Managerial-decisions

Certainly, one of the better books in the Portable MBA series. Each chapter offer useful insights applicable to understanding the competitive environment and the factors that influence that environment. The book was easy to comprehend for the non-economist.

I thought this was a very good book. It was easy to read, relevant and included applications of economics, some of which have already helped me in the stock market. It included examples and numerical data/graphs, where necessary. Note that besides basic college and HS courses (years ago), I have no background in economics; someone with a more extensive background in economics may have thought differently of this book, as this is definitely an intro. to economics. My only complaint is the book could have been longer, as I've noticed most of the other books in the "Portable MBA" series are significantly longer.

We start with the simple conception that an organizational decision is the execution of a choice made in terms of objectives from among a set of alternatives on the basis of available information. This leads to the examination of how orgnizational objectives are formed, how strategies are evolved, and how decisions are reached within those strategies." (Pg 19)

Major subtheories for a behavioral theory of the firm: theories of organizational goals, org expectations, org choice and org. control.

Conception of organization: "It is a coalition of individuals, some of them organized into subcoalitions."... " any theory of organizational goals must deal succesfully with the obvious potential for internal goal conflict inherent in a colalition of diverse individuals and groups" (Pg 27)

The goal formation process for a coalition:
1.- bargaining process by which the composition and general terms of the coalition are fixed
2.- the internal organizational proceses of control by which objectives are stabilized and elaborated
3.- the proecess of adjustement to esperience by which coalition agreements are altered in responseto environmental changes.

" We have argued that the goals of a business firm are a series of more or less independent constraints imposed on the organization through a process of bargaining among potential coalition members and elaborated over time in response to short time pressures. Goals arise in such a form because the firm is, in fact, a coalition of participants with disparate demands, changing foci of attention, and limited ability to attend to all organization problems simultaneously" (pg 43)

Kardes' book is by far the best consumer behavior book on the market. Business success is ultimately determined by the decisions of consumers. Accordingly, it is essential for managers to be well grounded in the principles of consumer behavior and decision making. No other book comes close at providing readers with knowledge of CB that can be easily and immediately applied to improve business function. It should be required reading for all MBA students.

Cornerstones of Decision Making provides an excellent perspective and grasp of the conceptual, technical, and practical aspects of enterprise activity-based management (ABM) and activity-based costing (ABC). It emphasizes the ultimate aim of enterprise-wide ABM systems-helping and improving the collective decision making throughout an organization. The generalizations regarding ABM are made practical by using 14 specific case studies of implementations of ABM systems. These studies extend far beyond manufacturing; they include service, not-for-profit, and government organizations. Examples are Blue Cross, Blue Shield, DHL, GTE Supply, and CinCFleet. Many cases span not only several continents but also industry segments and market size. Some organizations are trying to skip pilot projects and move directly to full enterprise-wide rollouts of ABM. Case examples includes American Seating and John Deere Health Care, Inc. The cases include the reports and reaction of the ABM Team members and key organization executives who have valuable implementation experiences to share. A highlight of the book is the Lessons Learned section that ends each case. Each lesson provides a brief generalization that ties directly to the individual case. Of course, there are several lessons that permeate nearly all the cases. Examples include the importance of full-time cross sectional teams, training, patience, and persistence. Above all, as the book's title implies, never lose sight of your objectives. These objectives should focus on improving collective decision making by operating managers. I strongly recommend this book for anybody who wants up-to-date knowledge about both the concepts and practices of enterprise-wide ABM. Its cases vividly illustrate the problems and solutions of how to implement ABM systems that improve collective decision making.

I had Dr. Sauter as a professor and this book by far is the best DSS book around. It is very easy to understand with a lot of graphical information on Decision Support Systems. Very highly recommended if you are wanting to learn Support Systems.

Anybody looking for an easy to read book about game theory, don't search no more, this is the one. It covers all the main subjects of game theory in a very simple way, not sacrificing its technical qualities. It is richly filled with real world examples and all mathematical questions are covered in a step-by-step way. This should be the first text to anyone seriously thinking of learning Game Theory

I have used it for my EMBA studies. Consistent, thoughtful, well laid down and clearly structured. Helpful dedicated website. A lot of review problems, some with full answers.

Dr. Hesse unlocks the firepower of Excel for Quantitative Analysis purposes. Using combinations of functions and functionality, he shows you how to perform decision analysis, linear programming and a host of other advanced business decision tools using the same simple spreadsheet platform that most people use for simple addition. True, it may not be the EASIEST read in the world, but using Dr. Hesse's methods could save you from purchasing dedicated analysis software that you may not need. DEFINITELY worth a look...

This is a superior volume on the workings of linear programming.
The author provides ample illustrations of how to diagram
a linear programming solution, as well as solutions through the
simplex method. There is an exhaustive set of advanced operations
research methods; namely:
o linear models, algebra and the geometry of these models
o the simplex method, sensitivity training and duality
o network models, network algorithms, dynamic models
o deterministic inventory scheduling
o integer programming, the nonlinear objective function
o advanced nonlinear programming
o probabilistic inventory models
o waiting lines and simulation, computer simulation
o advanced queuing and network algorithms

This text shows how to build and implement an advanced
operations research model. The author emphasizes the design
of models because linear programming software can be used
to solve these problems once structured by the user(s).
This book presumes some knowledge of calculus, linear algebra
and probability/statistical inference. Operations Research
models are useful for many industrial engineering applications.

This book is excellent book for explainning multiple regression analysis in social/political science. The author is trying to make it less difficult. This book is recommendable to intermediate researcers.