Engineering-risk Books

If you're into Administration, this book will give you an excelent overview on ERP's; however, if you're an IT person, concepts are good but information on software versions, statistics, etc. is old.

O'Leary did an excellent job in compiling the story of ERP in a single book. Unlike other ERP book, O'Leary provides the fundamental, technical, and practical of ERP system. Many presented cases are well organized with the contents in the book. The long case is brought up on and off to remind reader about the process. If you like "Why ERP?" by Jacobs but want more technical and further reference, please grasp this book and study it. Many references are provided for further research as well. Well done!!

Because this is a dense read, you won't be surprised to learn that the author, Daniel E. O'Leary, is a Ph.D. If you don't have a conversational grasp of acronyms - including, but not limited to ERP, LAN, WAN, SMEs BOPSE, MAPs, SAP and BAAN - then you'll have to decode as you read. If you're actually interested in using the business resource known as "Enterprise Resource Planning," or ERP, your company should be grossing some $200 million a year, because ERP costs about $15 million to implement. While O'Leary makes a very compelling case in favor of ERP, citing integration of information infrastructure, real-time data, value creation and other wonderful attributes, this is a very expensive and risky resource to pursue. Companies such as Microsoft and Cisco had a hard time implementing it and even they have to worry about cost. We [...] warn that this is serious tech for Big Money companies. Mom and Pop operations need not apply.

This book is more suited as an executive guide for anyone who is considering ERP or evaluating ERP systems. In fact, the book appears to have been designed with busy senior management and executives in mind because it's focused, hits all of the key points and each chapter is treated as a whitepaper that ends with case studies reinforcing the topic and references. Also, the author makes excellent use of window diagrams throughout to convey information. A random example if this is in chapter 11 where the linkage between implementation approach (big bang vs. phases) is shown by impact of the extent of changes to be made to ERP modules (minimal to extensive) vs. Number of modules in implementation (few to many) and how this translates to the preferred method. This is but one of many such examples.

The book is organized into four parts: (1) introduction, (2) ERP systems and capabilities, (3) ERP life cycle (deciding, selecting, designing, post implementation and training) and (4) electronic commerce and risk.

Each section is backed with cited references and necessary facts with which to decide whether or not to opt for an ERP system, and if so, how to select the correct package. The references and citations extend into every chapter, which I liked because when the author cites a fact, such as a typical cost of an ERP implementation ... you know where that figure came from. I normally do not like discussions of specific products in general books, but given the narrow field of ERP vendors the discussion of each of the major players, their company histories and market position is appropriate for this book given the subject and audience.

I personally liked the case studies at the end of each chapter because there were specific to the chapter's topic, were drawn from real life, and were frank about the problems encountered and how they were addressed. This is a gold mine for executive management seeking to determine the true scope, cost and potential value of an ERP project. I also like how each option for implementation was thoroughly covered.

Overall, this book provides complete coverage of all of the issues and factors that need to be examined before taking the plunge into an ERP system. It will definitely allow executive management to make informed decisions, and will also prepare IT and business stakeholders for the realities of an implementation. This book will pay for itself many times over for the intended audience. It is clear, concise and factual.

The book does not lack interesting subjects, but most of them are not peculiar of ERP systems, and could be suitable for many other kinds of software systems. Gap analysis, costs, human resources and chains are problems people are dealing with since the first computer entered the business word. I would have liked a publication in which briefly summarized process and data issues would be referred to a proper functional, and even technological, architecture of ERP. I do need buy and read a book whose title is ERP in order to get a description of the problems whilst the book is supposed to dissert about their solutions. The latter target has been someway met, but not fully reached.

I have been reading philosophers who claim to think about science for years. This book furnishes much information related to the science of microorganisms involved in nutrition and toxic reactions. Just to make myself perfectly clear about the philosophy side, check pages 300 to 302 of NIETZSCHE AND MODERN TIMES by Laurence Lampert, claiming that Nietzsche has a special relationship to science summarized best in book five of THE GAY SCIENCE, written by Nietzsche in the fall of 1886 while he was writing new prefaces for the books he had already written. Section 39 of THE GAY SCIENCE had something about absurdity causing people to seek a new taste and trying to live a more natural life. An important person might impose morality, religion, or law on others as a new inner need, but modern times seeks so many different tastes that such matters break down in a welter of everybody wanting everything to be all different.

Nietzsche also wrote on THE USES AND DISADVANTAGES OF HISTORY FOR LIFE. A monumental history, designed to increase appreciation for those who see themselves as a universal panacea for the world's problems, is subject to carping from those capable of critical history. Archaic history, any attempt to go way back to primitive times, as Nietzsche was attempting to learn lessons from the Greeks that he admired to counter the stupidity of his own age, helped him define the primary problems of life.

Dynamite had been a big invention with enormous effects when Nietzsche claimed, "I am dynamite!" If Nietzsche had read GENETIC ROULETTE by Jeffrey Smith instead of the daily papers, he should have declared, "I am inflamed stomach lining." Nietzsche had health problems, so he had enormous concerns about his stomach, eyes, and pains in his head. I just read about Americans having more twins than the British do because the English ban a substance increasing milk production but making milk that contains less nutrition. Udder pus was a possibility I had never considered before, and I think it is in this book to make chemical enhancement unappetizing.

The amount of detail in GENETIC ROULETTE supports the ideal of science as an attempt to understand what is happening in terms of the results of more individual metabolites than we can keep track of. The basic mechanism for making transgenes active is a threat to the natural form of DNA that comes into contact with gut bacteria. Pesticides can probably be produced in the human body as a result of chemical processes which take place in biological contexts. The big picture is getting so murky.

Genetic Roulette is well organized, well researched and well documented. It's layout makes it easy to pick out the main points of a topic or get all the details. It makes a handy reference and a good resource for plowing through all the specifics.

Jeffrey Smith is a stickler for accuracy. When I contacted him to use some excerpts from his books in my new editon of FOOD ADDITIVES: A Shopper's Guide..., it was very clear to me that he wanted to make sure that I was absolutely accurate with my facts. He demonstrated to me, his commitment to complete and total accuracy and publishing only factual information.

If you want to know the truth about genetically engineered food, I highly recommend this book.

Jeff Smith purports to present "science" demonstrating the dangers of genetically engineered foods. Rather than deconstruct the hilariously paranoid, non-scientific boogeymen that Smith and others see in GM foods, I think readers should know just exactly who author Jeff Smith is. Then they can decide if this self-published book is worth reading. (yes, Smith published this book himself, as no respected publisher would take it)

Jeff Smith is an ardent and long-time follower of the Maharishi cult that has taken over a small town in Iowa. Over the past decade, the Maharishi cult has meddled in many things (their town only allows the sale/serving of "organic foods."), including attempts to get their members elected into political office.

Jeff Smith was an aide to a Maharishi cult candidate running for the U.S. Senate in Illinois in 1996. During the campaign, Smith and others would demonstrate "yogic flying" on the campaign trail and explain how SCIENCE shows yogic flying reduces crime, etc.

According to the University of Illinois' Daily Illini student newspaper (10/28/1996):
"Jeffrey Smith, a Davis aide and one of the three flyers, explained the idea and effects of yogic flying, which relies on practicing transcendental meditation, to the small crowd.

"Smith presented charts with evidence of a correlation between the presence of yogic flyers and an increase in the quality of life and a decrease in crime. Smith cited limited yogic flying programs in Washington D.C. and near the Middle East that resulted in less crime and more harmony.

"'(This is why) Jim Davis as the Senate candidate for the Natural Law Party believes that any city that has a group of say 7,000 yogic flyers practicing together will not only generate great coherence and cleansing effect for the nation and the entire world, but will enjoy a dramatic reduction in crime rate within the city,' Smith said."

So, please -- if you're into "yogic flying" and believe that science proves "yogic flying" reduces crime, then this book (and author) will be credible. If you have a more "grounded" view of science and food safety, steer clear of this paranoid rant.

P.S. Smith also teaches Swing Dancing if that's builds up his credibility any.

GENETIC ROULETTE: THE DOCUMENTED HEALTH RISKS OF GENETICALLY ENGINEERED FOODS is a recommended pick for college-level health libraries: it covers everything from genetic transfer issues and risks for children and newborns to safety-related assumptions that have been proven wrong, signs of toxic reactions, and more. Packed with charts, FDA review information, details on regulatory issues and industry studies, and overall health concerns, GENETIC ROULETTE is a unique reference not to be missed.

What's your response when someone comes out with a statement they've picked up from somewhere to the effect that "There's no evidence that GM food is harmful"?

If you have time and energy, perhaps you manage to scrabble together bits and pieces from memory, the web, or an article. But considering the number of calls that the business of living places on us, perhaps you just shrug your shoulders and muse that the world is going to hell in a handbasket of Bush, Blair, and Monsanto's making and there's nothing you can do about it.

Well, now there is. Just point them in the direction of the latest book from Jeffrey Smith, Genetic Roulette.

A must-read for policy-makers, educators, and journalists, it's also invaluable for anyone who wants to sharpen their weaponry in the battle against the imposition of GM foods. And judging by emails I've received from students asking about the risks of GM food, every educational institution and public library needs a copy.

Those who enjoyed Smith's previous book, Seeds of Deception, should be warned that this isn't the same sort of read. Seeds laid out the fraud of GM through its stories: the honest scientists who were gagged, threatened, and persecuted; the consumers who got sick and died from eating a supplement produced with GM bacteria, only to have their suffering covered up by a government protecting industry interests. Genetic Roulette is not a book of stories, but an easy-to-use reference book of scientific and other documented findings on the risks of GM foods.

Contrary to what the industry would have us believe, a considerable number of findings show GM causes harm, and they are clearly presented in this book. Given the worrying lack of substantial published research, Smith also draws upon unpublished studies, case studies, medical reports, media reports, and eyewitness accounts. Unlike the notorious pronouncements of biotech industry supporters, statements of opinion are never misrepresented as scientific fact. The author has gone to great lengths to maintain accuracy, having each section of the book checked by at least three scientists.

Conspicuous by their absence are follow-up studies to those that show harm from GM foods. The book details tactics that industry uses to bury inconvenient research, including ignoring it, attempting to discredit the research or its authors, and funding competing studies so poorly designed that no meaningful findings can be extracted. If all else fails, industry-aligned researchers discount deaths of experimental animals or claim that statistically significant results have, magically, no significance at all.

The layout of the book is an exemplar of clarity and should serve as the model for any reference book. It is designed to make the material accessible to three levels of reader: scanners, casual readers, and those who want detail. Each double-page spread is devoted to a problem with GM foods, with the left-hand page having the topic heading, a quote by an expert, and a few summarizing bullet points; the right-hand page gives technical detail. You don't need a science background to understand it. While the book is not bedtime reading, terms are defined and the boggle factor is kept low. The table of contents enables the reader to scan the problems with GM food and quickly to access the evidence on each.

Smith has to be the best science communicator alive today, and this book stands as the final word on GM health risks. It's the definitive answer to those who don't know, those who don't want to know, and those who know but don't want anyone else to know.

Poorly written "shot" at large projects based on weak analysis and "leaps in logic". Presumes all megaprojects are bad based on very small sample and some high-profile failures.

Megaprojects and Risk: An Anatomy of Ambition

It is not an accident that your local megaproject is running at least 50% over budget or, more likely, 100% (plus) over budget. It is so much of a problem in megaprojects that the only reasonable conclusion is to assume all announced megaproject budgets are low by multiple factors. The numbers are produced by experienced consulting professionals under the direction of government planning agencies. Both groups should know better. We are therefore forced to conclude that the numbers are not off by accident.

This book is an easy read with a recurring theme. By the time the book is finished the point is pounded home. Until the trend is corrected, which is until people and organizations are rewarded or penalized based on the accuracy of their numbers, all megaprojects everywhere are highly suspect - if not already convicted of deliberate deceit of the public.

I am the first amazon.com reviewer of this short, but important book. It concerns me that this might reflect a diminished U.S. readership. That would be unfortunate. Professor Bent Flyvbjerg and his colleagues have written a book of significance to taxpayers everywhere. It's apparent that they have written this book largely for the policy-maker; yet, make no mistake about it: the ordinary taxpayer has a major stake in this book's message. The central characters in Megaprojects and Risk are three large-scale, European transportation projects: the Chunnel, the Great Belt and the Oresund. American readers unfamilar with these names (the chunnel connecting London and Paris is perhaps the most recognizable to American readers) will nonetheless recognize familiar features. Specifically, they will find project costs that exceed estimates, and revenue inflows that are below projections. The traits are not unique to these projects. In fact, cost over-runs and revenue disappointments are a familiar global refrain, according to these authors. In spite of this, the number and scale of infrastructure projects continues to grow, forming what they call the megaproject paradox. The book is stronger on documenting problems, including the lack of project post-audits, than on providing solutions. I think they have correctly identified the problem -- the lack of accountability throughout the project life-cycle -- but their solution, which largely involves ensuring a healthy segment of private capital not supported by state guarantees, together with more attention to genuine risk assessment, falls short of the mark. The risk assessment tools are firmly established and largely well-understood (Monte Carlo simulation packages are increasingly available). So is the "moral hazard" problem that rears its ugly head when projects (in this case) are "over-insured." The difficulty, which they acknowledge, is that the political interplay between state, private interests and NGOs are decisive in determining whether and to what extent the appropriate risk assessment and risk management tools are used.

This problem is inherent in the beast. Policy-makers would love for the private sector to shoulder the risk, but may not be willing to permit a commensurate return. Private players, just as understandably, are apt to seek insurance of one kind or another on the downside. The best medicine, and one that this book delivers admirably, is simply to raise our awareness of the track record from the start.

This short book has the look and feel of an academic work. It would, however, be unfortunate if it languished at the university bookstore. Global demographics dictate that larger-scale infrastructure investments are in our future. No one should pay for, promote or plan for such projects before they have digested the lessons in Megaprojects and Risk.

Every once in a while a little book comes along that, while small in size, carries sufficient intellectual weight to strike the body politic between the eyes, thereby getting its collective attention. This may be one such book. It offers a realistic look at megaprojects - those major infrastructure endeavors that span vast bodies of water, dam natural resources to generate energy and extend rail lines to previously unreachable regions - and compares the promises of these projects to what they actually deliver. The report card isn't very good. Cost overruns are typically 25% to 100%, and sometimes 200% or more. Worse yet, studies show that the public tends to use megaprojects - be they airports or subway systems - only a fraction of the amount predicted. We strongly recommends this book to politicians, legislators and anyone who wants to know the truth behind these huge infrastructure projects, as well as to CEOs, CFOs, project managers and risk officers in the private sector - this applies to your projects, even if there is a difference of scale.

I bought the book two years ago to get up to speed with risk analysis. I'll now buy it again because I had to leave the last copy with my former employer. The book is very well written, clear and concise with good worked examples so that even a non-mathematically-inclined person and statistics novice will readily grasp the basic concepts and be able to use the enclosed software CD. Very good! My one only gripe is that the demo software included with the book is limited to a "student" level of performance, but I guess if you get heavily into it it'll be worth to pay the extra to get the full version of the Excel add-on which runs the calculations.

I have this book for sometimes for my research area is simulation. Now I need to seriously study the Risk analysis for the ERP implementation for the real-business and I found this book is quite useful. Comparing to the Risk management book, this book gives you more quantitative analysis using simulation approach. Hence, this book will guide you for more tangible subject rather than intangible subject.
I agree with other reviewer for the "student version" of the software, come with this book. It would be great if the authors provide the "bigger" size than student level for better analysis the bigger system :) I wish the authors read my note here :)

I used this book for a graduate school class and wasn't impressed. The book is poorly written and the questions at the ends of the chapters have too many errors. Learning to use simulation modeling requires hands-on activities and when those activities are poorly conceived, or simply incorrect, it seriously inhibits the learning process. Personally, I'd rather have typos in the main text of the book than unaswerable questions at the end of chapters.

However, the book does provide an introduction to a broad range of areas in which simulation modeling can be used and for lack of a better alternative, I won't give it a lower score. Most of the problems I found with this book could be fixed by using a better editor.

I have prepared several security surveys throughout the last couple of years and have always found that they were missing something. Once I started looking through this book I was given clear direction on the useful information required when conducting a security survey.
This book describes all the main sections required for a security review: Scoop of the project, organization assesment and requirements, physical security, internal controls, data system and records, emergency planning, and proprietary information, business impact analysis, survey questionary, etc.
This book goes into details on planning and analysis but does not give detailed techniques on aquireing information or what an effective security system looks like. It assumes the reader has a strong security background and is able to handle the details of investigation, interviewing, testing and evaluation. This book only touches on these topics.

Like many textbooks, this work is relatively well organized and easy to reference. My initial impression after my first reading of Mr. Broder's work is that this will be both an outstanding reference source amidst difficult projects and a good place to seek general guidance in previously unexplored facets of risk analysis, specifically risk analysis related to physical security.

Part I of the book addresses risk analysis including a relatively thorough explanation of what risk, vulnerability and threats are. It goes on to explain common risk measurements and offers example formulas/systems for prioritizing loss after quantifying its potential. He very briefly touches on how to conduct an audit, assuming that the reader has a thorough understanding of common Security needs and the audit process. He spends a fair amount of time (in comparison to other topics covered) on the Survey Report which is fine for a consultant but in the Corporate world this is not very useful. The company you work for, unless it is completely new or wants to overhaul and/or start over from scratch in regards to security, will have its own style of report. Still, this was a good chapter to include since some of the readers will be in a consultative role.

The second part of the book gives the reader an overview of emergency management and continuity planning. This is the real gem of the book. While I purchased this book with the hopes it would help me with conducting risk analysis surveys and reports for my employer, the reality is the author is expecting the reader to already have some experience (as I do) and does little to expand on common practices. That said, this second chapter launches right into very practical information for Security and Risk Managers.

Broder spends a great deal of time addressing mitigation and response planning, addresses business continuity and does a relatively thorough job of providing an overview of impact analysis. He again provides information more useful for a consultant than a corporate professional, including a small chapter on documentation of your plans. Even if you are a consultant, the majority of your clients will have their own emergency plans that they will want your work to mirror in terms of appearance and organization. Broder wraps up the book with a difficult area that has spawned at least a hundred books of its own, Executives and planning for kidnap, ransom and Extortion. This is the one area of the book where this is truly an introduction, rather than an overview, of the subject.

Appendices include a variety of worksheets to help you conduct surveys, signs of theft/fraud, communicating with the media, security system specifications and a few other very basic tools Broder hopes will help you utilize his concepts.

I am giving this book 4/5 stars as it is an excellent work, very useful and overall very difficult to criticize.

I bought the book to use as a reference while doing my very first risk analysis. It helped me a lot with my project. I found it easy to read and use as a reference. I used the format in the book as a guide when writing up the risk analysis I did.

If you haven't done one before and are looking for a good reference guide, this is a great resource.

This book is a clear example of the importance of rethink the teory and practice of decision making at governmental and enterprise level. It explains in technical and practical form the underlying theory for the systemic analysis of tangible and intangible factors.

In spite of the mathematical rigor that the author unfolds, the form as it quantifies the important inherent tangible elements to the complex situations, the neural basis of judgment in the decision making process and even his bond with the physics, makes of this book a remarkable advance for the decision theory . The decision situations usually involve benefits, costs, opportunities and risks. The ANP is a form to correctly approximate the uncertainty in the decision making process.

I bought this book for a class, and it was a useful reference, but it was very dense and math-intensive. It may not be for everyone unless you have a strong math background.

This book on ANP is very useful for researcher who are working on decision models.It provides very fruitful information on Analytical Network Process where the linking is non-hierarchical and non-linear. Though the previous book on AHP is also useful but this book is more comprehensive. I wish a grand success for this book.

The presentation of material in this book is ok, as it covers most of the current day processes used in evaluating safety and process hazards and risks. The book does not bring all of the different methods of analysis into a consistent coherent dialog. Many of the terms used in one portion of the book are contradictry to other portions of the. Examples are the use of the terms likelihood vs. frequency vs. probability and risk analysis vs. risk assessment vs. risk management. Overall the price of this book ($160) is hard to justify for the content however there are not a lot of good books on this subject matter. I would recommend buying these types of books from professional societies whose members are Chemical Engineers, Proces Engineers or Safety Engineers.

This is a very practical and probably one of the best books available for everyone who wants to understand the buzz words of Functional Safety.
The Process Hazards Analysis techniques should be read/studied and understood by all process/instrumentation engineers and plant managers.
That would be a good start and avoid industrial incidents like Bhopal, Piper Alpha, Texas City and unfortunately some more to follow...

This book well explains what is Value At Risk and the concept of risk management in banks. Business concepts are complete. The author gives a lot of weight in risk control.

However, he lacks to give detailed examples on how to calculate VAR, the mathematics/statistics behind. Spreadsheets are nice but not complete from the beginning to the end. Important statistical methods are described without enough detail leaving the concepts out the book's scope.

This is a good book for a financial engineer's library. I found the spreadsheet examples particularly useful.

Prof. Ben-Haim has defined a statistic with broad ranging application from ecology to economics to health care. It may be too aggressive to say that this book reveals a fundamental truth but it certainly provides a valuable tool for understanding uncertainty. It is not for the mathematically faint of heart.

Yakov Ben-Haim(BH)presents another method for solving problems where the information base is(a) incomplete or(b) nonexistent.BH correctly categorizes these types of decision problems as "Decision under Severe Uncertainty".J M Keynes categorizes these two types of problems as(a) decision making under uncertainty in his General Theory(1936;GT)(or low weight of the evidence in the A Treatise on Probability(1921;TP) in chapter 26)and(b) complete or total uncertainty in the GT and ignorance in the TP.BH has developed a solutions technique called the geometric ellipsoidal information-gap model.It is based on a quadratic form,W.W is a real,symmetric positive definite matrix which determines the shape of the family of ellipsoids of uncertain probability vectors,given a particular level of uncertainty which I will denote as *.The general goal of the decision maker is to obtain a satisfactory objective function output(satisfice)while maximizing his immunity to uncertainty(subject to a minimum uncertainty level).BH shows that his mathematical model can deal completely with the Ellsberg and Popper paradoxes.Thus,the modeling is successful.The major criticism is his failure to compare his approach to other models designed to handle the risk versus uncertainty issue in formal,decision theoretic terms.There is no mention or comparison of the BH model with the Ellsberg,Gardenfors-Sahlin,Levi,Kyburg,L J Cohen,Hogarth-Einhorn,J M Keynes or Carnap models.BH appears to think that only Frank Knight grasped the clear distinction that exists between risk and uncertainty.BH makes the following incorrect claim:"Where Keynes,Carnap and virtually all modern philosophers have erred,however, is in believing that probability is the only("only" is underlined by BH for emphasis)means of handling uncertainty..."(Ben-Haim,p.290).He then quotes Kyburg:"...some novel procedure could be used in a decision theory that is based on some non-probabilistic measure of uncertainty."(ibid.,p.290).Of course,John Maynard Keynes did precisely that back in 1921 in his TP.In fact,this area of Keynes's work in the TP is nearly identical to the results that appear in his unaccepted 1907 Cambridge fellowship thesis and in his successful 1908 Cambridge Fellowship thesis.BH presents his reader with two irrelevant quotations taken from page 3 and pages 281-282 of the TP.The relevant material is contained in chapters 6 and 26 of the TP.In these chapters,Keynes develops his concept of the weight of the evidence.Weight of the evidence is completely independent of probability,however defined.Only in the case where the relevant evidence is made up completely of statistical evidence, accumulated over many years/experiments ,will there be a connection with the standard error of the estimate,which could then serve as a practical measure of the weight.In chapter 26,Keynes normalizes the variable,w,where w denotes weight of the evidence,on the unit interval[0,1],where 0<=w<=1.Keynes then defines his conventional coefficient of weight and risk,c.The goal of the decision maker is to maximize cA,where A is some outcome, as opposed to probability based decision rules such as the expected value rule,maximize pA,where p is the probability of success(p+q=1)and the expected utility rule,maximize pU(A),where U is a utility function.c is thus a decision weight,not a probability.c=p/(1+q)[2w/(1+w)].I have deducted one star for BH's failure to apply Ockham's razor to his model and another star for his apparent ignorance of basic philosophical literature.Both of these deficiencies could be easily remedied in a revised edition.A five star rating would then be merited.I recommend the purchase of this book to any reader who has the appropriate technical training in decision and optimization theory.

this is a very good vendor, and the condition of the book is great :D

Currently, books on project risk management are still in their infancy, and this book is no exception. The treatment is still inadequate in many areas such as market, financial, or contractual risks. Further, there is a tendency to claim a generic approach when it is clearly not possible; risks in different industries need to be managed differently. My advice is to read the specialized books in your area, such as construction contracts if you are in construction. Amazingly, risk allocation is written into contracts, and yet existing books on project risk management tend to neglect contracts. Perhaps the authors are unfamiliar with this area.