economics-textbook

As a graduate student in accounting, I've found this book to be the most difficult and the most frustrating to read amongst my collection. This book is certainly not helpful to visual learners as there is mostly very dull text explanation of the subject material. Also, the few in-chapter examples worked out are very difficult to decipher and are poorly explained, so you're left on your own to learn how to do the end of chapter problems.

I have never come across a texbook that makes consolidations easy----until now! It seems that most advanced accounting texts are written by Ph.D's to impress other Ph.D's. This one is different. It actually explains in a concise manner all important aspects of advanced accounting in a way that is easy to understand and apply. Unfortunately, it was written in 1995 and obviously doesn't contain some of the more recent exposure drafts on consolidations and derivative accounting for foreign exchange forward contracts.

The title does not accurately describe this book. There is absolutely no substantial discussion around post-merger integration. I must have been confused by the "After the Merger" title, there is limited value to this book if you are looking for strategies of how to handle merger integration, and little value for other purposes as well. The book describes generalities, for example: it takes the authors approximately 15 pages to relate that mergers should not be focused on cost cutting "efficiency synergies", rather they should be focused on "Growth Synergies". If you already have a basic understanding of merger integration concepts, this book is a waste of your time.

The word "merger" is one apt to strike fear in the hearts of any employee of a successful company in this era of globalization. No matter in what market you are or the size your company has, it is a possible target (or "source") for a future merger. As it is mentioned in the introduction of this book: any employee will experience at least one merger during his/her working life!

But, being such an important move, why are only 42% of the mergers successful? Why are they so focused on "fit" and "synergy" instead of vision and growth? Why have 86% of the companies failed in communicating their new alliance sufficiently? Why do only 32% of merging companies actively pursue risk management?

Having so many questions in mind, we should ask at least another one: What about the future?

The 3 authors, all top executives of A.T.Kearney with extensive experience in Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A), will not give the reader all the answers but at least show the way. They develop that subject focusing on 7 simple, but effective, rules that should help you steer through a merger a successful integration: Vision, Leadership, Growth, Early Wins, Cultural Differences, Communication and Risk Management. After placing the reader in a hypothetical situation related to each rule, the authors briefly explain it, point some facts they confronted in the A.T.Kearney Global PMI (Post-Merger Integration) Survey and give many examples (more than 40) involving well-known companies which had both successful and unsuccessful attempts in mergers, such as Novartis, Aventis and Exxon Mobil. These examples bring the subject into focus and help the reader understand how the particular rule being explored impacts the post-merger integration. At the end of each chapter, the authors state the rule and give the reader some practical suggestions on how to apply each rule to their own situation.

This book presents a powerful blueprint on how post-merger integration should be done. The seven rules presented confirmed how critical the so called Triangle of Merger Success (Get Buy-in, Provide Orientation and Manage Expectation) is during the post-merger integration process.

I strongly recommend this book to all professionals, especially those who are facing a merger, and top managers, who are/would be responsible for a present/future post-merger integration. It is an easy-to-read book, interesting and the case studies are clear and do not detract from the main thrust of the book.

In my humble opinion: Despite the claim about being #1 (actually, the Capstone game at ... is far more popular as well as more complete), this product is from the technological dark ages. From what I can see, it was designed as a DOS-based, off-line product, that has been shoehorned onto the Internet, and shows it. I believe the teacher training is minimal; the technical support is deficient; and the product itself lacks the sophistication one would expect from a university text.

I have used The Business Strategy Game (BSG) for almost ten years and have seen its technical aspects improve in very significant ways. As far as I am concerned, BSG is quite good technically. The main reason for using this game is to teach strategy, not computer gamesmanship. BSG serves that purpose very well. It is complex in terms of the number and types of decisions to be made, but has a simple product (athletic shoes) that students can relate to and understand. (I have evaluated Capstone and believe that it is unnecessarily complex for my needs.) I use BSG as a supplement to an undergraduate Strategic Management course, so I want something that teaches strategy and the implications of one's strategic decisions, without having too much complexity that can get in the way. BSG does that very well. I think it deserves its position as the #1 strategy computer simulation.

In his introduction, Mr.Font identifies Fernando Henrique Cardoso as a "World class intellectual" and hails his success in stabilizing the Brazillian economy. He then repeats the word 'intellectual' no less than nineteen times in the first five pages. This reminded me of Arthur C. Clarke author of "2001, A Space Odysey" whose definition of an intellectual is "Someone who has been educated beyond his or her intelligence." As for the stability of the Brazillian economy, more later.

The problem with so-called intellectuals in Brazil is that Georg Hegel(1770-1831) of the police-state philosophy and and Karl Marx(1818-1883) economic determinism are the end of history and there is nothing else worth considering. On page 75 Cardoso says "A study of the history of ideas in the twentieth century would show that each generation of critical intellectuals seeks to revive Marxism with anew breath of life. The crust of so-called "vulgar Marxism" is so recurring that it must have something to do with Marxism itself." Perhaps because Cardoso is a former teacher, and recalls the old axiom of "publish or perish", he is prone to taking a clear, concise proposition and expanding it into a chapter obfuscated with dialectic garbage.

Cardoso writes a great deal about democracy and democratization. The reader must recognise that his definitions are much different from ours, particularly "radicalized democracy". Cardoso governs by Medidas Provisorias which require legislative approval (similar to our Executive Orders). When he gets a rubber stamp approval he hails this as democracy in action. If the approval is not forthcoming, he has other less complimentary words. His knee-jerk approach to issuing MPs frequently requires repeated revisions before he gets them right. In the last seven years he has issued 237 MPs requiring 4,032 reeditions.

Cardoso is a friend of Anthony Giddens of the London School of Economics, proponent of what is called "The Third Way". The Third way is not a creation of Giddens. It originated in Germany under Adolph Hitler's National Socialist party. When ask why he did not nationalize industry, Hitler replied "I don't need to, the owners will do what I tell them to do." Cardoso has privatized a great deal of what was government owned industry but for different reasons. Brazil does not have a free market economy but a central planned economy keyed to providing maximum employment. They do not have any understanding or concern for market demand. If an industry such as steel or sugar produces more than the market needs, they look for a wy to dump the excess at below cost. The United States and Canada have both passed antidumping laws which Cardoso calls unfair.

When the Real Plan was introduced on Friday, 1 July 1994, 1 Real equaled 1 US Dollar. On Monday, 4 July 1994 when people went to exchange their money, the value of the Real had been inflated to US$1.05. They were encouraged to exchange their 'weak' dollars for 'strong' Reals. Few people realized that 4 July was American holiday and all US banks and financial institutions were closed. In a short time the value of the Real was inflated to US$1.20. The Cardoso goverment went on a borrow and spend for about three years until it could not borrow any more and had to be bailed out by the IMF to the tune of about 40 billion dollars. Today the Real is only worth about 40 US cents, the public debit is about forty percent of the gross domestic product, electricity is rationed, and Brazil is back at the IMF looking for another 19 billion to tide it over till Cardoso leaves office. What course has he charted for himself, I wonder.

This is an excellent reading to better understand the intellectual trajectory of Fernando Henrique Cardoso, the renowned Latin American scholar turned politician and currently Brazil's President. Through a well thought-out chronological selection of Cardoso's texts by the book's editor Mauricio Font, the reader is able to follow the evolution of Cardoso's views on "dependency," politics and democracy, social organization, development and globalization. As Professor Robert Alexander concludes in his Choice review of November 1, 2001, this book "should be of particular interest to those interested in globalization and its impact on developing nations."

I used this book for my Management class and I found that most of the information is redundant, vague, and frankly, boring. The book is terribly overpriced for the information of little value. I don't recommend this book for management courses.

An excellent approach to management studies, this is a clear guide to manage under uncertainty based on core knowledge of the management history and new issues such as diversity, political issues, globalization and many others that will fulfill the basic study of Management for a graduate level.

I personally like the way the author introduces the reader onto the field of business and clarifies many of the concepts surrounded them with the most characteristic ingredient on today's world: "Change".

This title and its content has inspired me to continue with the MBA program I started.

The book would be good if it was meant to be used on its own. But seeing it is sold with a data disk and the simulation requires the data disk. Maybe it would be wise to include a data disk that worked. Had I known this I would never have spent the money I did on the book.

If your going to Fairleigh Dickinson University and your taking up Medical Coding and Billing you will need this book

In all honesty, this book has got to be the single most painfully boring book that I read during the entirety of the coursework that I undertook to earn my history degree. Some historians make better storytellers than others, but this book proves nothing if not that economists make mindnumbingly insipid authors. Granted, there may be some economic historians who can spin more interesting prose - but after finishing this book, I'm not inclined to seek them out.

Mr. Davis does a nice job on giving us the conditions that give rise to the Atlantic Economies. With a nation by nation breakdown it is well composed and easy to follow, but may tell you more about sheep and wool than you thought was important. My criticism as stated in the title is that the Atlantic economies were not the only game in town, and it would be nice to have a companion book on what was happening in the Med, and in the Indian Ocean.

type with one hand by Richardson, Nina, Richardson 199

This book helped me to keep one hand free while I browsed the web with the other hand. My favourite technique is the combined use of the right hand on the mouse and keyboard, leaving the left hand free. Especially important is the use of the Shift and Control keys with one hand and without having to look away from the monitor.

I would not rate this text over average. There is little supplementary material for instructors (no test bank , no teaching aids, etc.) Also, the writing is not always clear and to the point. The last half of the text is, as far as I can tell, nothing more than in intermediate text without examples and illustrations (paragraph after paragraph of discussion - - - on and on). Frankly, I think an intermediate text is better. On the positive side, the text goes into great detail on the history of accounting and how we got to where we are today. Also, the summaries at the end of each chapter are good. Sometimes, I had to read the summaries to find out what the authors were trying to say in the related chapter. That's because, to me, some of the text went off on tangents without a clear reason. However, that may be due to my limitation in understanding. In summary, in my opinion, the strongest attribute of this text is that it gives a good (I think) history of the developement of accounting theory. Starting with about chapter 10 or 11, I'd prefer to use an intermediate text. However, this is only my opinion.

The content is practical, useful with many case study