Occupational Outlook Handbook 2006- 2007 (Occupational Outlook Handbook)

Book Description

A classic! Descriptions for 270 major jobs covering 90% of the workforce and summary information on additional jobs.

Customer Reviews:

save the few bucks!.......2007-09-03

This book is totally useless. It doesn't include any information that isn't available for free on the internet. Most students/clients know a lot more about occupations than this book can offer, anyway. It provides only general information which is not applicable to clients in specific regions of the country. An overview of customer service jobs, for example, is totally useless- it doesn't differentiate between high-end customer service and low-end retail. Anybody who has ever had a job already knows the difference. And the median salary is meaningless to clients- it's just an average of what one makes in NYC vs., say, Florida.

This is a waste of (albeit very little) money.

Deena Katz's Tools and Templates for Your Practice: For Financial Advisors, Planners, and Wealth Managers

Average customer rating:

Forms; great starting point for content, uneven presentation
More Self Promotion
Buy it for the forms
Great, usefull tools
Not for Planners in large broker-dealer firms!

Deena Katz's Tools and Templates for Your Practice: For Financial Advisors, Planners, and Wealth Managers
Deena B Katz , and Deena B. Katz
Manufacturer: Bloomberg Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Popular Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Investing | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Planning & Forecasting | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Deena Katz on Practice Management: For Financial Advisers, Planners, and Wealth Managers
Virtual Office Tools for a High Margin Practice: How Client-Centered Financial Advisors Can Cut Paperwork, Overhead, and Wasted Hours
In Search of the Perfect Model: The Distinctive Business Strategies of Leading Financial Planners
Tested in the Trenches: A 9-Step Plan for Building and Sustaining a Million-Dollar Financial Services Practice
Getting Started as a Financial Planner: Revised and Updated Edition

ASIN: 157660084X

Book Description

Following on the heels of the author's immensely popular book, Deena Katz on Practice Management, this nuts-and-bolts resource illustrates its predecessor's time-saving concepts. Deena Katz's Tools and Templates for Your Practice elaborates on the first book's concepts by providing and explaining how to use the actual check sheets, forms, and procedures developed by top wealth managers and planners. It offers financial planners and advisers dozens of shortcuts to running an efficient, thriving practice. Whether financial planners have been in business for ten days or ten years, they will benefit from this book's commonsense, pragmatic approach to running a successful advisory practice.

The book is organized around the natural cycle of finding, developing, and keeping clients. It includes a free CD-ROM containing all the Microsoft Office forms and spreadsheets in the book, usuable on both PC and Macintosh platforms. Readers can customize these valuable tools to build a solid administrative structure for their businesses. Many of the book's documents will be maintained and updated on the Web, to help financial planners stay abreast of leading-edge thinking in practice management.

Customer Reviews:

Forms; great starting point for content, uneven presentation.......2007-09-05

The enclosed CD of forms provide a great starting point for content. Given the author is one of the nation's premier personal financial advisors, I expected the forms on the enclosed CD-Rom to be more sophisticated, as well as more consistent in presentation. Some of the forms are in Excel, others in Word. Before you could use these documents with a client you would need to do an overhaul to change the font, margins, headings, and outline style so that any binder of combined documents would not look thrown together.

More Self Promotion.......2006-11-10

If you need help promoting your practice, this gives you many ideas on what and how to do it. As to the forms, no new ideas here.

Buy it for the forms.......2006-02-15

This book would be especially helpful for someone starting a new financial planning practice. The CD-ROM includes forms like a sample client contract, an investment policy statement and a load of other forms that would take hours to come up with on your own. Little things like a sample of her own ADV are also very useful if you are trying to set up a practice and wade through the maze of paperwork that will be required. While the book gives some practical advice on planning which may or may not be useful, depending on how experienced the planner is, the disk alone is worth the price of the book. One reviewer stated that the book isn't of much use to a broker/planner at a large firm (they have their own forms and procedures) but for an independent planner it's perfect.

Great, usefull tools.......2005-01-19

As an independent planner, this book offers many tools that you can implement in your practice today! I'm so glad it came with the CD-rom so you can grab the templates and immediately start using them. Great ideas to build your practice!

Not for Planners in large broker-dealer firms!.......2002-09-15

I read all the stellar reviews posted on here and ordered the book and was very disappointed.

This book is good for individual brokers and small firms, but there is nothing in here for someone who is a planner/advisor of a large broker/dealer. Everything in here should be at your brokerage house for those working for the top 15 or so firms in the country.

Even the Monte Carlo game, which is discussed a lot in this book, is something a lot of trainees go through with their broker/dealers.

Independents and small firms will like it, and it is probably a VERY GOOD reference for them because it is put together well...but its the same ole stuff for others.

Strategic Planning for the Family Business: Parallel Planning to Unite the Family and Business
Average customer rating:

One of the best practical books for family businesses and families in business

Intellectual Tour de Force for Everyone

Packed with Knowledge!

Strategic Planning for the Family Business: Parallel Planning to Unite the Family and Business
Randel S. Carlock , and John Ward
Manufacturer: Palgrave Macmillan
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Strategy & Competition | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Decision-Making & Problem Solving | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Planning & Forecasting | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
General | Small Business & Entrepreneurship | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
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Perpetuating The Family Business : 50 Lessons Learned from Long Lasting, Successful Families in Business

Keep the Family Baggage Out of the Family Business: Avoiding the Seven Deadly Sins That Destroy Family Businesses

Keeping The Family Business Healthy: How to Plan for Continuing Growth, Profitability and Family Leadership (Jossey Bass Business and Management Series)

Family Business Succession: The Final Test of Greatness, Second Edition

Developing Family Business Policies: Your Guide to the Future (Family business leadership series)

ASIN: 0333947312

Book Description

From small start-ups to giant multinationals, from the Mom-and-Pop owned barber shop to Ford, family owned businesses continue to dominate the world economy. Regardless of size, running a successful family firm presents unique challenges, and many fail to survive the transition to the next generation. Here is a practical, comprehensive guide to ensuring success through effective strategic planning. The authors provide a wealth of tested, easy-to-follow tools and techniques for mastering strategic planning for family-owned firms. Filled with real world examples, case studies, checklists, and planning worksheets, the book shows how to deal with a host of emerging challenges--from new technologies and globalizing marketings--by integrating family values and dynamics into sound planning and management.

Customer Reviews:

One of the best practical books for family businesses and families in business.......2006-04-15

MY RATING SYSTEM:

* - if you have to chose between torture and reading this book, then you might want to consider reading the book - although it depends on just how severe the torture would be.

** - if you've lost your job and have quite a bit of free time on your hands, and don't have anything else better to do, then you might want to consider reading this book; don't expect to learn much or really be entertained. It will however, help you pass the time until your death.

*** - meh...I'm indifferent. Reading this book will not alter your life in any significant way, yet it is not so horrendously dreadful that your taking the time to read it will be a complete waste of time.

**** - Good book to great book zone here. You should probably read this book if you have some spare time. This book could be interesting, entertaining, or informative.

***** - Outstanding book! Make time to read this book - you'll learn or be entertained or intrigued. The book might even be good enough to provide original or helpful insights into the world that we live in.

REVIEW:

I have read extensively about family businesses, including just about everything by Professor Ward, and Strategic Planning for the Family Business is perhaps my favourite guidebook for family businesses.

Rather than being merely a 'story book' about the successes and failings of other family businesses (don't get me wrong, these sorts of books are immensely helpful in assisting families in identifying their own problems and relating to those of families in similar situations), this book provides mountains of practical information that can help families in business plan and prepare for the demands of being involved with a family business.

Unfortunately, most families do not take the time to consider and address even the most simple issues that can destroy their business and their family. This book serves as an excellent reference guide for families that want to be proactive about dealing with the issues that have the potential to cause severe damage. Go through the exercises in the book together - - there is probably no better way to begin ensuring the future success of your family business

A must read for anyone in a family business - it has the potential to stimulate a lot of discussion. Also highly recommended for those working in consulting/professional relationships with family businesses.

Intellectual Tour de Force for Everyone.......2005-07-11

I picked this book up because I was getting ready to consult with a family-owned firm about their strategy. My previous strategy consulting work has been with startups, small and medium sized and Fortune 500 firms. I knew that helping senior managers develop their business strategy might be an entirely different matter when the firm was a private, family held enterprise.

This book opened my eyes to the unique challenges of family businesses. It helped me understand the compromises that must be made when looking at the business strategy options for family firms. Most importantly, it helped me understand that the health of the family and the relationships between the generations was more important than pure business strategy thinking. This is exactly the insight that I was looking for. I learned much more than I expected and am deeply appreciative of the authors' exceptional insights and recommendations.

What I did not expect was that this would also be a first rate book for thinking about strategy. If you know nothing about strategic planning, this book is a great primer. If, however, you know a lot about strategic planning, and I started my career with McKinsey & Company in 1981, you will be amazed at how well the authors have summarized and simplified a wide range of very powerful idea.

Their goal was to help family members with different levels of business expertise understand some of the most powerful thinking about strategic planning so they could participate in spirited discussions about the future of their family firm's strategy. This book reminds me of Porter's Competitive Strategy as the authors have made strategic planning accessible to the masses while retaining the power of the analytical tools that are at its heart.

You will find that this book is a treasure trove of powerful insights in a very compact package. Thank you for doing such an outstanding job, John and Randel. I don't know you, but I really appreciate your gift to business owners, family members, business school professors, consultants and students.

Packed with Knowledge!.......2002-07-23

Balancing the needs of a business and the family that controls it might seem like an overwhelming task, unless you tackle the challenge with a clear-headed plan. Randel S. Carlock and John L. Ward provide just such an approach by mapping out the strategies and structures needed to make a family business run smoothly. In so doing, they address family conflict, executive succession, ownership schemes and a host of other issues that can make or break a family business. We from getAbstract highly recommend this book too for its practical and applicable methods of striking a balance between the needs of business and the needs of family.

Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2006-2007 edition (Occupational Outlook Handbook (Mcgraw))

Average customer rating:

Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2006-2007 edition (Occupational Outlook Handbook (Mcgraw))
The United States Department of Labor
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Job Hunting & Careers | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Guides | Job Hunting & Careers | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Job Hunting | Job Hunting & Careers | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Labor & Industrial Relations | Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Labor & Industrial Relations | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Business & Investing | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Nonfiction | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
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50 Best Jobs for Your Personality

ASIN: 0071472886

Book Description

The Occupational Outlook Handbook has been respected as the job seeker's number-one source of critical decision-making data for more than 50 years. From able seaman to zoologist the latest edition gives you comprehensive information on more than 250 occupations, encompassing nearly 90 percent of the jobs in the U.S. economy.

The Visionary's Handbook: Nine Paradoxes That will Shape the Future of Your Business

Average customer rating:

A nice way to keep yourself attuned to private equity issues.
thick
Snake Oil
The Visionary's Handbook
When was the Future?

The Visionary's Handbook: Nine Paradoxes That will Shape the Future of Your Business
Watts Wacker , and Jim Taylor
Manufacturer: Collins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Strategy & Competition | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Management | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Planning & Forecasting | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

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Similar Items:

The Deviant's Advantage: How to Use Fringe Ideas to Create Mass Markets
The 500 Year Delta
Strategic Thinking and the New Science: Planning in the Midst of Chaos Complexity and Change
What's Your Story?: Storytelling to Move Markets, Audiences, People, and Brands
Strategy Safari: A Guided Tour Through The Wilds of Strategic Mangament

ASIN: 0066619874

Amazon.com

At a time when business bestsellers such as Six Sigma are touting scientific management, The Visionary's Handbook desires to be different. Authors Watts Wacker, Jim Taylor, and Howard Means forgo the nuts-and-bolts approach for a philosophical look at management, examining nine broad trends, or "paradoxes," they say are shaping business today.

At the heart of these paradoxes lies change--change that is occurring at an increasing rate. The more certain we are of the future, say the authors, the more likely we are to be wrong. To support their argument, they cite both online and real-world examples, including Xerox, eBay, Kodak, and Cisco. Their observations, if not groundbreaking, are certainly accurate. For instance, the Paradox of Size--the bigger your company, the smaller it needs to appear--has been explored at length in Customers.com. Similarly, the need for continual innovation--even to the detriment of your core business--is a paradox that merits attention and one that readers of The Innovator's Dilemma will recognize.

The Visionary's Handbook is about more than just paradoxes, though. Interspersed throughout its pages are exercises challenging readers to pencil in the future they want to see, to visualize and outline their success. Some may find these exercises a valuable and practical addition to the text. Broadly conceived and thought-provoking, The Visionary's Handbook will be an eye opener for many readers. --Demian McLean

Book Description

Building upon the Age of Possibility first espoused in their provocative and acclaimed The 500 Year Delta, Watts Wacker and Jim Taylor now welcome readers to the Age of Uncertainty, where, because life has never been easier, it has never been more difficult.

In this unprecedented new book, Wacker and Taylor present a vision of the present and future that goes beyond all the chaos and complexity of our times.With a clear and firm grasp of their material, they proceed to chart a method for readers to create a personal course for the future.

This navigational route is premised upon the authors' profound understanding of nine mind-boggling paradoxes that capture the imponderables of modern life, and define the business and social climates of the world as we move forward into the new millennium:

The Paradox of the Visionary The closer your vision gets to a provable truth, the more you are simply describing the present. In the same way, the more certain you are of a future outcome, the more likely you will be wrong.
The Paradox of Value The value of any product becomes inseparable from a buyer's perception of worth. Instead of intrinsic value, we have relative value only--the products that a business makes bear diminished relations to the physical content of the offering.
The Paradox of Size The bigger you are, the smaller you need to be.
The Paradox of Time To succeed in the short term, you need to think in the long term. Yet the greater your vision and the longer the time interval over which you predict results, the greater the risk that you will be unable to take the necessary steps in the short term to achieve the long-term goals. The tension between short- and long-term planning has never been more tormented.
The Paradox of Competition Your biggest competitor is your own view of your future; competition comes from everywhere and nowhere at the same time.
The Paradox of Action You've got to go for what you can't expect to get; nothing will turn out exactly as it's supposed to. You must act intuitively and be equally ready to take resolute counter-intuitive action.
The Paradox of Leadership To lead from the front, you have to stay inside the story. In an inherently inconsistent world, consistency is not the virtue it once was in our leaders.
The Paradox of Leisure Play is hard work; play and work are blending and becoming indistinguishable.
The Paradox of Reality Every person on planet Earth today has the potential to be connected to every other person, and every single one of us inhabits a world of our own and is a marketing segment of absolutely one. As our links become stronger, our individuation becomes starker.

A bold, incisive book, The Visionary's Handbook captures the interlocking web o paradoxes that abound in everyday business life, and provides an essential map to help make the future work for every individual and every company in the challenging and uncertain times ahead.

Customer Reviews:

A nice way to keep yourself attuned to private equity issues........2006-08-31

Futurists are a necessity to connect with people who think outside the box of conventional wisdom. Inconvenient to read (those damn tasks), but fun and insightful. This handbook provides a tool to get outside the box.

thick.......2006-07-11

If only that were true of The Visionary's Handbook: Nine Paradoxes That Will Shape the Future of Your Business, by Watts Wacker, Jim Taylor, and Howard Means. Talk about self-empowerment jargon. You can tell right off that this is supposedly a "big think" book, because it tells us we should "live today not in one tense, but in two," the present and the future. The way to do that, the authors write, is by compartmentalizing your future tense from your present tense. That might best involve outsourcing, since your "Fool Box" might otherwise unduly influence your "Future Box." Then list all of your "neotribes" to figure out which one bonds most closely to your corporate values.

Dig hard enough here and you may find one salient piece of visionary advice: "You have to tell yourself the story of what you are going to be and retell it again and again until you believe it absolutely and until there's not a thread of inauthenticity left in what you aspire to."

Sound advice, perhaps, but it still seems pretty thick.

Snake Oil.......2001-01-03

Thought provoking yes, but not for its marketed reasons. While reading Wacker and Taylor's work, one's train of thought turns to how could they possibly churn out another 254 pages of mindless drivel (after "The 500 Year Delta"), spun around one or two interesting blips of thought? Wacker and Taylor's underlying advice to question "What am I?" and "What will I be?" offers little more than a sophomoric therapy session - hardly visionary. ...

The Visionary's Handbook.......2000-07-21

In "The Visionary's Handbook," Watts Wacker and Jim Taylor lay out a vision of the future where change is the only constant and decision-making is shrouded by various paradoxes that often contradict each other. The stated goal of this "handbook" is to help readers identify nine paradoxes that they deem critical to understanding the future and managing business activity.

The so-called Age of Uncertainty that Wacker and Taylor describe picks up where their popular 1998 book, "The 500-Year Delta: What Happens After What Comes Next?", left off. In that book they argued that The Age of Reason was rapidly coming to a close after 500 years, and that the shift would force businesses to increasingly rely on chaos-based logic rather than traditional reasoning and economics.

In "The 500-Year Delta," Wacker and Taylor called the current business model an Age of Possibility, and established that an overabundance of possibilities was leading to a crises for decision-makers, an embarrassment of options that leaves chaos and confusion in its wake.

The nine paradoxes presented here are a guide to cutting through this clutter, providing clarity in a sea of chaos and a mechanism for managing decisions based on a well-defined vision of the future. Wacker and Taylor open with the Paradox of the Visionary, which states: "The more you are right, the more wrong you will be." The idea being that as we experience higher levels of success, we are faced with greater and more frequent "collisions with chaos." Ultimately, the authors conclude that we are no longer in control of outcomes, and the more successful we become, the more poignant that becomes.

They caution, "All we can do is attempt to influence our own future or the future of our own business, absorb the paradoxes that our personal and professional life presents us with, and be prepared for whatever tomorrow does arrive." In order to do that, they insist throughout the book, organizations and individuals must constantly ask themselves two fundamental questions: "What am I?" and "What will I be?"

While this may echo James Stockdale's--Ross Perot's 1992 Presidential running mate--befuddled debate question ("Who am I, and why am I here?"), Wacker and Taylor relentlessly pursue those questions throughout the book and meticulously apply them to each paradox. Every chapter features "future exercises," where they ask readers to define themselves, their company and products and how they visualize them in the future, according to the paradox in question.

Readers may find each chapter's command to soul-search and to put it in writing to be somewhat annoying. Who really relishes the idea of writing "the resume of the person you want to be in X number of years" or composing an exhaustive list of "all the qualities ascribed to you, and all the stories you have reason to believe are told about you by your colleagues?"

However, the paradoxes themselves are thought provoking and cleverly grounded with solid historical and anecdotal examples. The Paradox of Time, for example, illustrates the concept that at the speed of light, nothing happens: "To succeed in the short term, you need to think long term, yet the greater your vision and the longer the time interval over which you predict results, the greater the risk you will be unable to take the steps necessary in the short term to achieve long-term ends." While this almost sounds like theoretical doubletalk, they do provide concrete analogies, in this case ranging from Kodak's difficult transition into digital imaging to Apple's rollout of the new G-4 chip.

A couple of other paradoxical gems are to be found in the Paradox of Competition ("Your biggest competitor is your own view of the future") and the Paradox of Leadership ("To lead from the front, you have to stay inside the story").

In the end, Wacker and Taylor have some interesting ideas and an unusual historical approach, but don't expect their technique to be taught at Harvard's School of Business anytime soon. They themselves admit upfront, "We don't know if we are right about the future--how can we until it happens?"

(This review originally appeared on Notara.)

When was the Future?.......2000-06-02

It was great to get another fix of Watts - Matter on Fact is good but does not really allow a theme to really develop.

I though the book will be great. The discussion on Brand is tremendous - the best I have ever read. This should be required reading for anyone entering business let alone those who seek to specialise in Brand Marketing like I did once, a long time ago. The theme of Paradox is also well handled throughout. Will be great? Greatness is a property acquired over time...I need to muse on the stuff for a little while longer...

To pick holes seems a little churlish, but these are the observations I have:

· The overall concentration on business and the use of money to value things was not where I thought the book would be. Whilst the authors did a brilliant job of dismantling the present business model for Harvard, maybe the value of a Harvard Education is priceless? What could be applied to the failing inner city schools who can't seem to get kids to read or write let alone count money?

· Were they able to charge anything out to Kodak? (After all they benefited considerably from the wisdom therein).

· Jon Krakauer's 'Into Thin Air' is a good book, Anatoly Boukreev's 'The Climb' (same subject, professional guide's point of view) is better. I've been long fascinated by the indomitable nature of the human spirit - other suggestions are 'Touching the Void' by Joe Simpson and 'South' by Sir Ernest Shackleton.

· I found the main thrust a little bit US centric - I know there were bits and pieces from the rest of the world - but they did feel like bits and pieces.

· I also found the future exercises and exams a little distracting.

I'd also be fascinated to know how to write a book in a threesome, and what is fascinating the authors now? (where does a futurist who's done Paradox go next?) For me I'm thinking on applying complexity thinking to business (I thought that Howard Sherman's book was a bit disappointing - Stu Kauffmann / Chris Langton are still the standard bearers); and, what after money? I still see the pursuit of wealth as the biggest human preoccupation - shame on us. Is this general, or national/ regional? Zen Bhuddists and Taoists seem to get it. All the .com millionaires and VCs jetting off to Tibet definitely don't get it.

Book Description

Principles of Forecasting: A Handbook for Researchers and Practitioners summarizes knowledge from experts and from empirical studies. It provides guidelines that can be applied in fields such as economics, sociology, and psychology. It applies to problems such as those in finance (How much is this company worth?), marketing (Will a new product be successful?), personnel (How can we identify the best job candidates?), and production (What level of inventories should be kept?).
The book is edited by Professor J. Scott Armstrong of the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. Contributions were written by 40 leading experts in forecasting, and the 30 chapters cover all types of forecasting methods. There are judgmental methods such as Delphi, role-playing, and intentions studies. Quantitative methods include econometric methods, expert systems, and extrapolation. Some methods, such as conjoint analysis, analogies, and rule-based forecasting, integrate quantitative and judgmental procedures. In each area, the authors identify what is known in the form of `if-then principles', and they summarize evidence on these principles.
The project, developed over a four-year period, represents the first book to summarize all that is known about forecasting and to present it so that it can be used by researchers and practitioners. To ensure that the principles are correct, the authors reviewed one another's papers. In addition, external reviews were provided by more than 120 experts, some of whom reviewed many of the papers. The book includes the first comprehensive forecasting dictionary.

Customer Reviews:

Don't let a bad forecast ruin your whole decision.......2001-12-15

The subtitle of this book, A Handbook for Researchers and Practitioners, too narrowly defines the audience for Armstrong's new reference. Principles of Forecasting is, in fact, an indispensable resource for managers and professionals of every ilk. Forecasting is an integral part of decisions that we make and that are made for us. To be good decision makers and citizens we owe it to ourselves and others both to make our forecasts explicit and to examine the quality of those forecasts. This book gives the guidance to ensure that best practices are followed and to judge forecast quality after the fact

Principles of Forecasting is not a book that you will find in airport bookstores. It is not a popular management title that dishes-up the latest buzzwords. On the contrary, this book will give you knowledge to examine critically the fashions and fads, as well as the received wisdom, of management. And yet, despite being a serious work, the book is a joy to read at length, or to browse. I suspect many decision makers will tend to do the latter.

The Forecasting Dictionary is part of Principles of Forecasting and is a good place to start some directed browsing. For example, experienced decision makers will often rely on their intuition, even for important decisions. Is that a good idea? The Forecasting Dictionary has an entry for "intuition" that tells us, "... it is difficult to find published studies in which intuition is superior to structured judgment". Highlighted terms, such as "structured judgment" in the preceding passage, indicate that there is a separate Dictionary entry for the term. By following the highlighted terms and the references to the body of the book which are included in Dictionary entries, one can quickly pick up a useful understanding of a topic. Some entries are very detailed.

Following the intuition entry to the entry on structured judgement, one finds "role playing" as an approach to imposing structure on a forecasting problem. Role-play forecasting for conflict situations happens to be an interest of mine. There is a chapter on role-playing in Principles of Forecasting that provides evidence that the outcomes of role-plays by students, and other non- representative role-players, provide accurate forecasts of decisions in real conflicts. This is counter-intuitive given that the conflicts examined involved generals, chief executives, directors, and union leaders among others. Moreover, unaided judgment tends to do poorly by comparison. This has important implications for strategy development - after all, what use is a strategy that fails to forecast accurately how other parties will behave?

I keep my copy of Principles of Forecasting handy, refer to it often, and learn something new every time I do so. How many books could one say that of? A precious few. Congratulations to the authors on a unique and valuable work well executed.

Guidelines for Developers, Researchers, and Practitioners.......2001-11-23

Principles of Forecasting is not a collection of articles describing basic forecasting methods. Instead, 40 authors have used a common format of identifying if-then principles and the support for those principles. Some other common formats of the chapters are: (1) limitations (2) implications for practitioners (3) implications for researchers.

The final chapter of this book contains 139 forecasting principles...

An example of a forecasting principle is: “13.25 Use multiple measures of accuracy”. A primary use for such principles would be as checklists for software developers, researchers, and practitioners to be sure that their work is complete to this level of detail. These are important general principles. Forecasters will need to use other references for the details of forecasting methods.

The Web site for this book is a very valuable resource for forecasters. Some of the resources are: (1) forecasting dictionary [Enter a forecasting term and the Web site returns a definition.] (2) links to forecasting software sites (3) links to forecasting books and reviews (3) links to bibliographies, abstracts, and (for subscribers) full text papers (4) links to conferences on forecasting (5) links to Web sites related to forecasting.

An Excellent Overview of Business Forecasting.......2001-07-05

Throughout my career, it seemed every five years or so, I briefly strayed from risk analysis into a closely related field, such as weather reporting or stock picking, just to see what others were doing. Most recently, I won a jackpot in return for the effort. I read J.Scott Armstrong's "Principles of Forecasting: A Handbook for Researchers and Practitioners."

Risk analysis has dealt more with subjects like natural and technological disasters. Business forecasting resembled risk analysis in several ways, but over the years, enterprise and capital markets accumulated much more extensive data. Social scientists studied the process of (and procedures for) forecasting with financial data intensively. Small wonder, as poor forecasting often led to costly disasters.

The authors wrote the Handbook in clear, coherent prose. It assembled 29 articles by 40 leading experts into an excellent book with 18 chapters. Armstrong, the editor (and clearly the instigator) created a hierarchical framework that described the relationships between different kinds of forecasting information, beginning with either judgmental or statistical sources. "Principles of Forecasting" illustrated this framework in an often repeated diagram.

The framework contributed to a coherent structure. Each chapter described one compartment within the framework. Each had an introduction that described the limitations and uses of a source of data used by forecasters. Each article also started with an abstract. Thus, a reader could quickly survey all of forecasting by skimming through the Handbook and reading either the article abstracts or the chapter introductions.

Instead of reading the text sequentially, the framework and the Handbook's structure also allowed finding a specific article (or a topic of interest within an article) quickly, yet staying oriented to the overall subject. Thus, "Principles of Forecasting" served a handy reference text. The organization and a competent index sped this application.

Many articles were excellent. None were less than very good. The articles concentrated on principles within subdomains of forecasting, which the Handbook emphasized by setting the principles apart in bullet format and bold text. The articles had a common format, which included two useful implication sections, separately for practitioners and for researchers. The articles also had overall summaries, and references to the literature. The authors edited each other's articles, which imposed both high quality and consistency on the Handbook. In addition, an extensive group of outside experts reviewed the articles. This huge effort showed in both dense information content and readability of the articles.

Similarly, the Handbook contained a separate and marvelous "Forecasting Dictionary" toward the end, which allowed quick reference to (and understanding of) separate ideas involved in competent forecasting. In another separate section toward the end of the Handbook, a "Forecasting Standards Checklist" gathered all of the principles from the separate articles and condensed them into a very useful guide.

"Principles of Forecasting" appeared comprehensive in its coverage. The authors wrote it as an explanation of a field, instead of a group of individual articles about related subjects. An introduction and a summary at the beginning and end of the book, also helped orient me to the overall subject of forecasting and to the need for principles. I thought that the Handbook reflected the consistent objective of a group of experts to interpret and explain forecasting. So, I will recommend it as a textbook for classroom use.

"Principles of Forecasting" is not for everyone. It is an expert text. However, for persons involved in (or hoping to become involved in) forecasting or its allied and subsidiary fields, such risk analysis or econometrics, it will prove indispensable.

Handbook of Economic Forecasting, Volume 1 (Handbooks in Economics)
Average customer rating:

Excellent source of reference for econometric forecasting

Handbook of Economic Forecasting, Volume 1 (Handbooks in Economics)

Manufacturer: North Holland
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Econometrics | Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
General | Popular Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Planning & Forecasting | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
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Structural Macroeconometrics

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ASIN: 0444513957

Book Description

Research on forecasting methods has made important progress over recent years and these developments are brought together in the Handbook of Economic Forecasting. The handbook covers developments in how forecasts are constructed based on multivariate time-series models, dynamic factor models, nonlinear models and combination methods. The handbook also includes chapters on forecast evaluation, including evaluation of point forecasts and probability forecasts and contains chapters on survey forecasts and volatility forecasts. Areas of applications of forecasts covered in the handbook include economics, finance and marketing.

*Addresses economic forecasting methodology, forecasting models, forecasting with different data structures, and the applications of forecasting methods
*Insights within this volume can be applied to economics, finance and marketing disciplines

Customer Reviews:

Excellent source of reference for econometric forecasting.......2007-07-30

This is the most comprehensive and authoritative source of reference for the econometric forecasting, I've seen. The editors and the writers are from the top of the discipline. Many texts are fairly mathematical, so the solid understanding of the basics of the statistics and the time series econometrics is required.

Essential Technical Analysis: Tools and Techniques to Spot Market Trends

Average customer rating:

I want my money back!
A Technical approach to stock trading.
Look elsewhere
A very slow read
Could be great for some...

Essential Technical Analysis: Tools and Techniques to Spot Market Trends
Leigh Stevens
Manufacturer: Wiley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Popular Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Public Finance | Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

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Using Technical Analysis: A Step-by-Step Guide to Understanding and Applying Stock Market Charting Techniques, Revised Edition
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Getting Started in Technical Analysis (Getting Started In.....)

ASIN: 047115279X

Book Description

An Introduction to Technical Analysis from One of the Top Names in the Business

"Essential Technical Analysis is a highly valued resource for technical traders. The importance of comprehensive and well-researched market behaviors, indicators, and systems were well expressed graphically with many examples. No technical analyst should be without this book. Stevens's book could become another classic."
-Suri Duddella, President of siXer.cOm, inc. (Forbes magazine's "Best of the Web" in Technical Analysis Category)

"Essential Technical Analysis will give the new student of technical analysis a good overview of both classical chart patterns and a myriad of technical indicators, but so will many other texts. What sets this volume apart is that it presents the subject in the context of real-world trading situations, not idealized well-chosen examples. Books on technical analysis, especially those aimed at novices, are typically filled with charts in which the selected patterns are both unambiguous and work perfectly. As Leigh Stevens recognizes and confronts, however, the real world is a far more sloppy place: charts may often contain conflicting indicators, and patterns don't always work as described. Reading Essential Technical Analysis is like sitting beside a veteran technical analyst and having him describe his methods and market experiences."
-Jack Schwager, author of Market Wizards, Stock Market Wizards, and Schwager on Futures

"Leigh Stevens's depth of experience, acquired over many years, has generated a deep understanding of, and commitment to, the discipline of technical analysis. He is also one of those rare individuals who have both the ability to convey the essence of his ideas in a wonderfully simple and straightforward way and through the use of personal anecdotes and experiences. There are not many people around who can both walk the walk and talk the talk."
-Tony Plummer, author of Forecasting Financial Markets, Director of Rhombus Research Ltd., and former Director of Hambros Bank Ltd. and Hambros Investment Management PLC

"Leigh Stevens brings his considerable years of experience to this project. He has crafted a real-world book on technical analysis that gives you the benefit of his trials and errors as well as 120 years of observations and market wisdom from Charles Dow to the latest indicators and approaches. Investors who suffered from the bursting of the technology bubble in 1999 and 2000 should read Essential Technical Analysis from cover to cover and learn to apply the lessons to the next market cycle."
-Bruce M. Kamich, CMT, past President of the Market Technicians Association and Adjunct Professor of Finance at Rutgers University and Baruch College

Customer Reviews:

I want my money back!.......2007-09-13

I expected a little more than this... This book doesnt contain anything concrete, as if the author deliberately omit everything that is of real importance. Just look at the part about MACD. Way too vague, I get better insight on MACD by googling it out myself. If you seriously looking for a solid book about technical analysis, look else where! There are better ways to throw away money.

A Technical approach to stock trading........2006-03-17

This book is well written. Each chapter has an introduction and summary at the end of chapter.
Its not a book for someone just starting out trading. The first seventy pages is mainly an introduction to the Technicals.Its an introduction to Chart pattern, Pattern recognition,Trendlines,Moving averages, etc.. followed along with annotation on each charts identifying certain patterns.
Some good information in this book which is sort of condensed from other Technical Analysis books into one book.
Its the stuff you need to know!

Look elsewhere.......2005-02-24

I unfortunately purchased this book on the strength of the review in the MTA newsletter Technically Speaking. I found absolutely nothing of value, and nothing to indicate to me that the author was qualified to comment on the subject. The quality of the printing leaves much to be desired, almost as though Wiley did this one "on the cheap". If you've bought it, give your copy to someone you hate, and it will at least accomplish something.

A very slow read.......2004-04-08

As a relative newcomer to technical analysis techniques, I found this book hard to digest. The charts are hard to read, the examples are not always clear, and the author doesn't relate the knowledge to actual trades.

I have learned from the book but I would not recommend it for first time students of technical analysis. Also, the book contains many annoying errors and typos, especially in the first half. Leigh should fire his editor....I don't think they read this book.

Could be great for some..........2003-12-26

This book is unfortunately 'yet another' beginner TA book.

A couple of problems for more experienced practitioners:

- I noticed quite a few 'errors' in the book. Some are definitional issues, some are typos and some are just very poor examples (eg of charts).

- The feel I get from the book is that the author is not a very accomplished practitioner himself. Some issues that would be experienced by those who have been trading were not discussed. Eg false breaks were discussed, but were not compared with 'successful' patterns/breaks which exhibited similar circumstances (ie how to distinguish or set a strategy for potential false breaks).

- Quite a verbose writing style? I prefer more succint texts...

- I can't really say I learnt anything.

However, here's the positive side of things:

- Pretty comprehensive of basic concepts, with some useful and important concepts for beginners. Although I would suspect whether beginners would actually pick up on this. Eg comments on volume / cycles are worthy to note!

- Quite an easy read.

- Great additional commentary and 'integration' with psychology/experience that most beginning TA books do not have. Eg author constantly quotes appropriate gems from other books/top traders.

Book Description

The Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH) has come a long way since its first edition in the 1940s--replete with positions fueled by a wartime economy. One thing has not changed, however: for more than 50 years, the OOH has been respected as the job seeker's number one source of critical decision-making information. From aerospace engineer to water treatment plant operator, the latest edition spans more than 250 occupations, encompassing nearly 90 percent of the jobs in the U.S. economy.

The most current source of government statistics on jobs and job opportunities, the Occupational Outlook Handbook organizes a vast amount of data.

Customer Reviews:

Very good book.......2002-12-11

Although I haven't read this book in print form, I have read it online for free. It's very authoritative and full of information. The only problem I have is that it lacks subjectivity: doesn't tell you the "problems" a certain career might have or its workload.

In conclusion, every student or non-student who's just looking for a different career path will benefit from the info in this book.

Ideal reference for perosnal job and career research........2000-05-04

In its Occupational Outlook Handbook 2000-2001, The U.S. Department of Labor provides exhaustive, accurate, up-to-date information on all major jobs and occupations in the United States. This easy to use, authoritative, and definitive reference offers the most useful database of information on jobs and salaries available today. All jobs are arranged into logical clusters, making it simple to find a given occupation. The descriptions are clearly written and replete with pertinent and useful information on skills, pay, working conditions, training, educational prerequisites and more. Occupational Outlook Handbook 2000-2001 is an essential, core reference title for school and community job center counseling, and ideal for personal job and career research.

A big help.......1999-07-27

It's definitely a good book to have, if anything because it's very clearly cross-referenced. I got a lot out of it, and have been lending it out to a lot of my friends. VaultReports publishes similar stuff which is also pretty good.

this book was a necesity for finding a job.......1999-03-01

it helped me learn about meteorolog

The classic career planning resource........1998-04-14

Published every two years by the U.S. Dept. of Labor. The resource used by more career counselors than any other. Good, basic occupational information on hundreds of jobs covering over 90% of the workforce.

Average customer rating:

Excellent Hoshin "How To" Reference Book

Hoshin Handbook, Second Edition
Pete Babich
Manufacturer: Total Quality Engineering
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Management Science | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0965186105

Customer Reviews:

Excellent Hoshin "How To" Reference Book.......2006-03-09

Pete Babich has prepared an excellent Handbook on how to implement a Hoshin Plan. It is clear, concise, and to the point.

Companies that are interested in implementing a Hoshin Plan should definitely add this to their library.

He also includes a CD of Hoshin templates. In my opinion, the value is in the cultural transformation from traditional to Hoshin. Sometime the IT systems and software get in the way of the transformation (we spend too much time worrying about the numbers and not enough time aligning the organization).

Ed Kemmerling
Lean Manufacturing Results
586-668-1674
ekemmerling@comcast.net

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