has given rise to the new discipline of competitor assessment.

More than a million managers in both large and small companies, investment analysts, consultants, students, and scholars throughout the world have internalized Porter's ideas and applied them to assess industries, understand competitors,, and choose competitive positions. The ideas in the book address the underlying fundamentals of competition in a way that is independent of the specifics of the ways companies go about competing.

Competitive Strategy has filled a void in management thinking. It provides an enduring foundation and grounding point on which all subsequent work can be built. By bringing a disciplined structure to the question of how firms achieve superior profitability, Porter's rich frameworks and deep insights comprise a sophisticated view of competition unsurpassed in the last quarter-century. ... Read more

Reviews (28)

The best ABC book about Business Strategy
This book is a classic! It's concepts will last forever...Sun Tzu would have written a very similar book, if he would have written about businesses. If you want to introduce yourself to business strategy and understand the broad picture, this is the book you must read. The book lets you understand competitive forces within an industry and the strategic steps a company can take to enhance its competitive position. It also describes the main caractheristics of nacent, mature, and declining insutries and available strategies for each case. Although it is a easy to read (but not light) and is very well structured, you must first be familiar with some economics and business administration concepts. You CAN'T talk or even have an opinion (sounds exagerating but it's true... it's the ABC, remember?) about strategy if you have not read this book. A MUST for business analyst, strategist, managers and directors... (I think this phrase appears on the book, but it's true).

I bought the spanish version, which is not very good. For spanish speakers....buy the english version if you can.

Clasic for all time
As Adam Smith is to economics and capitalism, Porter is to business strategy within this market system.

This is THE seminal book for defining how businesses compete.

As technology fads and internet business models ("New economy") come and go, every company must still address the basics of competition as outlined within this book. The frameworks within the book outline:
-How to assess the competitive structure of your industry,
-Generic competitive strategies
-Competitor Analysis

-Effects of market signals on competitive behavior
-Competitive moves in response to your strategy
-Competitve strategy in a number of different market environments
-Impact of strategies such as Vertical integration, growth through new products, scale, and M&A
-... much more

You will use this book as a reference, and find it is timeless. It is no wonder the Mr. Porter is widely regarded as the preeminent strategist.

To put this in practice I recommend books on gaming theory.

A book that should be referred to over and over again.
This is one of the foundation books of the modern business education. Yes, it was written over twenty years ago and you cannot take a business course anywhere without the term "Porter's Five Forces" not at least being mentioned. But, really, this book is still completely relevant and should be on every businessperson's bookshelf, front and center.

For a concept that has so much a place in b-school discussions, you might think the book focuses on the 5-forces, but it is only a small part of the book. It outlines the Generic Competitive Strategies (again, a now well known topic), Competitor Analysis (extremely valuable), Market Signals, Competitive Moves, and so much more.

The book is in three parts, General Analytical Techniques, Generic Industry Environments, and Strategic Decisions. There is an appendix on Portfolio Techniques in Competitor Analysis, and a very useful appendix on How to Conduct an Industry Analysis.

I think a lot of times this book is not given as active a place in the pantheon as it deserves because so many books and articles are recycling a lot of what was in this book and most don't add much to the discussion. Honestly, this book is worth referring to over and over and over again. It is a tool or a weapon in your competitive war chest that needs to be kept active and in play.

A must have for beginners
A must have. Porter provides students with a great place to start for understanding strategy. While you must know the basics in this book to understand the foundation of strategy,it will not provide you with a dynamic and cutting edge strategic framework that many of today's industries need.

the bluest of the blue
Simply put, if you haven't read Competitive Strategy yet, you are unfit to talk about business strategy.

And only after reading it, are you fit to read the sequel, Competitive Advantage, which if you haven't read till now, makes you unfit to talk about business tactics.

These two books are the Old and New Testaments of business. ... Read more

Book Description

A short, up-to-date, practical and readable guide to strategy formulation, this book is designed for practicing executives who are getting ready to assume broader responsibilities. By focusing on strategic thinking and using real-life examples and historical references, this book is a must-read for the serious executive strategist.The first chapter defines strategy and its effect on a corporation's effectiveness; and then in subsequent chapters covers the external strategic environment, the analysis of a firm's physical assets, the development of a competitive strategy, different industry environments, corporate strategy and competition, different strategy choices, global strategy, and implementing and controlling a chosen strategic direction.For CEOs, senior executives, general managers, vice-presidents, divisional managers, and consultants. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Good reference for modern strategy theories
Thin (140pages), but comprehensive introduction of strategy theories from SWOT to Porter's thoughts. Best to capture the concept of Strategy. ... Read more

Reviews (10)

The Secret Weapon in my MBA
I lucked out a few weeks ago when I happened to find this book during a search I was doing in preparing for a take home case exam final I had in my MBA program. Our professor wanted us to provide solid analysis of the case, a large Harvard Business School job covering a well-known multinational business, and, as usual, hadn't given us much background as to what he meant by this. This was both good and bad for me. Fortunately, I figured he expected us to use one of the many methods we had covered during the two years I've been sweating through this program. Unfortunately, I had already sold most of my books to our bookstore during buybacks and didn't really know where to go to remind myself of the techniques I've learned, and mostly forgotten. Then I found this gem!

What luck for me as it covered many of the methods I knew, and some I honestly had never heard of. This struck me as strange since I am in a perennial top rated Ivy League MBA program. I brushed up on the old standbys like SWOT, Porters and ratio analysis, and also reviewed some other useful ones like strategic group analysis and STEEP. I ended up using about a handful of these on the exam. And it worked! I got the highest mark on the exam and the prof remarked that my solution was the best one he had seen in terms of being backed by solid analytical support.

I only wish I had this book several semesters earlier. It would also have helped me on several other courses I took. I won't be selling this book too quickly though. Instead, I'll be taking it with me to my new job as a management consultant for one of the large strategy boutiques in nearby Boston. I've also let a few of my first-year friends know about it since it will give them a leg up for their next year in our program.

The only problem now is that the word about this book is getting out and it will no longer give us a competitive advantage! Maybe my profs were right when they said that advantages weren't really sustainable after all! Still, I'd rather know and use this stuff well. I'd recommend this book for any MBA student who needs to provide analytical support for their course or project work. Just don't tell every other student about it, okay?

Excellent coverage of management analysis tools
This book fills a niche that should have been done by somebody a long time ago. It includes most of the popular analysis techniques that a management consultant would normally use, and provides a common process description for employing the method. It makes an excellent complement to Porter's series of books and can be nicely combined with more conceptual treatments in the strategy field. I have already bought several copies for my office colleagues as it will be useful for them in their consulting work as well. I can see why it has gotten many good reviews and I'd concur with these. It is worth having this one on your book shelf although, like me, you may find yourself pulling it off the shelf to refer to on a frequent basis.

Selected as "the" text for government all-source analysts

Rather than outline the wonderful aspects of this book, which other reviewers have done so ably, I will just say that I rank the authors up there with Ben Gilad (Israel), Mats Bjore (Sweden), and Jan Herring, Dick Klavens/Brad Ashton, and Leonard Fuld (USA), and we have made this book "the" text for the annual government all-source analysis training that centers on Open Source Intelligence (OSINT).

This book, in combination with Ben Gilad's "Early Warning", the Leonard Fuld's "New Competitor Intelligence", Dick Klavens and Brad Ashton's "Keeping Abreast of Science & Technology", and Mats Bjore forthcoming book, are the essential five books for any business intelligence professional or anyone seeking to understand best in class business intelligence.

Outstanding one stop source for techniques and "how to"
It is rare to find a text that pulls together the many quite different techniques that can be used to analyze a business and the competitive environment in which it operates. This book does that, and more!

The authors have addressed their personal needs as much as the needs of those who will use the benefits of their labours. Now, when asked about a technique or asked for a recommendation as to how to attack an issue, one can turn to this one text and extract the most appropriate tool(s) and make sensible assessments of which of the various analytical tools is most appropriate.

The authors have gone one better - and I suspect that more than one MBA student will appreciate their efforts - they have included a very useful and quite comprehensive outline of financial analytical tools that add to the more "marketing" oriented techniques detailed in the core of the text. The various financial ratios are now at your fingertips. The financial analysis can be woven into the market and environmental competitive analysis.

Oh to have had access to this at an earlier stage of my career.

One of those indispensable tools. A "must have" in the office.

Effectively covers the key bases
As a strategy consultant, I am often asked to provide my clients with well analyzed recommendations and findings. My biggest problem always has been to justify the methods I choose to reduce a wealth of data into something meaningful. For years now, I have relied upon Porter's classics and my strategy texts from my MBA program, but they usually aren't practically oriented. This book, better than any other I have seen, provides a straight forward set of instructions and directions, along with enough examples and charts, to keep me on the straight and narrow with my analyses. I do have a few beefs eith this book - as I do most of the others on my shelf. Unlike my strategy texts, the text isn't the most colourful, and it could have benefitted from even more samples although it is already quite large in size, and you cant read through the book from cover to cover, but I keep it handy anytime I'm applying a strategy method and it works great in that way. The other thing I would have liked is even more coverage of some of the newly evolving technology-focussed methods. These minor shortcomings aside, I'd recommend it to others who, like me, have to rely upon the application of proven methods to regularly produce findings for our business clients. ... Read more

Book Description

Many of the Six Sigma methods successfully used in manufacturing are now being utilized in the transactional and service sectors.However, business-specific issues such as customer billing, order processing, and call center management require a modified set of problem-solving and analytical tools.This resource addresses those differences and provides a roadmap for impelementing "customer-centric" Six Sigma.

Contents: Transactional Quality Benchmarks: Service Operations, Corporations and Industries * Service Performance Indicators * The Service Crisis * Transactional Six Sigma: Define and Develop, Measure and Trends, Analyze and Improve, Embed * Designing for Transactional Services: Actions of Service Design * Customer Driven Transactional Processes * Designing Transactional Processes * Optimize the Service Design to Ensure a Robust Service Package * Transactional Business * Human Capital * Implementing TSS, Six Sigma in Transactional Processes ... Read more

Book Description

Comprehensive text with enough background material to reinforce earlier courses in corporate finance and enough advanced material to stimulate the most advanced student.The predominant strengths of clarity, current coverage, and friendliness to students and instructors continues in this new edition.Some of the areas where coverage has been expanded include corporate valuation, value based management, cash flow, and newly updated material on real options.The instructorÆs resources enable outstanding classroom presentations and learning. ... Read more

Book Description

This book centers on business decision-making and managerial problem-solving, consistent with today's best practices' Human Resource Management Practice and Research. Real-life cases and a global focus will hold readers' interest as this book imparts valuable information about the dynamic field of human resources. Expanded coverage of international human resource issues governs this edition of the popular book; it also covers the management of work flows, job analysis, equal opportunity and the legal environment, diversity, recruitment and selection of employees, downsizing and outplacement, performance management and appraisal, workforce training, career development, compensation management, rewards and performance, employee benefits, employee relations, employee rights and discipline, organized labor, and workplace safety and health. The reference resource for human resource directors, managers, and small business owners, as well as others in leadership positions.

Reviews (2)

Well organized and synthetic
This book contains the basic principles that any HR or General Manager (especially in the US) is supposed to know.

I have been using this textbook as a guide for my MBA studies.
I found it very useful in that it clearly explains andorganizes almost every important topic about HR management. It gives practical clues on the kind of considerations a manager needs to be aware in day-to-day operation.

I used this book to find basic, straightforward ideas about HR principles and how this function is changing in the era of globalization. This way, I could use it to organize my own ideas, and if needed, using the enclosed bibliography, I couldgo to more specialized books on a particular topic of interest.

Good.Breaks down things like Employee Manual
This book is clear and up to date.I found it very useful for ourcompany.It's a keeper! ... Read more

Amazon.com

Birth of the Chaordic Age is a compelling manifesto for the future, embedded within the intriguing story of a personal odyssey. An engaging narrator, Dee Hock is the man who first conceived of a global system for the electronic exchange of value, becoming the founder and CEO of VISA International. He looks critically at today's environment of command-and-control institutions and sees organizations that are falling apart, failing to achieve their own purposes let alone addressing the diversity and complexity of society as a whole. The solution, Hock claims, lies in transforming our notion of organization; in embracing the belief that the chaos of competition and the order of cooperation can and do coexist, succeed, even thrive; and in welcoming in the chaordic age.

The underlying tenets of Hock's ideas are well illustrated by the incredible story of the birth of VISA International, an organization formed on chaordic principles that now links in excess of 20,000 financial institutions, 14 million merchants, and 600 million consumers in 220 countries. Hock deplores an age where ingenuity and effort are wasted on circumventing the rules and regulations of insular, hierarchical bureaucracies. In a bold-type subtext interspersed throughout the book, he examines how this situation is stunting our potential as individuals and communities and contemplates what can be changed. This rumination is propelled onward by "Old Monkey Mind" (Hock's own thoughts).Though the technique allows the reader to engage in stimulating mental discovery along with the author, its New Age spiritual tone is sometimes a bit saccharine. His insights, however, are clear and provocative. In the Chaordic Age, he contends, "success will depend less on rote and more on reason; less on the authority of the few and more on the judgment of many; less on compulsion and more on motivation; less on external control of people and more on internal discipline." Hear, hear. --S. Ketchum ... Read more

Reviews (20)

A book that will change our world. A must read!!!!
Sorry, but is not a another book on how to make more money in business. This book is a must read for all. It changed my life. Dee Hock is a true visionary and leader for the new millennium. Certainly everyone who feels that there must be a better way to approach the myriad of problems our world is experiencing will delight at the liberating possibilities that Hock presents here. Please read it and know that there is a path to bring our collective societal behavior into harmony with our values by employing the very organizing principles that are found throughout nature. I deeply thank Dee Hock for having the courage and perseverance it took to bring this message to the world.

The Right Stuff for Maximum Human Progress
If you are interested in the best way for people to work together in organizations, you must read Dee Hock's account of the founding and development of Visa. His thinking has played a key role for those who are trying to apply chaos and complexity theory to organizations, and to seminal thinkers like Peter Senge and Arie de Geus. Now, you can read the simple, humble thoughts that can turn ordinary people into extraodinary combinations of effectiveness. I loved the aphorisms interspaced through the book and the down-to-earth way that Dee Hock shared his experiences and thoughts. Think of this as the opposite of Chainsaw Al, and with greater results. Anyone who wants to move beyond the command and control culture that tends to dominate in most organizations should read Dee Hock's account of Chaordic Organizations in the new Chaordic Age. If you liked The Fifth Discipline, The Dance of Change, or The Living Company, this is must reading for you.

Stick to the article.
Like many others, I bought this book because of the outstanding article written about Dee Hock in one of the first issues of "Fast Company." So I waited...and waited...and waited for Hock to come out with this long-planned volume (replete with many publishing delays).

The result. Yeech. I couldn't stomach more than 10 pages or so. In the future, let's keep the writing to others writing *about* Mr. Hock. This book reads like someone who's been cooped up in the study a bit too long. In the original article, there was an exciting thesis about creating organizations in which power was pushed away from the center. And Visa, Hock's brainchild, was a brilliant manifestation of that principle.

But the book is about...ummmm, what? "Old Monkey Mind" musings? Who can follow these meanderings? Readers of the article are bound to be disappointed. At least we get a little insight as to why the author is no longer at Visa. Tough to imagine that a man with this sort of obvious brilliance could function trying to run the nuts-and-bolts of an increasingly static (and less chaordic) organization.

A Must Read Book
The Birth of the Chaordic Age is the most exciting and hope filled secular book I've read in my 80 years of political life.

Lack of response
I cannot review this book which I purchased simply because even though my credit card has been debited I have not received the merchandise of my last and first shipment. I have been repeatedly trying to tell you are using the wrong postal address but cannot seem to get through. You are so automated but took no provision for cases like this one.

Hellooooooooooooo! ... Read more

Book Description

An original, contrarian philosophy that challenges today's leaders to look past the quick fix and deal thoughtfully with the real complexities of managing people.

In organizations, as in life, human behavior is often irrational -- and problems do not easily lend themselves to the simplistic answers and gimmickry offered in the myriad business "self-help" books and management training programs available today. In Management of the Absurd, Richard Farson zeros in on the paradoxes of communication, the politics of management, and the dilemmas of change, exploring relationships within organizations and offering a unique perspective on the challenges managers face. ... Read more

Reviews (26)

Is this book a paradox? Useful but Un-useful?
Management of the Absurd by Richard Farson is a very easy to read book. It offers a fresh way of looking at management styles and management training. Farson beleives that the management techniques taught in most management schools are erroneous and that good managers can not rely on the so called tricks of the trade to be successful. The problem with Farson's book is that it is strictly for entertainment and although it may start one thinking about his or her management style it really can not be applied in the real business world. Farson uses anecdotes to explain and substantiate most of his points. The problem with the use of anecdotes instead of scientific facts is that usually the same anecdote can be used to disprove a theory, and that is the case in this book. Also, Farson fails to take into the account the employee view on his ideas. For instance, he claims that praise should not be used to motivate others. He fails to outline the ramifications on an employee that has come to expect praise as a motivator because he or she has experienced it since birth. Farson does have some interesting points in the book. He states that it is more important for the manager to like the employee than for the employee to like the manager. He also devotes a useful chapter to gut feelings and the importance of the use of intuition by successful managers. The book definitely gave me some things to think about, I just don't know if I can actually use any of it.

Hands down, the best book on management/leadership I've read
Farson's book has more 'universal truths' in it's pages than any book I've read. It may not be a 'how to' book, which I believe is why some have given it a negative review, by mistaking his approach to encourage indecisiveness.

In the long run, viewing the business world through the truths outlined in this book has exactly the opposite effect for managers. The book in fact encourages the development of intuition through the observance of these truths, giving you the freedom to develop and act on your own instinct. And let's face it, instinct is what separates great managers from the rest.

Those who were expecting a 'how to' book, probably need one because they lack effective instinct, and are very unlikely to be able to separate themselves from the pack.

A great book.

Of the best business books ever
It's amazing this book isn't handed out to every literate adult in America. In so few pages, it completely challenges linear thinking about everything from running a meeting to raising kids, and you'll find yourself constantly finding real-world examples of what he's talking about after you read it. Though much of what he writes may not be new, as he frequently cites the predecessors he learns from, the ingenuity is how he coherently and concisely pulls it all together.

Insights into business paradoxes
I'm not a manager, and have never been a manager, but this book has been critical to my development as a worker bee.

I bought it going through a lot of turmoil in the workplace and it really gave me insights to see how the dynamics between people operate. The book shows the logic of such paradox's such as "The opposite of a profound truth is also true" and "Big changes are easier to make the small ones".

Each paradox is described in bite sized chapters of 2-5 pages long. I often pull this out of my bookcase, read two of three random chapters to relax from various stresses.

The best thing about this book is that it is not prescriptive. In fact, it tends to show the fallacy of common business prescriptions. By sharing his insights, Farson allows the reader to better understand various business, and for the matter, personal dynamics and respond constructively to them.

Reading this is like taking a competence pill
Reviewer: Mark Lamendola, MBA,....

Two thumbs up! Farson hits the nail on the head, time after time. Usually when I review a management-related book, I don't post the review because I can't come up with a positive one! Most books on this topic oversimplify and make recommendations that have me wondering just how stupid the author thinks people are. The fact I will post a review of this management book is a ringing endorsement.

I listened to this book on tape--the author is a very good narrator. But now I am convinced I need a hard copy to refer to every so often. One reason this book succeeds is the author guides the reader into a different way of looking at common management problems. Common solutions (those most often prescribed by the typical management books) merely exacerbate problems. In reality, management problems defy resolution via simple formulas.

Understanding why things are as they are is the first step to successfully coping with them. Things are not always as they seem. What does this mean to a manager who must solve problems like employee dissatisfaction? That is a question Farson answers extremely well. The answer is not "be a robot and do this."

Instead, Farson shows you how to best use the talents, knowledge, and intelligence you already have. Farson shows you how to identify the real issues and where to look for achievable resolution.

Personally, I like a book that doesn't assume I am a programmable robot but instead helps me grow in my own area of expertise. That is why I decided to post a review of Management of the Absurd. ... Read more

Book Description

M->CREATED

Reviews (1)

Knowledgable
Nice book and I HAVE to read it. No choice! Is in my school text!It really isnt as boring as the other text books generally. Interesting actually! ... Read more

Book Description

MAKING HARD DECISIONS WITH DECISIONTOOLS® is a special version of Bob Clemen's best-selling text, MAKING HARD DECISIONS.This straight-forward book teaches the fundamental ideas of decision analysis, without an overly technical explanation of the mathematics used in management science.This new version incorporates and implements the powerful DecisionTools® by Palisade Corporation, the world's leading toolkit for risk and decision analysis.At the end of each chapter, topics are illustrated with step-by-step instructions for DecisionTools®.This new version makes the text more useful and relevant to students to business and engineering. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A NO FRILLS STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP-MANAGEMENT PRIMER
"Strategic Management: A Cross-Functional Approach" (SM) is one of those much needed, yet, rare finds that treats the organization for what it actually is/ought to be - a cooperative arrangement of functional departments/divisions of knowledge workers aimed at carrying out the firm's mission and vision.

SM, in some respects, acts as a bridge to facilitate contemporizing leadership-management with, what appears to be, a faint Systems and Quality Management ideology background, for the non Systems and QM-minded strategist.

Having reviewed a number of the more "popular" books before getting acquainted with SM, its content was "meticulously" examined and found to be an extremely well thought-out book. It is a contemporary, no frills, yet comprehensive treatment of the subject that takes into account some of the "best" of what has been written about leadership and management. Its ten chapters are succinct and to the point. Its diagrams are clear and concise. Its tables are practical and user friendly. A wealth of information packed in 266 pages.

SM encourages to analytically and critically examine different strategic management perspectives; integrate these perspectives with the individual knowledge centers of the firm; and, ultimately formulate unique company-oriented strategic models.

Unlike other business books that focus narrowly on a given functional area of business (accounting, human resources, information systems, logistics, marketing, operations and production, and research and development), SM is about looking at the enterprise from the big-picture perspective and connecting the dots. Its center of attention is the total organization, its industry, the competitive environment in which it operates, its long-term goals, its direction and strategy, its resources and competitive capabilities, and its opportunities for success.

SM is not about solving single problems or issues, confining one's analysis to a narrow functional area, or coming up with only one right answer. Instead, SM encourages to think and carry on strategically. That is, to think and act from a futuristic, and holistic organizational perspective, asking not "What is?," but "What is your destination?," "What future do you seek?," and more specifically, "Who are we?," "What we want to achieve?," and "How will we achieve our mission and objectives?" It also addresses, "What are we going to sell to?" "Who are our target customers?," and "How can we outdo or bypass the competition?" ... Read more

Book Description

This popular book takes a combination strategic/systemsapproach to the studyof organization theory. Completely updated with currentcases and examples,the 5th Edition now offers the expertise of co-authorLawrence Gates whohas given the book a more simplified writing style. KEYTOPICS:Divided into five major parts, it begins by examining theorganization'soutside(macro) environment and the way that organizationsdevelop systemsto link up with and know this environment; studiesinformation management andstrategy formulation; considers such traditionalorganization theory subjectsas goals, design, and structure; concludes withan analysis of the more dynamicaspects of modern organization theory,culture, conflict, power, authority,politics, and change.Formanagement professionals. ... Read more

Book Description

Praise for The PORTABLE MBA
THIRD EDITION

"This is a first-rate book by a first-rate group of scholars. It provides a clear distillation of some very powerful new concepts and integrates [them] into a practical general management framework that will help managers meet the challenges of the twenty-first century."
–W. Carl Kester
Industrial Bank of Japan Professor of Finance
Harvard Business School

"The Portable MBA is an outstanding resource. Every prospective MBA student should read it to jump-start their course work; every practicing manager, even those with MBAs, would also profit greatly from time spent with this excellent book."
–Dennis E. Logue, Dean and Fred E. Brown Chair
Michael F. Price College of Business, University of Oklahoma

"The Portable MBA will appeal to those who recognize that the tired old rules of business no longer apply in today’s rapidly changing global environment. This book offers students and business professionals an up-to-date approach that integrates all the key functional areas of the business enterprise."
–John D. Finnerty, PhD, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
Professor of Finance, Fordham University

"[The Portable MBA] offers an interdisciplinary, succinct, and practical approach to tools, concepts, and emerging trends facing executives who compete in the global economy."
–Barry D. Leskin
Chief Learning Officer, Chevron Corporation ... Read more

Reviews (9)

A scratch on the surface, or not even that
This book is totally void of content. The authors state the obvious over and over again, and never get to saying anything meaningful.

Good MBA Reference Book
This is a good BASIC LEVEL reference book for MBA studies. It shows the basic theories e.g. in strategy, finance, accounting etc. If you need deeper & focused knowledge of any of those areas, maybe you should buy another book (e.g. Portable MBA in Stretegy).

Not even a beginner's level
I buy a lot of books. In general I average about $600/year in books. I hold an MSEE and an MBA. So I buy a lot of business and technical books.
This is the first time that I feel that a book I baught was so worthless that I felt it my duty to write about it.
Sometimes it is hard to keep voluminous books about a particular area. So I thought I could buy a condensé that just reminds me what I need to remember if need be.
Well, I got the wrong book. This is the lowest level book I have come across and I am surprised it's writen by so called "eminent" professors and endorsed by so called "Harvard business school" professors.
A blunt breach of credibility for those who wrote this leaflet and those who endorsed it.

Great book a must for every young manager or executive.
During the tech boom in 2000 I snared a job with a Fortune 500 technology company. I was bright but as a history major my business knowledge was limited to what I had in econ 101 and CNN MoneyWatch. Needless to say I needed some help. Boom this book was recommended and I went from lost to in command in a matter of months. Written by the professors at UVA's highly regarded Darden School of Business this book covers all aspects of an MBA from Marketing to finance and then some. For all you who want to be a VP someday I hardily endorse this book.

Portable MBA is a real winner!
This book gives the reader a comprehensive overview of the most modern and up-to-date concepts of business management. I've never taken any management courses in college (in fact I'm a high school dropout)but, this book helped me to be able to communicate with top management and speak the language of business. I recommend it highly. ... Read more

Book Description

Unique in its integration of cases and readings, this text seeks to increase environmental awareness, sensitivity, and literacy in students. This collection of readings and cases can be used as a supplement or a primary text and is perfect for business, government and society, ethics, strategic management, and industrial ecology courses.

Book Description

Successful business modeling is much more than a technical discipline; it's an art. And as in most professional disciplines, you can tell the experts apart from the novices by the creativity they bring to the craft. That's why Steve Powell and Ken Baker's THE ART OF MODELING WITH SPREADSHEETS covers spreadsheet engineering, management science techniques, and those essential craft skills needed to develop real expertise in business modeling. Features: * Balanced and streamlined coverage of spreadsheet engineering, management science techniques, and modeling craft. * The CD-ROM packaged with this text features all of the spreadsheets referred to in the text, as well as three software tools of special importance to business analysts: Premium Solver, Crystal Ball, and Sensitivity Toolkit (featuring four sensitivity tools) ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Excellent Atomic and Molecular physics book
This book is excellent for a 1st year graduate course on Atomic and Molecular physics. The initial sections cover QM in as good and concise a manner as I've ever seen. The coverage of perturbation theory is also very clear. After that the book concentrates on Atomic and Molecular topics like fine structure, Hyperfine strucutre, Hartree-Fock, and a very nice section on Atomic collision physics. It's truly regrettable that this book is out of print.

a good book
here is a classic of a book. the contents are an exposition of the applied aspects of quantum mechanics. suitable for undergraduate/graduate text. a must have for any practising physicist. ... Read more

Book Description

Here's a guide that shows managers how to choose the best organizational design for their business from five basic structures identified by the author. In it readers will discover how to avoid typical mistakes, especially those pertaining to conflict among different divisions. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Excellent book that give good insight in how companies work
When you have read this very practice book, you can see how organisations work, were the weaknesses en strengths are in the company en how you can give advise to solve the problems. ... Read more

Book Description

Reporting research that provides an invaluable tool forutilizing individual capability, it makes it possible for talent pooldevelopment programs to effectively meet the organization's future humanresource requirements. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Outstanding, intuitive, and well worth reading
Dr. Jaques is re-writing our understanding of the human mind and how to use it best. Forget IQ, Meyers-Briggs, and the other flim-flam out there. This book offers us the hope that we can work to our potential without overload, balance our task output and spiritual needs at work, and organize our companies as effectively as possible, without sacrificing our humanity. So far every criticism I've seen leveled at Jaques has proven baseless. High level writing may put off some, but this is great research work.

Ideal for those concerned with developing human capital.
This book presents the results of a three year study by Jaques and Cason, providing a major breakthrough in understanding human capability, intelligence, and development. An outcome of this study is further development of managerial practices to match people with roles and develop training and development programs. This is a highly interesting and informative volume that will be of significant value to all HR professionals whose agenda includes HRD and the cultivation of an organization's human capital. Reviewed by Gerry Stern, founder, Stern & Associates and HRconsultant.com InfoCenter.

A Must For Managers and Educators.
The Fundation for understand Mental Processing Capability and Handling Complexity. Very simple and powerfull application in everyday situations. Like 'THE FIFTH DISCIPLINE' [Peter M. Senge] this is a great book about HUMAN PRESENT AND FUTURE possibilities ... JUST READ THIS! ... Read more