International Capital Markets in a World of Accounting Differences

Average customer rating:

The most crucial internal issue every business is facing today

Chief Measurement Officer

Getting Started with an Intelligent Measurement Program

The "Da Vinci Code" for success in the globalized marketplace

Mal Conway Review of Spitzer Book

Transforming Performance Measurement: Rethinking the Way We Measure And Drive Organizational Success
Dean R. Spitzer
Manufacturer: AMACOM/American Management Association
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Strategy & Competition | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Leadership | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Management | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Communications | Skills | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
General | Organizational Behavior | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Organizational Behavior | Business Management | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Key Performance Indicators: Developing, Implementing,and Using Winning KPIs

Performance Dashboards: Measuring, Monitoring, and Managing Your Business

Performance Dashboards and Analysis for Value Creation (Wiley Finance)

Competing on Analytics: The New Science of Winning

Five Key Principles of Corporate Performance Management

ASIN: 0814408915

Book Description

It's no secret that you can't improve your organization's performance without measuring it. In fact, every function, unit, process, and the organization as a whole, is built and run according to the parameters and expectations of its measurement system.

So you'd better make sure you're doing it right. All too often, performance measurement creates dysfunction, whether among individuals, teams, or across entire divisions and companies. Most traditional measurement systems actually encourage unhealthy competition for personal gain, creating internal conflict and breeding distrust of performance measurement.

Transforming Performance Measurement presents a breakthrough approach that will not only significantly reduce those dysfunctions, but also promote alignment with business strategy, maximize cross-enterprise integration, and help everyone to work collaboratively to drive value throughout your organization.

Performance improvement thought leader Dean Spitzer explains why performance measurement should be less about calculations and analysis and more about the crucial social factors that determine how well the measurements get used. His "socialization of measurement" process focuses on learning and improvement from measurement, and on the importance of asking such questions as: How well do our measures reflect our business model? How successfully are they driving our strategy? What should we be measuring and not measuring? Are the right people having the right measurement discussions?

Performance measurement is a dynamic process that calls for an awareness of the balance necessary between seemingly disparate ideas: the technical and the social aspects of performance measurement. For example, you need technology to manage the flood of data, but you must make sure that it supports the people who will be making decisions and taking action crucial to your organization's success. This book shows you how to design that technical-social balance into your measurement system.

While it is urgent to start taking action now, transforming your organization's performance measurement system will take time. Transforming Performance Measurement gives you assessment tools to gauge where you are now and a roadmap for moving, with little or no disruption, to a more "transformational" and mature measurement system.

The book also provides 34 TMAPs, Transformational Measurement Action Plans, which suggest both well-accepted and "emergent" measures (in areas such as marketing, human resources, customer service, knowledge management, productivity, information technology, research and development, costing, and more) that you can use right away.

In the end, you get what you measure. If you measure the wrong things, you will take your company farther and farther away from its mission and strategic goals. Transforming Performance Measurement tells you not only what to measure, but how to do it--and in what context--to make a truly transformational difference in your enterprise.

Customer Reviews:

The most crucial internal issue every business is facing today.......2007-08-17

After 10 years of development in operations finance and organization design, I am in a position to say unequivocally that Dean Spitzer has articulated my experience and conclusions on every page of his master work. Anyone who aspires to be an effective leader in today's market environment had better begin deepening their capacity to drive this kind of change, and Dean has offered a powerful set of insights, tools and guidelines that I intend to begin using immediately to support and augment my own toolkit. Bravo! Can't wait to see what he comes up with next.

Chief Measurement Officer.......2007-07-20

I confess bias on this subject, as I head up a software company laboring in process intelligence ... So as someone keenly interested in how measurement is used in the enterprise, I find Dr. Spitzer's book to be essentially the bible on the subject. It is extremely balanced, thoughtful, and in my opinion, prescriptively correct. Hopefully, in the near future, prompted by this book, there will be more than just a few, "Chief Measurement Officers." And each one of them will be indebted to Dr. Spitzer's pioneering. But, the future on measurement is by no means certain. Yet the future of data has never been more exciting. The "data web" is just around the corner, and soon we will be accessing data with the ease that we access documents today. Right now it seems that gaiting factor to exploiting the "data web" is our social organization around measurement. Let's hope Dr. Spitzer's advice is followed.

Getting Started with an Intelligent Measurement Program.......2007-07-06

This book is for any manager who has had difficulty getting started with measurements. (We know who we are...we want to start, but just can't get comfortable taking that first step!)

Dean Spitzer has you look at the business through the client's eyes and then gives you permission, encouragement, and guidance on how to start with emergent, learning measurements. These will get your program launched, and Spitzer then coaches you on a migration path to a set of intelligent, client-focused measurements.

The "Da Vinci Code" for success in the globalized marketplace .......2007-04-02

Dean's new and truly transformational management book is a must read / must implement for senior executives, especially in services firms. Unlike many management books, this one contains not just descriptions of what matters most, but practical step-by-step guidance on implementation. When you finish reading, you are not just enthusiastic to get started, but you know where to begin and how to proceed.
As pointed out in the book, the changes in measurement strategies suggested in the book will require strong leadership from the top of an organization as did Six Sigma programs implemented in manufacturing businesses. I agree with Dean that a new senior management position is warranted in most firms in order to make the changes become part of the fabric of management and organizational behavior. I have confidence that those courageous firms who follow Dean's well written guidance will rise to the top of their respective industries... and those who don't will suffer the consequences.

Mal Conway Review of Spitzer Book.......2007-03-30

DEAN SPITZER has produced a ground-breaking book that shatters long-held, deeply entrenched conceptualizations of measurement that have resulted in measurement dysfunction. Moving beyond classical measurement theory and the focus on technical measures, Dean challenges all who create, track, use and are affected by performance measures to move away from measurement dysfunction characterized by:
1. Excessive focus on rewards
2. Fear
3. Measuring the wrong things
4. Measuring `looking good,' rather than `being good'
5. Measuring too much
6. Sub-optimization (measuring in functional silos)
7. Cheating

His cogent, compelling, specific remedies for transforming traditional performance measurement are to focus instead on:
1. Context: Continuously improve how measurement is experienced. [We rarely think about the "measurement experience" in organizations!]
2. Focus: Focus on measuring the right things. Focus on the `critical few' transformational measures, rather than the `trivial many' routine ones.
3. Integration: Use measurement frameworks and cross-functional measures to break down barriers and align the organization.
4. Interactivity: Performance measurement is just a bunch of `metrics' if it isn't the basis for dialogue. Dialogue around measurement makes it come alive, makes it meaningful, and promotes organizational learning.

Dr. Spitzer's thoughtful book is destined to be a classic due to its focus on the human aspects of performance measurement. Kudos and my gratitude to him for producing this practical guide.

Malcolm J. Conway
IBM Global Business Services

Average customer rating:

A Difficult to Implement Good Idea

Rethinking Performance Measurement
Marshall W. Meyer
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Organizational Behavior | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

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

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

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

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

Entrepreneurship | Small Business & Entrepreneurship | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

Total Performance Scorecard: Redefining Management to Achieve Performance with Integrity

ASIN: 0521812437

Book Description

Performance measurement remains a vexing problem for business firms and other kinds of organizations. The "balanced scorecard", widely touted as a solution to problems of performance measurement and strategic planning, has no strong basis in theory. Moreover, implementation of the "balanced scorecard" may create many more problems than it solves. This text returns to the fundamentals by asking what is the performance of the firm, can this performance be measured, and what are reasonable second-best measures if the first-best measures we would like to have are not available.

Download Description

Customer Reviews:

A Difficult to Implement Good Idea .......2007-01-09

The best part of this book might be the fully developed background exploring why performance measurement has been more a part of the problem of successful management rather than a useful tool. Meyer's basic idea (illustrated with a single case study) is to compare the cost of a unique customer service, achieved through an advanced activity-based costing system, with the revenues generated from that service and then eliminate unprofitable services by dropping the customer or raising revenues. (Interestingly, Meyer uses Cooper and Kaplan's original activity driver approach rather than Kaplan's more recently promoted time driver.)

Unfortunately, this approach is extremely complex (equivalent to activity-based costing squared or cubed) and is viable only for service organizations with repetitive transactions that can afford to implement a real-time activity-based costing/revenue system and successfully deal with the fixed costs excluded from the activity-based allocations.

Average customer rating:

UNDERSTANDING THE BIG BANG

More opaque than the Big Bang itself

True Cosmology Textbook.

The Big Bang: Third Edition
Joseph Silk
Manufacturer: Times Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Cosmology | Astronomy | Science | Subjects | Books
General | Science | Subjects | Books
Cosmology | Physics | Science | Subjects | Books
Cosmology | Astronomy | Professional Science | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

The First Three Minutes: A Modern View of the Origin of the Universe

Introduction to Cosmology

An Introduction to Modern Cosmology

The Extravagant Universe: Exploding Stars, Dark Energy, and the Accelerating Cosmos (Princeton Science Library)

The Inflationary Universe: The Quest for a New Theory of Cosmic Origins

ASIN: 080507256X

Book Description

Our universe was born billions of years ago in a hot, violent explosion of elementary particles and radiationaelig;the big bang. What do we know about this ultimate moment of creation, and how do we know it?Drawing upon the latest theories and technology, the new edition of The Big Bang, is a sweeping, lucid account of the event that set the universe in motion. Award-winning astronomer and physicist Joseph Silk begins his story with the first microseconds of the big bang, on through the evolution of stars, galaxies, clusters of galaxies, quasars, and into the distant future of our universe. He also explores the fascinating evidence for the big bang model and recounts the history of cosmological speculation. Revised and updated, the new edition features all the most recent astronomical advances, including: Photos and measurements from the Hubble Space Telescope, Cosmic Background Explorer Satellite (COBE), and Infrared Space Observatory The latest estimates of the age of the universe New ideas in string and superstring theory Recent experiments on neutrino detection New theories about the presence of dark matter in galaxies New developments in the theory of the formation and evolution of galaxies The latest ideas about black holes, worm holes, quantum foam, and multiple universesA marvelous introduction to scientific cosmology, The Big Bang takes readers on a spectacular journey spanning time and space.

Customer Reviews:

UNDERSTANDING THE BIG BANG.......2007-09-27

Joseph's Silk's The Big Bang is one of the finest science books ever written for the educated reader. If you have ever wondered how the universe was born and how it evolved, this book is an invaluable key to understanding these questions. Mr. Silk's prose is very understandable and he clearly explains the myriad topics of modern cosmology. After sketching the origins of modern cosmology; he takes the reader on a dazzling journey which covers evidence for the big bang, the first millisecond of the universe and the primeval fireball, cosmological models, formation of stars, origin and evolution of the galaxies, origin of the heavy elements, the future of the universe, and alternatives to the big bang. The book contains mathematical notes to assist the perplexed/inquiring reader, a detailed glossary, and suggestions for further reading. In addition, the book is richly illustrated with numerous black and white photographs, charts, and diagrams. My favorite diagram is the one on page 98 which depicts alternative big bang models. And on page 96, Mr. Silk clearly lays out the Friedmann equation which is the fundamental equation of big bang cosmology. There is also a center section of beautiful color photographs. And best of all, Amazon offers the book for only $13.95; a bargain at today's prices. I have read several introductory works on cosmology and the big bang but this one stands alone. In summary, this is an excellent expository work on cosmology and the modern big bang theory. If you have any interest in this topic at all, you must have a copy of this book.

More opaque than the Big Bang itself.......2005-10-12

I've read quite a few books on astrophysics, cosmology, etc., and this is one of the most poorly written books I've come across. It's too bad, because the writer is trying to be current and thorough. But he doesn't know how to write clearly, his grammar is terrible, he skips steps in his explanations, jumps all over the place, and leaves you wondering "what in the heck is this guy trying to say??". Not recommended.

True Cosmology Textbook........2004-12-17

I am quite sure, that there is no better summary of Big Bang than Joseph Silk's text. I classify it on the border, between popular and science book but a bit more as a scientific (more for studying then for reading).
If student wants to learn how astronomy and computer simulations has been used to develop this most important and crucial cosmological theory, she/he should not miss this book.
Formation of the Earth and life as well as SETI are briefly covered.
It creates exclusion for books by Hubert Reeves, Robert Kirshner, George Smoot, Igor Novikov, Martin Rees, Alan Guth and Donald Goldsmith (please refer to my Listomania List). Silk explains with absolute efficiency and coherence without parallel to other science writers. It is the book I would have selected if I had been asked to take just one with me on uninhabitable island.
Highly recommended!

Average customer rating:

The Big Bang, Third Edition
G.I. Brown
Manufacturer: Sutton Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Astronomy | Astronomy | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Science | Subjects | Books

History of Technology | Technology | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0750937920

Book Description

This entertaining and informative book tells the dramatic tale of explosives from gunpowder to the H-bomb.

Average customer rating:

Great textbook of cosmology.
This is probably only book you need to read in this subject
Current and Complete

The Big Bang, Third Edition
Joseph Silk
Manufacturer: W.H. Freeman & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Astronomy | Astronomy | Science | Subjects | Books

Cosmology | Astronomy | Science | Subjects | Books

Universe | Astronomy | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Science | Subjects | Books

Cosmology | Physics | Science | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0716742462

Book Description

Our universe was born billions of years ago in a hot, violent explosion of elementary particles and radiationæthe big bang. What do we know about this ultimate moment of creation, and how do we know it?

Drawing upon the latest theories and technology, the new edition of The Big Bang, is a sweeping, lucid account of the event that set the universe in motion. Award-winning astronomer and physicist Joseph Silk begins his story with the first microseconds of the big bang, on through the evolution of stars, galaxies, clusters of galaxies, quasars, and into the distant future of our universe. He also explores the fascinating evidence for the big bang model and recounts the history of cosmological speculation. Revised and updated, the new edition features all the most recent astronomical advances, including:

• Photos and measurements from the Hubble Space Telescope, Cosmic Background Explorer Satellite (COBE), and Infrared Space Observatory
• The latest estimates of the age of the universe
• New ideas in string and superstring theory
• Recent experiments on neutrino detection
• New theories about the presence of dark matter in galaxies
• New developments in the theory of the formation and evolution of galaxies
• The latest ideas about black holes, worm holes, quantum foam, and multiple universes

A marvelous introduction to scientific cosmology, The Big Bang takes readers on a spectacular journey spanning time and space.

Customer Reviews:

Great textbook of cosmology........2001-07-20

This may not be one of the easiest books to read, but it is definetely one of the most informative and up-to-date on the subject. The theories of universe creation, galaxy and star formations, etc., as well as the supporting evidence are presented in full. Speculations on the future, as well as alternative theories to the big bang are briefly covered as well.

The book's difficulty and the fact that it resembles a textbook is the only reason why I downgraded my recommendation from 5 stars. Silk wastes no time and space, and pummels you with facts and theories from the onset, with little in between. The textbook feeling is also conveyed through the author's completely objective tone throughout. This may even seem frustrating to some, especially in the early chapters when Silk presents dozens of competing theories and observations, without even a hint as to which is more likely or which he himself supports. Nevertheless, he does proceed to elaborate on all the major theories and specifies which currently carry the most support in the scientific community and why.

Overall, I highly recommend the book, especially to those who are not new to at least the basic ideas of cosmology. Others will need to be a bit patient as the reading is quite dense -- Silk packs about a 1000 pages of info into 400 pages of text; inevitably you may need to re-read certain parts at times in order to follow the logical flow and development of presented theories. I found the observational data to be too technical sometimes as well, and just took the author's word that it supports the theory forementioned.

This is probably only book you need to read in this subject.......2001-04-02

I truly believe that this is the only book you need to read. It has all the concepts, theories about the story. Densly written and every sentence has concept, theory in it. Starts with the history of cosmology and continues with Cosmological Models, Origin of Galaxies, theory of Galaxy formations and star formations and future of the Universe. Inflation and other theories are all covered to the extend that space allows. What I liked most in this book is that it covers everything and you do not need to read ten books to get the idea complete. For more technical oriented person, book has Mathematical section at the end describing the concepts with formulas. Author always gives brief description of concepts and usually he explains any conclusion with reasons so that if you can not derive the conclusion by yourself there is the reason.This book together with Kip Throne's beautiful book on Black Holes will make it complete.

Current and Complete.......2001-03-08

The Big Bang, 3rd Edition Reviewed by: Chris McKinstry, VLT Operator.

This book is about the best introduction to the Universe that one could hope for. I think of it as a giant and highly detailed Scientific American article (including the illistrations and colour photographs.) This updated classic (2nd edition is 11 years old,) is both current and complete (it contains the most recent findings dervied from Hubble and VLT observations.) It even has a VLT picture I helped take of M104 that was released to the public just last month.

As with all good introductions, the math is in the background (actually in chapter notes at the end of the book) making this book accessible to everyone.

Book Description

The volume describes analytical methods used in the analysis of macromolecular materials and elucidation of their structure. The techniques described reflect some of the recent advances which have been made in the development of methods for characterisation and sizing of molecules in solution and solid phases.
· The chapters are tutorial in nature and are extensively referenced and represent a significant source of information on the application of these techniques within the context of polymer science.
· International contributors
· Reflects recent advances in the applications of analytical techniques for polymer characterisation

Average customer rating:
Techniques for Polymer Organisation and Morphology Characterisation.
R.a. Pethrick And C. Viney
Manufacturer: John Wiley & Sons
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000N64408

Book Description

Statistical Tools in Finance and Insurance presents ready-to-use solutions, theoretical developments and method construction for many practical problems in quantitative finance and insurance. Written by practitioners and leading academics in the field, this book offers a unique combination of topics from which every market analyst and risk manager will benefit.

Covering topics such as heavy tailed distributions, implied trinomial trees, support vector machines, valuation of mortgage-backed securities, pricing of CAT bonds, simulation of risk processes and ruin probability approximation, the book does not only offer practitioners insight into new methods for their applications, but it also gives theoreticians insight into the applicability of the stochastic technology. Additionally, the book provides the tools, instruments and (online) algorithms for recent techniques in quantitative finance and modern treatments in insurance calculations.

Written in an accessible and engaging style, this self-instructional book makes a good use of extensive examples and full explanations. The design of the text links theory and computational tools in an innovative way. All Quantlets for the calculation of examples given in the text are supported by the academic edition of XploRe and may be executed via XploRe Quantlet Server (XQS). The downloadable electronic edition of the book enables one to run, modify, and enhance all Quantlets on the spot.

Average customer rating:
The Norton Anthology of World Literature, Volume F: The Twentieth Century (Second Edition)

Manufacturer: W W Norton & Co Inc (Np)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Classics | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
General | Criticism & Theory | History & Criticism | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Literature & Fiction | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

The Norton Anthology of World Literature, Volume E: 1800 to 1900 (Second Edition)

The Norton Anthology of World Literature, Vol. D: 1650 to 1800, 2nd Edition

The Norton Anthology of World Literature, Vol. F: The Twentieth Century, 2nd Edition

The Norton Anthology of World Literature, Vol. C: 1500 to 1650, 2nd Edition

The Norton Anthology of World Literature, Vol. A: Beginnings to A.D. 100, 2nd Edition

ASIN: 0393977609

Book Description

In 1995, Norton changed the way world literature is taught by introducing The Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces, Expanded Edition. Leading the field once again, Norton is proud to publish the anthology for the new century, The Norton Anthology of World Literature, Second Edition. Now published in 6 volumes (this volume, Volume F, covers the Twentieth Century), the new anthology boasts slimmer volumes, thicker paper, a bolder typeface, and dozens of newly included or newly translated works from around the world.

The Norton Anthology of World Literature represents continuity as well as change. Like its predecessor, the anthology is a compact library of world literature, offering an astounding forty-three complete longer works, more than fifty prose works, over one hundred lyric poems, and twenty-three plays. More portable, more suitable for period courses, more pleasant to read, and more attuned to current teaching and research trends, The Norton Anthology of World Literature remains the most authoritative, comprehensive, and teachable anthology for the world literature survey.

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books