Project Decisions: The Art and Science Review

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(More customer reviews)The main problem with many decision analysis books is that they are too academic and are intended for people with some operations research and management science background. "Project Decisions" is written for much broader audience. There is very little math in this book. Instead, the book is full of real-life project examples (e.g., NASA's X-33 single stage to orbit launch system and New Horizon mission to Pluto, ITER thermonuclear reactor, Toyota Prius hybrid car, new Bay bridge design and construction in San Francisco) and stories based on popular movies (e.g., Home Alone, Ocean's 11, Armageddon). As an interesting and entertaining introduction to the whole topic, the book starts off with a simple judgment test to help you assess you decision making skills.
"Project Decisions: The Art and Science" is not an ordinary decision analysis book. It is a book for project managers who don't use decision analysis because they are unaware of decision analysis techniques and tools. Each part of the book describes a phase of the decision analysis process: decision framing, modeling, quantitative decision analysis, implementation monitoring and reviews.
The book pays significant attention to risk management and risk analysis tools and techniques. Both quantitative and qualitative risk analysis techniques are described. The book includes separate chapters on sensitivity analysis, decision tree and value of information analysis, Monte Carlo simulations, and Event chain methodology.
One of the most important and often overlooked areas of project management is related to psychology or judgment and decision-making. The authors introduce the basic principles of behavioral branch of the decision analysis theory. They dedicate separate chapters to decision-making in groups, reviews and evaluation of decisions, multi-criteria decision-making and other important aspects of decision analysis.


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Project management is the art of making the right decisions. To be effective as a project manager, you must know how to make rational choices in project management, what processes can help you to improve these choices, and what tools are available to help you through the decision-making process. Project Decisions: The Art and Science is an entertaining and easy-to-read guide to a structured project decision analysis process. This valuable text presents the basics of cognitive psychology and quantitative analysis methods to help project managers make better decisions. Examples that portray different projects, real-life stories, and popular culture will help readers acquire the essential knowledge and skills required for effective project decision-making. Readers will be able to: -Understand psychological pitfalls related to project management -Establish a creative business environment in their organization -Identify project risks and uncertainties -Develop estimates of project time and cost based on an understanding of human psychology -Perform basic quantitative and qualitative risk and decision analysis -Use event chain methodology in managing projects -Communicate the results of decision analysis to decision-makers -Review project decisions and perform adaptive project management -Establish a project decision analysis process in their organization PLUS Test your own judgment through a quiz that examines your intuition!

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The Deciding Factor: The Power of Analytics to Make Every Decision a Winner Review

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(More customer reviews)This is a great book if you have a need to sell executive leadership on the usefulness of extracting additional value out of organizational data.
I bought this book with great anticipation as I have been on the search for books that describe how to leverage data analytics within business...I kept waiting for the punchline. There were many references as to how decision analytics can drive efficiency gains and revenue, yet no noticeable mention of how to go about doing it. It read like a subtle sales pitch as to why you should hire Fair Issac to help you get there. There was barely enough technical jargon included to even go start researching descriptive and predictive analytics models. I found myself going to wikipedia and reading about this subject, then going back to the book, waiting..In protest, I refused to read the last 5 pages.
There's value in the book for those business leaders that have absolutely no knowledge of the topic, which is why I gave it 3 stars. Just don't go thinking that it provides any insight as to how to start extracting that value.

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Praise for The Deciding Factor

"Both companies and governments have made some poor decisions recently, and almost all would benefit from more fact-based and analytical approaches. This book provides clear methods and extensive examples for organizations that want to make better, faster, and more consistent decisions."-Thomas H. Davenport, author, Competing on Analytics, and President's Distinguished Professor of Information Technology and Management, Babson College
"The secrets of the decision-making processes employed by the most successful corporations of the world are revealed in The Deciding Factor. Both corporate decision makers as well as analysts will gain invaluable insights from this treasure trove of case studies and expert guidelines." -Robert Heller, former president and CEO of VISA U.S.A., and former governor, Federal Reserve Board
"Information, used correctly and creatively, can be a source of tremendous customer value, competitive advantage, and company profitability. The Deciding Factor will help you understand if you have this opportunity, and how you might seize it."-Nigel Morris, co-founder, Capital One Financial Services
"There has never been a more important time in business history to truly understand both the technical strengths and conceptual weaknesses of decision analytics. If you're prepared to be serious, The Deciding Factor offers the insider's insights that matter when managing innovation risk."-Michael Schrage, author, Serious Play, and research associate, MIT Sloan School of Management

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The House Advantage: Playing the Odds to Win Big In Business Review

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(More customer reviews)We're not designed to think unemotionally nor about abstract statistics. But Ma's book shows us that if we do learn to do so, we can achieve something we are designed to pursue--success. This book outlines and explores just how to do that. It's a great read for various demographics: the not-so-business savvy who wants to become so; the "layperson" looking to find ways for making better life-decisions; or the expert businessperson looking to uncover an edge in bringing down their own sort of house.
Ma describes things for the reader that will get you up to speed on both your gambling--i.e. the nuances of 21--and your business-speak--i.e. I finally learned what an option is and then how it relates to volatility and the Mexican economic crisis' affect on the U.S. dollar--without turning the expert off in either arena. Not an easy task as a writer and is done exceptionally well here.
The book is of the same genre as Lewis' Moneyball (a book Ma cites as life-changing in the Acknowledgments). Ideal for the neophyte interested in economics, finance, etc., combining the highfalutin world of casino gambling with modern day finance. In a sense, Ma urges us to put our faith in something that we believe in--which is rooted in clear thinking and statistics--and forge ahead, regardless of the valleys that may occur in the arena of "ups and downs."
Ma uses well-told personal anecdotes to explain cognitive errors common in academic psychology such as the gambler's fallacy and confirmation bias. Clearly not a man of superstition, frowning up on the "same-roller" phenomenon in craps and the concept of `statistical atheist', making sure the reader knows he's not involved in magic or some form of voodoo. Instead, he employs a more stoic approach that follows the logic--follows the math--and never gives up.
This book isn't just fun, it isn't just interesting (though it is both of those) but it's also something that will help the reader make better decisions both inside the business world and out.

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The Perfect Swarm: The Science of Complexity in Everyday Life Review

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(More customer reviews)As a glance at the "Look Inside" feature here on Amazon proves, Len Fisher writes a clear, interesting prose, raising important questions and suggesting rules that will help you make better decisions. He describes and applies 33 such rules in this latest contribution to popular science.
His basic thesis is that complex behaviors can be described by a simple rule. For example, gigantic numbers of fish seem to have a single mind -- but all a single fish has to know is to follow the fish immediately in front of it. Watching through your faceplate at gigantic schools of fish as they weave through the water -- you can see this rule in action in beautiful living color.
You can apply the same approach in trying to find a bargain, an approach that works best where there are many sellers and the products are fairly similar to each other.
The basic idea is "to estimate how many samples of the item might be available in total, and then look at a limited selection of these before choosing the next one that is at least as good (in terms of price and quality) as the best of those that we have so far seen. This procedure saves time and effort, and also reduces the possibility that we will spot a bargain, keep looking for a better one, decide on the original one, and go back only to find that it has been sold!"
Fisher explains the use of statistics in three scenarios:
"If we are going for the very best, we should look at one-third of all those available before going on to select the next one that is as good or better than the best that we have already seen (in terms of the lowest price for the same quality). This gives us a 33% chance of finding the very best bargain, and a very high chance of finding an extremely good bargain.
"If we are happy to accept a sample in the lowest 10% of prices, we need only look at 14% of the samples on offer before choosing the next one that we see which is at least as cheap as the cheapest of these. This gives us an 84% chance of settling on one among the cheapest 10%.
"If we are happy with a price in the lowest 25%, things get even better. We need only to look at 7% of the samples before choosing one that is at least as cheap as the cheapest we have seen. This gives you a whopping 92% chance of finding a bargain in your chosen range!"
Of course, if it's easy to find additional offers, or if it's fairly easy to get back to a better offer to see if it's still available, you may be able to get more/better/cheaper by spending a bit more time. Once you get the basic approach in mind, however, you'll be able to decide when to stop looking, make your choice, and get back to reading about other examples of how simple rules lead to great complexity.
Fisher's website is filled with additional examples, and his clear joy in reading and writing about science at work in our everyday life.
Robert C. Ross2009

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One of the greatest discoveries of recent times is that the complex patterns we find in life are often produced when all of the individuals in a group follow the same simple rule. This process of "self-organization" reveals itself in the inanimate worlds of crystals and seashells, but as Len Fisher shows, it is also evident in living organisms, from fish to ants to human beings. The coordinated movements of fish in shoals, for example, arise from the simple rule: "Follow the fish in front." Traffic flow arises from simple rules: "Keep your distance" and "Keep to the right."Now, in his new book, Fisher shows how we can manage our complex social lives in an ever more chaotic world. His investigation encompasses topics ranging from "swarm intelligence" to the science of parties and the best ways to start a fad. Finally, Fisher sheds light on the beauty and utility of complexity theory. An entertaining journey into the science of everyday life, The Perfect Swarm will delight anyone who wants to understand the complex situations in which we so often find ourselves.

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Management Review

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(More customer reviews)Unlike most textbooks, I actually enjoy reading every line in this book. I've read the first four chapters straight so far, and I feel like I'm getting a really good understanding of the content and life applications. And the side stories about the companies in today's economy are very interesting. It's fun to know facts like that because you can easily relate the concepts to situations.

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Make today's management theories and applications meaningful, memorable and engaging with MANAGEMENT, 6E. Master story-teller, award-winning educator and accomplished author Chuck Williams uses a captivating narrative style to illuminate today's most important management concepts and practices that really work in today's workplace. To keep the information personally relevant, Dr. Williams weaves more than 50 unforgettable examples and stories into each chapter in this edition. Proven learning features and self-assessments keep concepts intriguing and applicable to students' daily lives. As this edition's fresh scenarios, new cases and new video cases reflect the latest management innovations at work in well-known organizations throughout the world, readers gain a better understanding of what they need to ensure managerial success.

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Partnership Marketing: How to Grow Your Business and Transform Your Brand Through Smart Collaboration Review

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(More customer reviews)I don't know why I'm telling you about this great book. If you're one of my competitors, you're going to read this review, probably buy the book, learn all the secrets on how to get partnerships with Fortune 500 companies, and then go after all the deals I'm about to close.
This book tells you step by step how to analyze your business product strengths, how to figure out who would be your ideal partnership targets, and then how to go out and get them. The only thing that Ron Kunitzky doesn't include is a silver platter.
Whether you are running a big, medium sized or small business, there is priceless information in every chapter of this book that will lead to more sales and profits. It took me over a week to read this thing. After every page I would have to stop and write down another idea on how I could use Kunitzky's principles to further my business plan.
One second thought, do me a favor. Forget what you just read. This book stunk. The secret to my past business successes is finding new resources like this and then not telling anyone about them. If by some chance I inadvertently succeeded in peaking your curiosity and you happen to buy this book, at least promise me you will keep it to yourself.
Lloyd Ecker
Founder of Baby To Bee
All About The Baby, LLC
Funny For Money Enterprises, LLC
The Sophie Tucker Project

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Google, Microsoft, Apple, Starbucks, and Wal-Mart are "category killers." Why? One key to their astounding success is that they have mastered the art of creating highly attractive partner and customer value propositions. They have all built their business on the principles and practices of Partnership Marketing to offer superior products, create long-term distribution opportunities, new revenue streams for their businesses, and increased brand awareness on a world-wide level.
Developing an affiliation with the right partner allows both parties to realize successes that they could not have otherwise achieved on their own by transforming their individual strengths into mutual performance. Whether you're an entrepreneur working to expand your customer base and increase value or a corporation looking for cost-effective ways to stimulate growth and brand-presence on a tight budget, Partnership Marketing is a practical in-depth guide to this core business concept.
A powerful strategy in good times, partnership marketing is an excellent way to gain competitive advantage and grow your business even in tough, recessionary economic conditions. As marketing resources are being slashed everywhere, coupled with employee lay-offs and cutbacks to existing programs, partnership marketing is a creative way to do more with less.
Partnership Marketing provides the complete how-to of collaborating successfully with other organizations, including: how to align PM objectives to your resources; how to assess what you have to offer a partner-brand and how to leverage your core strengths; how to search for the right partner-brand; how to assess the pros and cons of partnering with other brands; and much more.

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