Customer Reviews:
Thinking Strategically.......2007-09-27
This book was short and interesting. Not only does it give points on thinking startegically for business but also in your daily life.
GT Is In Everyday Life.......2007-07-19
"Thinking Strategically" is a helpful and likeable primer for those who want to dabble and/or learn about general everyday concepts of Game Theory. It's also for those who don't want to get too deep into the minutia of the mathematics, calculus, and statistical probability of Game Theory. The real-life examples and matrices used in this book are applied by the author and can be applied by anyone in many everyday-life scenarios: getting a cab, negotiating private contracting work, or general bargaining, for example. In Business, whether two competing magazines should both advertise, have only one advertise, or have both not advertise. (Better for both not to advertise.) Cartels are also examined.
Other matrices, examples, and anecdotes, are applied in this book in business, politics, and sports. E.g., the strategy of an NFL football team's offense and defense, Stalin's "Scorched Earth Defense," and how a pitcher rotates his pitching selection are explained quite well, as examples. It seems a good portion of human instincts and traits are involved in the aspects of Game Theory. We already intuitively know about these elements before reading this introductory book. But we can apply GT with more awareness after being exposed to the theory.
The renown concept of the "Prisoner's Dilemma:" If two suspects work together they can both mutually benefit themselves together and individually by cooperating. Obviously, this is partly why suspects are separated when they're questioned and interrogated. But they can still both cooperate, even if separated. But will one sell out the other, or will both sell out each other, leading to longer sentences and harsher penalties for both, because one or the two of them decided to use the most Dominate Strategy?
In Game Theory, it takes two to Tango. And most of the time it's not beneficial to play the "Dominant Strategy."
One of the many examples was the taxi driver who picked up two people (potential customers) in front of a hotel. After telling the driver where they wanted to go, the driver refused to turn on his meter and said he would charge a lower price than the meter because he liked the country where the passengers were from. The driver the stated the price he would charge. The passengers responded by asking the driver to turn on the meter, and at the end of the ride the driver could charge less than the meter. Ah-ha, but the driver didn't agree. And even grew grew angry and didn't take them. They later proved he was being disingenuous by taking a metered taxi to their destination which was the lower than than the "special discount" offered by the first guy.
One important point above: it's difficult to use Game Theory with a) irrational people and b) people who don't realize the win-win concept of mutual benefits. Unfortunately reality creeps in....when you deal with people who don't practice "Game Theory," who shoot themselves in the foot and waste your time and energy.
Internationally IMO, Game Theory is lacking and sorely needed in certain parts of the world. In Japan this book sold well. Unfortunately it didn't sell much in the surrounding nations.
One of the author's former students recommended this book to me. The author made an astute decision to change the spelling of his name. College undergrads can be puerile at times. :)
A good book. "Look ahead and reason back."
Good Introduction to game theory.........2006-12-31
Although this is a good introduction to game theory, I have to say that half of the book was interesting, the rest was a difficult reading (maybe it was just me but I couldn't focus in some chapters). The good thing about the book is that it change your way on dealing with situations and decisions, always rethinking on the steps to follow.
Changes your perspective.......2006-12-22
This is a good book if you want to pass your everyday decisions through a game theory lense. The reading is dense at times but it has enough memorable stories to draw on at a later time.
If you are looking for a solid introduction to strategic decisions that consider the competitive landscape, then this book is a good choice.
Intro to Game Theory.......2006-10-11
This book is an outstanding introduction to game theory -- free of jargon and mathematics. Concepts are illustrated through examples taken from business, politics, sports, and everyday life. If you'd like to anticipate what people/groups will do, and understand why, read this book.
Book Description
Professionals today, whether scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs, or managers, need to maximize their effectiveness. Real world problems are complex and must be tackled with adequate conceptual tools. Hard work and motivation are not enough. Professionals need to think strategically in order to choose the right problem to solve, to solve it in a cost-effective way, to use resources efficiently, and to be innovative and productive. Written in a concise, accessible style, Thinking Strategically goes beyond brainstorming motivational books to provide the power tools needed to dissect problems and to find innovative solutions. These tools are based on an understanding of the power of bottlenecks, paradox, scale and perspective constraints, and feedback as leverage points for getting a grip on the problem. The result is a practical book for managers and other professionals about the strategic use of effort that can lead to astonishing levels of productivity.
Customer Reviews:
An Outstanding Professional Guide.......2005-01-22
This is a must-have guide for anyone in, or preparing to work in, a professional field involving scientific discovery, creating things, or solving complex real-world problems.
What are the three pillars of professional productivity?.......2001-07-16
Knowing how to increase my productivity has benefited me in several ways: monetarily, satisfaction, competitive advantages for myself and clients, etc. Leohle explains why skill, motivation, and strategic use of time and effort results in professional success. Worthy library addition for any thinker.
Interesting ideas on how we can be our own guru.......1999-08-25
Politicians have trusted advisers and strategists who guide them in their every move. There are, however, many professions that require innovative thinking and decision making, and whose practitioners have to be their own strategists. Of course, people in such occupations could do what most people do, which is to use a trusted colleague as a sounding board for their ideas. However, many times a colleague is not available, and even if one were, there is no guarantee that he or she will have the level of discernment needed for a particular problem. It is possible to circumvent the lack of a guru, a spin doctor or a discerning friend, by verifying our own ideas before implementing them. Loehle's book Thinking Strategically: Power Tools for Personal and Professional Advancement, teaches us how to condition our intellect to think ahead so that we can plan a strategy to attain that which is important to us. Naturally, this includes choosing the best path whilst avoiding pitfalls, side-tracking and even derailment from the path. For that, we must learn how to study the particular, while keeping an eye on the whole, and to keep in perspective several logical and causal connections simultaneously. Then, when we master how to think by ourselves, we must learn how to be our own sounding board, that is, how to check our results against all possible errors that can occur during the thinking process and compare them objectively against a known standard. This aspect of strategic thinking is referred to as reality check. The author distinguishes two types: internal and external. The former is important because many of the patterns we perceive are not real but artefacts of our imagination or, may have resulted from an array of potential errors of thinking such as faulty generalization, bad use of logic, incoherence and bad risk checking. The external reality check is like scientific hypothesis testing or the test drive of a new car, and it requires us to submit our result to an array of tests to discredit it, and finally to peer review. One does not need to be a book worm to fully appreciate this book but being reasonably well-read in scientific and technological matters will help to fully appreciate the examples taken from the great innovators. Thinking Strategically is a cornucopia of rich pickings of allegories, common sense and wisdom tempered by the amusing illustrations of Richard Loehle. I recommend this book for anyone challenged to provide novel ideas or solutions to problems still untackled by routine manuals. pires.obrien@netmatters.co.uk
This book show you how to be your own guru........1999-08-24
Politicians have trusted advisers and strategists who guide them in their every move. There are, however, many professions that require innovative thinking and decision making, and whose practitioners have to be their own strategists. Of course, people in such occupations could do what most people do, which is to use a trusted colleague as a sounding board for their ideas. However, many times a colleague is not available, and even if one were, there is no guarantee that he or she will have the level of discernment needed for a particular problem. It is possible to circumvent the lack of a guru, a spin doctor or a discerning friend, by verifying our own ideas before implementing them. Loehle's book Thinking Strategically: Power Tools for Personal and Professional Advancement, teaches us how to condition our intellect to think ahead so that we can plan a strategy to attain that which is important to us. Naturally, this includes choosing the best path whilst avoiding pitfalls, side-tracking and even derailment from the path. For that, we must learn how to study the particular, while keeping an eye on the whole, and to keep in perspective several logical and causal connections simultaneously. Then, when we master how to think by ourselves, we must learn how to be our own sounding board, that is, how to check our results against all possible errors that can occur during the thinking process and compare them objectively against a known standard. This aspect of strategic thinking is referred to as reality check. The author distinguishes two types: internal and external. The former is important because many of the patterns we perceive are not real but artefacts of our imagination or, may have resulted from an array of potential errors of thinking such as faulty generalization, bad use of logic, incoherence and bad risk checking. The external reality check is like scientific hypothesis testing or the test drive of a new car, and it requires us to submit our result to an array of tests to discredit it, and finally to peer review. One does not need to be a book worm to fully appreciate this book but being reasonably well-read in scientific and technological matters will help to fully appreciate the examples taken from the great innovators. Thinking Strategically is a cornucopia of rich pickings of allegories, common sense and wisdom tempered by the amusing illustrations of Richard Loehle. I recommend this book for anyone challenged to provide novel ideas or solutions to problems still untackled by routine manuals. pires.obrien@netmatters.co.uk
Good content, bad writing.......1998-03-01
This book was higly recommended to me by a colleague, and after reading it I realize that the content is indeed very good. But the aridity in the author's writing style sometimes jeopardize the content. The text should be more pleasant to read, with more passion and more fun, but instead, it reads like a scientific thesis, with almost no emotion. The few times the author tries to throw a little humor into the text, it looks like it's out of context. But, again, it is worth reading for the very well structured message about strategic thinking tools and techniques, even if ater a while you become a little bored.
Book Description
Are you faced with the daunting task of spending millions of dollars on updating, reconfiguring, expanding, or replacing your facility? Healthcare Facility Planning: Thinking Strategically is a practical guide to help you ensure that your facility is flexible and able to meet the needs of patients, caregivers, and payers long into the future. The focus of this book is on predesign planning, a stage of the healthcare facility planning, design, and construction process that is frequently overlooked. Decisions made during this phase have the most impact on long-term operational costs. Detailed examples, guidelines, and case studies will lead you step-by-step through a proven predesign planning process.
Benefit from the author's 25 years of experience in healthcare facility planning and her involvement in major projects at the Kettering Medical Center and Lee Memorial Health System. This book will help you appreciate the importance of the predesign planning process, understand the trends affecting space allocation and configuration, and learn techniques for planning flexible facilities.
Average customer rating:
|
Customer-Centered Strategy: Thinking Strategically About Your Customers (Millennium Manager)
Mark Jenkins
Manufacturer: Pitman Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 General
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
Customer Service
| Industries & Professions
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Marketing
| Marketing & Sales
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Reference
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Reference
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0273630040 |
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Advances in Competitiveness Research, published by Thomson Gale on January 1, 2005. The length of the article is 1113 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: Dixit and Nalebuff: strategic thinkers.(Thinking Strategically: The Competitive Edge in Business, Politics and Everyday Life)(Book Review)
Author: Ivy L. McClatchy Tanvishut
Publication:
Advances in Competitiveness Research (Magazine/Journal)
Date: January 1, 2005
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 13
Issue: 1
Page: 101(2)
Article Type: Book Review
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Average customer rating:
|
Is security thinking strategically?: An article from: Security Management
David A. Reynolds , and
Grant Newsham
Manufacturer: American Society for Industrial Security
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
| Audiobooks
| Automotive
| Crime & Criminals
| Current Events
| Economics
| Education
| Foreign Language Nonfiction
| Government
| Holidays
| Law
| Philosophy
| Politics
| Social Sciences
| Transportation
| True Accounts
| Urban Planning & Development
| Women's Studies
General
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
Management
| Management & Leadership
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
Management
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| e-Docs
| Formats
| Books
General
| Business & Investing
| HTML
| Formats
| e-Docs
| Formats
| Books
Management
| Business & Investing
| HTML
| Formats
| e-Docs
| Formats
| Books
General
| Nonfiction
| HTML
| Formats
| e-Docs
| Formats
| Books
ASIN: B000987W4U
Release Date: 2005-07-28 |
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Security Management, published by American Society for Industrial Security on June 1, 1998. The length of the article is 1438 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.
From the supplier: Most companies' security departments are inefficient because they do not have centralized programs for integrating different security functions. Companies can centralize their security functions by including them into the strategic planning process. The strategic planning process involve three fundamental phases, namely, the assessment of external threats, the identification of internal security weaknesses and the creation of a security strategy that uses the proper combination of resources.
Citation Details
Title: Is security thinking strategically?
Author: David A. Reynolds
Publication:
Security Management (Refereed)
Date: June 1, 1998
Publisher: American Society for Industrial Security
Volume: v42
Issue: n6
Page: p122(2)
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Average customer rating:
|
Managing by Priority: Thinking Strategically, Acting Effectively
Giorgio Merli
Manufacturer: John Wiley & Sons Ltd (Import)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Strategy & Competition
| Management & Leadership
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
Management
| Management & Leadership
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
Systems & Planning
| Management & Leadership
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
Entrepreneurship
| Small Business & Entrepreneurship
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0471966568 |
Book Description
Strategic planning has given way to strategic thinking in the world's most successful businesses. This book examines the management systems being used in these companies as well as the trends that are emerging from them.
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Association Management, published by American Society of Association Executives on March 1, 2005. The length of the article is 3816 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: Staying on board: a self-assessment tool for thinking strategically about how well you relate to your volunteer leaders.(Cover Story)
Author: Apryl Motley
Publication:
Association Management (Magazine/Journal)
Date: March 1, 2005
Publisher: American Society of Association Executives
Volume: 57
Issue: 3
Page: 25(9)
Article Type: Cover Story
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Average customer rating:
|
Strategic Management in Public and Nonprofit Organizations: Thinking and Acting Strategically on Public Concerns
Jack Koteen
Manufacturer: Abbey Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
Nonprofit Organizations & Charities
| Industries & Professions
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
Management
| Management & Leadership
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
Systems & Planning
| Management & Leadership
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
Public Affairs & Administration
| Government
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Public Policy
| Government
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Public Administration
| Political Science
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Business & Finance
| New & Used Textbooks
| Stores
| Books
ASIN: 0275933237 |
Book Description
This is the first full-scale study of the history of money, not merely of coinage, to have been written for medieval Europe. The book is not limited to one country, or to any one period or theme, but extracts the most important elements for the historian across the broadest possible canvas. Its scope extends from the mining of precious metals on the one hand, to banking, including the use of cheques and bills of exchange, on the other. Chapters are arranged chronologically, rather than regionally or thematically, and offer a detailed picture of the many and changing roles played by money, in all its forms, in all parts of Europe throughout the Middle Ages. Thus money is seen as having differing significances for differing parts of individual societies. The book shows money moving and changing as a result of war and trade and other political, economic and ecclesiastical activities without regard for national barriers or the supposed separation between 'East' and 'West'.
Customer Reviews:
Heavy reading for numismatists, historians, and ... DMs........2003-11-02
Peter Spufford's highly detailed history of Medieval European money is an invaluable reference book for numismatists who want to know deep details of the coins they study, and for historians interested in the impact of trade, plunder, metal mining, and industry on the Medieval economy.
Strangely, what I found it most useful for was as an aid to running fantasy role-playing games (e.g., Dungeons & Dragons). Spufford explains the impact of inflation in Medieval economies caused by the rapid influx of ready money (from the silver mines of Bohemia, for example), which would closely parallel the impact of a treasure hoard brought to a civilized community by fantasy adventurers.
Likewise, Spufford deals with the shortage of precious metals and their impact on coinage: debasement, depreciation, and depression, as "white" (silver) money gradually becomes "black" (base metal) coinage. DMs could readily reduce the impact of inflation in their campaigns by having adventurers discover a hoard of debased coinage with only a limited amount of "good" gold and silver coins. Rather than assuming that "treasure types" in monster hoards and lairs are good coinage all of the time, even a cursory study of "Money and Its Uses" should give the DM ideas for tossing in debased coinage.
Debased coins in hoards could, in turn, become adventure hooks if the player characters actually bother to study what they have found: why, for example are the coins of King Poobah IV mostly lead mixed with a small amount of silver when his father, King Poobah III, issued sound coins of good silver? Did something happen to cut off the silver supply? Is there perhaps an orc-infested silver mine somewhere nearby? As Spufford indicates -- primarily in relation to gold -- enemy action could off one state from its supply of precious metals in some other part of the world, enriching the enemy at the expense of the suddenly deprived state. In a fantasy campaign, the enemy might well be orcs, a dragon, or a lich instead of Turks or Mongols. On the other hand, a third state might well profit by trading with the first state's enemy. (In The Forgotten Realms Campaign setting, imagine Calimshan suddenly boycotting Waterdeep to trade exclusively with Amn, and you have a parallel with the commercial rivalry of, for example, Venice and Genoa trying to snare trade with the Muslim East.)
Books:
- Three Finger: The Mordecai Brown Story
- Time Off From Work: Using Sabbaticals To Enhance Your Life While Keeping Your Career On Track
- Tolley's Risk Assessment Workbook Series: Construction (Tolley's Risk Assessment Workbook Series)
- Total Quality: Management, Organization and Strategy
- Tough Choices or Tough Times: The Report of the New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce
- Unlock Behavior, Unleash Profits
- Wolverine: Origin (Marvel Premiere Classic)
- Work Naked: Eight Essential Principles for Peak Performance in the Virtual Workplace
- '07 Economic prognosis: little change.: An article from: Arkansas Business
- 1 + 1 + 1 = One-Stop.(make web site useful for all customer needs): An article from: Bank Marketing
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- Fundamentals of WiMAX: Understanding Broadband Wireless Networking
- Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't
- The Investor's Guide to Understanding Accounts: 10 Crunch Questions to Ask Before Investing in a Com
- Vivien Leigh A Biography
- Analysis of Financial Time Series, 2nd Edition
- Divided Kingdom
- Contemporary Readings in Biomedical Ethics
- Adquisiciones y Abastecimiento
- Whatever Happened to Penny Candy
- Murder at the Old Vicarage
Co-Opetition : A Revolution Mindset That Combines Competition and Cooperation : The Game Theory Strategy That's Changing the Game of Business
Game Theory: A Nontechnical Introduction
Economics of Strategy
The Compleat Strategyst: Being a Primer on the Theory of Games of Strategy
The Strategy of Conflict
