The Financial Times Guide to Strategy: How to Create and Deliver a Useful Strategy (2nd Edition)

Book Description

Behind every business hero lies a successful strategy. Behind every business failure lurks a bad strategy.

Developing a good strategy is remarkably simple. Yet the subject has become obscured and over-complicated by academics and consultants with their own hobby-horses and proprietary methods. Strategy has become remote from those who need it most: owners and executives.

The Financial Times Guide to Strategy offers more insight than a whole library of academic strategy tomes. It will help you construct a strategic framework for your company, business model, and marketplace. This second edition is fully updated, encompassing changes in the theory and practice of strategy and including commentary on the latest theories and theorists. Coverage includes:

*demonstrating the power of strategy to raise profits
*providing a DIY strategy kit for managers
*distilling strategic thinking since 1960
*providing a lively A-Z of strategy concepts, terms, and techniques

"Strategy has never been so simple, accessible, powerful, and practically directed to raise profits." -Robin Field, Chief Executive, Filofax Group

Customer Reviews:

The Business Strategy Foundation Book.......2001-04-24

After reading Koch's "80/20 Principle", I was convinced that he's a mind of his own. His non-conform thinking and writing is extraordinary. Had I only read this book on Strategy before entering my MBA, business school life would have been much easier. Koch's book on strategy is a foundation book, covering the crucial basics for "understanding" business strategy (roughly 80%). It helps espcially the student of strategy not to get (too) confused by providing basic understanding what business stratetgy is all about. The chapters:

INTRODUCTION Koch states wonderfully the use and abuse of strategy and the swings in strategic thinking.

BUSINESS UNIT STRATEGY A do-it-yourself guide with excellent examples.

CORPORATE STRATEGY Very critical Mr Koch argues about the value creation of corporate strategy.

STRATEGIC THINKERS A guide to some of the most useful and important 40 strategic thinkers and their ideas.

STRATEGIC CONCEPTS, TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES An A-Z glossary. The key words (or rather Consulting & MBA buzzwords)used in the world of strategy.

STRATEGIC SHIFTS IN THE 21 CENTURY Forward lookin Koch claims that the tools of strategy are particular valuable for understanding and exploiting shifts of increasing returns, networks, and the net in our new century.

Excellent primer into theory on strategic management.......2001-01-17

Are you a MBA student? Management scholar? If yes, then this book is definitely for you. The book is not meant for everyday management decision makers because it lacks practical insight. But the theory side is excellent. The author of renown "80/20 principles" has written a good outline of strategic management theories through decades as well as about the latest developments in this area. In the introductory part he gives an overview about overall theoretical background of the subject starting from the teachings of Igor Ansoff. In the first part of the analysis goes mainly around book business unit strategy drawing parallels to BCS-s and Porter's positioning methodology. In the second part the attention is given to various possibilities of corporate strategy. The third part gives an alphabetic overview of all the main strategic thinkers. The fourth part speaks about main concepts, methodologies and techniques used in strategic planning process. The final fifth chapter tries to predict the future of the strategic planning by analysing the latest developments in this area.

Book Description

This innovative program simulates the day-to-day experiences of trading on the Stock Market, allowing students to master key business concepts through challenging, hands-on activities. Ideal for any business course, students gain firsthand experience in minutes—buying and selling stocks without risking real investment dollars.

A total immersion experience, students can research ten companies (each representing a different industry sector), follow trades as they happen, track stock prices, as well as monitor news articles, press releases, and rumors. In addition, students can review their investment portfolio and consult an advisor before buying and selling stock. The program's flexibility enables students to use GoVenture Stock Market at home or in class where they can trade with friends and classmates or challenge computer-generated traders.

Each session can run for just a few minutes or an extended period of time.
Instructors can use a single computer, local network, or the Internet to run sessions during class.
A complete supplements package includes a concise, easy-to-read Stock Market Primer and User Guide for students—plus Lesson Plans and Activities, a Test Bank, and Guide for instructors.

The GoVenture Stock Market program may be purchased through Houghton Mifflin at a significant discount—either packaged with a textbook or separately.

For all software-related issues, please contact GoVenture directly (M-F, 9AM to 5PM EST): US or Canada: 1-800-331-2282; International: 902-562-0042; email: help@goventure.

Average customer rating:
GoVenture Stock Market (Stock Market Primer and CD Simulation)
MediaSpark Inc.
Manufacturer: MediaSpark, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Spiral-bound
ASIN: 1894353064

Book Description

Experience the thrills, challenges, and economics of the stock market in a realistic and fun learning simulation!

GoVenture Stock Market includes a Stock Market Primer and a CD-ROM software simulation.

The GoVenture STOCK MARKET PRIMER is a 40-page illustrated guide to the stock market that outlines the basics every budding investor needs to know in an easy-to-read, summary format.

The GoVenture STOCK MARKET CD-ROM is a unique software program designed to help youth and adults learn about the Stock Market in a fun and educational manner. Like a flight-simulator for business, GoVenture Stock Market enables you to learn-while-doing without risking your investment dollars. It's easy to use, visual, interactive, and exciting!

Unlike any book, course, or seminar, GoVenture Stock Market enables you to gain years of business experience in minutes — not weeks or months! Buy and sell in a virtual market. Try your investment skills on your own, against your friends, or challenge the computerized traders in the simulation. Learn how the market operates. Gain practical experience so you have the confidence to explore the real stock market.

More than just buying and selling from a trading account, GoVenture Stock Market allows you to research the companies, follow economic trends, track stock performance, predict how news and rumors will affect stock prices, and survive the unpredictability of the market. Play again and again - every new simulation you run is different!

Run an entire session of GoVenture Stock Market within minutes, or over an extended period of time. Use a single computer, or play on multiple computers — over a local network or the Internet (Additional purchase necessary to run on more than one computer at the same time).

GoVenture Stock Market is ideal for youth and adults.

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OVERVIEW

GoVenture Stock Market simulates a stock market, where you can buy and sell shares (the "stock") of a company. The simulation includes a number of fictitious companies that have their stock available for trading purposes.

To start the simulation, you must first set up a Trading Account for each player of the simulation. You decide if you want to compete against one or two computer players, and then set up their starting accounts. You can also designate whether you would like time to advance automatically, or only at the click of a button.

Once you start a simulation, you can navigate throughout all the screens by using the menu buttons that appears at the bottom of the screen. We suggest that each Trader start by learning about each of the companies in the market and the general economic conditions, because understanding the industries and business models will help you evaluate when to buy and sell each of the stocks.

But, of course, just like in the real stock market, there is always an element of risk!

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OBJECTIVE

The key objective of GoVenture Stock Market is to finish the simulation with more cash (and/or greater portfolio value) than when you started.

Doing so will require each Trader to become familiar with the stock being traded and market terminology, and to understand how business, political, and economic events might impact the stock market. In other words, each Trader will need to learn how to "play the market" in a virtual world where no real money is gained or lost. Yes, you guessed it, the other objective is learning - in an engaging, but challenging, environment.

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ACTIVITIES

Playing GoVenture Stock Market involves the following activities:

- Researching Companies and Stock Performance

- Analyzing the Economy

- Projecting the Effect of News and Events on Stock Performance

- Buying and Selling Stock

- Analyzing Market Performance - Market Index

- Analyzing Your Performance

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MARKET INFLUENCES

GoVenture Stock Market simulates key market influences to enhance the real-world virtual environment. This includes:

The Economy:
Economic Growth is a composite representation of a number of economic indicators such as Gross National Product (GNP), purchases, prices, income levels, inventories, export and trade, construction, consumption, unemployment, and so on.

News and Events:
Various events will occur as the simulation plays. These may include News Articles, Press Releases, or Rumors. It is important to analyze these events carefully, as they all have the potential to affect the value of a stock, either immediately or sometime in the future.

News Articles:
The GoVenture Times Newspaper will post articles related to world events, the economy, and the companies on the Stock Market.

Press Releases:
Press Releases are prepared and issued by the companies themselves, in order to announce information that the company feels is important or is required by law to report publicly.

Rumors:
Rumors are unsubstantiated messages and information that may or may not be accurate. The source of the rumor and its reliability are unknown.

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MULTIPLE PLAYERS

GoVenture Stock Market allows you to compete head-to-head with friends and family members in the same simulation. You also have the option of competing against one or both fictitious Traders which are run by the computer.

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SINGLE COMPUTER, NETWORK, or INTERNET PLAY

You have the option of running the simulation over one stand-alone computer, or via a local area network or over the Internet. (Each computer must use its own licensed copy of GoVenture Stock Market).

The maximum number of Trading Accounts which can be set up is 5 (with the Home/Consumer version of GoVenture Stock Market).

______________________________
EVERY SIMULATION IS DIFFERENT

No two simulations will be exactly the same in the GoVenture Stock Market. While the companies will be the same from one simulation to the next, there will be changes in economic conditions, news and events, and (intelligently) random factors which will make each simulation a new challenge.

You can also vary the experience by changing the amount of cash the Traders start with in their Trading Accounts, or by running the simulation for different time periods. So a successful experience in one simulation does not guarantee equal success in the next - being consistently successful takes work!

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Here's what you need to use the GoVenture CD-ROM simulation:

- Pentium-based PC
- CD-ROM drive
- Sound Card (optional)
- At least 32MB of Memory (RAM)
- Windows 95/98/XP/ME/2000 or NT 4.0
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Book Description

This book takes as its focus the current supervisory and regulatory framework for bank supervision in Thailand and the Thai authorities' efforts to modernise and restructure the Thai banking system. It examines the obstacles to this restructuring, which include the current economic difficulties in Thailand and the East Asia region as well as more fundamental historical, cultural and socio-economic factors that underpin Thai society. The book looks at the numerous banking statutes put in place in Thailand in the past sixty years, including legislation of the 1980s in response to problems involving fraud, insider dealing and solvency concerns. It examines how historically ambiguous structures of governmental responsibility and power, and a heavy emphasis on government discretion in regulation, have so far inhibited the effectiveness of this extensive body of legislation in developing a sound modern banking system. There follows an in-depth analysis of the 1997--1998 Thai Banking Crisis and ways in which lessons can be learned to avoid similar crises in future. The author argues for a greater degree of transparency in the regulatory process to bring it into line with internationally accepted standards, for increased supervisory implementation and enforcement by Thai governmental authorities, and for the ultimate depoliticisation of the bank regulatory and supervisory processes.

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DEPARTMENT OF AGRONOMY, UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN: A History 1951-1988.

Manufacturer: Scherer Communications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000FMJ068

Average customer rating:
Department of Agronomy, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign: A history, 1951-1988
Robert W Howell
Manufacturer: Scherer Communications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

General | College & University | Education | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
General | Agricultural Sciences | Professional Science | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B0006EWI9G

Book Description

This book provides a concise, approachable description of how modern NMR experiments work, aimed principally at those who use, or might use, an NMR spectrometer and are curious about why the spectra look the way they do. It provides, in an accessible and relatively informal fashion, the conceptual and theoretical tools needed to understand the inner workings of some of the most important multi-pulse, multi-nuclear, multi-dimensional techniques that chemists and biochemists use to probe the structures and dynamics of molecules in liquids. Part A (chapters 1-6) starts with the vector model, and proceeds to the more powerful product operator formalism. Part B (chapters 7-10) shows how straightforward quantum mechanics can be used to understand NMR and product operators at a more fundamental level. The treatment builds on material in P.J. Hore's OCP 32, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, but it can also be used as a stand-alone text.

Book Description

This book is an edited volume of nine papers covering the different variants of the generalized multipole techniques (GMT). The papers were presented at the recent 3rd Workshop on Electromagnetics and Light Scattering - Theory and Applications, which focused on current GMT methods. These include the multiple multipole method (MMP), the discrete sources method (DSM), Yasuura's method, method of auxiliary sources and null-field method with discrete sources. Each paper presents a full theoretical description as well as some applications of the method in electrical engineering and optics. It also includes both 2D and 3D methods and other applications developed in the former Soviet Union and Japan.

Book Description

Lost in a Florida disappearing from sight

A tremendously funny and sad came-of-age narrative that recalls the hearty, chaotic family fictions of Richard Russo and Ralph Lombreglia, with the cold steel screams of Thom Jones or Denis Johnson lurking in the basement. Sheppard is a pitiless observer of all the foibles that make up the wasted lives of the small among us, yet he arranges these bits of madness in graceful, unexpected forms.

Customer Reviews:

Better than average, perhaps.......2002-06-03

He's got something--I think it's a talent for telling or writing stories & an interest, too, in style (though not a style I'm at all crazy about--it's still a good sign).
He's much too much in love with gratuitous & zany violence to suit me--& he seems otherwise self-indulgent as well--he doesn't seem to have much taste--he tries to pull off gags in the course of narration that are weak in themselves & beside the point--he skips some of the (apparent) essentials of building (esp. character) or of managing a consistent & coherent narrative--& even so he gets quite a few small & terrific effects, including humor & probably accurate social observation & (even though it can be cheap) surprise.
He'd be better--this seems perhaps a naive thing to say but in this particular case I really think it's to the point--if he had more interesting people & subject matter--if he could write about things he didn't have to look down on & make fun of--but he's a lot better than average, in my opinion.

Average customer rating:

Lost in a Florida Disappearing from Sight
What the hell was that?

Midnight in Monaco
John Lawrence Sheppard
Manufacturer: Xlibris Corporation
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Comic | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0738833533

Book Description

“I'm a cheap man, from the top of my head to the soles of my feet, which are encased in Chinese slave labor sneakers.” So says Carl, the hero-narrator of Midnight in Monaco, who meanders through Circus City, USA in this bizarrely funny and dark novel.

Customer Reviews:

Lost in a Florida Disappearing from Sight.......2001-01-16

What the hell was that?.......2001-01-15

"Midnight in Monaco" is a screwball Florida fairy tale. It's a frolic through a kitschy circus-flavored world where lawyers are also tarot card readers and Ninja assassins; where a red-headed dwarf shouts "Auto Zone!" every morning; and where the sun pops up over the horizon "like a banana-flavored Moon Pie."

The characters--including a grill cook philosopher insomniac, a con man who schemes to freeze his wife's head after her death so she can live in future times, and a grandmother (called "Grandmom") who is retired from the circus where she had a knife-toss-at-little-doggies-act--are so vigorously eccentric that you shake your head and ask yourself, "What the hell was that?"

Book Description

When American and South Vietnamese forces, led by General Creighton Abrams, launched an attack into neutral Cambodia in 1970, the invasion ignited a firestorm of violent antiwar protests throughout the United States, dealing yet another blow to Nixon's troubled presidency. But, as John Shaw shows, the campaign also proved to be a major military success.

Most histories of the Vietnam War either give the Cambodian invasion short shrift or merely criticize it for its political fallout, thus neglecting one of the campaign's key dimensions. Approaching the subject from a distinctly military perspective, Shaw shows how this carefully planned and executed offensive provided essential support for Nixon's "decent interval" and "peace with honor" strategies-by eliminating North Vietnamese sanctuaries and supply bases located less than a hundred miles from Saigon and by pushing Communist troops off the Vietnamese border.

Despite the political cloud under which the operation was conducted, Shaw argues that it was not only the best of available choices but one of the most successful operations of the entire war, sustaining light casualties while protecting American troop withdrawal and buying time for Nixon's pacification and "Vietnamization" strategies. He also shows how the United States took full advantage of fortuitous events, such as the overthrow of Cambodia's Prince Sihanouk, the redeployment of North Vietnamese forces, and the late arrival of spring monsoons.

Although critics of the operation have protested that the North Vietnamese never did attack out of Cambodia, Shaw makes a persuasive case that the near-border threat was very real and imminent. In the end, he contends, the campaign effectively precluded any major North Vietnamese military operations for over a year.

Based on exhaustive research and a deep analysis of the invasion's objectives, planning, organization, and operations, Shaw's shrewd study encourages a newfound respect for one of America's genuine military successes during the war.

This book is part of the Modern War Studies series.

Customer Reviews:

Some good material, some seriously dodgy errors.......2006-06-15

This book covers an important aspect of Cambodian history but does so rather ineffectively. It is even less effective in elucidating the events of the Vietnam war. This Shaw is enough to make Shawcross very cross! Excellent piece of revisionist history and this does a disservice to the Vietnamese people on both sides of the conflict. The understanding of the role the Vietnamese played in this period is limited, but more seriously there is a complete lack of understanding of Cambodian history - it is almost as if the Cambodians were irrelevant to the situation, no more than inconvenient collateral damage. The book should have had rather more editorial work to weed out some astoundingly obvious errors (to take just one example - the repeated claim that Sihanoukville was renamed Kamong Speu - a very quick glance at a map would be enough to show that this was Kampong Soum - not actually an easy mistake to make for someone purporting to know the area. Deeply unsatisfying book which had the opportunity at this distance from events to open up some real actual analysis but failed.

The most successful military operation of the Vietnam War?.......2006-05-05

This is an excerpt of a book review published in Proceedings Magazine, March 2006

In 1985, former President Richard Nixon called the Cambodia incursion "the most successful military operation of the Vietnam War." Tell that to the veterans of the Ia Drang Valley, Khe Sanh, and Hue City. So why haven't we heard more about this offensive? According to historian John M. Shaw who taught in the history departments at West Point and the U.S. Air Force Academy, the decision to invade Cambodia decidedly stirred the antiwar movement and galvanized Congress. Its military lessons were lost.

Shaw looks at the soldiers by comparing the backgrounds of young ARVN leaders to their American counterparts, the former much weaker administratively because they were "shortchanged in their former professional military education and staff time at higher levels." Corruption, inept leadership, and poor pay plagued the ARVN.

As do a number of American historians, Shaw harshly criticizes the South Vietnamese leadership and society in general. "They were neither as unified nor as zealous as their counterparts to the north." He believes that the successful Cambodian invasion saved American and South Vietnamese lives. More importantly, it bought time for the pacification program championed by General Creighton Abrams Jr., the U.S. commander in Vietnam. He concludes that President Nixon chose the best course of action at the time.

Yet Army General Bruce Palmer countered after the war that "Cambodia eventually resulted in a drastic diminution in the U.S. military advisory effort and military aid for South Vietnam. . . the most damaging blow of all for Saigon."

same old same old.......2006-02-07

I did not complete this book so I cannot say how bad it is but just glancing at the first few chapters and the aftermath analysis, I noticed several glaring errors and faulty analysis that turn me off from completing the whole book. For instance, the author claimed that the NVA did not used Cambodia to attacked South Vietnam from 1969-1970, yet if the author have read MACV documents for that period he should have known that the South Vietnamese were forced to moved several outposts and camps away from the Cambodia-Vietnam border such as Bu Prang and Duc Lap in 1969 due to constant NVA artillery attacks from Cambodia. During the battles at Tay Ninh and Trang Bang in 1969 and the Toan Thang offensive in 1970 (before the Cambodian campaign), the NVA troops and materiel did came from Cambodia, so how any "historian" can claimed that the NVA/VC did not use Cambodia to attack South Vietnam from 1969 to 1970 is puzzling.

The author also claimed that general ARVN Do Cao Tri used three several regiments because he did not trust his own division, I have no idea where this author arrived at his analysis. General Tri emphasis was on mobility not holding ground, that is why he use a combination of armor and attached infantry. Also, most ARVN divisions consists of three regiments spread out over several provinces that is why general Tri uses several regiments from different divisions when these regiments have intersect area of operation.

The Cambodian Campaign: The 1970 Offensive and America's Vietnam War

Average customer rating:

The Cambodian Campaign: The 1970 Offensive and America's Vietnam War
John M. Shaw
Manufacturer: NY
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000MUHBOG

Book Description

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Parameters, published by Thomson Gale on June 22, 2006. The length of the article is 10125 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: The environment, the US military, and Southern Africa.
Author: Dan Henk
Publication: Parameters (Magazine/Journal)
Date: June 22, 2006
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 36 Issue: 2 Page: 98(20)

Distributed by Thomson Gale

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