economics-times

The Book is written in an easy and simple style that takes the reader through the different aspects of training logically and smoothly.

An additional example of dated material would be the information she writes about the Small Business Administration. At the time the book was written, the data was very useful. Recent changes to SBA programs render the author's information historical, rather than helpful.

Basic small business concepts, such as time management and business plan development are still relevant.

Overall, the book needs a revised edition, or it should not be sold by Amazon.

Now that I wrote about the negative (I normally don't do things in this order, but it just came to me), on to the good things:
-The book addresses to a sufficient extent many of the issues (time and stress-wise, in terms of ethical conflicts, etc.) that stem out of starting a consulting practice beside your full-time job. This is where the CORE STRENGTH of the book lies. I've not been able to find any other titles that go into this topic so effectively... in fact, I've not found any other books on the topic at all. Most of the other consulting books I've checked out simply deal with consulting, considering it full-time dedication deal.
-The author -the President of her own HR Consultancy- also volunteers some good (though far from unique or comprehensive) advice on putting together a pricing scheme for your services, finding sources of financing for your outlet, starting your office at home, marketing your services, and even heads up into critical tax/legal considerations to take into account.

Other than the outdated material in a few parts where references are cited, and the lack of online information to support the book, I liked her book. All in all, it is not a recipe book, but a reference and a rather good one, most specifically useful to those in the process of considering a consulting business on the side, and even for those who are already doing it, in order to assist with setting things up that you might not have thought of up to this point.

Note: unless she went out of business or did a poor job at marketing her services online, it's impossible to find any other reference to her in Google besides this book, whatever that implies... :\

Steve Jones is the person who gives presentation. I believe it is a recorded live process. What I liked about this alot is it covered all of the Franklin Covey time management principles in a very focussed manner (hence the title...??).

This CD series serves as an excellent refresher or introduction to the principles of managing your time. They introduce the time quadrants and explain in pretty good detail how to use paper, PDA or computer planners to manage your time. The sessions never bog down in any one area and they move from topic to topic at just about the right pace.

Obviously this CD set has some ties to the services and courses offered by Franklin Covey. They'd love it if you registered for the full course or bought a $200 planner/binder. However the course on tape/CD will standalone quite well. The speaker is clear and has a good delivery. I enjoyed this and found the time passed quickly (which doesn't always happen) as I was listening. Buy this - you won't be sorry!

This program updated Frankin Covey's previous What Matters Most program, and has added a lot of additional perspectives on integrating PDA, Window Outlook, and Paper-based planning tools.

This program has its value. The previous 2 comments in this customer review have not provided a fair, in-depth look at this new program. I almost missed buying/owning this new, interesting CD set, if I had totally bought into the last two comments, which could be quite one-sided--biased!

The book breaks down sports in to 5 catagories, MLB, NBA, NHL, NFL, and NCAA. Sheehan examines each sport seperately and in the context of sports in general. The section on NCAA; treating it as if it were a for profit sports league, is particularly interesting for people dealing with the concept of amatureism in college sports.

This book is not for people w/o a background in economics, but by the same token you don't need a background in sports to get use out of this book.

Keeping Score takes a much more empirical look at the economics of sports than other books. There is very little economic theory discussed. Unfortunately, because data is not always publicly available, Sheehan is often forced to make estimates. This makes some of his conclusions a little less convincing than they could be. However, perhaps partly because I had done other reading, I do believe that most of Sheehan's conclusions are economically sound.

Sheehan begins by examining the financial health of each of the four major US sports leagues based on available numbers from 1990-1994. He finds that, while there are some franchises in trouble, in general an investment in a pro sports franchise in any sport is significantly better than investing in small company stocks.

Sheehan next discusses the issue of "competitive balance". While other authors have measured competitive balance by calculating the spread of win/loss records and concentration of league championships, Sheehan takes a different approach. He attempts to determine correlation and causation relationships between win/loss percentages, city market size, payrolls, and revenue. His strongest conclusion is that winning increases a team's revenue. Sheehan also discusses league-imposed player restrictions such as the reserve clause and salary caps, concluding that these have little effect on competitive balance but instead greatly increase the owners' profits.

Perhaps the most novel ideas in the book deal with revenue sharing. The typical owner's conflict of winning vs. profits is discussed, including its effect on league competitiveness. Sheehan advocates a two-part proposal to revenue sharing: 1) excess revenues of the most financially successful teams are taxed and redistributed to needy teams, and 2) to prevent the owners of lower-tier teams from simply pocketing their subsidies, a tax is placed on excessive losing, thereby adding financial incentive to attempt to field a winning team. The exact levels of these taxes are explained in great detail.

Keeping Score concludes with a brief look at big-time college football and basketball programs and examines possible financial implications of paying student-athletes. Sheehan finds that while many college programs are quite profitable, the majority of them would not likely be able to pay competitive salaries to student-athletes. His recommendation is that athletic scholarships be tied to graduations rates, thus giving athletic directors and coaches real incentives to see that their students are successful in the classroom as well as on the playing field.

Overall, Keeping Score is a fascinating empirical look at the economics of sports in the early 1990s. Because there is relatively little discussion of economic theory or historical events, this makes it a much easier read than the more comprehensive Pay Dirt, the so-called "bible of sports economics" by Quirk and Fort. Keeping Score often reads more like an essay than a text book. Yet Sheehan arrives at many of the same conclusions that Quirk and Fort do, even though they take somewhat different approaches to get there. I highly recommend both Keeping Score and Pay Dirt, as they complement each other well.

This book is thoughtful and well-organized, just as you might hope it would be since it teaches critical thinking. It is also well-written and well-illustrated, featuring numerous diagrams that illuminate better ways of thinking. Mitroff includes examples of well-known companies which have made major mistakes that cost millions of dollars because they failed to recognize the right problem in time. He also gives examples of companies that succeeded through improved critical thinking and problem identification. We [...] recommend this interesting book to all business problem-solvers.

Well written, with real life experience behind it. For a business based book, fun to read.