Book Description
Horngren’s Cost Accounting defined the cost accounting market and continues to innovate today by consistently integrating the most current practice and theory. This acclaimed, number one market-leading book embraces the basic theme of âdifferent costs for different purposes.â It reaches beyond cost accounting procedures to consider concepts, analyses, and management. This latest edition of Cost Accounting incorporates the latest research and most up-to-date thinking into all relevant chapters.
Professional issues related to Management Accounting and Management Accountants are emphasized. Chapter topics cover the accountant's role in the organization to performance measurement, compensation, and multinational considerations.
For future accountants who want to enhance their understanding of–and ability to–solve cost accounting problems.
Customer Reviews:
Not impressed.......2007-10-03
I am not sure whether my negative perception of this book arises more from my disliking the book or the subject matter, but I felt like I had trouble learning from it as well as I have from other textbooks. I generally rely on the text to clarify anything I missed from a professor's lecture, but this one was not that helpful for me. I'm sure this is related to the fact that I am absolutely horrible at accounting, but I was hoping that the textbook could save me and teach me whatever I was missing in class... no such luck!
Good starting book for Managerial Accounting.......2007-02-26
Clearly written. Although it assumes some basic knowledge about accounting, the writing technique is such that there is very little background knowledge that you have to go refresh yourself with in order to make sense of the new information. For a novice at accounting like me, this was easy to understand, with good examples and illustrations.
It is really useful in real business world!!.......2006-11-16
I am a MBA candidate in US and will return to Japan next year.
My background is engineer in Japanese manufacturing company.
Even now, this textbook teaches us powerful tools and especially in factory accounting. The knowledge for budgeting and how to evaluate it will help me in the future.
I will bring this book back to Japan and try to use it in the real world!!
Excellent book.......2006-10-11
The writing may not be perfect, but it's still a great textbook, probably the best you can find.
After all, there is a reason that so many colleges use this book. You will learn a great deal whether you use this book for a class or for your own study.
Poorly written.......2006-02-15
This is a poorly written textbook; rambling and fragmented information is presented on a piecemeal basis rather than in a clear, concise and well-organized manner. Important information belonging to one subject-matter chapter, is often presented as "aside" information in other chapters on wholly different subjects. This textbook appears to have been written by an author who forgot to take his ADHD medication. This "substandard" quality has become common place with this particular publishing company, Prentice Hall, to include its many subsidiaries (Pearson, Thompson, Southwestern, etc.), to the detriment of the education system.
Average customer rating:
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Cost Management: Measuring, Monitoring, and Motivating Performance (Management Accounting)
Leslie G. Eldenburg , and
Susan K. Wolcott
Manufacturer: Wiley
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The Art of Modeling with Spreadsheets: Management Science, Spreadsheet Engineering, and Modeling Craft
ASIN: 0471205494 |
Book Description
Cost Management" was written in response to changes in the global business environment. Unbridled access to information and intense competition has meant that cost accounting has become an increasingly important tool for managers and accountants alike. Most textbooks focus on content knowledge and then expect students to 'magically' demonstrate skills such as decision-making and critical thinking. "Cost Management" better prepares students for professional success by bridging the gaps between Knowledge, Skills and Abilities. Many students fail to recognize the assumptions, limitations, behavioral implications and qualitative factors that influence managerial decision-making. The dynamic, new author team focuses on cost accounting methods, techniques and the quality of cost accounting information used for decision-making to deliver a thoroughly modern treatment of cost accounting topics.
Book Description
Broad, helpful guidance and information for controlling costs for foodservice managers and students
In order for foodservice managers to control costs effectively, they must have a confident command of accounting, marketing, and legal issues, as well as food and beverage sanitation, production, and service methods. This fully updated Third Edition of Food and Beverage Cost Control provides students and managers with the wide-ranging knowledge and specific solutions they need to keep costs low and margins high.
Throughout the text, this updated edition integrates the latest material on new technologies that impact cost control in the foodservice industry and the business world. Complete with an accompanying Student Workbook that helps readers earn a certificate from the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation, highlights of this Third Edition include:
- Apply What You Have Learned feature focusing on practical, real-world applications of topics and concepts
- Expanded coverage of legal issues that may affect a manager's decisions
- Revised material offering a better understanding of the connection between all parts of the ordering process
- An increased number of Test Your Skills questions that give readers more chances to practice what they have learned
- A bonus disk packed with exercises that utilize manager-developed Microsoft® Excel spreadsheets
Students in foodservice management courses will find Food and Beverage Cost Control, Third Edition a modern and focused treatment of this vital subject. Working managers will appreciate this useful reference as a source of ready-to-use forms and formulas that can be easily applied to their operations.
Customer Reviews:
Easy to understand.......2006-02-25
This text book is very self-explanatory. Makes learning the information easy and helpful. All books should be written like this one.
Food & Beverage Cost Control.......2002-06-12
As a culinary educator, I find this book both informative and user-friendly. The Excel spreadsheets and "Fun on the Web" exercises add interesting and useful technological components. The text gets to the point on all issues without belaboring the theoretical aspects of food and beverage cost controls. The book covers junior and senior level concepts in a readable format suitable for freshmen and sophomores. It is a book for all levels with real life examples. I would recommend it to anyone, be it from education or industry.
An excellent edition!.......2001-06-19
This book is a must-read for any foodservice manager who is interested in an accurate, to the point, and technologically advanced review of food and beverage cost control methods. Controlling labor and food costs have never been more important than in today's environment. Those managers who master control procedures will succeed, and this book helps them to do just that.
The author's use of Excel spreadsheets really helps learning, as does the large number of realistic industry examples. Even the Internet plays a part in the book's usefulness when the authors refer readers to applicable web sites. Best of all, the concepts (especially those related to labor control) that are presented are useful to the managers I work with regardless of their culture or even the continent in which they work.
I recommend the book to all hospitality managers, and I would recommend it to any serious student of hospitality.
Average customer rating:
- A tool that can't break!
- CAN'T BEAT THIS FOR THE PRICE
- What you need on the shop floor:-)
- OUTSTANDING!
- The Greatest Lean Book Ever Written
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The Lean Pocket Guide
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ASIN: 0972572805 |
Book Description
The Lean Pocket Guide is designed for use as a convenient, quick reference as you learn and implement lean manufacturing tools and techniques. It provides valuable insight into the nuances of lean from a team of lean sensi's throughout the world.
You can put your finger on any entry or lean concept, term, tool, or technique within a matter of seconds! With the simply, clear illustrations, this is definitely meant for use on the shop floor.
Also, included is this Pocket Guide is a ready-to-submit Suggestion Form to get those ideas into action, NOW!
Customer Reviews:
A tool that can't break!.......2007-01-09
This little book is full of great ideas and concepts and can help you out on the job, but also if you are a person looking to become familar with these concepts, this is a great book to read.
CAN'T BEAT THIS FOR THE PRICE.......2006-05-15
I recently purchased the Lean Pocket Guide (published by MCS Media, Inc. i.e., The Lean Store) and found it to be the most book for your money that is on the market. This book set the standard for good, informative information on Lean. The illustrations and explanations were perfect for the folks on the shop floor, as well as my supervisors.
A Lean book that practices what it preaches!
What you need on the shop floor:-).......2006-03-30
Hello, this little booklet is excellent. You get all information on lean concepts in your palm and right where you need it -not at your desk- but on the shop floor.
Even better would be customized country versions to spread the lean culture widely amongst companies;-))
Regards
Ralf Lippold
OUTSTANDING!.......2005-08-20
The Lean Pocket Guide is undoubtedly the best value Lean book ever written. All the Lean tools are clearly defined, along with good, simple illustrations. The Key Points at the end of each section provide additional insight into Lean applications. All our employees have one of these. It was very rewarding to see - on the day following giving these to our employees (there was an employee that did not particpate very often in our teams) having The Lean Pocket Guide opened on his bench to the Standard Work chapter. I need say no more!
The Greatest Lean Book Ever Written.......2004-09-04
This is by far the best and most comprehensive book on lean terms and concepts in the market. The group of authors certainly understand and know the ins and outs of Lean. The illustrations, graphs, directions, key points are superbly explained like no other book..and I have read them all. Fantastic job authors!
Book Description
COST MANAGEMENT emphasizes that changing conditions often require a change in systems. Emphasizing this point stresses the dynamic and exciting nature of the field. By taking a systems approach -- one that first covers functional-based cost and control and then activity-based cost systems -- students understand how to understand and manage any cost management system.
Customer Reviews:
TO BUY OR NOT TO BUY; THAT'S A QUESTION!.......2007-03-16
The text is pretty comprehensive and covers the subject of Cost Management broadly and deeply. Since there are not too many textbooks on the topic; therefore, authors are admired for their devoted efforts they put into. The publisher should understand the matter inside the book and manage the cost of this book and make it afforable to the students.
For students, it's tough beginning before learning "Cost Management", the book incurs too much cost and puzzles students how they should manage their own budgets. Anyway, it might be the strategy of the authors or the publishing company to begin the lessons from the sale. As one scholar said, "Experience is a tough teacher, which gives exams first and teaches lessons thereafter."
As far as the contents are concerned, the book is highly recommended, but at a lower price. Thank you for your time for reading this review.
Filled With Useless Information.......2006-09-01
If you want to wade through useless babble to get to the actual cost accounting, go at it. However, you'll probably buy this book anyway if you have an unscrupulous accounting professor who received a gift basket from the publisher.
In other words, it's useless to the student. However, I'm sure its very profitable for the publisher and the authors.
FOR THE PRICE, THIS BOOK SHOULD BE BETTER.......2006-03-23
This book should have been written better when you consider its expensive price tag. However, the review excercise at the end of the chapter is extremely helpful. I would recommend the book if serious improvements are made. Overall, it is not that bad.
Want to Cheat Someone.......2005-09-30
I made a mistake and chose the book they listed in the Amazon.com. When the book arrived, I saw that what they have listed was only a Study Guide from a really old edition. I must say that they have said this on the listing. That was my mistake. But I wrote them back that I do not want this book, and want to return it. But they do not accept the return and refund of money. They do know that it is hard to find someone again doing this mistake. I looked at the book. This is $ 10 worth, not more. And impossible to sell again. I am a student. I do not have so much money to afford the required book. So I got really frustrated and faced losts of problems in the following weeks and spent a lot of time and energy to get the right book. It is a really sad story and an experience for me. I hope the seller is right know enjoying my $ 139.71.
Too much info........2005-01-04
Too bad we're stuck with whatever book the professor assigns. Often reads like the authors needed to write 1,000 pages, regardless of the complexity of the material. I caught them several times referring to the same item with different terms. In-class instruction on methods will save you a ton of time.
Book Description
In the classroom, activity-based costing (ABC) looks like a great way to manage a company's limited resources. But executives who have tried to implement ABC in their organizations on any significant scale have often abandoned the attempt in the face of rising costs and employee irritation. Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing is the solution to the problems associated with large-scale ABC implementation. In this book, Kaplan and Anderson offer a revised model where managers can estimate the resource demands imposed by each transaction, product, or customer, rather than rely on time-consuming and costly employee surveys.
In their new model, Kaplan and Anderson focus on the two parameters managers need to estimate: how much it costs per time unit to supply resources to the business activities (the total overhead expenditure of a department divided by the total number of minutes of employee time available) and how much time it takes to carry out one unit of each kind of activity (as estimated or observed by the manager). Rather than endlessly updating and maintaining ABC data, this book with allow managers to spend their time addressing the deficiencies the model reveals: inefficient processes, unprofitable products and customers, and excess capacity.
Kaplan and Anderson lead the discussion of Time-Driven ABC in the first seven chapters, followed by individual cases studies of actual implementations by Acorn consultants in diverse settings.
Customer Reviews:
Great Service.......2007-05-29
Product purchase acknowldgement was near immediate, billing timely, receipt of product within three days and the exact product ordered received. Excellent.
Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing.......2007-05-13
I finished reading this book by Bob Kaplan - TIME-DRIVEN ACTIVITY-BASED COSTING last week.
Its a great book for folks familiar with the basic concepts and applications of Activity-based Costing/ABC. In a way Kaplan makes an apology to readers of his earlier books and ardent fans of ABC, for making their lives difficult with the practical implementation approaches for ABC, and offers to make up for it by proposing a change to the new approach called Time-driven Activity-based Costing or TDABC. Personally I would have preferred the term "Capacity-driven Activity-based Costing".
Ofcourse one cannot help but be sympathetic to Bob Kaplan. Having interacted with him in the past, I had an opportunity to see at close range the genius of this man and the range of his knowledge. The book is certainly a big leap in our knowledge-base and tools for managing for managing companies better.
Kaplan aso originated another methodology "THE BALANCED SCORECARD" (BSC), several books on the subject, and co-founded another firm to offer servies around it. He is however, no longer associated with the firm in any management capacity, and the firm is financially troubled.
I recommend Kaplan's BSC books wholeheartedly, but if you are looking to implement at your organizations, I would recommend inviting select independent consultants who have more experienced at this, than the one's available at this firm.
Professionals with a serious interest in TDABC could also do well to reach out directly to Bob Kaplan and his new firm (The Acorn Group), and his former students for consulting advise.
TDABC - a very interesting book.......2007-05-12
This book has given me a great insight in an easier way to allocate resources down to costumers and products using Time-driven cost driver rates.
However, I am a bit sceptical about the Capacity Cost rate, which seems to be the key element to this models success... especially the way the authors describes the way to calculate this rate.. But with some methodical procedure behing when implementing the model, it is possible to get good results.... that's my experience
All in all, it is a great book about the fundamentals when wanting to use TDABC in your business.
Book Description
The U.S. health care system is in crisis. At stake are the quality of care for millions of Americans and the financial well-being of individuals and employers squeezed by skyrocketing costs--not to mention the stability of state and federal government budgets.
In Redefining Health Care, internationally renowned strategy expert Michael E. Porter and innovation expert Elizabeth Olmsted Teisberg reveal the underlying and largely overlooked causes of the problem and provide a powerful prescription for change. The authors argue that participants in the health care system have competed to shift costs, accumulate bargaining power, and restrict services rather than create value for patients. This zero-sum competition takes place at the wrong level--among health plans, networks, and hospitals--rather than where it matters most: in the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of specific health conditions.
In spite of competition among these systems, the patient care cycle is poorly coordinated. The fractured system undermines both efficiency and quality of outcomes.
Redefining Health Care lays out a breakthrough framework for redefining health care competition based on patient value over the full cycle of care—from prevention and diagnosis through recovery or long-term disease management. With specific recommendations for hospitals, doctors, health plans, employers, and policy makers, this book shows how to move to value-based competition on results that will unleash stunning improvements in quality and efficiency.
Customer Reviews:
How sick is US Healthcare.......2007-10-17
Interesting view on the actual US healthcare and a challenging way to solve the mailaise
Excellent analysis with some weak points.......2007-09-01
This book has received probably disproportionate attention due to Prof. Porter's notoriety as a strategic thinking theorist. There are better overall books on healthcare policy available. In particular I recommend the Bodenheimer/Grumbach books, one on healthcare policy and one on primary care, Dr. Arnold Relman's book, A Second Opinion, Strained Mercy, an outstanding and thorough analysis of healthcare economics with particular regard to Canada's healthcare system, among others.
I find the analysis of the USA healthcare system by Profs. Porter and Teisberg to generally be excellent, although I find it wanting in regard to their disparagement of a single-payer/single-insurer system and to their description and analysis of healthcare systems outside the USA. From my perspective private health plans play only a net negative role in the system. The authors' analysis of how the health insurance market works is quite good. However their recommendation that a system of private insurers should persist is refuted by their own analysis! A single payer/insurer system will not cure the problems of the US system, as they clearly point out, but it does remove the inherently dysfunctional characteristics of private insurance, not least of which is its failure to meet the needs of the uninsured - a very large number - and its inherent propensity to exclude the very people who need coverage and care. The authors rightly point out that mandatory health insurance along with risk-pooling among insurers to spread the costs of those insured individuals who generate the highest costs is a "solution" to the current non-functioning system, but the same result, at lower cost and with much greater simplicity, can be achieved through a single payer/insurer.
The other key aspect of healthcare - how it is delivered - is ultimately more important than the financing/insurance side. The authors provide excellent analysis and recommendations in this regard. They correctly address the aspects of the healthcare market that prevent its functioning as a "competitive" market, specifically the abysmal lack of patient information on prices for services, on outcomes of actions by providers, comparative statistics on provider performance and similar. They also provide an interesting report by the Cleveland Clinic on outcomes, i.e. results, of the Clinic's heart surgery activity. They appropriately use this as an example of the kind of reporting that is needed.
The authors' analysis of healthcare systems outside the USA is skimpy and inaccurate in my opinion. The authors underplay the demonstrated efficacy of government-funded systems that outperform the USA system almost across the board in gross measures of outcomes (infant mortality and longevity) and vastly outperform the US system in regard to cost. They gloss over the fact that per capita costs in the USA are 2.5 times! the average of other OECD countries. It is not as though the costs are say 10% above the average with comparable outcomes. They are 150% higher with worse outcomes. Instead of noting this and analyzing it thoroughly, the authors assert that waiting times and rationing of care are significant problems in those countries, assertions which are simply not borne out by a closer examination of the facts. Also the fact that (mostly) single-payer/insurer systems function well universally does not fit the authors' main thesis, so rather than revise the thesis based on this evidence they choose to ignore the evidence.
As a consequence of these limitations I rate the book with 4 stars rather than 5. Too bad, because most of the book is excellent.
Redefining Health Care.......2007-05-23
Book Review
Redefining Health Care by Michael Porter
I am writing this review to help share some excellent ideas on the availability and quality of medical treatment in the United States and on the U.S. economy which is being dragged down by ever-increasing medical costs. The economic impact is not just on corporate profits and stock prices but also on U.S. employment because everything that raises costs makes it harder for U.S. manufacturers to compete with foreign suppliers and makes it harder for U.S. manufacturers to sell in foreign markets.
Unfortunately, the book is long, turgid, and full of details, which help to substantiate his conclusions and also provide guidance on implementing improved policies. I am afraid the book does not appeal to executives, politicians, or doctors. It also proposes radical changes in all aspects of the medical system and its financing and operation. Dr. Porter proposes major changes on the part of all parties involved in delivering and paying for health care.
The book begins with a review of health indexes and health care throughout the world and shows, while the U.S. has the greatest expenditures by any set of measurements, it does not have the best results.
Then, Dr. Porter introduces his most important concept: that any medical treatment should be measured by its results; how much lost time and discomfort did the patient have, is he or she completely cured, or how much disability measured over the entire span of the illness or even the life of the patient. We tend to think of an operation as being successful if the patient left the hospital in good condition. But how much additional recovery time, disability, or reoccurrence was there? If the patient doesn't come back to see him, a doctor doesn't know whether he was cured by the treatment or if the patient was so dissatisfied he went to another doctor or simply gave up on a series of treatments. The goal is to develop a scoring system for each group of illnesses that can be compared with the cost of each individual's treatment and their results to determine what is the best set of procedures and the best doctor or group of doctors to do the work can be used to guide providers and treatments. Porter has some reason to believe that the best treatments are generally less costly even though the individual item costs may be more, the greater effectiveness and the less chance of complications reduces overall cost. Included in the overall cost should be lost wages, which is a reasonable proxy for the patient's time.
The goal is to develop a health plan that pays for results not for treatments. In many cases, that would be a single payment to the provider for a whole series of treatments from diagnosis on through operations, post-operative care, and follow ups which could extend over a long period of time. This is a radical change from the present system which pays for treatments and tends to produce more treatments and does not have any effective means for either the insurers, or the employers, or the patients even to compare one treatment option with another. This is an extreme, radical change and would take a long time to implement, but there are pieces of the program in operation. A number of these are explained at length. Health insurance companies could hire these firms for their specialized expertise and would not have to do the work on their own. An example of what is done is how the firm studies the history of heart transplant patients and will give an insurance company a single payment for the entire course of treatment providing it is done in the manner and by people they specify. They would particularly focus on caregivers who have an outstanding record of success. It appears that for most illnesses, there are organizations that are substantially better than others and this program could be extended broadly.
Another area of development would be to have counselors which would be part of the function of the insurer to advise a company's employees with a list of particularly well qualified doctors and suggest treatment elements.
Government would seem to be poorly adapted to facilitating these changes because they are radically different from Medicare. Medicare seems to promote cheap, but not necessarily effective treatments and set arbitrary pay scales which do not allow the better providers to charge more for their services and thus encourage more providers to be in the high performance category. Companies that pay for the insurance are the ones that have to put pressure on the insurers to implement the above changes. This could not be done over a short period of time but would eliminate a lot of the wasted time that is now involved in the payments for each little step of the process and for each treatment step.
Chapter 8 is a detailed discussion of how to implement the aforementioned concepts using modifications of Medicare and other laws. This is too complex to summarize here but it appears doable if Congress and the Executive are sufficiently motivated. It is likely that few people would understand what is happening, but the benefits to cost ratio is sufficiently great that the changes would probably be supported and accepted. On the other hand, the situation is so complex, it is questionable whether lawmakers and administrators would be willing to undertake the many complex tasks required. On the other hand, the downside risk appears quite small.
Porter approaches the whole subject from the points of view of business strategy and the problems of decisions with very imperfect information. While the government frequently acts with very imperfect information, its strategy for doing so is not well developed and poorly applied.
Redefining Health Care: Creating Value-Based Competition on Results
A new look.......2007-05-20
Though a little dry, and at times repetitive, this book offers practical information. In a mess of books describing the massive problems in healthcare today, this book was at once motivating and up-lifting. I bought it for a class, but it is one of the books I'll be keeping instead of passing along at the end of the quarter.
Disappointed but Some Might Find Value.......2007-04-05
I'm a big fan of Porter, but I was somewhat disappointed by this book. Let me be frank. The first problem I have with the book is that the authors try to capture as large of an audience as possible, being careful not to place blame on certain providers within the health care system. That approach might get better reviews and sell more copies, but it is not delivering real value. One cannot escape mention of the realities of corruption and fraud by every player in health care and expect to address the problems.
The second problem I have is that Porter fails to recognize that health care is distinct from any other industry in America because it is highly politically influenced. Much of the health care system is public (government funded). This is a main reason why competition in this industry is highly ineffective. How can you have a pure competitive environment when poor performing providers continue to receive government-funded contracts? How can you have full competition when Washington merely fines providers for fraud with no jail time? How can you have competition that creates value when Washington places the burden of increasing costs upon taxpayers, letting the industry charge what it needs to deliver earnings that Wall Street expects?
Overall, by failing to address the harsh realities of politics and big money within America's health care industry, Porter's book is too idealistic and therefore falls short of offering a real solution. Regardless, it is a quality book and at least does what no other has in trying to approach the problems from a reasonable standpoint. I expected more from him, but clearly this book is a view from academia and is far detached from many realities of big industry in America. There are many good points in the book, but without addressing the main problems of a system whereby lobbyist groups who control health care policy, very little will change.
Book Description
Weygandt Managerial Accounting Third Edition gives students the tools they need to succeed, whether as accountants or in other career paths. With a framework in decision-making, Weygandt 3/e covers all the necessary techniques and concepts for a one semester, undergraduate managerial accounting course. Many students in this course are not accounting majors and will need to understand the big picture of accounting. Therefore, Weygandt 3/e provides students with a pedagogy that helps them to build their decision-making skills and to understand how to use accounting information to make quality business decisions in whatever major or career they choose.
Customer Reviews:
It's Accounting.......2006-11-04
I bought this book for a Managerial accounting class. I found that chapters to be well written and the example easy to follow. Enron gets used a lot. What I didn't like was that problems in the back of the book are not as clear as they could be. Most of the time, I plug in the wrong formula. So that part could have been clearer. The answers are all on a CD, that access a website for the answers. So if you like me and still have dial-up, you may have a problem there too. However I am still pulling a B in the class, so I'm getting something.
Very Practical Book,Classic.......2006-01-27
Jerry really knows how to help people learn accounting. Learning accounting is about practising but not reading. Reading helps but it won't solve problems. The one thing I really appreciate about this book is Jerry uses real life accounting practice within companies from different industries to illustrate every single chapter, within which all the accounting theories and principals naturally flow. You can see all the kinds of accounting problems with actual number and data being solved with the application of relevant accounting theories,principals and methods. You know how real things are done. I have read many accounting books, among which loads of books lack exercises for me to practice after I read certain chapter. But buying Jerry's book, you get two books, one for reading, and one for exams. Nearly half of the book is Exam Questions, which emulate my real exams quite well. I can't believe an accounting without good exercise questions is an book. If you seriously want to pass exams and know how the real accounting is done,this is the book for you!
No solutions... How are you supposed to check your progress?.......2005-09-12
This book is good about listing the objectives and showing you exactly where to find the answers for the multiple choice questions. For example: What is the purpose of a job cost sheet? The book highlights the area where the answer is. Easy huh? Well, what about the actual accounting problems? The detailed problems at the end of each chapter have NO SOLUTIONS to them, and you can't buy a solutions guide unless you are an instructor! I'm not an accounting wizard, so I have to actually practice before it sticks in my brain... imagine that. I guess they expect everyone to see the problems and read about the problems and automatically get it. They work out a "Demonstration Problem" for you, but that only applies to some of the problems at the end of each chapter.
Book Description
Logistics management is increasingly being seen as a source of competitive strength. Its effective use provides potential for cost reduction and the opportunity for increasing market share. The second edition discusses the role of logistics in achieving corporate and financial goals. Updated and expanded with more checklists, more short cases and executive summaries, this is an invaluable guide for all logistics and distribution managers.
Customer Reviews:
Boring book.......2007-06-10
Keeps repeating the same things over and over using different words. Very boring and nothing new to learn.
Modern logistics - an executive summary.......2007-02-08
After reading various textbooks on logistics, quantitative analysis and strategy, this book was very refreshing, in large part from the fact that it is a short and non-technical book. The title of my review says it all, this book is summary for busy people wanting to get som insights into what is going on in logistics and organizational theory . I got through the book in two readings, which is a very valuable aspect for busy people.
Still, despite being brief, it touches on most important aspects, and points you to further areas of importance if what you read here makes you want to change things in your organization.
So: Not technical, easy read, 4 stars instead of 5 because it is too brief to be truly useful for those that actually want to learn the subject-matter.
PS: The printing I recieved was a defect, pages 247 to 278 missing (Replaced by duplicate pages 215-246), ust watch out for that.
Excellent Advanced SCM Book - Repost.......2007-01-05
This is a wonderful book and introduces the practioner to some of the frontiers of strategically driven service response logistics. In other words how to design, deploy and organize integrated SCM for corporate strategic reasons, not just for functional cost control. Probably one of three key books for understanding the frontiers and highly recommended.
Key is the process, customer value and system integration perspectives threaded throughout but particularly in the last several chapters. The chaper on service response logistics is worth the price of the book.
As a practioner dealing with advanced SCM I found this very worthwhile and found myself wishing I'd written it. If you are relatively new to the field you need a decent baseline grounding and Stock & Lambert's book on 'Strateigc Logistics' is a perfect complement. To move slightly higher up the food chain get the recent compilation of HBR articles called 'Managing the Value Chain'. Together the three make a perfect bookshelf set for any practioner, student or corporate executive who needs to understand what integrated logistics, SCM or the future of e-business might be doing to your career or your firm's competitive prospects !
Easy to read, theorethically strong and practical enough.......2006-03-03
After reading many books about logistics and supply chain issues, this third edition adds value to the field.
The author confirms his visionary approach and provides new thinking on supply chain risk and resilience. Not only agility is now more elaborated and explained as an important logistics strategy together with leaness, but also, hybrid strategies are proposed and practical cases are developed.
As always, the author ends with a view to the future and introduce the readers in the ever challenging thoughs of business transformations.
I Need It Yesterday .......2005-06-12
At first glance this is a book that is going to scare off the vast number of readers. Unless you are in this field or this is part of your daily job, why would you read this book. I submit that most managers today need to have a basic understanding of this process, which is why I read this book. Overall I came to the book with no real understanding of the topic nor had I ever read a book along these lines before. I found the book to be a nice and understandable overview of the topic. I did find it to be a bit more detailed then I was looking for, but I understand that the book was not necessarily meant for a reader such as myself.
I think what interested me most was that I used to think of this topic as just a line of trucks coming into the plant so to speak. The book brings out that supply chains are really complex networks with many moving parts. Due to the increased out sourcing and off shoring, the complexity of these chains has grown. With this complexity comes even more of a need for pro-active coordination within the network. This is the reason the book and concepts are important. Overall I enjoyed the book. Sure it had more detail then I wanted, but I assume that a seasoned professional in this line of work needs that detail. I also found the book to be, at times, a bit dry, but I attribute this to my lack of real depth in the area. If you are looking for something in this subject I think this is a good starting point.
Book Description
Meta-analysis, decision analysis, and cost-effectiveness analysis are the cornerstones of evidence-based medicine. These related quantitative methods have become essential tools in the formulation of clinical and public policy based on the synthesis of evidence. All three methods are taught with increasing frequency in medical schools and schools of public health and in health policy courses at the undergraduate and graduate level. This book is a lucid introduction, and will serve the needs of students taking introductory courses that cover these topics. It will also be useful to clinicians and policymakers who need to understand the quantitative underpinnings of the methods in order to best apply the information that derives from them. The second edition of this popular book adds new material on cumulative meta-analysis as a method to explore heterogeneity. The coverage of cost-effectiveness analysis has been brought into close alignment with recommendations of the U.S. Public Health Panel on Cost-Effectiveness Analysis in Health and Medicine. Many of the examples have been replaced with more current examples, and all of the material has been updated to reflect recent advances in the methods and the emergence of consensus about some previously controversial issues. analysis. These three closely related methods have become even more important for synthesizing research since the first edition was published in 1994. And they have gained legitimacy as tools for guiding health policy.
Customer Reviews:
Best guide for analysis.......2006-12-20
There are several ways to do analysis of the health care industry but this book covers the big three. Cost Effectiveness is the most useful from a business standpoint. This book covers the math and theory behind each of these methods and gives strong arguments for how to write in each of them. As a health and pharmaceutical economist I found this book to be invaluable. It is written very clearly and helps sort through many of the issues especially meta analysis. If you are starting out in the health analyst field this is a must read and a book you will want to have handy at all times.
An excellent introductory text.......2002-02-05
Meta-analysis, as both an applied and theoretical science, continues to develop from its rather humble beginnings. Since most physicians lack a strong background in quantitative science, rigorous statistical approaches to clinical decision making have been slow to gain widespread support. Despite its limitations, meta-analysis is proving to be an important vehicle for making sense of the increasingly overwhelming amount of published data in the biomedical sciences. Petitti's book goes a long way in demystifying meta-analysis for the rank and file and also serves as an excellent introduction to the field for the more statistically literate.
Most of my own work is in meta-analysis and I bought the book exclusively for this content and not information on decision analysis and cost-effectiveness analysis. I do not mean to minimize the importance of the latter but rather point out my own narrow interest in the Petitti text.
The book is well written and concise. Petitti "cuts to the chase" explaining the theory underlying meta-analytic methods and provides many useful examples from the medical literature. The text is easy to follow, understandable and well balanced. A thorough reading should leave the reader well prepared for further exploration of applied meta-analysis as well as capable of articulating its strengths, weaknesses and future direction.
Overall, Petitti's text is an excellent place to start for those interested in learning the fundamentals of "research synthesis". The book is also an extremely handy references for the more experienced practitioner. I highly recommend it.
clearest yet description this topic.......1997-07-08
In a forest of mirky and arcane descriptions of a field that has come to dominate medical research and policy making, this book stands out for its clarity. Dr. Petitti speaks a language that normal people can understand. She avoids jargon and frequently uses quantitative examples that make it easy to plug in your own problems and directly apply her lessons to your tasks. This is easily the best book in print on this topic
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