Book Description
Valuable software, realistic examples, and fascinating topics . . . everything you need to master the most widely used management science techniques using Microsoft® Excel™ is right here! Learning to make decisions in today's business world takes training and experience. Cliff Ragsdale--the respected innovator in the field of management science--is an outstanding guide to help you learn the skills you need, use Microsoft Excel for Windows to implement those skills, and gain the confidence to apply what you learn to real business situations. SPREADSHEET MODELING AND DECISION ANALYSIS gives you step-by-step instructions and annotated screen shots to make examples easy to follow. Plus, interesting sections called The World of Management Science show you how each topic has been applied in a real company.
Customer Reviews:
A Good Book for Finance/IT majors.......2007-09-17
This book does what it sets out to do: teach spreadsheet modeling. I'm only on the third chapter, but the author does a good job including step by step instructions on how to create winning models. The author is also very easy to understand. So if you're going to be doing optimization and modeling in your work, I highly recommend this book.
Great book, and includes @RISK.......2007-08-06
Ragsdale really makes spreadsheet modeling accessible to real-world business situations. It was a great asset to my MBA coursework. As a student, it came with a free student version of @RISK risk analysis software as well.
Good practical text.......2006-11-12
A good book for those studying decision making techniques or as a reference for managers looking to upgrade their skills
Decision analysis.......2006-11-02
Excellent book; I am considering it as a textbook for a Managerial Sciences course. The examples are clear and real increasing the interest of the students.
Good book , worth to read.......2006-02-17
This book is designated as the textbook for our master's level management modeling class. The author concerntrated on the application of Microsoft Solver to solve various of optimazation problems that we freqently faced in the real business opreations. Overall, this is good book for entry-level management modeling study.
Book Description
In his landmark book Open Innovation, Henry Chesbrough demonstrated that because useful knowledge is no longer concentrated in a few large organizations, business leaders must adopt a new, “open” model of innovation. Using this model, companies look outside their boundaries for ideas and intellectual property (IP) they can bring in, as well as license their unutilized home-grown IP to other organizations.
In Open Business Models, Chesbrough takes readers to the next step—explaining how to make money in an open innovation landscape. He provides a diagnostic instrument enabling you to assess your company’s current business model, and explains how to overcome common barriers to creating a more open model. He also offers compelling examples of companies that have developed such models—including Procter & Gamble, IBM, and Air Products.
In addition, Chesbrough introduces a new set of players—“innovation intermediaries”—who facilitate companies’ access to external technologies. He explores the impact of stronger IP protection on intermediate markets for innovation, and profiles firms (such as Intellectual Ventures and Qualcomm) that center their business model on innovation and IP.
This vital resource provides a much-needed road map to connect innovation with IP management, so companies can create and capture value from ideas and technologies—wherever in the world they are found.
Customer Reviews:
Fair.......2007-06-21
This is another pretty good book from the author. As in his earlier book, he starts with the motivation for open innovation, which is an old idea but that is not well practiced. In this new book he addresses many of the shorcomings of the first book, such as getting real value out of the partnerships that can be formed while overcoming internal issues, such as NIH. He then talks about different ways companies go about this. What drives you crazy is that he seems unaware that companies have been doing this forever. In the consumer electronics industry, for example, open innovation is mostly the model. Companies like GE, TI, and RCA were examples. In the case of GE and RCA they go back almost 100 years.
Well-written, concise, with specific examples.......2007-06-02
As with his previous book Open Innovation, Chesbrough provides a concise and easily read review of important new trends in high-tech management. In this book the focus is on the path an innovation takes to profitability in the marketplace. Among the topics reviewed are novel "intermediate markets" for ideas and technology.
I particularly appreciated the chapters of the book that provide nine examples of companies that are more-or-less "pure play" innovation intermediaries. Companies like Innocentive, Ocean Tomo, and UTEK are profiled in depth. I appreciate the specificity, which will allow the reader to evaluate Chesbrough's insights into the future: By following up on the progress of these companies, we'll see how well Chesbrough hit the mark. This specificity is rare in business books.
It will be interesting to see where Chesbrough's interests flow in future. I would welcome a focus on public sector research institutions. A comparison of the innovation and commercialization models among universities, NIH, NASA, ESA, etc. could be helpful to policy makers as Open Innovation ideas gain wider acceptance.
Open Business Models for Those Who Rely on Technology Innovation and Need Intellectual Property Protection.......2007-05-14
This book is misnamed. Rather than being about open business models, the book's topic is about how to open business models to benefit from access to more technological innovation and strengthen your competitive posture through intellectual property.
As a result, Professor Chesbrough creates a misapprehension that successful open business models are almost always linked to technological innovation as their main purpose and benefit. My own research (with Carol Coles in The Ultimate Competitive Advantage: Secrets of Continuously Developing a More Profitable Business Model) indicates just the opposite point: Technological innovation is rarely the most effective way to open up your business model to create improvements.
So, this book's value is mostly to those who work in achieving or creating more benefits from technology innovation. If that is your interest, you've come to the right book. If that's not your interest, skip this book.
Why do those involved in achieving or creating more benefits from technology innovation need to open their business models? Professor Chesbrough points to several influences:
1. Technological innovation is coming from more sources than ever before. As a result, you will be developing inferior technology without accessing the best of what the world has to offer.
2. Most intellectual property isn't used for any practical purpose. That's a waste of social and company resources.
3. The protections for intellectual property are stronger now, and your pathway to progress will be blocked without collaborating with those who have complementary IP.
4. Product cycles are shorter and costs of developing new technologies are higher; open business models offer the promise of getting to market sooner at lower cost so that your business has a better chance of earning a decent return on new technology.
5. Large companies need to make new product development more productive if they are to meet their growth goals.
Professor Chesbrough does a nice job of developing those themes. He balances theoretical arguments with case histories of recent practices.
Of even more value, he explains how companies will have a hard time finding all of the technology they need without help. As a result, he feels that intermediaries will turn out to be important to helping connect organizations. His case histories of such intermediaries are very interesting in showing how difficult it is to play such intermediary roles without deep pockets.
For those who are new to the subject of technological innovation in the context of business models, you will find his descriptions of what a business model is (see page 182) and types for assessing your business model (see pages 132-133) to be helpful. The only quibble I would make with his types is that in his examples he assumes relative undifferentiation in industries and business types where there are often large nontechnological differentiations.
I found the last chapter to be by far the most helpful, in describing three case histories (IBM, Procter & Gamble, and Air Products) for showing how large organizations went from closed to open business models for the purpose of technological innovation. In fact, the discussion of Procter & Gamble's practices is the best one that I have read. That point, by itself, is sufficient to commend this book to you. I suspect that almost everyone will be doing what Procter & Gamble is doing now ten years hence.
Excellent work, Professor Chesbrough!
Innovation requires an open mind...and the courage to challenge "the ideology of comfort and the tyranny of custom." .......2007-03-14
What is an open business model? In Chapter 1, here's Henry Chesbrough's response to that question: "A business model performs two important functions: it creates value and it captures a portion of that value. It creates value by defining a series of activities from raw materials through to the final consumer that will yield a new product or service with value being added throughout the various activities. The business model captures value by by establishing a unique resource, asset, or position within that series of activities, where the firm enjoys a competitive advantage."
Having thus established a frame-of-reference, Chesbrough continues: "An open business model uses this new division of innovation labor - both in the creation of value and in the capture of a portion of that value. Open models create value by leveraging many more ideas, due to their inclusion of a variety of external concepts. Open models can also enable greater value capture, by using a key asset, resource, or position not only in the company's own business model but also in other companies businesses."
These two brief excerpts are provided because Chesbrough`s definitions of various terms are far clearer and more authoritative than mine could possibly be. Also, these excepts address the "what" so that in the balance of this brilliant book, Chesbrough can then focus almost entirely on the "why" and "how" concerning the design, implementation, modification, and performance measurement of open business models.
I was especially interested in what Chesbrough has to say about what several quite different exemplary companies -- including IBM, Qualcomm, Genzyme, Procter & Gamble, and Chicago (the musical stage show and film) -- share in common: "each started with an idea that traveled from invention to market through at least two different companies" which shared the work of innovation, and, all were assisted by effective management of an open business model. Chesbrough also devotes a substantial attention to IBM whose type 3 business model (i.e. multiple segmentations, "inside-out" mindset) reached a financial crisis in 1992. Had the IBM board not replaced its then CEO with Lou Gerstner and fully supported his leadership throughout an immensely complicated and equally difficult transformation , it is probable that IBM would not have survived. Gerstner deserves much of the credit for the success of that "cultural revolution" (as he once described it) but much credit should also be assigned to IBM's open source business model. Procter & Gamble is another company which completed an especially difficult transition from having internal staff members who protected (hoarded?) various technologies so that other companies, including potential competitors, could not use them to becoming a company with a much more open approach to innovation. Chesbrough notes that P&G began to pay much greater attention of external licensing of its technologies, (e.g. to BearingPoint), now strongly supports openly partnering for driving growth equity joint ventures (e.g. with Clorox), and an entirely new perspective on competitive advantage.
According to Jeff Weedman, vice president of P&G's external business development: "There are many kinds of competitive advantage. The original view here was: I have got it, and you don't. Then there is the view, that I have got it, you have got it, but I have it cheaper. Then there is I have got it, you have got it, but I got it first. Then there is I have got it, you have gotten it from me, so I make money when I sell it, and I make money when you sell it." To me, that in essence describes the primary competitive advantage of the open business model.
I also appreciate what is rarely provided in other business books: detailed notes (Pages 217-242) which are clustered per chapter. As I read them, it seemed as if Chesbrough were standing next to me, supplementing his narrative with additional comments that are always informative and frequently entertaining. What also struck me about Chesbrough's notes is that they enable him to acknowledge various sources with appreciation and admiration. His was obviously an open source approach to the research for this book and then to the writing of it.
To thrive in the new innovation landscape, change agents must have both an open mind and the courage to challenge what James O'Toole characterizes, in Leading Change, as "the ideology of comfort and the tyranny of custom." They would also be well-advised to absorb and digest the material in this book. Congratulations to Henry Chesbrough on a brilliant achievement.
The World It Is a'Changin.......2007-03-04
We have become accustomed to the fact that innovation has become a standard of the industrial world. Indeed companies like Microsoft market (very successfully) what is essentially nothing but an arrangement of bits. One of the things that this book brings to mind is that a lot of other companies (Procter & Gamble, Air Products) are innovative in a business that you wouldn't think of as being particularly innovative.
This book is exploring fairly new ground in its concept of 'Open Innovation,' that is creating a marketplace for innovation itself. You might not be able to capitalize on your new innovative idea, perhaps Air Products can, or perhaps you can use something that Procter & Gamble has done. And where that's a market like that, there are new specialty companies in the business of marketing innovation between companies.
We live in a time where the future is going to require major changes, peak oil and global warming to name two harbingers of change. Companies that continue to live in the old world are going to have a very hard time -- go look at Ford and GM
Book Description
The new edition of Lind’s Statistical Techniques in Business and Economics is a perennial market best seller due to its comprehensive coverage of statistical concepts and methods delivered in a student-friendly, step-by-step format. The text is non-threatening and presents concepts clearly and succinctly with a conversational writing style. All statistical concepts are illustrated with solved applied examples immediately upon introduction. Self reviews and exercises for each section, and review sections for groups of chapters also support the student learning steps. Modern computing applications (Excel, Minitab, and MegaStat) are introduced, but the text maintains a focus on presenting statistics concepts as applied in business as opposed to technology or programming methods. The thirteenth edition continues as a students’ text with increased emphasis on interpretation of data and results.
Customer Reviews:
Very Pleased.......2007-09-04
I was pleased from start to finish. It was the correct book, in great condition, it had the CD as stated and it came in a timely fashion.
Amazon.com
As it becomes increasingly associated with impressive corporate gains realized in recent years by companies ranging from FedEx and Rolex to Starbucks and Volvo, "branding" has developed into one of the marketing world's hottest concepts. And for good reason, contend well-known strategist Al Ries and his daughter Laura Ries in The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding: How to Build a Product or Service into a World-Class Brand.
"Marketing is building a brand in the mind of the prospect," they write. "If you can build a powerful brand you will have a powerful marketing program. If you can't, then all the advertising, fancy packaging, sales promotion and public relations in the world won't help you achieve your objective." A no-holds-barred look at a diverse collection of successful--and not-so-successful--branding efforts undertaken by these and other high-profile firms, their book distills the most critical principles involved into a series of clear rules with straightforward titles such as The Law of Expansion, The Law of Contraction, The Law of Consistency, and The Law of Mortality. While some of their suggestions may at first seem counterintuitive, together they compose a logical blueprint for success in today's ever-more-competitive environment. --Howard Rothman
Amazon.com Audiobook Review
When you call a book The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding, you're pretty much ruling out Oprah's Book Club as potential buyers. (Not that Oprah herself isn't a terrific brand.) This is an audiobook for a narrow demographic: entrepreneurs, top managers, and public-relations directors. Coauthor Al Ries comes off like the eccentric genius that most of these managers keep in a basement office, only listening to when necessary. When he says, "The power of a brand is inversely proportional to its scope," and hectors managers with the idea that "customers want brands that are narrow in scope," you know he's right (he backs himself up with dozens of examples), and you know it's the last thing powerful, expansion-minded businesspeople want to hear. Coauthor Laura Ries, his daughter and marketing-firm partner, also reads sections. (Running time: 1.5 hours, one cassette) --Lou Schuler
Book Description
How to build a product or service into a world–class brand.
In today's competitive world, it is no longer enough to have a superior product or even a great advertising campaign. Today's consumers are more savvy than ever, and ample competition has allowed them to become more choosy. The only way to stand out in today's, and tomorrow's 埣luttered marketplace is to build your product or service into a brand. 22 Immutable Laws of Branding is the definitive work on brands and branding. In the tradition of 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing, this book is illustrated with anecdotes from some of the best brands in the world and explains how any product or service can be built into a brand.
Customer Reviews:
Great book.......2007-10-10
Excellent book. Although the 22 laws may not be immutable they definitely are impossible to overlook. This book is packed with practical examples of where major corporations failed and succeeded, by breaking or following each of the 22 laws. Definitely must read if you're interested in creating a strong brand.
What a Book!.......2007-09-22
I never read a book more packed with incredible insights that this one. My company, Astonish Results (www.astonishresults.com) provides consulting to mortgage companies. I will recommend this book to every company we consult.
must have for business owners.......2007-09-11
As a small business owner and someone who was new to the business side of running a business I have found this book an absolute necessity in my daily business life.
Something to think about.......2007-08-11
I read this book with pleasure. It contains a lot of common sense and showed how people are influenced in their choice of branding features by what others have done and not what makes sense. I hope to use much of the information in my firm for our software branding.
Steven Calkins
Cross Media Solutions
Würzburg, Germany
Excellent work.......2007-05-26
I must say I have become somewhat of a Ries groupie. Al & Laura Ries along with Jack Trout have created some of the most thought filled pieces within the Branding, Marketing and communications world today. This one lives up the all the hype. The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding is a masterpiece to say the least. I began seeking out new books on the topic and thought why not hear from the gurus of the field. I had read The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing first and it lead me to this great piece. I am a marketing student not just in the classroom but for life. It is what I do, therefore learning more is what I must do.
Once you began your journey for more knowlege on Branding and relating fields you will side with this book. Branding lives with the perpection that is placed int he mind of the consumer. In all my many marketing classes have I not discussed the many issues that come up in this book. To be a great marketer or branding strategiest you must seek out information from all levels of the field and then rethink those thoughts in regards to your position and situation. This book places you in the right mindset to do that and much more. So begin the process...
Book Description
Companies must innovate to grow, but they often forget to look beyond their own brands. Take Sony, for example. Its success with consumer innovations like the Walkman blinded it to obvious changes in how, when, and where people wanted their music. Apple capitalized on those changes in demand with the iPod, providing a new way of listening to music and of managing one’s entire music library.
This book explains how you can spot these opportunities that are hidden in plain sight. It introduces the demand-first innovation and growth model that will show you how to become an unbiased observer of people’s consumption and usage behaviors. Refining this skill helps companies generate organic growth through new products, services, solutions, and experiences that truly enhance peoples’ lives. Revealing the innovative processes of such organizations as BMW, Proctor and Gamble, GE Healthcare, and Frito-Lay, Hidden in Plain Sight offers you a new approach to identifying and executing your company’s growth strategy.
Customer Reviews:
A growth strategy from the outside in.......2007-10-15
Erich Joachimsthaler's book Hidden in Plain Sight challenges conventional wisdom on marketing and marketing strategy. There are a number of books advocating this 'outside in' view on strategy and growth.
Joachimsthaler's approach of DIG for Demand-first Integration and Growth Model provides a comprehensive set of tools and methods for defining growth opportunities based on an understanding of the external environment rather than trying to change the world to fit your products and services.
Joachimsthaler provides a full description of the processes and tools including a number of case studies that describe companies that have grown through innovation and an outside in view. These are the strengths of the book.
These strengths are also the books weakness. By talking extensively about companies like BMW, GE, PepsiCo, etc, the book's main messages get bogged down in the text. Many of these cases have not used Joachimsthaler's DIG methodology, so there is little to connect the case to the argument he is advancing. This makes the book drag in some places and confuses Joachimsthaler's argument.
Overall the book is recommended as the combination of tools and methodology provides a valuable resource for companies looking to change their marketing approach and results. Other resources to consider include Chris Zook's "Unstoppable" and Davenport and Harris's "Competing on Analytics."
The Formula for Innovation and Growth.......2007-07-14
Erich Joachimsthaler provides a systematic approach to make marketing accountable for innovation and growth of BtoC and BtoB companies. We have seen the innovative business concept of share of customer evolve and being executed over the last years. Hidden in Plain Sight pushes that practice further to the concept of customer advantage, which means consequently managing impact and relevance, products and services have on customers daily lifes - on customers share of the day.
Erich Joachimsthaler formulates an explicit model, the demand-first innovation and growth model (DIG-Model), that illuminates the advantages of creating the demand landscape and sets a plan for action to specify the necessary effort to capture the relevant parts of the ecosystem of customer demand, reframes the specific business opportunity space, aligns business processes across all functions and sets the foundation for sustainable innovations and predictable growth.
As one reads the carefully selected international cases (e.g. Procter & Gamble, BMW, Apple, Deutsche Telekom, Volkswagen, NetFlix, Starbucks, General Electric, Sony, Allianz) reference is made to all parts of the DIG model and how all pieces have to work together to execute in business practice. Based on his deep insight and understanding of many industries, Erich Joachimsthaler proves his approach carefully and outlines, how innovation and growth can be systematically and replicable managed. That is why this book is relevant for people from many business functions and a variety of industries.
Thanks for this outstanding business book.
Kevin Frantz
Excellent.......2007-06-28
This is an excellent book, an eye opener for any professional in marketing, particularly those fighting the dog war of private labels and commoditization.
A popular, inspirational pick........2007-06-17
Business managers and executives who want keys to locating the potential for a company's expansion will want to consult HIDDEN IN PLAIN SIGHT: HOW TO FIND AND EXECUTE YOUR COMPANY'S NEXT BIG GROWTH STRATEGY. It pinpoints changing consumer needs and usage patterns and tells how to use the DIG model to help companies understand the hidden opportunities for innovation, using the author's 20+ years studying company connections to help pinpoint customer-driven ideas. Business libraries catering to executives will find it a popular, inspirational pick.
Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch
The Invisibility of the Obvious.......2007-05-23
Erich Joachimsthaler offers what he claims is a "new model of strategic innovation for achieving profitable business growth" by abandoning "some of the tried and proven conventions of innovation, marketing, and strategy formulation" and by discarding "some of today's common assumptions and management practices and adopt a fresh way of planning an executing your strategies today and your innovation and growth strategies of tomorrow." The key word is "some" as he explains how.
After discussing "hidden opportunities to innovate and grow" in Part I, he focuses in Part II on several companies which exemplify a demand-first innovation and growth model (e.g. Frito-Lay, Allianz, GE Healthcare, and State Street) and then shifts his attention, in Part III, to various strategies by which to realize customer advantage.
As the title of this book suggests, Joachimsthaler asserts - and I agree - that many senior-level executives lack the ability to see - really see - "the opportunities presented by the changing consumption or usage behaviors of people [their organizations are] trying to serve. [They] cannot spot or recognize and pursue the abundant opportunities that exist in plain sight." Why? Joachimsthaler suggests several reasons which include routine but disparate processes which fragment a company's view of its customers, perpetuation of the status quo which limits a company's perspective on its competitive marketplace, a mistaken belief that "the key to growth lies in identifying customers' needs and wants [and/or] providing solutions for the tasks or jobs it knows customers must take on and get done," and an "inside-out" perspective which results in what Theodore Levitt once characterized as "marketing myopia."
Joachimsthaler suggests three lessons that can be learned from companies such as NetFlix, Sony, and Starbucks:
1. Position existing or new products or services at natural intersections of customers' consumption and use behaviors;
2. Change or enhance customers' daily routines and create transformative experiences around activities, projects, and tasks in new and welcome ways; and
3. Deliver on previously unleashed or unarticulated desires, dreams, fantasies, and urges in the social-cultural context of people's lives.
The demand-first innovation (DIG) model can be of substantial benefit to any organization (regardless of size or nature) but it would be a fool's errand to attempt to apply all of the ideas that Joachimsthaler presents. Rather, It would be a fool's errand for anyone who reads this book to attempt to apply all of the ideas that Joachimsthaler presents. Rather, he suggests that those who read this book clearly identify their organization's key demand-relevant assets and make full use of them, rigorously evaluate and develop their organization's distinctive capabilities deployed to manage those assets, choose only those major strategic initiatives that force the integration of all demand-facing processes, and "build the culture" with innovation initiatives at all levels and within all areas throughout what should be a demand-driven enterprise.
Joachimsthaler calls for nothing less than "the activation of demand-first growth platforms by whatever means [to] help customers absorb or assimilate an innovation, or retool old ways of doing things, into their daily life or work experiences." Only then can an organization find and execute its next big growth strategy.
Book Description
Available July 31, 2004
The 8th edition of Introduction to Operations Research remains the classic operations research text while incorporating a wealth of state-of-the-art, user-friendly software and more coverage of business applications than ever before. The hallmark features of this edition include clear and comprehensive coverage of fundamentals, an extensive set of interesting problems and cases, and state-of-the-practice operations research software used in conjunction with examples from the text. This edition will also feature the latest developments in OR, such as metaheuristics, simulation, and spreadsheet modeling.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent!.......2007-02-13
Maybe not enough explanations behind maths. I didn't find the answers for the cases. Everything else is excellent. The DVD is very useful with Lingo / Lindo included.
A must-have if you like Operations Research.
The best resource on Operations Research for beginners, intermediates, and advanced knowledge seekers.......2006-11-20
I hesitated a long time before I bought this book, and I am very sorry about that. I started my M.Sc. in Operations Research and Decisions at the Tel Aviv University 3 years ago, and the first course I took was Optimization. I was a new immigrant to Israel, and I had difficulty in understanding the subject in Hebrew (it is not that easy even when you master the language!) The course book was this one; therefore, I decided to put all my efforts in the book rather than in the classes. Thanks god!
IMHO, Hillier and Lieberman make it clear that Operations Research is the father/mother of all the mathematical and statistical models that support decision making. They wrote the book in a way that all these models (including game theory, Markov models, decision trees, simplex, and others) seem closely linked to, or maybe even a consequence of, the development of Operations Research. The authors do not only explain models and techniques, they tell the story of the introduction of mathematics and statistics into the decision making world.
I read this book from upside down ten times and I really enjoyed it. The examples are so well chosen and interesting that I still remember them. But the biggest advantage of the book is its wide range of subjects, each treated in-depth. I have used the book for three important courses during my masters: Optimization, Stochastic process, and Decision theory. For all these courses, this book was the most comprehensible and interesting resource (though sometimes it was only an introduction, and I had to find more detailed material). The subjects discussed on the book go from an introduction to Operations Research, through modeling techniques, linear programming (Simplex), duality theory, the transportation problem, network optimization, dynamic programming, integer programming, nonlinear programming, game theory, decision analysis, Markov chains, queueing theory, and inventory theory.
Don't hesitate, if you got to this page you probably are looking for a good resource on Operations Research. This tome serves beginners, intermediates, and advanced knowledge seekers in the field.
No solutions to the exercises - the downside..........2006-10-28
I haven't read the whole book, only selected chapters. Good book with thorough explanations (but may be considered by some too long winded). Very wordy in style, but OTOH has many examples (very important!) The style is for practioners - it's not a math or algorithms book.
The bad side: no solutions on the back of the book, and no solutions manual to buy. Only instructors have access to the solutions manual. So, for self-study, you might want to look at the competition...ISBN: 0534380581
Excessively long-winded.......2006-10-23
The book may be suitable for some people but I found the explanations excessively long-winded. I frequently found myself crossing out an entire paragraph and a writing summary sentence in the margin. I do not think it will make a good reference because it is very easy to get lost in its verbosity. This is problematic in the real world when you need to refresh your memory of a small detail under time pressure. This book is useful for learning new concepts for the first time but you will quickly outgrow it.
Definite keeper for future reference!.......2004-12-21
Although we used the 8th ed in a recent course, it is probably the most well thought out O.R. intro you will find - good relevant case study material for the interested practitioner as well. Not too mathematically rigorous w.r.t. research, but examples are detailed enough, and the book also has a great selection of seemingly real-life practice problems. I especially appreciate ancillary chapters (e.g. crystal ball, project mgmt) being kept on the CD-ROM, it makes it a lot easier to carry and read on the train!
Book Description
Ace the class and get prepared for the business world with BUSINESS RESEARCH FOR DECISION MAKING and its accompanying CD and online university library. With this easy-to-understand textbook, you'll see how new technology is changing the decision making process in today's world. From coverage of ethical issues in conducting research to how to analyze advancements and effects of data warehousing, data mining, and modeling, you'll find topics that'll prepare you for challenges you'll face on the job. And when you're ready to do your own research, you can save time, save money--and eliminate the trek to the library with the included access to InfoTrac College Edition, an online university library of more than 5,000 academic and popular magazines, newspapers, and journals.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent Book.......2001-03-15
As I found this Book very useful for our studies. Actually this book was designed for senior level Business and Research students. I myself studying MBA in electronic commerce manage to see this book from my Tutor for few days. It contains lot of real time examples and large source of research information for everybody. Its wonderful for all of us. Yes I do recommend this book for all interested , I mean all fellow colleagues and other senior level maangers and academics as well.
Dinesh
Average customer rating:
- Delightful excursion in thinking about how to think
- A great primer and reference to fall back on
- Interesting & valuable, though philosophical > statistical
- not for the technically minded
- Great treatise on critical thinking and organization
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Turning Numbers into Knowledge: Mastering the Art of Problem Solving
Jonathan G. Koomey
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ASIN: 0970601905 |
Book Description
Mastering the art of problem solving takes more than proficiency with basic calculations; it requires understanding how people use information, recognizing the importance of ideology, learning the art of storytelling, and acknowledging the important distinction between facts and values. Intended for professors, managers, entrepreneurs, and students, this guide addresses these and other essential skills. With clear prose, quotations, and exercises for solving problems in the real world, this book serves as an ideal training manual for those who are new to or intimidated by quantitative analysis and an excellent refresher for those who have more experience but want to improve the quality of their data, the clarity of their graphics, and the cogency of their arguments.
Customer Reviews:
Delightful excursion in thinking about how to think.......2007-04-20
It is different from, and for many purposes, better than a science textbook. More than enough science books have been written, but TNIK is better because it teaches readers how to think about the data on which science is built. Its fresh approach to understanding the natural world as well as human-made systems is a noteworthy improvement over the plug-in, grind-out perspective that academic classes typically offer and that turns off students.
A great primer and reference to fall back on.......2005-11-04
While no doubt I've heard many of nuggets contained in the book over the course of my high school and college days, I found Koomey's book a pleasurable read and useful synthesis of approaches and tips for completing quality research and analyses. Internalizing Koomey's advice is going to help most readers be more discriminating consumers of published research and better authors of their own research. It's a reference source I've already gone back to myself in just a few weeks and a great training resource for new consultants my company hires.
Interesting & valuable, though philosophical > statistical .......2005-02-01
I expected the author to talk much about statistical analysis and related "technical stuff". I had been very wrong. In fact, the book can be regarded as a warning to common people about the "irrelevancy" and "inaccuracy" of data or information we encounter or process so that we can perform better analysis of on our own. As from pg 197, "of primary importance from this book are the following lessons:-"
- Don't be intimidated by anyone (esp those know-it-alls)
- Be a critical thinker
- Don't confuse what's countable with what really counts
- Get organized
- Question authority
- Dig into the numbers
- Focus on the essential
- Document, document, document
- Use the internet
- Remember that others don't care as much about your work as you do
- Synthesis follows analysis
In short, a good read. Dont miss it.
p.s. I like the following quotes from the book very much. (The author did use over 31 quotes with at least one for each chapter)
Just because I use a study to refute another study does not mean my study is right. It just means I believe it. Caveat Emptor. - Cynthia Crossen
Whether or not someone else knows it all isn't really relevant; the only thing that's relevant is what you know and what you do. - Robert Ringer
not for the technically minded.......2003-01-18
This is an entertaining and well written book on some of the do's and don'ts of data analysis. To quote from Dr. Beers review below, "The main emphasis is on the art of data interpretation." Indeed there are useful tools here for performing sanity checks and for asking critical questions about all sorts of data collections. ... The examples are, at best, sketchy and few in number. The anectodes are amusing but not terribly informative. I would have much preferred more concrete examples and further discussion on some technical matters. ....
Great treatise on critical thinking and organization.......2002-12-18
"Turning Numbers Into Knowledge: Mastering the Art of Problem Solving" should be required reading for anyone engaged in producing, reading, or analysing information. Based on the title one might assume that I mean numerical information, but that is not the case at all. The basic principles, such as how to sift through information and the importance of documentation of sources, are important parts of any information product. In fact, except for the sections on graphs, tables, normalizing data and a few others, the rest of the book (fully at least three quarters of it) is dedicated to determining what constitutes good information, good techniques, good analysis, good documentation, etc. This is a book on problem solving techniques and analysis of the information products of others.
Filled with useful tools and tips for problem solving under real-life situations it is one of the most useful books available. "Turning Numbers Into Knowledge: Mastering the Art of Problem Solving" is a masterful work in the area of critical analysis and a highly recommended read for anyone involved in creating or using information of any kind.
Customer Reviews:
Competitors...Beware!.......2007-08-16
Whether a branding consultant, senior line manager or strategic planner, (the Bensoussan/Fleisher book) "Business and Competitive Analysis" provides a multitude of analytical techniques that can help one think about, build and successfully drive implementation of a winning operating roadmap. For example, with `hard' assets...e.g. buildings, plant and equipment...almost `nil' vs. that of their manufacturing counterparts, predominantly service-providing firms such as banks, insurers and investment firms might find Chapter 17 - Corporate Reputation Analysis - to be of particular value for managing "this", arguably their MOST important asset [as "reputation", NOT customers, is what usually "belongs" to a firm]. Babette and Craig...Thank you for sharing this important toolkit with us. With it, we certainly cannot say "but I did not know".
- Kevin McClair, Financial Services Industry Veteran and Wharton MBA
Book Description
Fully integrated with the personal computer, this easy-to-use book provides readers with the skills to necessary to apply the techniques of quantitative analysis in all kinds of organizational decision-making situations. It covers every major topic in the quantitative analysis/management science field, showing how each technique works, discussing the assumptions and limitations of the models, and illustrating the real-world usefulness of each technique with many applications and case studies in both profit-making and nonprofit organizations. A
FREE CD-ROM readers can use to solve the examples presented in the book is conveniently packaged with the book providing Excel QM, Crystal Ball, TreePlan, QM for Windows and data files for examples. Probability Concepts and Applications, Decision Theory, Decision Trees with Utility Theory, Forecasting, Inventory Control Models, Linear Programming Models, Linear Programming: The Simplex Method. Transportation and Assignment Models, Integer Programming, Goal Programming, Non Linear Programming, and Branch and Bound Models, Analytic Hierarchy Process, Network Models, Project Management, Waiting Lines and Queuing Theory Models, Simulation Modeling, Markov Analysis, Using QM for Windows, Using Excel OM. Appropriate for business managers and analysts.
Customer Reviews:
A book for graduates--Not undergrads.......2003-10-28
After the first week of our class falling behind, my professor mentioned to our class that this book was the wrong format for undergrads. So this book is only good as the teacher and the students. It's easy to read, but hard to understand. And, the CD-ROM was not user-friendly enough, but had an awesome integration into MS Excel. I aced all of my math classes in college (undergrad), but this class...I'm not gonna to ace. But if you aced all math classes and you're using this book for a grad class, then go for it. Otherwise, find another book.
Great Book.......2001-12-12
I had one of the worst instructors on the planet this semester. I literally had to teach myself this entire course.
This book made it so much easier. Great diagrams, simple explanations. I ended up with an A.
Easy to follow.......2000-09-17
This book is easy to follow and the included cd makes solving the problems easy. It also has online links for each chapter.
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- Ten Best Teaching Practices: How Brain Research, Learning Styles, and Standards Define Teaching Competencies
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