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Until the early '90s, project management was definitely located somewhere near the unsexy end of the business spectrum. But now, with the rise of downsizing and outsourcing, it has become one of the hot disciplines. Professional membership of the U.S.-based Project Management Institute has quadrupled in the last decade, and Microsoft claimed recently to have over 2 million users worldwide of its project-management software. The reasons for this growth are simple. Project management is about managing "projects," that is, unique pieces of work (as opposed to ongoing operations). Downsizing, outsourcing, and the accelerating pace of change have meant that, increasingly, work is carried out on an ad-hoc, one-off project basis. The Fast Forward MBA in Project Management is designed as an advanced textbook for businesspeople with a grasp of the basics and insufficient time (or inclination) to go back to school to learn more. Written by Eric Verzuh, president of the Versatile Company, a leading project-management consultancy, this is not a heavy academic text.
Like the rest of the Fast Forward series, this book is designed to let the reader extract maximum information in minimum time. There is a strong use of graphics with tables, charts cross-heads, and bullet points. Important passages are flagged in bold and/or emblazoned with the words key concept. When you read it, you realize that there is nothing magical about project management, just the application of careful common sense. The book covers all the basic stuff like planning, time-tabling, quantity and price estimation, resource allocation, and scheduling. But it also acknowledges that there is inevitably a political dimension to every project, no matter how small. So it has important sections on how to ensure that all the stakeholders in the project are kept "on board" and the importance of communication.
As Verzuh states in his introduction, "Every project participant from part-time team member to executive sponsor, becomes more effective once he or she understands the basics of project management." Really, this is a book about management that every manager should read, whether he or she has a project or not. --Alex Benady
Book Description
An updated and revised edition of a bestselling guide to project management
The first edition of The Fast Forward MBA in Project Management sold over 100,000 copies and has been widely adopted in university courses and corporate training programs around the world. The book teaches the basic methods for defining, planning, and tracking a project, as well as techniques for leading and building strong project teams.
This new edition includes:
- Downloadable, customizable project management forms
- Study aids for passing the popular Project Management Professional certification exam
- Guidelines for building high-performance project teams
- New examples of project management at work in the 21st century
Eric Verzuh (Seattle, WA) is certified by the Project Management Institute and is President of The Versatile Company, which delivers project management training and consulting services to such companies as Adobe Systems, Inc., GE, Lockheed Martin, Nordstrom, and the United States Postal Service. He is also the author of The Portable MBA in Project Management (0-471-26899-2), from Wiley.
Download Description
An updated and revised edition of a bestselling guide to project management The first edition of The Fast Forward MBA in Project Management sold over 100,000 copies and has been widely adopted in university courses and corporate training programs around the world. The book teaches the basic methods for defining, planning, and tracking a project, as well as techniques for leading and building strong project teams. This new edition includes: - Downloadable, customizable project management forms - Study aids for passing the popular Project Management Professional certification exam - Guidelines for building high-performance project teams - New examples of project management at work in the 21st century Eric Verzuh (Seattle, WA) is certified by the Project Management Institute and is President of The Versatile Company, which delivers project management training and consulting services to such companies as Adobe Systems, Inc., GE, Lockheed Martin, Nordstrom, and the United States Postal Service. He is also the author of The Portable MBA in Project Management (0-471-26899-2), from Wiley.
Customer Reviews:
Great as an introduction to Project Management.......2007-09-05
Great book as an introduction to Project Management.
Well organized, not too dry and easy to read. Includes most of the important topics from this area, busines cases, downloadable forms and helpful checklist as tools to manage projects, meetings, communication etc.
The book was exactly what I expected after reading comments before buying it.
introduction to project management.......2007-02-24
good book. it gives the idea of managing projects effectively. anyone can read the book and get the things in compact.
Algin Erozan, PMP
Useful Book, But Not for PMP.......2007-01-28
This is a useful book on project management: has some useful templates which you can also download from the website. It's easy to read. But, the editorial reviews of this book represent the recent trend to link each PM book to PMI and to its certification PMP. In my opinion, this book is not compatible with the PMI's approach to project management, and therefore is not useful for the PMP exam preparation. Here is the difference: PMI's approach is based on best practices, while this book's approach is based on one person or one school of thought on PM, which is not necessarily a bad thing.
The discipline of project management has come a long way on the path of maturity. So, if you are looking for a project management book based on best practices and global standards, or if you are looking for the PMP exam preparation material, this is NOT the right book for you.
Exceptional Resource.......2006-11-07
The book was concise, well organized and highlighted all the concepts associated with Project Management.
I would recommend to anyone embarking on Program Management career
Very good, practical book on PM.......2006-10-29
It has not new, but practical content. The way the author explain things is very clear. I use it as a guide to everyday work.
One of the best things on this book are the templates it has for the most important documents in Project Management. This templates are online also, so you can download and use them.
It has plenty of diagrams, tips, key concepts and warnings that make the reading very easy and the concepts very understandable.
The author doesn't get into deep discussion neither on quality nor risk subjects. Don't spect to learn about earned value with this book.
Don't spect either to have a very nice presentation or high quality pages, instead select this book for it's content.
Book Description
This is the only book available today that provides a very readable, step-by-step guide for managing an incoming call center. The book combines theory with practical advice and is filled with over 100 charts and graphs, several case studies and an extensive glossary and index.
Customer Reviews:
Unbelievably good.......2007-01-12
It's hard to explain just how good this book is, but I'm going to try.
When I first ran across this book (late '90s), I had no prior call center analytic experience, but used this book to save my company over $4 million a year. It explains the basics of call center management, analytics & behavior so simply and effectively that you are likely to make huge value changes just by implementing those basics.
If you are already a call center whiz, and your company's call center are running smoothly with excellent customer service levels, there is still value here, but it's modest.
If your company is NOT doing its blocking and tackling, with repsect to its call centers, then this is a gold mine.
It literally is the highest ROI book I have ever purchased in terms of time and money.
Wow! So This is How Call Centers Work!.......2002-08-22
I've generally been an IT Director and Project Manager, so I read this book to get a better idea of my customers' needs. I was pretty excited to discover that there's at least one good summary of what call centers do and how they do it. For my own sake--and perhaps yours--here's my summary of Brad and Julia's summary:
1. Incoming call center management is the art of having the right number of skilled people and supporting resources in place at the right times to handle an accurately forecasted workload, at service level and with quality.
2. Though average call load may be predictable, calls arrive randomly--which means that they often bunch up.
3. A service level is defined as "X percent of calls answered in Y seconds", not as "X percent answered" or "Average Speed of Answer". (The ASA is skewed by the bad times when calls bunch up.) Abandonment rates matter, too, but fixing abandonment problems usually means fixing service levels.
4. Service level and quality don't conflict. If you try to fix service level with poor quality, it comes back to bite you with more calls and demoralized reps.
5. A good forecasted call load--including talk time, after-call work, and volume--is critical for budgeting people and circuits. Often, a good forecast should predict load by the half hour, using previous data, knowledge of upcoming plans, and good judgment.
6. To determine staffing needs, use a variation of the Erlang C formula. Its input is the number of reps, number of callers forecasted, and the time to serve each caller; its output is a prediction of waiting time. (Even better, add an input for response time, and you'll get the percentage who'll wait longer than that!) If agents have different skills, you'll need forecasts and calculations for each set of agents.
7. More staff, less waiting, fewer phone lines for people on hold. Less staff, more waiting, more phone lines. Formulas exist for phone lines, too.
8. Not everyone scheduled is always working on customer service. Schedule accordingly. Be clever about work schedules to get the right number working at the right time. Service level results tell you whether you got it right.
9. If you have too few reps on duty, queues get long (service level goes down), more circuits are needed, and customers get frustrated, sometimes abandoning the call. If you have too many reps on duty, you spend too much paying for them to wait.
10. Give senior managers good reports, but make sure they understand the points above.
11. Monitor the number of calls in the queue and the longest current wait. Service level and other metrics tell more about the past than the present. Be ready with plans for unexpected load (reassigning, rerouting, delay announcements, busy signals).
12. There are lots of tools and graphs to measure aspects of quality. Use them to identify root causes, not beat your employees. Reps should adhere to schedules, and do good work. Use monitoring capabilities to coach. Measuring based on "calls per hour" is unreliable, and invites cheating.
13. Customers are getting more demanding, automated systems are taking the easy calls, so reps have to be better trained and more skilled.
14. Create a good environment that uses technology well.
The book was written in 1997, and I don't know whether it's been updated. The authors have some commentary about email-based, web-based, and CTI-based systems, but the next edition might want to say more about the similarities and differences between those and the traditional call center.
Overall, I'm happy to understand more about the math and science behind this discipline. As another reviewer commented, it's clear that IT Help Desks have something to learn from the Call Center experience.
Call Center Management ~On Fast Forward.......2002-08-07
We were in the process of re-organizing our call center and based on the excellent reviews that I read, I choose this book. Well, the reviews were right. This book is excellent. It is very well written and explains all aspects of organizing and analyzing a Call Center. We have ordered a total of 6 copies and they are being utilized by the V.P. of Operations, Operations Manager, IT dept, and the Customer Service Dept.
Comprehensive handbook for management.......2002-07-10
The perfect book for the people that are managing the call centers. Especially when call center is just a part of your responsibility and you need a comprehensive and ehhaustive in-depth description of call center activities. Great book. Good for both excecutives to understand what the call center managers are doing (even in terms of languages they speak, very usefull, if you are not able to undestand sometimes the cc managers you need the book) and call centers managers in order to understand how to present their work to the executives.
Excellent book to get started and graduate yourself.......2002-06-03
This is excellent book to get started on concepts, key metrics in call center. I really liked the writting style and the way author has explained different concepts. I had no background in call center and I could comprehend almost all the concepts in this book.
I would recommend this book to any one who wants to know concepts, metrics and KPI within a call center environment.
Product Description
The industry s No. 1 selling book on call center management! Now updated and expanded, "Call Center Management on Fast Forward"; is the most comprehensive source available on running a call center. It covers every aspect of call center management - service level, forecasting, scheduling, resource calculations, metrics, quality, budgeting, reporting, strategy and key enabling technologies - in a format that is well-organized and easy to understand. The updated and expanded edition contains important new information, including: Trends in customer expectations; Best practices in performance reports and objectives; How to create an effective customer access strategy appropriate for today's environment; How to manage multichannel contacts with quality; New technologies and how they re changing customer contact services; Improving the call center s strategic impact and ROI; New case studies and examples from Wells Fargo, Starbucks, Aetna and many others.
Customer Reviews:
great for newbies as well as those with experience in the industry.......2007-09-23
I have been in the call center industry for some time and I find that you can't know it all, especially if you are in a large call center where roles are very specific. This book has help me understand the things that others do and has helped me to advance into other areas. The book is well laid out and explains everything fairly well, but not perfect. The book also gets right to the point of data is important to gather and how to best illustrate that data in a spreadsheet or chart. It has really helped me to better organize my KPI's and focus on just a few important pieces of data instead of having to sift through piles of numbers. This book has also helped me to become better at workforce management strategies and forecasting. Two areas I had little familiarity with. This book will certainly bring you up to speed quickly. Even after reading and applying everything in the book, I continue to reference it all the time.
Book Description
Science Fiction is the genre that looks at the implications of technology on society, which in this age of exponential technological growth makes it the most relevant branch of literature going. This is only the start, and the close of the 21st century will look absolutely nothing like its inception.
It has been said that science fiction is an ongoing dialogue about the future, and the front line of that dialogue is the short story. The field has a long history of producing famous anthologies to showcase its distinguished short fiction, but it has been several years since there has been a prestigious all-original science fiction anthology series.
Fast Forward is offered in the tradition of Damon Knight's prestigious and influential anthology series, Orbit, and Frederik Pohl's landmark Star SF. Fast Forward marks the start of a new hard science fiction anthology series, dedicated to presenting the vanguard of the genre and charting the undiscovered country that is the future.
Contributors scheduled for the first volume include: Paolo Bacigalupi, Kage Baker, Tony Ballantyne, Stephen Baxter, Elizabeth Bear (Sarah B.E. Kindred), A.M. Dellamonica, Paul Di Filippo, Robyn Hitchcock, Louise Marley, Ken MacLeod, Ian McDonald, John Meaney, Larry Niven & Brenda Cooper, Mike Resnick & Nancy Kress, Justina Robson, Pamela Sargent, Mary A. Turzillo, Robert Charles Wilson, Gene Wolfe, George Zebrowski.
Customer Reviews:
Not Free SF Reader.......2007-09-28
It is pretty cool to new a good old fashioned )in series terms at least, not in contest) sf anthology series.
The book starts well with a good introduction by Anders as to why he wants to do it, and some of his inspirations, including a quote from Pohl.
There are also a couple of poems included for those that like them.
The stories are good, the average rating being 3.53, which is a bit over what you hope for from a book, and is rather well done in a new original project as opposed to some sort of reprint.
The standout is Di Filippo's Wikiworld, but Pride and Kage Baker's Plotters and Shooters were also excellent.
In fact, only called three of these '3' or average, so it is a book that is well worth looking at.
The one quibble I would have is the format, being the considerably more expensive trade paperback compared to the recently seen competitor the Solaris Book of New Science Fiction, being the good old paperback. I wonder if this will affect the success of either.
Wouldn't mind seeing an electronic version for easier obtainability, either.
Otherwise, I definitely recommend having a look. In fact, at the moment I would suggest that anything Pyr puts out is worth a look at, presuming you like fantasy as well, of course.
A fine opening effort, I was pleasantly surprised.
Fast Forward 1 : YFL-500 - Robert Charles Wilson
Fast Forward 1 : The Girl Hero's Mirror Says He's Not the One - Justina Robson
Fast Forward 1 : Small Offerings - Paolo Bacigalupi
Fast Forward 1 : They Came From the Future - Robyn Hitchcock
Fast Forward 1 : Plotters and Shooters - Kage Baker
Fast Forward 1 : Aristotle OS - Tony Ballantyne
Fast Forward 1 : The Something-Dreaming Game [SS] - Elizabeth Bear
Fast Forward 1 : No More Stories - Stephen Baxter
Fast Forward 1 : Time of the Snake - A.M. Dellamonica
Fast Forward 1 : The Terror Bard - Larry Niven and Brenda Cooper
Fast Forward 1 : p dolce - Louise Marley
Fast Forward 1 : Jesus Christ Reanimator - Ken MacLeod
Fast Forward 1 : Solomon's Choice - Mike Resnick and Nancy Kress
Fast Forward 1 : Sanjeev and Robotwallah - Ian McDonald
Fast Forward 1 : A Smaller Government - Pamela Sargent
Fast Forward 1 : Pride - Mary A. Turzillo
Fast Forward 1 : I Caught Intelligence - Robyn Hitchcock
Fast Forward 1 : Settlements - George Zebrowski
Fast Forward 1 : The Hour of the Sheep - Gene Wolfe
Fast Forward 1 : Sideways from Now - John Meaney
Fast Forward 1 : Wikiworld - Paul Di Filippo
Dream deal.
3.5 out of 5
Wild for not to hold.
3.5 out of 5
Prenatal drug dose.
4 out of 5
Deathlok defense defeat predicted, Avenger!
4.5 out of 5
Philosophy of upgrades is of arguable effectiveness.
3 out of 5
Autoasphyxiation communicates alien information preservation.
4 out of 5
Interbreeding expansion remnant conversation.
3.5 out of 5
Tinker, tailor, soldier, squid.
4 out of 5
Planet pool is tough on the artificial eight ball.
3 out of 5
Past master possession discovery preemption.
3.5 out of 5
Second coming, blogging, shooting.
3 out of 5
Matriarchal memory madness or many mutant men? Stealing space shuttle solution at least requires no sea severing.
3.5 out of 5
Battletech comes and goes, but pizza always popular.
4 out of 5
Peewee politics could be smooshed.
3.5 out of 5
Sabretoothed green-eyed monster.
4.5 out of 5
Future or past, advice not taken well by greedy power mongers.
3.5 out of 5
Trust the lightsabre Luke, not the woman.
3.5 out of 5
A quantum of solace.
3.5 out of 5
Dickieworld, with groups the Coodabeens could definitely love. Trade cybernetwarstylin'.
4.5 out of 5
Pretty good collection, with two standout stories. 3.4 stars.......2007-07-24
This is the first volume of a projected annual series of original SF stories. It has a couple of standout stories, and is pretty good overall (though not as good as the hype).
The standout story is Ken MacLeod's amazing "Jesus Christ, Reanimator". It takes place in
present-day Israel (in part at Meggido) and opens: "The Second Coming was something of a washout, if you remember." Truly a KILLER story, MacLeod's best short to date, I'd say. Enthusiastically recommended. Look for it on the awards ballots.
My second-favorite story is Paul Di Filippo's very amusing (if slight) "Wikiworld," conveniently available online at pyrsf[dot]com . It's pretty much what you'd expect, but *very* nicely done. Recommended.
Past this we get into good, pretty-good, and "eh" stories. Here's the TOC, with comments:
"YFL-500", Robert Charles Wilson. Eh. Can't remember a thing, two weeks later.
"The Girl Hero's Mirror Says He's Not the One", Justina Robson. Pretty good, if very slight.
"Small Offerings", Paolo Bacigalupi. Unpleasantly gory, but a decent story.
"They Came From the Future", Robyn Hitchcock. Poem, sorta kinda. Eh.
"Plotters and Shooters", Kage Baker. Gamers in Spaaaace! Pretty good, really, if slight.
"Aristotle OS," Tony Ballantyne. OK but very slight.
"The Something-Dreaming Game", Elizabeth Bear. Pediatric autoerotic asphyxiation. Well-written but icky.
"No More Stories," Stephen Baxter. Forgotten already.
"Time of the Snake", A.M. Dellamonica. Violent, nihilistic and slight.
"The Terror Bard", Larry Niven & Brenda Cooper. Sequel to "Kath & Quicksilver"; pretty good.
"p dolce", Louise Marley. Channeling into Brahms; good.
"Jesus Christ, Reanimator," Ken MacLeod. KILLER story, best by far.
"Solomon's Choice", Mike Resnick & Nancy Kress. Weird aliens, except they're not. Good.
"Sanjeev and Robotwallah", Ian McDonald. Exotic violence & fashion in a future India. Good.
"A Smaller Government," Pamela Sargent. Literally so, and very amusing
"Pride", Mary A. Turzillo. Bringing up a sabertooth kitten. Very good.
"I Caught Intelligence", Robyn Hitchcock. Poem. Eh.
"Settlements", George Zebrowski. "Helpful" aliens; a downer (what a surprise!). Eh.
"The Hour of the Sheep", Gene Wolfe. I just don't get Wolfe.
"Sideways from Now", John Meaney. Interesting novella from the Nulapeiron guy.
"Wikiworld, Paul Di Filippo". Second-best, and available online, too.
Bottom line: worth checking out for the standouts, but not really worth your $15, in my opinion. Too many "read once & forget" stories. YMMV.
Happy reading--
Peter D. Tillman
fine collection forecasting technology vs people.......2007-03-10
In his introduction to what he plans as being a continual science fiction anthology containing all new stories, Lou Anders explains the premise is "making sense of a changing world" as "the implications of technology on society ... makes it (SF) the most relevant branch of literature". Bias aside, the contributions of nineteen original shorts and two poems (by Robyn Hitchcock) live up to Mr. Anders' prime objective. The tales focus on people struggling with an exponentially changing world that leaves many behind. The contributors are a who's who of Sci Fi or fantasy to include Larry Niven (with Brenda Cooper), Justina Robson, Stephen Baxter and Louise Marley. All the entries are strong with the best being those concentrating on everyday people dealing with commonplace technology like Paul Di Filippo's Wikiworld" and Justina Robson' The Girl Hero's Mirror Says He's Not the One" (in Mappa Mundi world) and those bringing the past into the future such as Tony Ballantyne's "Aristotle OS and Ken McLeod's "Jesus Christ, Reanimator". This is a fun collection that forecasts where technology will take humans including those left behind struggling with yesterday's artifacts.
Harriet Klausner
...from the Cutting Edge.......2007-03-01
Fast Forward 1 once again demonstrates Lou Anders' editing prowess (his Live Without a Net and Futureshocks are also excellent). The tagline identifies the collection as "future fiction from the cutting edge," and almost every story offers up an intriguing view of the future from some of the field's best writers.
Robert Charles Wilson's "YFL 500" opens the anthology with a gripping character tale regarding intellectual property, art, and theft in a post-scarcity world. Paolo Bacigalupi's "Small Offerings" is a chilling tale of sacrifice on an ecologically damned Earth. "Plotters and Shooters," by Kage Baker, is a lighthearted "Lord of the Flies"-esque chronicle of the rise of hackers and geeks as the defenders of mankind in a new age.
Indeed, in a collection of 19 short stories and 2 poems (the latter a refreshing addition courtesy of Robyn Hitchcock), only 4 stories don't seem to belong. Elizabeth Bear's "The Something-Dreaming Game" and Louise Marley's "p dolce," while well-written, deal in concepts already well-traversed throughout the genre. Pamela Sargent's "A Smaller Government," while an entertaining satire, is more of a political fantasy than a work of science fiction. And George Zebrowski's "Settlements" is too trite and rife with tropes to be considered "cutting edge" - a story of mysterious aliens with advanced technology imposing peace on a violent, adolescent humanity.
Where the collection truly shines, though, are in the off-kilter stories. Tony Ballantyne's "Aristotle OS" is a comedic, philosophical view of the world through one of the most pervasive, defining facets of our society: the computer operating system. "Jesus Christ, Reanimator" is Ken MacLeod's rational look at the possible second coming of the Christ - charming in its grounded outlook amidst a momentous religious event. Mary A. Turzillo's "Pride" is the endearing tale of a boy and his sabretooth kitten. Finally, the perfect capstone to the anthology is Paul Di Filippo's "Wikiworld" - one of the most brilliant short stories I've read - an adventure through a foreign but realistic near-future, where political lines are drawn between usergroups and power, prestige, and popularity ebb and flow organically between the real world and the virtual.
While the writing and stories are excellent, it is the variety of worlds and tales that makes the anthology truly compelling. Having enjoyed the majority of the book, I can safely say that Fast Forward holds something for everyone. One can only hope that Fast Forward 2 is future fact.
Great Anthology...a must for SF readers and writers..........2007-02-14
I was able to read the ARC of this book prior to its release, and I was very, very pleased with the selections. I enjoyed 14/21 stories in this, with Robert Charles Wilson's, Paolo Bacigalupi's, Elizabeth Bear's, Louise Marley's, and the Mike Resnick/Nancy Kress piece being my personal faves for their "wow" factor. I recognized some of the stories in this anthology were not to my particular SF taste (and some stories I wished were written a bit differently, but that's me), but most of these pieces had good/fun premises, and it was nice to see a variety of stories in this anthology.
I'd definitely recommend this anthology to anyone reading (or writing) science fiction, and I'm not just saying that because I got the ARC: I think I'll pick up the actual copy myself, when I get the chance. Some of these stories really blew me away, and while I would've bought the anthology solely for Bacigalupi's work, I wouldn't have minded paying for the rest of it either, if that makes sense. In other words, there's something in here for everyone, and there's some really, really good stories here.
Also, an interesting stat that some people won't care about: 9/21 stories are penned by women (though two of those nine are co-written by men). The reason this stat jumps out at me is the fact that I've heard several women complain about how when you pick up an anthology of SF stories, there are few to no women featured. It's something I've noticed myself, so a big shout-out to Lou Anders for both sampling a variety of SF and not limiting anthology slots to the male population of the SF community.
Great anthology. Check it out.
Book Description
In this handsome book, the Dallas Museum of Art celebrates three remarkable private collections of contemporary art that were donated in 2005, presenting them in context with masterworks already owned by the museum. Featuring over two hundred works, many previously unpublished, by such major artists as Matthew Barney, Joseph Beuys, Louise Bourgeois, Vija Celmins, Philip Guston, Jasper Johns, Donald Judd, Ellsworth Kelly, Franz Kline, Willem de Kooning, Jackson Pollock, Sol LeWitt, Bruce Naumann, Sigmar Polke, Gerhard Richter, Mark Rothko, Robert Ryman, Richard Tuttle, and many others, this volume provides a stunning visual history of the critical art movements that have shaped––and continue to shape––contemporary art since the 1940s.
Essays by distinguished scholars discuss the works, which range from sculpture and painting to photography, installation art, and video and electronic media, and address the importance, history, and evolution of Dallas’s collection.
Book Description
Fans of the Emmy Award–winning reality television show The Amazing Race are offered fresh insights and gossip from insiders and former participants—such as the Gaghan family from Season Eight and Jon and Al from Season Four—in this guide to the popular program. From dysfunctional team dynamics and obnoxious racer tantrums to jaw-dropping errors and especially endearing moments, contestants and events from the show’s eight-season tenure are discussed in shocking detail. Additional thoughts on the authenticity of the race, the “real” rules of the contest, the single best player in the show’s history, and especially notable contestants are also included.
Customer Reviews:
We Were There.......2007-08-23
We were participants in the Amazing Race 7, which we have heard was the favorite show among fans. We were the Energizer Bunnies mentioned in this book. We found the author's assesment of what actually happened fairly accurate, but there were many incidents that were reviewed that should have been explained in depth to get the impact of what actually happened. He did a good job basing his research mainly on the edited version shown on TV. There was so much more. Maye we'll write our own book someday. It was more than interesting!!!!
Gretchen and Meredith
Nothing New.......2007-03-28
If you've watched the show there is virtually nothing new in this tome. It does serve as a great recap if you've forgotten anything, and a decent introduction if you're late to the party.
My Ox Is Broken.......2007-01-31
This book is a synopsis of races 1 - 9. No new information is really given. There are a couple of interviews with racers but again, no real new information. No behind the scene information. And a pretty screwed justification of why we should not be so down on Flo. This book offers nothing new and skips over alot of the old.
The Only TAR Guide So Far...But Not Definitive.......2006-12-26
Kudos to novelist Adam-Troy Castro for producing this unauthorized guide to the Emmy-winning reality series "The Amazing Race". With (at the time of this volume's publication) nine seasons completed, it was about time that someone came out with a summary of the various Races, teams, Road Blocks, Fast Forwards, and Detours. Ideally, it would have been produced by someone from the Television Without Pity website, since they recap every single episode in detail and also support lively forums that analyze all possible nuances of each Racer's actions, all of which is done in a riotously funny fashion. Mr. Castro doesn't quite achieve the same consistent level of humor, but he does show a few droll touches here and there.
The book has a section for each season, starting with brief introductions to the teams and comments upon their strengths and weaknesses, and moving on to a breakdown of each leg's sequence of events and the locales visited, and then concluding of course with a list of the finishing orders and who was eliminated. There are several interviews interspersed between chapters, along with brief sections on the show's highlights and low points, the best and the stupidest moves made by the racers, recurring motifs, and suggestions for improvements. However, other than the interviews, there is virtually no material that a devoted fan could not have scoured from the web, and there are no maps or photos. The book would have been considerably improved by interviews with the host, Phil Keoghan, and any of the producers or camera and sound crews. But that's the drawback of being unauthorized.
In his favor, Castro hated Season 8 (the highly misguided Family Edition) as much as the rest of America did. But he liked the idiotic antics of Season 9's Hippies, BJ and Tyler, which is a point against him. Ultimately, I would've liked to see a greater degree of snark and commentary upon the racers and some more detailed discussion of some of the Road Blocks and Detours and the tactical choices made by the participants. But for those who need a quick reference guide to who's who in TAR, this is an excellent resource.
Terrific and engaging reading.......2006-10-18
Adam-Troy Castro's book has all the energy of the tv series it covers, racing from event to event with humor and an engaging style of writing that brings the situations to life. Much of the background information is new to this reader, and the approach Mr. Castro takes is a fresh one. This book is highly recommended for both fans of the series as well as those who would like to know more.
Book Description
The author is well-renowned and highly successful.
- Figures and examples are revised and spreadsheet ready templates are provided.
- Offers quick tips and cutting-edge ideas.
- Totally revised new edition of a highly successful book.
Download Description
The author is well-renowned and highly successful.
* Figures and examples are revised and spreadsheet ready templates are provided.
* Offers quick tips and cutting-edge ideas.
* Totally revised new edition of a highly successful book.
Customer Reviews:
Great service.......2006-01-16
Item was received promptly in advertised condition
This one needs to be on your bookshelf.......2005-10-02
Very useful for everybody who needs to have understanding about finance and accounting in thier day-to-day tasks. Clearly shows how managerial budgets are linked to financial reports. Furthermore it gives a basis to understand and read financial reports and takes out the important information needed for the daily management decisions and follow-ups.
The book takes you step by step and on a comprehensive way through all the necessary knowledge and skills you should have.
Should be entitled Managerial Accounting.......1999-08-19
Great, straightforward approach to explaining what managers do, and should, look for in the numbers periodically generated by their accounting systems.
Innovative management approach to financial analysis........1998-11-15
Despite the title of this book, it does not really cover the traditional "finance" topics such as weighted average/marginal cost of capital, portfolio theory, capital structure decisions, investment banking, mergers and acquisitions, etc. In my opinion, most of the book deals with managerial accounting-----but it does a great job doing so! In fact, this book contains the best treatment of cost volume profit analysis that I've ever seen----and I am a CPA with 10 years experience. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn how to manage a company "by the numbers".
To reaffirm and not teach.......1998-09-11
I felt that there was not enough spent on the subject itself and more of a dummy's version of getting acquainted with Finance. If you've ever taken one course in Finance, you wiz through the book without absorbing any more than you remembered.
Product Description
Pay gurus and WorldatWork Keystone Award winners Pat Zingheim and Jay Schuster are at it again! A sequel to their best-seller, Pay People Right!, High-Performance Pay begins where that ground-breaking book left off. The new book challenges conventional thinking and encourages compensation and human resource professionals to develop a proactive position about using total rewards to enhance organizational effectiveness and move the business forward. This book presents five cohesive parts with an engaging discussion on the current state of the profession, as well as both cutting-edge and proven approaches to help you attract, motivate, retain, develop and engage your workforce. Bringing more than 25 years of experience, Pat and Jay pave the path to success with fresh, innovative ideas, as well as tangible methods to help prepare your employees as they acquire and apply critical skills and competencies that add value to the bottom line.
Book Description
The ultimate crash course in business
From marketing to economics to international business to puzzling intangibles like corporate culture and leadership styles, this compact book launches The Fast Forward MBA series with a rapid fire overview of the basics of business.
* What's the difference between a manager and a leader?
* What is the lowdown on all of the restructuring and reengineering hype?
* How do the numbers from accounting play into overall strategy?
* What are the big and small of economics.
These are just a few of the timely topics explored here. And in the soon to be signature style of the series, it presents this information in a mix of cases, examples, and quick and concise chapters that make it easy to find answers fast.
VIRGINIA O'BRIEN (Marblehead, Massachusetts) is a freelance writer and editor. PAUL A. ARGENTI (Hanover, New Hampshire) is a professor at the Amos Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth University. A regular consultant to Fortune 500 companies, he is the co-author of The Portable MBA Desk Reference.
Customer Reviews:
Good Review for MBA Grads.......2000-10-01
The Fast Forward MBA in Business is a very good reference for those who have studied business concepts, either in an MBA or undergraduate program. I think it would be good for any business person, whether they studied business or not. Few descriptions go far in depth. There are good examples given in case studies.
Book Description
"A treasure trove of tips on how to hire the people you need to make your company prosper." —Steve Forbes President & CEO, Forbes Inc.
This practical, easy-to-use guide gives you instant access to the cutting-edge ideas and hard-won wisdom of one of the world's leading experts on corporate staffing and hiring. In short, lively segments using real-world examples, it delivers the information you need to navigate complex hiring issues. You'll find brief descriptions of key concepts, tips on real-world applications, compact case studies, the latest workplace statistics, and warnings on how to avoid pitfalls.
Here are all the tools you need to take your hiring practices to a new level. You'll learn how to:
- Master strategic staffing and other key hiring concepts
- Develop job descriptions based on your company's overall goals
- Recruit people with the right combination of skills and experience
- Offer top candidates value and perks that go beyond the regular paycheck
- And much more.
From the creators of the bestselling Portable MBA series comes The Fast Forward MBA . . .
- A quick way to brush up on new ideas
- An easy-to-use format that fits in any briefcase
- Real-world information that you can put to use now!
Books:
- The Flight of the Creative Class: The New Global Competition for Talent
- The Gaming Industry: Introduction and Perspectives
- The Gashouse Gang: How Dizzy Dean, Leo Durocher, Branch Rickey, Pepper Martin, and Their Colorful, Come-from-Behind Ball Club Won the World Series--and America's Heart--During the Great Depression
- The Governance Game: What Every Board Member & Corporate Director Should Know About What Went Wrong in Corporate America & What New Responsibilities They Are Faced With
- The Hidden Face of Eve: Women in the Arab World
- The Inner Game of Work: Focus, Learning, Pleasure, and Mobility in the Workplace
- The Inner Game of Work: Focus, Learning, Pleasure, and Mobility in the Workplace
- The Joy of Not Working: A Book for the Retired, Unemployed and Overworked- 21st Century Edition
- The Labor Relations Process
- The Loyalty Effect: The Hidden Force Behind Growth, Profits, and Lasting Value
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- History: Fiction or Science
- War Story: The Classic True Story of the First Generation of Green Berets
- Money Makes the World Go Around
- Pojo's Unofficial Dragonball Z Cards Simplified: A Player's Guide : How to Play, How to Get Started,
- The History of Management Thought
- What to Expect: Eating Well When You're Expecting
- The Lion of Judah hath prevailed,: Being the biography of His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie I
- Dynamics of International Accounting: A Focus on the Asia-Pacific Region
- Search Methodologies: Introductory Tutorials in Optimization and Decision Support Techniques
- Plants of the Western Boreal Forest and Aspen Parkland
General
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, Third Edition (PMBOK Guides)
Fundamentals of Project Management (Worksmart)
The Art of Project Management (Theory in Practice (O'Reilly))
Fundamentals of Technology Project Management
Project Management: A Systems Approach to Planning, Scheduling, and Controlling
