Business Systems Books

Really book for game theory and contract theory. The author does a really good job of explaining the theory with examples that are easy to understand.

Joel Watson has done a terrific job introducing game theory. Beware- game theory is not for the light hearted, this book does contain some very dense mathematical proofs etc. The hardest part of the book is understanding the mathematical proofs for the main ideas of game theory. Once the mathematical foundation has been layed down it is very easy to follow the main concepts such as nash equilibrium, bargaining solutions, etc. Watson writes in a very relaxed and informal fashion, which is very refreshing. If your professor requires this book for class you should not worry, this is one of the best books on the market.

Comment to the last review: This book is an excllent txbook, especially when the prof teaching this class is Joel Watson himself. Very interesting prof he is.
The book is very useful and easy to follow.

Excellent book defining BI best practices, how BI measures processes, BI for process improvement, defining what BI is, how to set up a BI strategy with real-life case studies.

I cannot tell you how many times I have referred to this book - it is dog-eared, post-it noted, and referred to many times in my daily life of working in Business Intelligence.

Cindi Howson explains what BI is, what agile is, what's worked well, what hasn't worked well, and there's a survey at the back of the book that I am anxious to use. For example, I have heard the term "agile BI" several times at trade shows but I never really understood it until I read this book.

This book is a must-read for those working in BI, managing BI, or those who need to strategize based on BI results. It is a fantastic book!

Cindi Howson's book is timely, relevant, insightful, thought provoking, and actionable. She constructively addresses the Yin and Yang perspecitives of IT Professionals vs. their Business User communities, and the fertile common ground where their successful Business Intelligence initiatives and value resides; providing current reference cases generated from her market surveys and company interviews.

Cindi Howson has impressed me as a thoughtful and knowledgeable professional who has contributed greatly to the BI field by living in the trenches, digging into the details, and teaching others about her experiences.

It is hard to find a comprehensive book on BI that is written without an impenetrable cloud of technical concepts. Ten years ago, successful BI depended on the expert execution of those technical concepts. However, BI has matured, increasing the importance of nontechnical factors for successful BI.

This book tracks this trend by clarifying the current success factors for successful BI projects. Oldies and goodies are covered, such as the necessity of executive support, data quality, and business-IT partnership. However, the real contribution lies in highlighting some of the new success factors, such as:

- Measuring Success: If you can not measure BI, you will not be successful. The book suggests numerous ways to measuring your BI effort.

- Role of Luck, Opportunity, Frustration and Threat: We hate to admit it, but BI projects are often successful (or not) for reasons beyond our control or even our imagination. Get over it! The book suggests ways of maximizing your success by making you aware of this dynamic.

- Agile Development: Do not build BI systems in the old traditional way. We all know this. But do we know a good alternative? The book outlines the Agile Manifesto to deliver early and continuous versions, embrace requirements changes, intensify person interactions, etc.

- Organizational Culture: Experienced BI professionals realize that some company cultures are so messed up that there is no way to have a successful BI project. Sad but true! This book suggests the essential cultural characteristics based on the research of Jim Collins.

I highly recommend this book to both BI professionals who have some experience and business executives who are new to BI. The old timers can refocus and sync with the new trends. And, the executives can focus on the real business issues, avoiding paralysis over technical details.

I just read System Accidents by Thomas A. Smith, and I was delighted! Finally, somebody got it right. It's the system within which the workers operate that accounts for 85% of all accidents. Beyond the obvious -- no open furnaces without railings or rules against drugs on the job -- managers need to follow his total-systems appoach if they want to permanently eliminate accidents at the least cost. If they follow Thomas' advice, they will increase productivity and morale while they're at it. I advise all managers to read this book. And do it soon, before you lose another dollar doing things inefficiently.

Dr. Gary Fellers
Management Consultant

Tom Smith offers a fresh solution to a stale problem...something to secure the future of American business. Should be required reading for all managers and a textbook for graduate-level learning at every University. Buy this book, read this book, know this book, and then start doing something different with your profound knowledge about safety management.

Tom Smith brings in book form the answers to solving workplace accident problems as the T.V. program, "Numb3rs" solves crimes. In this case, the crime is that most accident solutions blame the accidents on the behavior of the worker, and the accidents keep on happening. Yet, nobody have been sued for coming up with this failed thinking. Tom uses Dr.W.Edwards Deming thought process and Statistical Process Control problem solving methods to solve system problems, so that accident arn't repeated. Simple enough? Than why isn't the concept used? Too many have a stake in the otherwise, and this could put them out of business. Sound familiar? So what are you going to do about it. Apply these methods if you have the guts. Tom has, and now so can you! Bernard A. Sznaider is a retired Occupational Safety Consultant for a government agency, and have successfully applied these methods, introduced to him by the author.

This book is an outstanding resource for non-telcom professionals specifically business consumers of telcom products. I am in the telecom biz (customer service) and bought the book because my company provided absolutely no training and I have found it an invaluable resource. I highly recommend for any consumer of telecom services or for those of us just starting out working in the telecom biz who need a basic understanding of the telecom biz.

This is the guide to telecom I wish I had when I first started in the business. The very first "For Dummies" manual that I read cover to cover. Great for veteran Telecom expert as well as for a newbie in the business.

So where was this book when I started working for Enron Broadband??? I could have used it... Telecom For Dummies by Stephen P. Olejniczak.

Contents:
Part 1 - The ABCs of Telecom Service: A Buyer's Scoop on Telecom; Making (And Living with) Telecom Decisions; Getting Around the Telecom Neighborhood
Part 2 - Reviewing Telecom Products and Prices: Understanding Dedicated Service Requirements; Meeting Toll-Free Service, the Red-Headed Stepchild of Telecom; Getting the Non-Accountant's Guide to Your Phone Bill
Part 3 - Ordering and Setting Up Telecom Service: Ordering Regular Phone Lines and New Long-Distance Service; Ordering Dedicated Service; Ordering Toll-Free Service; Activating Your Dedicated Circuit and Toll-Free Numbers
Part 4 - Taking Care of Your Telecom System: Maintaining Your Telecom Services; Troubleshooting Switched Network Issues; Troubleshooting Your Dedicated Circuits
Part 5 - What's Hot (Or Just Geeky) in the Telecom World: Transferring Data, Not Just Voice Content; Riding The Internet Wave - VoIP
Part 6 - The Part Of Ten: Ten Acronyms and What They Really Mean; Ten Troublesome Telecom Traits to Avoid; Ten Places To Go for Hints and Help
Appendix - Making a Loopback Plug; Index

This is one of those Dummies titles that may sound a little strange at first, but quickly starts delivering the goods. The audience here is anyone who is responsible for maintaining the phone system in an organization. This could be a new technician just starting to learn the ropes, or a small business owner who needs something more than just one phone line to run their business. The author starts out with the basics of the technology and terminology, and he quickly demystifies many of the acronyms that are so common in this business. He then builds on that solid foundation to walk you through the process of determining your telecom needs and how you need to order them. And of course, when things go wrong (and they *will*), you'll have some great advice on how to troubleshoot things on your end, as well as what you'll need to know in order to help the phone company resolve things expeditiously.

Although I didn't deal directly with the network while at Enron Broadband, I built computer systems that helped people run said network. Knowing this information would have made my job infinitely easier, and I wish I had been able to have a book like this back then. I'm sure you can find all this information in other books, but I doubt it would be as clear and concise (as well as being fun to read). If you have any responsibilities for the phone system at work, this is the place to start reading...

Prof. Hank Pruden has done it again! His depth of Wyckoff's knowledge associated with his keen sense of behavioural science illustrated through the Pruden Model, has made this highly acclaimed book one of the nowadays indispensable elements of the investor's and trader's arsenal. This book not only describes the psychological aspects of trading but also the "nuts-and-bolts" of Wyckoff's trading method. Highly recommended for the trader at any level he/she would be, on his way to conquer the learning curve difficulties.

[...]

Hank Pruden's masterful book "The Three Skills of Top Trading" is a must-read for serious students of the art and science of trading. It would well serve the newcomer to the world of trading as well as an experienced trader. Whereas many trading gurus say "you must use stop-losses", Mr. Pruden gives you a three-legged system that creates the knowledge governing the use of a "stop". In other words, this book contains the "WHY" as well as the "WHAT" that will help users manage their trading effectively, at the buy and the sell ends of the trade.
Thank you Mr. Pruden, for providing me with a foundational book that has already helped me.

This is a gem of a book and well worth reading. It does an excellent job of describing Richard Wychoff's system, which is an incredibly powerful technique in the analysis of price movements, such as accumulation/distribution, supply/demand, and the topping/bottoming processes. Pruden also describes and charts specific events to look for as a stock moves from a base into it's rise, or from a top into it's fall. It's easy to look at charts now and match the patterns with Hank's checklists or the priceless figures in the book to know where in the price movement progression one is likely to be.

The book also talks at length about how to get one's mind right in order to be successful in the market. I'm convinced that many systems can work when executed by disciplined investors, while the same systems will fail when executed by the undisciplined investors. This is a great bonus in this book beyond the powerful Wychoff trading system.

I really like the simple nature of the point and figure chart to follow price movements, because it works. No need to overly complicate the system, like the Tom O'Brien's of the world try and do just to sell you on a $2500 trading class. In fact, I remember when Hank was interviewed by Tom on his radio show during the fall of 2007, and Hank was bullish (due to his simple point and figure chart) and Tom was bearish (due to his overly complicated "Timing the Trade" mumbo jumbo). Well, the next 5 to 10% move in the market was UP, which Hank had correctly predicted based on the classic point and figure methodology.

This book is in my top 3 investment books for 2007. Well done, Hank!

This book is for anyone who has a true interest in the history of automobiles and in strategic thinking on how to improve the industry. There is a generous review of the sales and service sector.

In Time for a Model Change, two industry veterans tell why the modern auto industry is in such sad shape. As the globe warms and oil is burned up, we need innovative cars that push the envelope with new technologies, such as plug-in hybrids and electrics.

Yet the carmakers struggle to stay afloat, with no money to spend on such a drastic model change. And no strategic plan to follow even if they had the money. So instead of innovation, we get a steady proliferation of the same old models, with minor variations, all of the carmakers putting out their "me too" offerings that drive up expenses, drive down sale prices, and drive the carmakers out of business.

Time for a Model Change suggests a solution. Unbundle the production of cars. Let the carmakers build to their strengths. Italian carmakers, for example, should not try to compete with their own vertically integrated line of cars. Instead, focus on car bodies, doing the styling that they can do better than others. And so on.

Reflecting their connection with The Economist magazine, the authors of Time for a Model Change make their case thoughtfully and carefully. The many graphs, diagrams, and pictures (black and white only) throughout the book add a great deal to a reader's understanding of the industry. This book, though quite sophisticated in its analysis, will not be too difficult for the general reader.

My only complaint about the book, if I even call it that, is the feeling of doom and gloom that pervades it. Things are not that bad. But there is no question that the "industry of industries" will be changing, one way or another. As related technologies continue to improve, someone is going to figure out how to make money in this huge industry.

This is an analysis of the world wide automobile industry by a pair of close observers who are outside the direct employment of the auto makers.

The auto industry is huge, it's been developing for a hundred. In addition there is a huge supplementary industry in the form of supplying oil, building highways, insuring, repairing, racing, and hundreds of other professions.

The problems forseen by the authors seem so obvious that you wonder why the automoile companies don't see it. Of course they probably do, but their senior management couldn't say anything that might affect their stock prices. If they did, they would get sued by everyone who lost money on their stock.

This is an excellent book on the automotive industry and in effect on our whole economy.

I have a bookshelf full of trading books and this one is one that will be used over and over again. The key to making money in the stock market is using a money management system that will protect you against big loses. The wins come along every once in a while , but when your wrong, (which for me is a lot) a system that can keep your losses small so you can stay in the game is critical. This book gives you straight forward, easy to understand advice on how to determine how much you should be risking based on your experience level and how to keep track of your successes and set backs. I provides you with examples of tracking forms and the how-tos for all of the advice. The book is simple, yet very detailed and to the point. Great Book!! I highly recommend it to experienced and novice traders alike. Thanks Bennett!!

This one's a brand new book to add to your collection of Ralph Vince and Nauzer Balsara. Difference, though, is that this book really simpllifies the essentials and makes it easy for even the beginner to understand the sometimes complex money management formulas that truly are essential to trading success. I've got the other books too -- but this is the one that helped me effectively and profitably implement the formulas to calculate what percent of risk to take on each of my trades so that I'm not risking too much (which has exposed me to risk of ruin in the past) and then again -- McDowell's formulas help me not risk too little so that I'm not maximizing my return. The formulas are all based on your performance statistics at any given moment (which will be different during drawdown VS a winning streak) and they are basic algebra -- so you don't need to be a mathematical expert to use them. The other really valuable tool that has helped me is the record keeping forms that come with the book. Now I'm caputuring the data I need on each transaction and my analysis gives me the answers I need.

Just got my book delivered from Amazon a couple of days ago -- two weeks early! Was at the LA Trader's EXPO last week and everyone was trying to buy this book but it wasn't out yet -- so I'm glad it's here early.

The book covers McDowell's philosophy on Money Management which encuorages you to always set a stop BEFORE you enter a trade. By doing that you can then determine your risk amount on each trade by adjusting your trade size to ensure no more than -- say -- 2% loss on any one trade - based on your entry and your initial stop.

Then based on your current payoff ratio and win ratio you can go to the risk-of-ruin tables and customize what your risk truly should be. Based on your current performance maybe you should be risking less than 2% or maybe more. Thing is you want to refer to the risk-of-ruin tables to find out what percent risk gives you a ZERO "probable" (not guranteed) chance of ruin. This subtle adjustment can make a difference on improving your payoff ratio. And there is a sample of a risk-of-ruin table in the book so you can see how it works.

The other tool in the book that I like is the record keeping forms that help track and calculate payoff ratio and win ratio. Anyway, this is a great money management book with lots of formulas and tools to help design your own system.

I like this book, because I don't like technical marketing books that want to make us believe that the consumer is an easy to manipulate object. We all know people act differently in reality after we have asked them so much in research. So why then act as if the research outcome was 'right'? Paul Postma tells marketeers (become human beings too!) how to dare look at the always changing unpredictable 'seaside' in stead of looking at the 'safe' but false thruth of the 'landside'.
Paul does this in a very pleasant style, combining a serious message with light, original thoughts that make us look into the mirror of our marketing 'professionalism'.

Paul Postma's authorship results in a rare combination of educative and entertaining literary work.
The concepts of the paradox of the beach and hypothalamus-limbic areas-cortex theory stay in memory long after reading the book.

Paul Postma has indeed crafted an excellent piece of text that can be equally enjoyed by academicians, industrial practitioners and also general readers who would like intellectual stimulation without losing humour and interest.

This novel customer-centric approach to management, at times touching neurological concepts, creates new insights in marketing and how to deal with customers successfully.

I'd like to positively recommend this book.

Atul Kulkarni

University of Illinois
At Urbana-Champaign.

This unconventional European marketing guru has made a breakthrough in marketing by relating consumer behaviour to the human neural system. Stunningly simple and effective.
EPIPHANY, CEO Karen Richardson, San Mateo Calif.

A important book which all the upcoming hotel owners in India should have in possesion.

Gives a great insight over how what goes where. If you're in the hotel and lodging industry, this is a must have reference for you.

this is a great tool for any new hotelier to have. very informative!

An excellent book that explores the myth of telecommunications policy. A problem in telecommunications policy is that the regulatory approaches have been sufficiently long lived that those who regulate today were not around when the regulatory policy was established. We have lived so long with regulatory approach that we have lost site of regulatory policy. As we today address, should a VoIP phone be regulated like a Verizon POTS phone, the answer is normally "Yes" because "like things should be regulated the same." This articulates a regulatory approach devoid of comprehension as to why a Verizon POTS phone was ever regulated in the first place. Milton Mueller takes us there and explores through his dissection of Universal Service what first brought about these policies, who sought them, and what gain they thought might be achieved through regulation. Today's universal service (98% of all americans have phones) is a grand achievement, but it is a far cry from what AT&T meant by "universal service" in 1908.

In this crisply written mix of history and clear theory, Mueller retells the history of early competition in telephony -- and of the role of regulation in making the AT&T monopoly. The book brings to life a completely forgotten period, where telephones were like computer operating systems today -- competing yet incompatible. Not every phone could be called from every phone, and this fact, Mueller convincingly argues, pushed competition in telephone penetration.

The book also is convincing in its account of the reconstruction of the meaning of the word "universal service" which was brought about, Mueller argues, by AT&T revisionism in the 1970s. The original meaning was simply that any phone would be able to call any phone; the modern meaning (that some service subsidizes other service) was a construction of a late monopoly trying to defend itself.

The book suggests wonderful (if under developed) parallels with the story of competition in modern operating systems. And it offers some important skepticism about the 1996 Telecommunications Act.

A fascinating account of telephone competition in the early 1900s, when the competing telephone systems did not connect. Mueller's analysis of the experience of a fragmented telecommunications infrastructure--and the decision to put an end to it in the name of "universal service"--has important implications for Internet and telecom development today. John Crook