Risk: The New Management Imperative in Finance

Book Description

Risk is everywhere in finance -- there's no escaping it.

Changes in the global markets have raised the stakes for financial professionals, forcing them to adapt to newer and more relevant methods for assessing and managing their risks. Forward-looking finance professionals will find this logical guide easy to follow and refreshingly jargon-free, a breath of fresh air in a finance world that's routinely clouded over with unnecessary complexity.

Risk expert James Gleason bypasses the mathematics to present a down-to-earth, practical look at important new risk management tools and their uses. He draws upon recent market events and real company examples such as Enron and The Bank of Montreal to illustrate how financial risk management is used and misused.

State-of-the-art financial risk management techniques and capabilities have evolved to be uniformly applicable across all financial service firms. But not all firms have been able to implement them. Gleason demonstrates how an improved understanding of risk provides a new paradigm for management. His exploration covers the full spectrum of financial risks that affects all players and offers practical solutions for overcoming typical challenges.

Customer Reviews:

Packed With Knowledge!.......2001-02-16

Technological advances and the development of innovative financial instruments have given finance pros the ability to measure and control risks that in past generations were impossible even to isolate and identify. The limits and dangers of this new capacity have already been displayed in several financial crises in the late 1990s, in which highly touted risk management tools fell short of expectations, costing the firms that relied on them billions of dollars. Against this backdrop, James T. Gleason's lucid dissection of the evolution and potential of risk management is an invaluable resource. Gleason lays out how current risk management practice came to be, identifies types of risk and the tools that are being used to control them, and lays out a framework for implementing global risk management strategies. Though much of the writing presupposes a basic knowledge of finance, we at getAbstract.com recommend Risk to experts, who will benefit from the book's historic perspective, and lay people, who will be enlightened to one of the most important concepts of the 21st century economy.

RISK: The New Management Imperative.......2001-01-19

You will notice that the final two words of the books title, "in Finance", is missing from the title of this review. This is NOT an oversight. Simply put, this is a must read for managers and executives primarily in financial services but applicable to any industry.

Mr. Gleason's writing is clear and unburdened by mathematical formulas and symbols. His presentation and explanation of concepts, models and techniques is easily understood by even the most unsophisticated reader in finance without appearing "elementary" to the most sophisticated.

Others have written longer reviews, some of which detail the contents. I concur with each one of these and highly recommend this book as a "Must Read".

Global risk management rewards and challenges........2000-09-20

Mr. Gleason explains, without using "Greek letters and mathematical formulas, how risk management works" and shows why it has become imperative for financial services firms to establish global risk management processes, which "allow firms to know, control, and accurately charge for the financial risks they are taking."

After a brief overview of the full spectrum of financial and nonfinancial risks, two major sections of the book are dedicated to market and credit risk, how they differ and what they share. Market risk management is examined along product lines, commodities, currencies, fixed-income markets, equities, by describing the drivers of price and volatility as well as available hedging tools. The discussion of credit risk outlines, at first, the challenges of finding measurement tools to accurately assess credit risk, and then describes credit risk management techniques in the trading and traditional lending markets. In trading, the trend has been towards managing credit risk as settlement and pre-settlement risk. The advantages and disadvantages of using Monte Carlo simulations to measure pre-settlement exposure on a global basis are examined. Mr. Gleason then suggests to replace the current practice of trading limits with charging traders for credit. This requires analytical tools to quantify the credit cost of a deal. The section on traditional lending describes how this business is being revolutionized by new analytical tools that measure default probabilities and default correlations, loan securitization and the swapping of credit exposure, and the shift, for banks, from being credit investors to becoming credit intermediaries.

Mr. Gleason then describes the various portfolio measures of risk that have emerged in the 1990s and points out the work that remains to be done: to develop tools to "measure risk from extreme market moves and illiquid markets." Finally, the author describes how operational and organizational issues, with data being the biggest problem, will make the transformation to global risk management processes challenging. The discussion ends with an overview of prerequisites for success and pitfalls to avoid.

The book provides a concise and clearly written overview of and/or introduction to global financial risk management challenges and solution options. As such, it will be particularly useful to those non-risk management professionals who are being asked to participate in the establishment of global risk management processes Mr. Gleason's experience as a risk management consultant can be sensed throughout the book, his enthusiasm for the subject becomes particularly palpable and contagious in the final sections.

The new management imperative in finance by James T. Gleason.......2000-05-28

The author provides an excellent overview of the development of risk management products and best practices since the early 1980s. The book also covers the latest developments taking place in counterparty risk measurement and the move beyond relying on value-at-risk models only towards 'stress testing'. In the final chapters of the book, the author provides a roadmap for developing an enterprise wide risk management framework and some of the pitfalls that may be encountered in its implementation. The book is clearly written by someone with practical experience of the subject matter and, unlike many other books in the field, explains the issues without reverting to complex mathematics and statistics.

Book Description

Launching and managing a successful e-learning project is much easier when you use the proven steps and strategies in this practical guide. Learn how to avoid technical issues that can bring an e-learning project to a halt. Includes hands-on exercises and worksheets.

Customer Reviews:

Project Managing E-Learning.......2002-11-27

This book gets five stars for providing e-learning leaders a first class project management guide. Bill uses his years of IT project management experience to provide readers with solid skills and know-how to better manage risk, deadlines, roles, client satisfaction, and learning. As a project manager of both corporate and academic e-learning, I see the need for a commitment to this discipline on a daily basis..... My favorite chapter is number 10. In this chapter he details what to document in advance in a Statement of Work. This book is worth twice the price if it helps your next project be more successful! Jon Aleckson, CEO,...

Ensino à Distância.......2002-10-28

É um livro que abarca os aspectos básicos de como desenvolver um Site para Ensino à Distância.

Project Managing E-Learning: A Handbook for Successful Design, Delivery and Management

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Project Managing E-Learning: A Handbook for Successful Design, Delivery and Management
McVay Lynch/Roe
Manufacturer: Routledge
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Human Resources & Personnel Management | Industries & Professions | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Management | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Project Management | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Vocational Guidance | Job Hunting & Careers | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0415772192

Book Description

Project Managing E-learning provides an essential framework, based on the globally accepted IPECC model, for planning, designing, delivering, managing and evaluating e-learning projects successfully. It focuses on practical, easy-to-understand methods and offers applications of project management principles in the real world. Illustrated by case studies of projects undertaken in business and academia it provides a step-by-step guide and highlights where projects typically fail.

Each chapter begins with a definition and conceptualisation of the process, provides examples of how the process steps may vary dependent on organization or project size and discusses the typical problems organisations face when performing steps in the project management process.

Covering all of the essentials as well as cutting-edge technology, it guides designers and managers through all stages of implementing and managing a project. Selected themes include:

using focus groups
gaining sponsors
risk management
pedagogical considerations
testing
quality control
how to know when trouble is imminent
PM software systems
podcasting.

The practical framework and sound advice offered in Project Managing E-learning is essential reading for all those who want to successfully implement and manage high quality e-learning in both academic and corporate training settings on time and to budget.

Book Description

Based on case files, this study explores the social significance of the traditional Chinese legal system, and investigates how people utilized the courts during the course of criminal and civil disputes. The author emphasizes the ways in which law shaped social and economic change and how in turn the legal code and court system were adapted to local realities.

Book Description

This upper-division textbook describes the composition and evolution of material objects in the universe. The survey begins with a discussion of terrestrial materials and ends with the composition of quasars and distant galaxies. There are two main themes: chemical processes responsible for the abundances we observe, and nuclear processes in which the chemical elements originate. The author presents a total pedagogic synthesis of the subject, building on the basic information in the first chapters to lead into a fuller explanation of the composition of the planets and stellar and primordial nucleosynthesis. The later chapters treat the analytical methods of stellar and nebular spectra, and move on to the composition of stars and galaxies. The book is fully referenced and includes problem sets for the student.

Customer Reviews:

The best science book I have ever bought!.......1999-08-17

I'll be brief. This is a book written by an astronomer who developed an interest in geology. It explains all about how astronomy, physics, chemistry and geology interact and why there should be interdisciplinary action on these subjects. If you are an astronomer with only a rudimentary understanding of geology and want to know how data from meteorites etc affect your work - it's superb. Likewise, if you are a chemist or a geologist and want to know about the relevence of your work in space studies - take a look. It's also remarkably cheap for a science book - so buy it now.

Chemistry of the Solar System: An Elementary Introduction to Cosmochemistry

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Chemistry of the Solar System: An Elementary Introduction to Cosmochemistry
Hans Eduard Suess
Manufacturer: John Wiley & Sons
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Astronomy | Astronomy | Science | Subjects | Books

Cosmology | Astronomy | Science | Subjects | Books

Solar System | Astronomy | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Science | Subjects | Books

Introduction to High-Energy Astrophysics

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Introduction to High-Energy Astrophysics
Stephan Rosswog , and Marcus Bruggen
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Astronomy | Astronomy | Science | Subjects | Books

Astrophysics & Space Science | Astronomy | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Science | Subjects | Books

Book Description

High-energy astrophysics covers cosmic phenomena that occur under the most extreme physical conditions. It explores the most violent events in the Universe: the explosion of stars, matter falling into black holes, and gamma-ray bursts - the most luminous explosions since the Big Bang. Driven by a wealth of new observations, the last decade has seen a large leap forward in our understanding of these phenomena. Exploring modern topics of high-energy astrophysics, such as supernovae, neutron stars, compact binary systems, gamma-ray bursts, and active galactic nuclei, this textbook is ideal for undergraduate students in high-energy astrophysics. It is a self-supporting, timely overview of this exciting field of research. Assuming a familiarity with basic physics, it introduces all other concepts, such as gas dynamics or radiation processes, in an instructive way. An extended appendix gives an overview of some of the most important high-energy astrophysics instruments, and each chapter ends with exercises.

Book Description

This book is intended as a chemistry text for a one-semester course on inorganic reaction mechanisms at the advanced undergraduate or graduate level. Introductory chapters concentrate on the collection and interpretation of kinetic data. The chapter on substitution reactions begins with the
Langford and Gray classification system and focuses on a sensible approach to mechanistic discussions. Current experimental and theoretical information on solvent exchange reactions is emphasized for substitution on labile systems. Standard stereochemical change processes are discussed, along with a
simplified approach to symmetry rules for fluxional organometallic systems. The area of organometallic reactions attempts to bring together and generalize the current work on a variety of common reactions in this area, including C-H activation and a selection of catalytic processes. Electron
transfer reactions are discussed in terms of current modifications of Marcus' theory and ideas about bridging ligand effects, including intravalence electron transfer. In inorganic photochemistry, the general factors affecting quantum yields are discussed, with applications to cobalt (III), chromium
(III) and rhodium (III) systems, along with flash photolysis and matrix isolation studies in organometallic photochemistry. Selected bioinorganic systems are discussed in detail. The text includes over 500 references to original literature through 1990, and sample problems for each chapter.

Reaction Mechanisms of Inorganic and Organometallic Systems

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Reaction Mechanisms of Inorganic and Organometallic Systems
Robert B. Jordan
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OK95GQ

Average customer rating:

Reaction Mechanisms of Inorganic and Organometallic Systems
Robert B. Jordan
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OKNMQA

Book Description

When the Panama land bridge between North and South America formed three million years ago, plants and animals surged back and forth in the Great American Biotic Interchange, an evolutionary cross-fertilization that has created one of the world's richest and most fascinating environments. The Monkey's Bridge is the story of Central America's role as an evolutionary link between continents. This critically acclaimed exploration combines vivid travel writing, reflections on landscape and culture, and meditations on the ecosystems unique to this region.

Customer Reviews:

A great start to understanding the Central American tropics.......1998-04-08

Reviewed for The Wilderness Record, publication of the California Wilderness Coalition.

Most California environmentalists are familiar with the works of David Rains Wallace, having read his award-winning The Klamath Knot, the superb natural history of the greater Siskiyou region, or The Turquoise Dragon, an enchanting eco-thriller that takes the reader from the Bay Area to the Trinity Alps and Kalmiopsis wilderness areas. If you enjoyed these or a dozen other of his books, you will appreciate The Monkey's Bridge.

Wallace's latest natural history treatise looks at the region that linked North and South America some three million years ago and the amazing mix of flora and fauna that surged back and forth across this land bridge. His knack for bringing an region to life makes it a delight to learn about hundreds of species, volcanoes, plate tectonics, and gomphotheres.

But Wallace tells more of the story than just the natural history. He begins with the adventurers who sailed from Europe and conquered some, but definitely not all of the native peoples of Central America. Next are those trying to find a shortcut from the Alantic to the Pacific, including the French attempt to build a canal at a cost of an estimated 22,000 lives. He then brings in the naturalists, from those with the first explorers to Charles Darwin and Alfred Russell Wallace.

Much of the story is embedded in geology. The fossil record in North and South America led evolutionists to recognize the importance of this land bridge, and the revolutionary theory of plate tectonics gave us the mechanism to explain how the bridge formed.

But what really brings this book alive is that Wallace has been there, from his first three-month journey in 1971, a return in 1987 for a "gaudy bird-watching trip," and repeat visits during the last decade. He climbs the volcanoes, claws through the dense rain forests, and snorkels the coral reefs. "Big marine toads plopped in and out, acorn woodpeckers called 'Kraaaa! Kraaa' in the pines, and a flock of parakeets flew shrieking overhead," he colorfully writes.

As you surely imagine, this is not a totally happy tale. Wallace discusses the "island ecology" theories of habitat fragmentation and loss of species. He mentions the recent extinction of the flightless, grebe-like poc and the golden toad and recounts the decline of the harpy eagle. But he also describes efforts to reverse this loss of habitat through programs like Paseo Pantera ("the path of the panther") that is a major element of The Wildlands Project's strategy to protect the biodiversity of the North American continent.

Wallace clearly is in awe of the complexity and diversity of the Central American rain forest. "Sometimes I think the human language, or simply human mentality, hasn't evolved yet to the point where tropical rain forest is comprehensible or describable," he writes.

But with The Monkey's Bridge, Wallace has made a great start.

Book Description

The book is the first full-size Encyclopedia which simultaneously covers such well-established and modern subjects as quantum field theory, supersymmetry, supergravity, M-theory, black holes and quantum gravity, noncommutative geometry, representation theory, categories and quantum groups, and their generalizations. The extraordinary historical part "the SUSY story," more than 700 authored articles from more than 250 high-level experts (including Nobel Prize Winner Gerard 't Hooft), a detailed (50 pages) Subject/Article three level index and an Author index, make the SUSY Encyclopedia an outstanding and indispensable book on the desk of researchers, experts, Ph.D. students, specialists and professionals in modern methods of theoretical and mathematical physics.

Noncommutative Structures in Mathematics and Physics (NATO Science Series II: Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry)

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Noncommutative Structures in Mathematics and Physics (NATO Science Series II: Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry)

Manufacturer: Springer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Mathematical Physics | Physics | Science | Subjects | Books

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All Amazon Upgrade | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

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All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

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ASIN: 079236998X

Book Description

A presentation of outstanding achievements and ideas, of both eastern and western scientists, both mathematicians and physicists. Their presentations of recent work on quantum field theory, supergravity, M-theory, black holes and quantum gravity, together with research into noncommutative geometry, Hopf algebras, representation theory, categories and quantum groups, take the reader to the forefront of the latest developments. Other topics covered include supergravity and branes, supersymmetric quantum mechanics and superparticles, (super) black holes, superalgebra representations, and SUSY GUT phenomenology.
Essential reading for workers in the modern methods of theoretical and mathematical physics.

Book Description

'If Life's An Experiment, I'm A Lab Rat', published by Xlibris, a stragitic partner of Random House, is a hilarious collection of previously published humorous stories and observations from the perspective of Chris Zell.

We could go on and tell you all kinds of wonderful things about Chris and this book but we don't have to because other people have: '. . .Zell writes like Dave Barry with rabies.' - Mike Brown, Author of 'Right Side Of The Rat'

'Just when you think you have him under control it seems like his medication wears off.' - Fred Henderson, 'The Lawrence Voice'

'Zell has a way of looking at the world the way few others could or would dare.' - Theresa DeLuca, 'Bombshells'

'This is funny stuff. Scary, but very funny.' - Scott Randolph, 'MATV' '. . .exceptionally funny except when aimed at me.' - Bob Ventullo, 'Jester On-Line'

Customer Reviews:

Very funny.......2002-01-11

This was a Christmas present and when I got it I smiled because it's Christmas. But I treated it like it was a useless holiday fruit cake.

I owe my friend a big I'm sorry. This is funny and outrageous collection of short stories that will have you questioning your response to your every day dealings with everything. I was going to say people but it's more than that. Very funny. This guy should be famous.

So Dammmm Funny.......2000-06-18

I have found this book to be damm funny and so true. Whenever I read the story about his job at the public storage, you just have to laugh at all the stupid people he comes across in a single day, and there is NO! way I would want his job, and as far as the story about the male bonding, once again, how true and funny that is because we as men have all ran into that problem in which one of our friends thinks he sings better after a few drinks and he doesn't realize that his friends shy away from him and don't even acknowledge that he exist, So funny and so so true.Then there was the story of the security guard, Hahahaaaaaa, Anyone who has gone into any type of buildings with security must have come across a guard that he describes, A WANTABE, how the guard over reacted and went beyound the relm, and to think the guard may one day have a gun and wind up shotting someone for not having a Pass.The writter has set the stories and with a thought, you may have come across the same problems as he has which makes this so, so damm funny.

I was surprised.......2000-06-15

I hate to fly and was going to have a long flight so my wife packed this book hoping it would take my mind off flying. She said it was funny. I wasn't too sure. I'm not saying that my wife doesn't have a sense of humor but it's not the same as mine. So when I was finally in need of distraction on the flight I pulled out this book. I wasn't expecting much but after reading just a few pages it seems obvious that I'm rubbing off on my wife. This was a very funny and caustic book. I don't often laugh out loud but this book had me getting questionable looks as I laughed out loud. This writer has a very unique outlook. Buy it or take your wifes. My only suggestion would be that if you don't like being stared at read it at home.

Phil McDuffy

Above all, Zell!.......2000-06-02

It's a sweeping story of star crossed lovers in a world they never called their own. It's a stirring tale of the sea and the men who tried to tame her. It's a hard boiled mystery about life on the mean streets. And it's a multi-generational saga of life in organized crime. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll leave it in the bathroom to read while (err, umm...) attending your needs. The author of "Bug Boy" and "I Was a Teen-aged Tennis Weenie" has once again changed the face of contemporary literature. And we, the reading public, are better for having him in our lives. Excalibur!

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